The Monte Carlo Affair: Across A Crowded Room (IATO Series Book 2) (13 page)

“She wasn’t part of the original plan, and never part of this plan.” Jason did sound defensive. “And, I’m still not clear on Mosel’s intense interest.”

She ignored the Mosel comment and went straight to her concern. “Ah, yes the plan. There seem to be a lot of things that weren’t part of
the plan
. What now?”

* * * *

Jason cringed as he handed the valet his claim check and waited in the shadows. A change of subject was warranted, so he decided to share the new plan.

Under his breath, he confided to her. “We’ll go to your apartment, pick up what you need, then go back to my place. Tomorrow, Kate and Jorge meet you. You do the sightseeing thing, Kate gets sick, and you’re on a plane back to Boston before evening.”

“What do you mean? I’m staying with you? That wasn’t in the plan. And what about you tomorrow? Where will you go after I leave?”

“Like you said, the plans changed. There’s a glitch. I arranged to meet Jacqueline tomorrow.” Jason mumbled the last part.

“Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“There’s a glitch. Kincaid. Why do you think he’s here? He showed up on both our databases several times.”

Jason purposely evaded her other question, using Kincaid to throw her off the Jacqueline part. Emily’s impulse to question him about the other woman was a female thing.

“Not that part. You know which part I’m talking about. Jacqueline!” She sneered the name. “What did you tell her about us? She seemed way too pleased with herself when we left!”

“Look, Em, I’m not completely comfortable that you’ll be in the clear tomorrow. What if the switch is discovered before you get home? I don’t want you here if that happens. And I’m not sure what Kincaid is up to.” Jason grabbed her arm to get her attention. “You have to understand, he can never see us together.” He looked around to make sure no one could hear them.

Emily stared back at him, appearing confused, but not saying a word. Her dress was a mess, and her hair still escaped the pins.

“You’ll be safer if you stay with me tonight. After our performance earlier, no one would question it. In fact, with the heat and the flames coming off us tonight, it would seem suspicious if we didn’t end up together. Besides, I don’t want Mosel showing up on your doorstep later, thinking I didn’t finish tonight’s job and left you wanting.”

“God forbid!” Emily growled at him. “So, to all interested parties, tomorrow, you’ll be with Jacqueline. After tonight our little thing will have been a one-night stand, a short fling? For some reason, even knowing this is all pretense, I hate that it’ll be her.”

“My usual M.O.” He shrugged before he saw the flash of pain in her expression. He immediately regretted being the cause.

“Oooh, I see, stick with the usual.” And she asked, “Is the blonde your usual M.O.?”

Jason pulled her aside, keeping his voice low so only she could hear. He ignored the blonde comment like she’d avoided the Mosel one.

He hated the sarcastic tone that crept into her voice. Now she understood why Jacqueline had released him so quickly, and he was a little embarrassed. “Damn it, Emily, I hate leaving you like this. Tomorrow with Jacqueline will mean nothing to me. Look, things got out of hand in the garden tonight. I feel...” Suddenly, he was unable to complete a thought. “I feel terrible about the way things happened, but if they found you alone out there and questioned you...”

He stumbled over his thoughts and couldn’t shut up. “It had to be credible. You’ve been under surveillance all week, and they doubled up on you since you left the office today. I don’t know if it’s because Mosel has a personal interest and is keeping his eye on you because of me, or if he wants to make sure you’re clean. It could be anything at this point—or nothing. I don’t know anymore. I am sure someone entered your apartment earlier tonight.”

He knew her well enough to recognize when that weepy feeling sneaked up on her. He watched how difficult it was for her to pull herself together, but she did. She asked, “And, what’s the deal with Kincaid?”

“He shouldn’t be here.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Jason ignored her and went on talking, “After you leave town, I have to stay behind for a while. They can’t know when I arrive in Washington.” He had to find out how Kincaid was mixed up in all this, but his former relationship with the senator was the black hole in his life. Every ounce of regret he experienced was because of that man.

“While you’re out with Mosel tomorrow, you’ll catch me with Jacqueline when you stop for brunch. She’s sure to tell him tonight where we’re to meet. In order to undermine our relationship, he’ll make sure to have you meet him at the same place. You’ll catch me.”

“How can you be sure he’ll suggest the same meeting place?”

“I know him, and it’s what I’d do.” He continued, “But if he doesn’t bring the location up, you’ll have to casually suggest it. Later, after you catch us, you can admit what a big mistake you made with me.”

He saw her contemplate that thought a little too long for his taste. “Emily, this is almost it. We’ve almost accomplished what we came here for. I can feel it. Remember?” He tilted her chin so she had to look up at him. He saw the tears threatening when she nodded.

He lowered his voice. “I have this position I have to fulfill here for the agency. Everything’s taken care of, and I’m not due back in Boston until next week. Going back now would look suspicious. You have to keep Mosel hanging on until I get back.”

He hoped the chip wouldn’t become an issue. Not only would Emily be suspect, so would he. She’d be safe back in Boston, but he’d rather not risk his future cover if he didn’t have to. He leaned into her so only she could hear him. “Besides, I’m staying on here with B team to redirect the evidence just to make sure. Right now, our guys and theirs are still watching us. So let’s keep up the front. Once I get you out of here tomorrow, you’ll be safe. And I’ll be able to breathe easier.”

He put an arm over her shoulder, nibbled on her ear, and whispered, “I need you safe, and I need to be clear of any suspicion to keep up my cover. Once you clear security in Nice, you’re home free.”

Jason took her arm as their valet brought the late model silver Porsche Carrere around. The young man cast him a knowing glance regarding Emily’s appearance. Jason wanted to punch the kid just for looking.

* * * *

She still wasn’t sure why Kincaid mattered, and she was sick thinking about Jason’s rendezvous with the blonde tomorrow. What kind of performance would he have to give to convince her he wasn’t interested in Emily beyond the challenge of one-upping Mosel? She knew he’d do what he had to. The pain stabbed, gutting her, spilling her old insecurities.

“Emily, I’m sorry about tonight, how it happened.”

He said “how” not “that” it happened.
Emily’s heart settled back in her chest.

As Jason helped her into the car, she noticed how he carefully tried to block the valet’s view of her exposed thighs, and everything else Emily’s dress was no longer concealing.

In a crazy moment of rebellion, just to aggravate him, Emily shook off his hand, recouped a little dignity, and purposely flashed a little more leg and valley-deep cleavage for the boy. To further aggravate him, she added, “Don’t be silly. I’m hardly the little wounded virgin. Been there, done that.”

Jason visibly winced, undoubtedly remembering how he’d been the one to wound the virgin.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” She softened her comment by acknowledging their past. “You’ve never done anything without my full consent and participation.”

He seemed skeptical until she added, “Look, you gave me time to say no tonight. I responded. I believe the acknowledgement was clear. I gave it. You saw it. We did what was necessary—what we had to do for the mission. We’re a team.”

“Right, a team.”

“Besides, you know I didn’t fake the orgasm.” Feeling bolder, Emily pushed a step further. “We, or at least I, enjoyed myself. I must admit to being briefly embarrassed—but the excitement was a real rush. It’s not like I didn’t know this assignment would be different, unorthodox, and certainly dangerous.”

“I wasn’t expecting the plan to turn like this.”

She thought about what he’d just said, what she’d admitted. It was all true. “I’m fine, really. I guess I was just unprepared for the intensity of the situation. The danger and all. It’s nothing I’ve ever done before.”

The moment the complete concept hit him, his head swiveled, and he looked directly at her, narrowing his eyes. “I should hope not. And, it’s not likely to be anything you’ll ever do again.”

His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, apparently trying to get his emotions under control. “Emily, we have to have a talk.”

“We are talking.”

He rolled his eyes.

Softening for a moment, she realized he was taking this conversation way too much to heart. She touched his shoulder, giving in a little.

“I’ve missed your visits since Dad died. This operation has been the closest we’ve been in a long time.”

Jason relaxed at her touch, loosening up. Then his shoulders began shaking with suppressed laughter, and his eyes crinkled.

“Oh, you can say that again.”

She figured it must have been all that repressed tension causing him to find humor in the recent situation. Nodding in agreement, a grin split his face.

“Right,” he said, “you have that right. We’ve never gotten the chance to be quite this close! But, oh baby, have I wanted to for many sleepless nights.”

Emily punched his arm. “Oh, for you it’s easy to laugh, you had all your clothes on. Your backside wasn’t hanging out for the world to see. Sure, you can joke now.”

* * * *

Jason vowed he’d never let any other man near her now that he’d had her again. She was his. He was furious just thinking about the possibility. He was losing his perspective fast.

“When those guards showed up, it was like
déjà vu
on the steps back home. What is it about you and timing?” she asked him with a little smirk forming on her lips. “Let me tell you, at one point tonight, my position mortified me!”

Was she laughing, just a little? If Emily could take this like an adult, as a friend and co-worker, he could try to lighten up a little. Grinning broadly, his insides sparkled with pure male pleasure.

“Just ‘one’ point?” he asked, and burst out laughing at that. “And, which position would that have been, the one against the tree or the one on the ground against the stump?” The memory had him getting hot.

She punched him harder for that. Despite the light banter meant to relax an uncomfortable situation, the subject matter had blood rushing to fill his cock. He was hard and ready in a matter of seconds. Just thinking about her backside had him wanting her all over again. The conversation was heading downhill fast.

He squirmed in his seat to adjust himself. The tense atmosphere between them eased.

She sighed. “This is what’s missing in our current relationship.”

And in his life, he thought. Since he’d taken Emily’s virginity and the car bomb had taken Avery’s life, he’d punished himself. He’d been Jason Holmes when he’d made love to her that first time, and he’d lost that identity the night after her father was killed. He’d lived the last three years filled with guilt and in fear, not for himself, but for her safety. Now, here he was endangering her all over again.

But she was right. He missed this, too, so all he could do was agree and wish it had been otherwise. “I know.”

* * * *

Emily saw the loss in his eyes when he glanced at her. She had to stop putting the blame all on him. They’d both suffered by being unable to acknowledge their feelings for each other. She hadn’t been the only one who’d lost everything. He’d lost her father, too, and his relationship with the family, not to mention all his friendships.

And love, because certainly, they had once loved one another, even if it were impossible to define exactly how. They’d meant so much to each other in so many ways over the years, how could it be so easily dismissed.

“I know you were lonely, but it was too dangerous for me to be seen with you. I wouldn’t risk it.”

She nodded.

“Giving up without a fight?”

“What good would it do to continue this old argument? Tonight, I’m thankful for this much, your smile, and that you’re trying to lighten my mood.”

“Me? I’m just trying to get on your good side so I can get into your pants again.”

“I thought you were through teasing me, Jason.”

“Who said anything about teasing?” He met her gaze, the sparkle in his eyes taunted, his voice deepened, and the atmosphere thickened. His attention dropped to her body. “From my perspective, there wasn’t any
teasing
going on tonight!”

That easily, her body responded. Meltdown hit her hard and fast, but she hid her reaction by taking another jab at him—this time without the same intensity as before.

He pulled away to avoid the jab, then return his hand to her knee and squeezed lightly. “Seriously, though, when I get back to DC, I need to see you. There’s so much we need to discuss.”