Chapter 6: What kind of lover are you?

BLISS SAT DOWN IN a corner booth with her tray.

"Oh my God," she muttered to herself and buried her face in her hands.

Had she really just said that to Travis? A complete stranger? What had she been thinking?

She unzipped her hoodie and shed the outer layer. Her blush was still firmly in place, and to make it worse, she was hot all over now. The way Travis had looked at her and said...

Nope. She had to not think about that.

As if thinking of him summoned the man, he sank into the seat across from her. His legs immediately took up every available inch of below-table space she wasn't occupying. His knee brushed hers, their feet touched, tapped, and shuffled around as they situated themselves.

At least in a crowded restaurant, with children on either side of them, he'd let the conversation drop. Right?

He leaned toward her. There was a determined, focused look aimed directly at her. She squeezed her thighs together. This was not the time.

How was it she'd started working for Blush Shoppe not even being able to say the word vibrator, and now she was championing pleasure for all to a man she'd just met?

"I am not selfish," he said, pitching his voice low.

"Can we drop it?" she whispered, glancing around as if everyone knew what they were talking about.

"I'm not selfish," he said again.

"Okay. Fine. I'm sure you're very generous."

"What am I supposed to think, though? I don't have the right tools for the job?" He ducked his head at the word tools.

"It's not that." She unwrapped her burger. Her words needed to be chosen very carefully, not only because of where they were, but because Travis wasn't arguing against her. He was just a guy with normal guy hang-ups.

"Then what is it?"

"You're...focused on one type of tool. You don't use the same tools for every job. And I think you're only thinking about the...tab A in slot B scenario. What about everyone else? What about combinations of everyone else?" Their business served not just heterosexual couples, but every identification and sexual preference under the sun. Or close enough.

"Okay." Travis' brows were a dark line across his forehead, and his lips were pressed tightly together.

Neither of them had touched their food.

She needed another approach.

Think. Think. Think.

"Why do we have tools? Hammers, wrenches, all that stuff." She grabbed a fry and popped it in her mouth. Yeah, so Gavin what's-his-name had pegged her for being chubby. So what? She liked food.

"Because they're a more efficient way of getting a job done."

"Or...they do a job we physically cannot do. Think of...slot B...having parts that the human body cannot touch. Using the right tool you can. And...it's fun. What's wrong with that?"

He continued to stare at her for several moments.

"Nothing," he finally said.

"Are you seeing my point?"

"Maybe."

"Travis, it's not about tab A being the wrong size or length, it's about finding a fun way to get the job done. Try it sometime." She picked up her burger and took a bite.

Victory tasted like a quarter pound of beef with melty cheese. Her stomach growled, driving home the point she hadn't had breakfast.

"Mm." She licked a bit of cheese off her finger and glanced at Travis, who had yet to move.

He was staring at her, but not in the same way he had when she was speaking. Now he looked more like he had in the car.

All the positions.

All of them? In one go? Or would he spread them out over a week?

Shit.

Her sister might very well have been kidnapped, and she was sitting in a burger joint daydreaming about sex. She plucked a fry from the cup and crossed her legs, ignoring the sizzle of awareness that shot up her leg when she brushed against Travis under the table.

"What aren't you telling me about the women that were found dead?" she asked again.

The heat in his gaze died, and a predator of another nature stared back at her. She had no doubt that Travis Ration was a dangerous man. He was her dangerous man for now.

"Believe me when I say you don't want to know. We need to focus on finding your sister, fast."

"How are we going to do that? This guy, he got into their house, changed their security system, and God only knows what else." When she looked at it like that, there wasn't a lot of hope left.

He sighed and rubbed the side of his head.

"Port Said."

"What about it?" She didn't really care anymore.

"When we went into that op, we had seven guys to rescue two girls that were being held by a trafficking group. They controlled the area, took two of our guys hostage, and injured three others. That left me and another guy to make the call. I'm shit at field medicine, so he had to take care of the other three while I went to get our guys back and find the girls, but they'd moved them out of the city. I spent a couple days on my own, tracking them down to a fishing village where they were waiting for pickup."

"Shut up." Her mind painted the images-a beautiful, Mediterranean vista, white buildings, blue mosaics, and men with guns. Lots of guns. In the middle of it all was Travis. She doubted he wore camo paint on his face, but her brain supplied that feature anyway.

"Found the girls first, which was shitty luck, because they screamed every time they saw their shadow, but we all got out of there alive."

"Were you hurt?"

"Yeah."

"How bad?"

"Took a couple bullets, broke my nose." He shrugged as if it weren't an issue.

"And you walked out of there?"

"Adrenaline works for you in an instance like that."

She swallowed hard. Her brain wasn't capable of comprehending what he'd done. It played in her head like an action flick, but it wasn't entertainment. This was his life. He was the real deal.

"What were you? I mean, before Aegis?"

"I was a SEAL."

"Working for Aegis is better?"

"It's a good gig." He shrugged. "My point is, if she's out there, I'll find her."

Bliss chewed her lip. He might find Wendy, but would she be alive?

"You done?" He gestured to her folded wrapper and empty fry cup.

"Yeah." She glanced at her phone. Yet another message marked urgent hovered in her notification bar. "I need to run by my office."

"No problem. Can I ask you questions on the way?"

"What kind of questions?"

"About your sister. I'm looking for where the other victim's lives intersect."

"Sure. If it'll help, I'll answer what I can."

"Good."

Travis picked up her tray and scooted out of the booth. She followed, lagging behind a bit. He'd taken how many bullets and just kept going? He didn't limp. There was a smoothness to his stride, and his posture spoke of confidence. What good thing had she done to randomly run into him like she had?

***

BLISS GAVE TRAVIS DIRECTIONS to her Blush Shoppe office. Their storefront was within easy walking distance of the Vegas strip. They often got foot traffic from vacationers looking for something crazy to add to their experience. The Blush Shoppe was by far the biggest retail store in the city.

She did her best to black out the little fact that she was about to bring this man into her workspace. Her very sexual and graphic workspace. Bliss' office might be on the third story, far away from the retail areas, but they still had to go through the store and one of their storage areas. Instead, she focused on the questions Travis fired at her. They covered everything from where Wendy had gone to grade school to where she got her nails done.

"Tell me about the security system again," he said.

"They got it installed right before Wendy gave birth."

"How long ago was that?"

"Gosh, Paul is six months old, so probably eight or so months ago?"

"Who responds to the security calls?"

"I don't know. The police?"

"There's two basic kinds of security systems. Monitored and un-monitored. A monitored system will have someone who contacts the home owner, maybe through the control panel or a phone call. An un-monitored system is just that. Some of them will text the owner."

"Monitored. In the beginning there were a few times Wendy didn't arm it right, and someone would start talking to her."

"Okay."

"Why? What are you thinking?"

Travis glanced at her.

"What?" Bliss had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't telling her everything. Again.

"Just seems strange, your brother-in-law adding security before his kid is born."

"They were worried..." About what? "Is this somehow connected to Grayson?"

"I don't know the man, but he knows about us. There are two types of people who hire Aegis. The kind that are scared shitless, and the kind that scare people."

"So, what?"

"I'm not sure. But even if it's unrelated, you might want to know more about what it is your brother-in-law does. As far as right now is concerned, I need to check the other victim's files, see what I can dig up."

"You have a theory though." And she had questions.

He turned into the newly paved and painted Blush Shoppe parking lot. The three story brick structure had been painted white, with pink trim and an awning over the store front. Inviting and cheerful, or at least that's what the owner was going for. The lights and mannequins decked out like porno showgirls were all Vegas. What the heck was Travis going to say once he got inside?

This was going to be fun.

He killed the engine and turned to dig something out of the back seat.

"I need to look at some things. Want me to wait out here, or would you mind if I came in?"

"If you think you can handle it, you can come inside." But could she?

The store staff was a chatty, gossiping bunch. Travis was going to set them off, but on the other hand, she wouldn't mind their assumptions. He was one beefcake she wouldn't turn down.

She got out of the SUV and strode into the store, painfully aware of the man at her back. The bells chimed over the door, announcing their arrival. Two heads popped up from behind the glass display cases. Both sales associate's brows shot up, neither looking at her.

"Hey Bliss, boss is looking for you," the first girl said.

"I know. I know." Bliss shouldered her purse and stopped abruptly.

"Need us to entertain your friend?" the other girl offered.

Christ. The mammoth butt plugs had arrived, and the boxes were arranged like a Christmas tree right in front of the door. She eyed the tacky string of lights casting ominous red light onto the black toy.

"Who did this?" She turned toward the two crawling out from behind the cases. The new hot and cold glass dildos were out, finally. Not like she'd asked for them to do that for a week or anything. "This is not a front of the store item. A casual shopper is not going to purchase a butt plug the size of a cantaloupe. Move this. Put the red and green vibes up here, some fuzzy handcuffs. And where did the naughty elf costumes go? Fix this. Now."

Bliss didn't wait for the two to respond. The shop wasn't technically her responsibility, but damn it, they couldn't scare people off the moment they walked through the door.

She took the shortcut through the masturbation section to the stairs. There was no way to avoid the bondage area, so she lifted her chin, pushed her shoulders back and strolled past some of their more intimidating gear to the Staff Only door. She breathed a little easier, at least until she caught a glimpse of partially inflated blow-up dolls. Christ. She didn't want to know. The warehouse was not her area.

If she'd had her thinking cap on, measuring Travis' reaction to the front display would have given her the perfect ammunition when the sales associates inevitably argued about switching out the merchandise. They wanted the shop to invite men just like Travis in to purchase items for themselves and their partners, but putting an extreme toy hardly anyone purchased front and center wasn't the way to make it happen.