Texas Stand-Off: The Omega Team Novella (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free Page A

his leg was tossed by a kid, but at a traitor’s direction. A traitor who’d masqueraded as a friend. After being betrayed by his wife and a friend–no wonder he had trust issues.
    She held his chair for him with a smile. If Taz thought it would work, she would try to influence him with her feminine wiles. Not that she had much, Sokolov had seen to that. Deacon Jones really was quite appealing. Pity he didn’t like women.
    “Pass the salt,” he muttered, pulling his chair to the table at the same time she tried to scoot it up. What the hell was she doing? He felt like he was on a damn date and she’d done the asking. “Levin, I have a gun in my boot. If there’s poison in this food, I promise I’ll shoot you dead before my head falls in my plate.”
    “There is no poison, and I have a weapon also.” Taking a seat across from him, Taz watched him solemnly. “If you try to harm me, I’ll protect myself.”
    Deacon snorted. “Don’t worry. You’re safe. You’re not my type.”
    “I know.”
    She took her first bite, completely unfazed. Deacon frowned. He’d lied–there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with her as far as he could see.
    They ate without exchanging another word. He looked at the coffee pot and she poured him a cup. She stared at the pepper and he passed it. He cleared his throat and she gave him the last of the bacon. Taz was pleased, they’d only been together a little while and they already had a system!
    Once they were finished, she cleared the table as he put the dishes in the dishwasher. “Hand me the skillet, I think it’ll fit in the top rack.”
    “Let me rinse it first.”
    When she handed it to him, he noticed there was something wrong with her little finger. He didn’t get a really good look, but it was obvious she was missing half of it. “Accident?”
    Natasha glanced at him. “What?”
    “Your pinkie.”
    “Pinkie?” She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, I don’t know very much American slang.”
    He wiggled his smallest digit at her. “Your little finger. Part of it is gone. Accident?”
    She balled her fist up so her deformity was less evident. “No, he did it on purpose.” Finishing as quickly as she could, she wiped her hands.
    Deacon was curious as to who would hurt someone so small and beautiful, but that was what happened when they let themselves be put into dangerous situations. He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. It didn’t matter, he’d find out all he needed to know in the interview–if they got that far. “Did you bring running shoes?”
    “Yes, I’ll have to go get them from the RV.”
    “Do it quickly, then meet me out front.” He stood there, watching her leave, unable to prevent himself from staring at a very nice looking ass. While she was gone, he replaced his daily prosthetic leg with the more light-weight flexible model he used for exercise. At least with his connection to the military he had access to the best available. Deacon chose to conceal his handicap with long pants, socks and tennis shoes. There was no reason for Levin to know. He hoped Grey or Athena hadn’t revealed his secret. They knew how he felt about it.
    When he was ready, he left the house, just taking time to check the perimeters of the property on the monitors and to grab his whistle. When he joined her, she was waiting patiently, her hair pulled back into a tight bun. Despite her attempt at taming the wild mass, a few delicate tendrils hung down her neck tempting him to kiss the soft skin they were caressing. The temptation made him uncomfortable. “Why don’t you cut all that hair off? Doesn’t it get in your way?”
    “No, my father liked it. I don’t know if I’ll ever cut it,” she answered simply with no emotion on her face.
    “If you say so.” Deacon grunted. “Let’s go.” He set off at a trot, leading her several hundred yards behind the house to where a steep path dropped down to the water. There were steps cut into the stone, almost