Hot Mess by Lynn Raye Harris Read Free Book Online

except that he didn’t seem to match Jake, if you know what I mean. Jake was, I don’t know, very casual. Except when in uniform, of course.”
    “You have something or saw something. Or someone thinks so anyway. And until we figure out what that is, you’re staying here.”
    A little wave of panic rose in her chest. “You aren’t leaving me out here alone, are you?” She’d lived alone for the past year, but being left in a remote location in Maryland where she didn’t know a soul and couldn’t even see the next house? The thought terrified her.
    Sam put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not leaving you. I’m here until this is over. And if I have to leave for some reason, one of the other guys will be with you. We won’t leave you unprotected.”
    Georgeanne shivered. His hands on her shoulders were warm and strong, and she wanted to feel them everywhere, wanted the heat of him to engulf her. She hated that she did, especially when he seemed so determined to be remote. “Who are those guys?”
    “My coworkers,” he said, his tone telling her he wouldn’t say anything else. “They know what they’re doing.”
    She grinned up at him suddenly. “Careful, Sam, or I’ll start to think you’re part of some secret military outfit.”
    He gazed at her steadily, his expression never changing, and it suddenly hit her that that was exactly what was going on. Sam McKnight was a part of something she wasn’t supposed to know about.
    “Does Rick know?” she asked, and his gaze shuttered.
    He turned away from her, his jaw tight. She didn’t know why she felt closer to him in that moment, but she did. He was a part of something big and she was the only one who’d guessed, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
    She touched his arm. “I won’t say a word. I promise.”
    “There’s nothing to say, Georgie. I’m a Ranger. Same as always.”
    “Of course,” she said. But she didn’t believe it.
    * * *
    Sam was restless as hell. Evening was falling and frogs began their nightly chorus against the backdrop of the river and marshes nearby. There was no car noise out here, no planes or motorcycles or people talking. It was peaceful, but he didn’t feel at peace.
    Georgie sat at the small table on the porch with her laptop. They hadn’t spoken much in a couple of hours now. He hadn’t known what to say to her, truth be told. Georgie wasn’t stupid and of course she would figure there was something going on after he’d taken her to HOT HQ. It wasn’t that they didn’t bring civilians to HOT—they did, clearly, or there wouldn’t be a separate area for visitors—but he hadn’t expected to have to take her there.
    The cover story was always that they were Rangers when in truth they were so much more. HOT was secret, its members recruited from the Rangers, the Green Berets—and even from Delta Force, which was very similar. The wives of HOT members didn’t even know about its existence, though they knew their husbands went on missions quite often. HOT was, by design, a male-dominated organization. That’s just how Special Operations were, though with women being allowed to do combat tours nowadays, he didn’t think it would be long before they had female team members too.
    Sam had gone out into the front yard to place a call back to HOT. He’d told them what Georgie had said about the guy with Jake Hamilton. It was probably nothing, but Sam had learned not to discount anything out of hand. Explore every lead, no matter how insignificant.
    What he hadn’t told Georgie—what he couldn’t tell her—was that Jake Hamilton had been attempting to sell information about a DARPA mini-UAV project to a foreign organization. Mini-drones were the size of moths or hummingbirds, and they could do amazing surveillance work. They could also be weaponized, which was a frightening fucking thought. But the problem with them was powering them for long periods of time. They just didn’t have long-range capability. Their