I look up at him, sweat pouring down my face. “Is the next one hard?”

He grins and drops his voice to a whisper. “No, but I have plans for you tonight.”

I cannot for the life of me remember any more of the exercises I did during that workout. I was too distracted, wondering what he was going to do to me and how many orgasms it was going to involve.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

It’s called data mining,” Toni says, booting up a computer I hadn’t realized existed before, located in a set of cubicles in another part of the warehouse we reached after going through a maze of doors and corridors. “We get all the raw feed in, drop it into folders, and sift through it when we can. Sometimes we use computer programs to help, and sometimes it’s just a matter of watching the stuff on fast forward until something interesting pops up.”

She opens a folder and clicks on a file. “This is what we got from the Parrot yesterday. This feed file covers through nine this morning.” She stands and moves to a cubicle next to the one I’m sitting in. “I’ll start with the dragonfly; you start with the Parrot. We’ll pick up the Go-Pro action we got after.” She sits down at a second computer and clicks on another folder, picking up some earphones from the desk and sliding them onto her head.

I tap her on the shoulder, and she looks over.

“Sooo, what exactly am I supposed to do?”

She grabs her headphones and pulls them off with a sigh. “Watch the video. Write down the time stamp of anything interesting. Screenshot faces if you see any.”

She’s about to put the headphones back on, but I stop her with another question.

“Talk to me about interesting.”

She rolls her eyes. “Jesus, Bo Peep, you want me to spoon-feed you lunch too?”

I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. I’m too tired from my workout to have patience for this. Lifting weights drains my body and my brain, I guess. “Maybe before you do that, you could tell me what the hell your problem is with me.”

Her expression is mutinous. “I don’t have a problem with you.”

“Of course you do.”

She shrugs, going all cool on me. “Paranoid much? Jesus, Bo Peep. Relax. You’ll get your minivan later today.”

I reach over and knock the headphones out of her hands as she’s about to put them on again. Minivan, my butt. I’m not driving a stupid minivan anywhere.

She spins around and glares at me. “You better watch yourself, Bo Peep. Nobody’s here to protect you from that smart mouth of yours.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And that’s supposed to scare me?” Maybe yesterday it would have, but today, knowing Ozzie has my back, not so much. Obviously she has issues, and if I’m ever going to work here permanently, I feel like we’re going to need to get them out on the table. It’s also possible my workout used up all my fear factor juice and I have none of that chemical left to respond appropriately to Toni’s threat. I should probably be scared crapless, but instead I’m antagonizing her.

“If you were smart, it would.”

I rest my hands on the arms of the chair. “Let’s just say I’m not smart. What are you going to do? Hit me? Tackle me here in the computer room? Teach me a lesson?”

She frowns at me like I’m crazy. “No.”

“Then what?” I shrug. “What’s your problem? Why are you acting nice to me one second and kicking Thibault under the table the next?”

There. It’s out there in the air between us. I pray this isn’t a mistake bringing it up.

“What are you talking about?”

“You kicked Thibault in the leg under the table when he suggested I stay overnight with Ozzie.”

“I did not.”

“Yes, you did. I saw it.”

“My foot just slipped. It was an accident.”

“Please. Just move on from that BS, and tell me why you did it. Are you in love with Ozzie or something? Are you jealous?”

Her jaw drops open.

“No one would blame you, you know. He’s handsome, strong, single, the boss of his own successful business. He’s a great catch.”

“He’s not my type.” Toni turns her head away and picks up the headphones.

“I don’t believe you.”

She shrugs, putting the headphones on her cheeks. “Believe whatever you want. It doesn’t matter either way to me.” She pushes the ear pads over her ears and presses a button on her computer.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to call her the b-word, but I refrain. Instead, I pick up the pen on the desk and slide the legal pad over to the left side of the desk, so I can take notes.

Toni doesn’t want to discuss her crush on Ozzie, and neither do I. She’s just going to have to accept the fact that he’s mine. Mine, all mine, all mine. I feel like a greedy Daffy Duck, hoarding a huge pile of gold and freaking out thinking someone’s about to steal it. Man, I’ve got it bad for that man.

I sigh and press the “Start” button on the video, watching as the trees around the house begin to move with the wind. Nothing and nobody is doing anything in this movie except the greenery.

After the first ten minutes of seeing absolutely nothing, I realize what a crap job this data-mining thing is. No wonder everyone seemed happy when we volunteered. I throw my pen down on the table and lean back in the chair, rocking it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth . . .

“Would you quit doing that?” Toni says, pulling her headphones off.

“Doing what?” I keep rocking.

“Moving around.” She grabs the arm of my chair and tries to stop me.

I shove her off with my elbow and rock harder. “I can rock if I want to. It’s a free country.” She doesn’t want to talk to me about anything real, but she’s going to bitch and whine when I try to stay comfortable in this hard chair? No. I don’t think so. I reject that nonsense.

I stare at the computer screen, pretending like it needs all of my concentration. Adrenaline pumps into my bloodstream. I have a very strong suspicion that Toni’s going to jump me any second now. If I had my Taser on me, the safety would be off. As it is, I’m thinking about our little area here and anything that might function as a self-defensive-type weapon. Dev would be proud, even though the only thing that comes to mind is her headphones. What am I going to do with those? Bap her about the head and shoulders with the ear pads?

“Do you even hear yourself?” she asks. “It’s a free country? Seriously, what are you? Ten years old?”

“Old enough to recognize jealousy when I see it.” I roll my eyes, purposely taunting her. Maybe if she gets mad enough she’ll admit what her problem is.

“Jealous? Me? You think I’m jealous of you?”

“Of course you are. Why else would you be acting like a bitch toward me all the time?”

I have no time to prepare. One second she’s sitting in the chair next to me, and the next, she’s leaping on top of me.

I’m in headlock a half second later, and my chair has flown out from under me. I’m halfway crouching under her and most of the way to my knees on the floor.

“How dare you call me a bitch!” she yells.

My hands are reaching out for something . . . anything to make her stop.

“You’re hurting me!” I yell, grabbing her leg.

She squeezes me harder. “Let go of my leg, Bo Fucking Peep!”

“Stop calling me Bo Peep!”

“Make me!”

“Now who’s ten years old!”

“Shut up!”

My fingers scrabble for the headphone cord and I grab onto it, yanking for all I’m worth. I hit her in the shin just as I’m getting my legs under me.

She won’t let me go, though. I reach up as high as I can with my free hand and find some of her hair. I latch onto it and yank hard.

“Owwwww!” she screeches. “Let go of my hair!”