Under His Cover-nook (3 page)

She’d agreed to this. He made it perfectly clear he couldn’t offer her anything more than one night. She straightened, stood in front of the mirror, and tucked her hair into a haphazard bun. Well, at least she had tonight. Nothing and no one could take that from her, and she’d treasure it always and continue to admire him from afar.

Jade picked up her shoes, turned out the light and opened the door. After one long look at Rhys, allowing her gaze to travel the length of his body and back up again, she grabbed her purse and walked toward the door. But she stopped, her hand hovering over the knob. She went to the desk, took a pen and paper, scratched out a small note, then placed it beside his head on her now empty pillow. With her head held high, she stepped out and quietly shut the door.

October

Jade opened the door to her office and was taken aback. “Just what the hell are you doing here?”

The lady who sat in the lobby behind the receptionist desk replied, “I do work here, don’t I?”

She smiled, adjusted the bag on her shoulder, and kicked the door closed. “Yes, but aren’t you supposed to be on your second honeymoon?”

“Yeah, well. I needed to give you and Nicole the heads up about these cases before I leave on vacation. She just left, and I was waiting for you.”

French Vanilla coffee, Karyn’s favorite, brewed in a coffee pot in the corner. Jade poured herself a cup. “I could have read through your notes.”

“Well, you know me,” she said and smiled.

She sniffed the contents before taking a sip. “Always the mother hen.” They walked into her office where she flicked on the light and tossed her coat and purse on the small sofa. She sat in the tan colored chair behind her desk and crossed her legs. “What’s up?”

Karyn held the folder out for Jade to take. “Lieutenant Governor Rhys Cunningham.”

Air froze in her chest and she cleared her throat. “What about him?”

“You know he and Zechariah are really good friends.”

“I should hope so. He was best man in your wedding.” Jade definitely couldn’t help but think back to her friend’s nuptials and picture his handsome face. Actually, handsome wasn’t quite the word to describe him. Fine. Good-looking. Irresistible. A sweet red ripe strawberry dipped in devastatingly rich chocolate.
Mercy
. And his body. Let’s not forget his body, the way it melded with hers, the ecstasy.

“Well, he’s receiving death threats.”

Jade sat up and put her coffee cup down. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. And it’s our job to find out who it is and why. Well, yours actually.”

Jade flipped the file open and began to read the background information sheet Karyn completed. Her heart thundered in her chest. “Why hasn’t he gone to the police?”

“It’s an election year. He’s trying to keep it low profile for now. He doesn’t want to get law enforcement involved unless he really has to. Plus, he doesn’t want to give his competitors fuel for their campaign.”

A newspaper clipping from the previous weekend with a picture of the lieutenant governor fell out of the folder and landed face up on her desk. In it he was dressed in a black tuxedo, almost identical to what he’d worn the night their worlds collided in passion, his face etched in a smile. And of course, he had an attractive, scantily clad debutante on his arm. An ugly red haze clouded Jade’s eyes before disappearing. She had no right to be upset.

He was a player. Of that, there was never any doubt. If his picture didn’t show up in the society pages at least once a week, she’d bite something. She didn’t expect to have this type of reaction anymore. Hell, it’d been two months ago.

Get over it, Jade
.

“So, you’re going to go under cover and pose as his executive assistant.”

Jade sputtered over the coffee she sipped. “Excuse me?”

Karyn reached for her mug and stood, leaning her hip against the desk. “He’s sure it’s an inside job, or at least the person is getting help from someone inside. The letters are always left in places no stranger would have access to.”

“But why his secretary?”

Hell, why me?

“Executive Assistant,” she reiterated. “Being an employee is the best way to get inside. You can get to know the people behind the scenes. Besides, his regular assistant had a baby and is off on maternity leave for twelve weeks. It’s the perfect solution.”

Jade’s palms began to sweat. She resisted the urge to wipe them on her jeans. She was used to stakeouts, taking pictures of cheating husbands, and doing background searches on suspicious employees. She liked working behind the scenes, completing the paperwork, calling in favors at the police department and the telephone company.

This assignment was going to be very hands-on. And working so close to Rhys Cunningham, who probably flirted with every woman who came within a ten-foot radius of him, was going to be difficult. Especially after what happened between them. Her experience with men… Well, there hadn’t been that many. Other than the night of Karyn’s wedding, men that gorgeous always made her tongue-tied, got her all flustered and nervous. With Rhys, it would be even worse.

But this would be different. This was her job, and her chance to be an integral part of the team. He wouldn’t be interested in her again, anyway. He’d made that clear enough.

It was a one-night stand, Jade. Remember. One night. One chance. That’s it.

Besides, taking the assignment proved she was over him. It would show him that what happened between them hadn’t affected her at all.

But it did.

Shit
.

When Karyn started Private Jane, Inc. a year and a half ago and hired her, Jade had just received her P.I. certification and was determined to prove herself. Her father and both her brothers were cops, and very good ones. She’d shied away from a career in law enforcement but loved the intricacies of it. Being a P.I. gave her some of that.

“Why don’t you give this assignment to Nicole?”

Karyn set her empty cup down and returned to her seat. “Because the other case is something for the African American Historical Museum.”

Understanding dawned.

“Nicole has a degree in art history, so I gave her that one instead. Besides, you file like a demon, type one hundred twenty words a minute, and you’re more organized than she and I put together. This is perfect for you. You’ll blend right in.”

Sighing dejectedly, she replied, “Okay. Okay. I gotcha. When do I start?”

“Today.”

“Today?” she asked incredulously.

“Well, you go for an interview today. You’re going to supposedly interview through a temporary agency. He’s going to hire you, and you’ll officially start work in the office tomorrow.”

Jade looked down. She had on her favorite pair of blue jeans, a red t-shirt and tennis shoes. They were perfect clothes for a P.I., but not an executive assistant. She was going to have to go back home and change.

Karyn grabbed her purse and keys and stood. “Well, that’s it. I think you can handle the rest and get all the other information you need from the file, and of course, ask Rhys more questions. You’re supposed to be at your interview at nine-thirty.” She strolled toward the door. She wiggled her fingers at her. “Bye. See you in two weeks.”

Jade slumped in her chair and waved goodbye. She scowled and reached for the folder on the desk. The fact that he was drop-dead sinfully gorgeous would not stop her from doing the job. The fact that she had hot…no… scorching butt-naked sex with him would not stop her from doing her job either. She glanced at her watch. Eight twenty-four. She had just enough time to go home, change and get to the lieutenant governor’s offices on time.

She grabbed her coffee and her bag and turned out the lights. Why me? She wondered as she locked the door behind her.

The air outside was still warm, even for October. Last night the local meteorologist said it was going to be a twenty percent chance of rain. When she lifted her nose to the sky, she knew it was coming, probably in the next hour or so.

Jade reached inside her backpack and pulled out her keys. At her car, her reflection beamed back.

She had to do something with her hair.

She couldn’t go to her interview with Rhys looking the way she did. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been properly permed and coiffed, and she’d had on a dress and heels.

Why do you care so much, Jade?

“I don’t, damn it,” she muttered and slid inside the car.

She wanted to look professional. That was it. It had nothing to do with the fact she wanted to look gorgeous for Rhys.

She rolled her eyes at her own lie.

Once at home, Jade ticked off the suits in her closet and crossed them off one by one. The black one would do. It was plain and simple. There was no need to go in there and give him any reason to think she dressed up just to look good for him. She wanted to assure him she would do her job as a professional private investigator. She’d wear her glasses and appear as the staid skilled expert she was.

In the bathroom she pulled the scrunchy out of her hair and shook out her ponytail. She brushed her hair, twisted it and wrapped it up into a bun at the nape of her neck. She applied minimal make-up, put on her specs, nodded to her image and walked out the door on wobbly legs.

When she reached her destination, she hesitated before going in. Why was she so nervous? She wanted to tell herself it was because this was her first real life and death assignment. That if she completed this task and found out who was threatening him, she would’ve finally proven herself.

But she’d be lying.

Ever since Karyn’s wedding, ever since that night, she’d been fantasizing about him. He’d appear in her dreams, her thoughts without notice, and send her pulse racing. There was many a night she had to masturbate and relieve the ache just thinking about him caused.

How in the world was she going to work for him for the next she-didn’t-know-how-many weeks and keep her lust under control? She made a mental note to put an extra pair of panties in her bag before she came to work each day.

As she walked up the stairs to his office, she was pulled out of her reverie when the door opened and someone walked out. What stood on the other side robbed her of speech, and she fought hard to breath.

Lieutenant Governor Rhys Cunningham stood in front of his enormous window…shirtless. She took him in. All of him.

His gaze was focused heavenward, and she couldn’t help but notice the muscles that rippled down his arms and caressed his shoulders. The hard smoothness of his upper body tapered down to a tight, flat, six-pack belly. Her pussy began to throb. The tension rolling through her body was exquisite torture. It had been two months, but she still remembered how her fingertips tingled when she touched his skin.

Dear God I’m in trouble. Deep…deep…trouble.

Everything about him screamed,
I am the essence of man
.

Another guy came up to him, gave him a shirt, and he slipped it on, oblivious to her standing there ogling him. She stepped quickly behind the door and drew in deep, guzzling breaths.

After the other man left, she walked from around the door and gently knocked. “Lieutenant Governor?”

He smiled. “Jade.”

She heard pleasure in his voice, and a hint of something else. “Hi…um.” She hesitated. “How are you?”

“I’m good. Come on in.”

His office suited him to perfection. He stood beside a rich mahogany desk with a matching credenza and filing cabinets.

“Thank you for coming.” Deep dimples appeared in his cheeks. As her feet stepped onto plush carpet, she became very aware of his mesmerizing, silvery-gray eyes sizing her up from top to bottom in a slow perusal that quite literally made her stumble as she walked toward him. Embarrassed, she righted herself and offered him her hand. Instead, he engulfed her in a huge hug. When he pulled back with a crooked smile on his face, he asked, “Are you okay?”

Jade’s heart stuttered in her chest. She should have expected the shock of warmth and desire his touch elicited. Why did his touch still affect her? “Fine, thank you,” she replied, the sound strained to her own ears.

He motioned toward the small round conference table and chairs to the right of his desk. “Please, have a seat.”

When his back was to her, she closed her eyes for a brief moment and swallowed hard.

Get a grip. You can do this.

Jade took the offered seat and sank into inches of soft leather upholstery. She straightened, eased her spine against the back of the chair and raised her chin, staring him straight in the eye when he sat down. She rested her hands in her lap and crossed her legs modestly at the ankle.

Please let me get through the next twenty minutes without making a further fool out of myself.

He still looked incredible. Rich, sure of himself, devastatingly handsome, and sexy weren’t adequate enough words to describe him. It was in his walk, his demeanor, even the way his eyes held hers.

“Thank you for coming,” he said. “I admit, when Zechariah suggested I use Karyn’s firm to help me, I was a little concerned. But he assured me the three of you were the top in your field. Plus, no one would suspect I’d hire a woman to investigate.”

His hair was black and cut in stylish layered waves that begged her to run her fingers through them. Thick black lashes shaded his silver eyes.

A tumult of emotions clamored inside her, but she was determined not to stutter or stammer through their conversation. “Well, I’m glad Zechariah convinced you,” she replied and continued with the generic statement she always told a potential employer. “We pride ourselves on our discretion, investigative skills, surveillance, and undercover work.” To cover all the bases, she added, “I am also adequately trained to act as your executive assistant. I’m very organized, detail oriented, and I can type one hundred twenty words per minute.”

He laughed, raised his palm, and sat back in his chair. “No need to rattle off your impressive resume to me, I already know exactly how…trained you are.”