Licensed to Kill

Chapter 20

Dallas always had a plan. As did I, but I'd always admired the way he could think up a solution faster than me or anyone I knew. That was another factor about him that I found to be sexy, along with his charm and wit, flawless fighting and shooting skills, the way he drove like the freeway was a racetrack... The list went on and on.

When I was younger, when I first started work with the Alpha Reconnaissance Taskforce, I'd always laughed and rolled my eyes when I encountered a woman who practically drooled over an agent who could wield the talents that Dallas had. But that was back before I knew Dallas – back before I learned what it felt like to be one of those awestricken, drooling women. Then again, there were plenty of men fawning over my talents as well, and that in itself was a pretty nice confidence booster.

"There's a half-eaten burrito in this door pocket," Dallas said, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

He was driving us a few miles from the grocery store to the bank. We'd managed to escape the parking lot with some poor unfortunate soul's BMW without being seen, thanks to my carjacking expertise.

I absentmindedly frowned at the memory of writing "grand theft auto" in the skills section of my resume. That's probably not a skill I should be proud of...

I eyed him with amusement. "Second guessing your choice in vehicles to steal?"

"Second guessing the human race's idea of cleanliness." He cringed again.

"Hey, we can't all be little neat freaks like you, Dall."

His brows drew inward and he looked like he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Remember that loft you had in Alexandria?" I reminded him. "I saw your dresser. You had your underwear color coordinated."

"I have a system!" he exclaimed with an almost embarrassed-sounding laugh.

I threw my hand over my heart and feigned surprise with an over-exaggerated gasp. "Dallas David, don't tell me you still do that!"

A loud groan left his lips and he shook his head, an awkward smile splayed across his face. That answered my question.

Nothing else was said between us until we reached the bank. Dallas pulled into the employee parking lot of a hardware store that just happened to be closed until the next day. The lot was behind the building, concealing our stolen car. A row of hedges hid us from view of the bank's security cameras until we could get them shut off.

I turned in my seat to face Dallas. "What's the plan?"

Reaching into the back floorboard, he retrieved a small iPad from his backpack.

"I'm going to hack in and override the system. There's a way I can disarm the alarm and cameras without the security monitoring company being alerted. Shouldn't take me too long. I do this a lot."

He said it like it was nothing as he tapped away at the little screen.

"You do this a lot?" I repeated his words teasingly. "Rob any banks lately, Dallas?"

He shrugged and cocked his head side to side with a sheepish smirk. "Maybe. Who knows."

I admired him out of the corner of my eye while he worked his electronics magic and I kept watch for any enemies lurking. I took note of the way Dallas had parked the car. Our position didn't allow for an easy escape in the event that we encountered a foe. Knowing Dallas, though, I figured he had a plan B up his sleeve, so I didn't bother to mention it to him.

He'd taken his jacket off before getting in the car and I was finding my focus being pulled more towards the alluring art on his arm than keeping an eye out for our adversaries. Fuck, he looked really good in that red shirt.