His Captivating Confidante (Secret Sentinels) Read Online Free

Frank’s psyche like a drenching from a bucket of ice water. He’d been so wrapped up in Stephanie he’d forgotten they had an audience.
    And Stephanie had been just as absorbed in him. He could tell she was all too aware that she’d lost sight of what she was there for, and that she was shaken by the lapse. Her reaction was barely perceptible, but his trained eye didn’t miss the way her hand trembled slightly as she traded the laser-simulator pistol she’d used for the first round of the match for the assault rifle version of the weapon she would employ in the second round.
    Laser shooting competitions were held on realistic courses that duplicated potential real-life scenarios, mirroring situations the players might encounter in the field. Players used guns that emitted electronic pulses to indicate hits, and they were allowed to employ other mock weapons or feign martial arts moves if their primary protection failed.
    For this round, the course had been set up in an abandoned alley to simulate an apartment complex under siege. The players filled the roles of both innocent civilians and dangerous assailants—it was up to Stephanie to differentiate friend from foe.
    He gave the signal for the round to begin, and it quickly became clear she wouldn’t need his help for this segment of the trial. She eliminated the threats in record time, without a single innocent civilian taking a hit.
    Bruce whistled softly in appreciation. “Damn, she’s good. That’s a new record.”
    “See? I told you she’d be a great addition to the team,” Frank asserted, knowing there was more than a little pride in the boast that rolled easily off his tongue.
    Stephanie had navigated the course as smoothly as she’d fielded the genuine crisis they’d been caught up in a few weeks ago when they were ambushed. A rookie field operative, she’d handled the threat like a seasoned veteran. And she’d done far more than impress the hell out of him.
    She’d saved his life.
    He sent her a thumbs-up. “If you’re sure you want to join a group of law enforcement officers and bodyguards playing what amounts to a paintball game on steroids, you’re in.”
    “Of course I’m sure,” she said, beaming. “I’d love to.”
    Bruce wrapped Stephanie in a celebratory hug. “I think you may have lost your spot on the team permanently, Frank. She just tied your best score.”
    Tamping down the urge to peel Bruce’s arm away from its silken resting place on Stephanie’s shoulder, Frank told himself it couldn’t possibly be jealousy heating his blood to a boil. Fortunately, he was spared having to respond to his buddy’s good-natured ribbing when their four remaining teammates—Barry, Kent, Andy, and Wyatt—circled around Stephanie to offer their congratulations.
    “Since we’re keeping her, she needs a nickname,” Andy insisted with a grin.
    “Oh, a code name!” she enthused, flashing Andy a broad smile.
    As another jolt of jealousy pierced him, Frank tried not to dwell on why he found the thought of his friends bestowing a nickname on Steph oddly unsettling.
    What was wrong with him tonight?
    Not only was his sudden—and unexpected—attraction to Stephanie damned inconvenient, it was also entirely unacceptable. She was a friend. In no way, shape, or form should his feelings for her ever cross the border of buddy-hood into sexual temptation territory. So how had he let that very thing happen?
    Shaking his head in self-deprecation, he shoved the disconcerting question aside. “The guys all have nicknames. Bruce is Goblin, Barry is Bear, Kent is Cruncher, Andy is Flash, and Wyatt is Shadow.”
    “And what do they call you ?” she asked.
    When Frank hesitated rather than answering her question, Andy jumped in to reply. “Tiger,” he supplied with grin.
    “That’s going to cost you, Flash,” Frank told him before turning his attention to the team. “Okay, guys. Stephanie did me a favor by coming down to try out for the team when