Hot Ice (A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 7) by Lynn Raye Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

blinked at him, and then her throat moved as she swallowed. “Well, stop. I don’t like it.”
    Garrett laughed. “Not happening… cupcake.”
    She actually stomped her foot. Her face turned a delightful shade of pink. “You are… a…an ass !”
    “You aren’t the first woman to think so,” he told her very seriously. And then he gave her a little salute before turning and strolling down the hall and back down the stairs. He didn’t know why it amused him to irritate her, but it did.
    Her friend arrived a short while later, and the two of them stayed in her room. Flash arrived about fifteen minutes before it was time to leave.
    “Did you see the news?” he asked as he came inside.
    “No, why?” He’d been watching football because he loved it and because it made him think of when he’d been younger and the world had seemed to be his for the taking.
    Flash picked up the remote and switched it to a news channel. Helicopter footage of a building was on the screen. There were people gathering at the gates of the building and security barricading the entry. The headline was sensational—and sent a chill down Garrett’s spine.
    Presidential Candidate’s Daughter Works at Top-Secret Lab; Are They Creating Bioweapons?
    The reporter talked about Magnolia Laboratories, how they were a private company focusing on research, and how they’d received grants and private money to experiment with viruses. And then there was a picture of Grace, but not a white-coated lab picture. In this one, she was with her parents—and the president of the United States. It had clearly been chosen for the sensational nature of the story—a candidate’s daughter with connections in high places who also worked in a research laboratory that just might be on the verge of killing off the entire planet.
    The reporter went on to speculate—along with her experts—as to the nature of the work the lab was really doing and how quickly a virus could spread out of control if accidentally released.
    Then someone suggested this was why they couldn’t elect Senator Campbell to the presidency, because he would have control of a dangerous bioweapon through his daughter. The conversation disintegrated from there.
    “It’s not true!”  
    Garrett spun around to find Grace standing just inside the room, her pale skin flushed and her hands clenched into fists at her side. Garrett felt as if someone had slammed him over the head with a two-by-four.
    Grace Campbell was wearing a black dress that hugged her breasts and flared into a full skirt over her hips. The dress was strapless, and she wore a pearl choker. Her hair was piled on her head, curls escaping to drape artfully over her shoulder.  
    She walked into the room, her tiny purse clutched in both hands, her long legs eating up ground as she moved. Her ankles were slender and sexy in a pair of shoes with black straps that wrapped around them and buckled right over the bone.
    He had a sudden urge to remove those straps with his teeth. And then spread her legs wide and lick his way up to the center.
    Shit.
    “My father has nothing to do with my research—and I’m not a monster!” She was staring at the screen, her eyes filled with anger and hurt. Her friend came up beside her and put her arms around her.
    “You know what these people are like, Grace. This isn’t the first time your father’s been in the lion’s den, and it won’t be the last. They’re going to harass him—and your family—for the next few months. And if he wins the nomination? Look out.”  
    Grace turned to her pint-sized friend. “I know. Dammit! ”
    Garrett’s eyes widened. He didn’t think Grace Campbell cussed, but he rather liked it that she did.  
    Flash coughed. “I’ll go get the car.”
    Grace’s gaze landed on him as if she’d just now realized he was there. Which she probably had. She looked confused and a little wary.
    “This is Ryan Gordon, Grace. He works with me, and he’ll be our chauffeur