Love Undercover

by Miley Maine

  “Depends on what?”

  Oh, she was a little bit saucy this time. “Well, if you’re not afraid of heights, there’s the Eleférico de Santiago, which is the Santiago Cable Car. The views of the Andes Mountains are worth every second.”

  “I’m not afraid of heights,” she said.

  “Then that’s an option. And there’s the Vina Santa Carolina, which is a wine-tasting tour.”

  “I could definitely go for that,” she said. “I’d have been legal to drink here for several years.”

  I smiled. Americans were always fascinated by the lower drinking age in Chile. “There’s also a good museum that features Chile’s history, and then I have all kinds of restaurants I love that have amazing local food.”

  “And you want me to pick?” she asked, and she put her hands on her hips, right under the water. She also took one step closer to me.

  My blood rushed through my veins. I was thirty-two years old. I’d been all over the world, in fucking crazy situations, including a BDSM dungeon, for a job. But this pretty woman in front of me was killing me with her sweet face and her perfect body.

  I wanted her in my bed, writhing under me.

  “Yes,” I said. “I do.”

  She licked those full lips. I liked them better without all that lipstick. I wanted to cover my mouth with hers, right now. But I had to wait.

  “Hmm,” she said, pursing her lips. “I think I’ll take the wine tasting, and then dinner.”

  “Perfect. I’ll get the wine tasting booked as soon as we have time,” I said. “And we’ll eat at Confiteria Torres when there’s an opening.”

  “I haven’t eaten out much here, so I’ll look forward to that,” she said.

  Right. The Laurents didn’t go out much, so neither did Kate. The slimy bastard knew he was a target. He wasn’t going to make himself vulnerable by eating at normal restaurants. “Do you leave the house?” I asked.

  “I take Gabriel to the park,” she replied.

  “Alone?” I didn’t like her going out, not at all. One of Laurent’s enemies could try and kidnap her and use it against him, especially if she had the baby with her.

  “No. Mateo always goes with me.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Why?”

  Mateo Torres. The bodyguard who doubled as a driver. His hands weren’t clean, but I didn’t think he was involved in Laurent’s newest and dirtiest scheme.

  “Santiago is a great city. It’s safe, the safest city in South America, but every now and then tourists are targeted. I just want you to be careful.”

  She took a step closer. “Mateo’s always with us,” she said.

  Well, that was something. No matter where Mateo’s loyalties lay, he wouldn’t risk Laurent’s wrath. If that baby was with her, then Mateo would give his own life to save the baby, and Kate.

  Her small hand reached out and landed on my arm. “Is something wrong?” she asked. “Have you had a bad experience here?”

  A bad experience here? Try everywhere in the world. The existence of men like Robert Laurent was a fucking horrifying experience all by itself. I knew what those men did. To people. To families. To entire towns.

  Kate’s small hand tightened on my arm. “Owen?”

  Shit. I’d just ruined the mood with my dark thoughts. The intense arousal faded, although it was still there in the background. I licked my own lips and tasted salt. Of course they had a saltwater pool. “I’m fine,” I said. “Just remembering stuff I saw in the news over the years.” I put my free hand over hers. “Just promise me you’ll never go out without Mateo.”

  “I promise,” she said. “I don’t go out at night anyway. And I’m used to watching out for myself. I’m not a huge fan of guns, but once I start practicing social work, I’ll probably get a gun to keep at home.”

  “Is social work dangerous now?”

  “It can be,” she said. “Up to now, I’ve mostly worked with kids. They’re troubled, but they’ve never been violent. But some of the caseworkers I know have had parents come after them after they testified against them in court. Luckily nothing was fatal, but there were plenty of threats.”

  Jesus. I did not like the sound of that, even though it was not my business at all. By the time she was back in the States, I’d be in another country, with a brand new assignment. But already I knew I wouldn’t forget Kate.

  She was so sweet, and such a total caregiver, immediately moving closer once she thought I was upset. I hadn’t even run a background check on her yet, and I’d already do anything necessary to protect her.

  I would be having a background check run on her as soon as possible, along with the professor I met at the dinner party. Once I knew she wasn’t involved with Laurent’s schemes for sure, then I could relax a fraction, and enjoy her company.

  I wanted to kiss her. But we hadn’t even had our first date, so I settled for lifting my arm and skimming my fingers down her cheek. “You look lovely. I can’t wait to take you out.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed as my fingers touched her skin. I inhaled and smelled some kind of flower. “You smell good. What is that?”

  She opened her eyes again. “Jasmine. It’s my lotion.”

  I let my hand linger near her chin, just barely tilting it up. “I can’t stop looking at you,” I said. I rubbed my thumb over her bottom lip. My cock was throbbing, demanding attention that it wasn’t going to get.

  Her green eyes clouded over. Her pretty mouth formed a line of distress.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “There’s something I should probably tell you.”

  Well, that sounds ominous. “I’m listening.”

  “I don’t have a lot of experience.”

  Whew. I’d thought she was going to confess something crazy, like she was really a British MI6 agent, or she was a Russian FSK agent, and that she was here to take over the Laurent case, and therefore wanted me to get the hell out of the way.

  “Well, that’s fine,” I said. I wasn’t going to tell her that I’d already guessed she wasn’t super experienced.

  “When I say I’m not experienced, I mean, I’m really not experienced.”

  “Okay. Well, assuming you want to keep seeing me after the first date, we can deal with it then. So don’t fret about it.”

  “I just finished college.” She bit down on that full bottom lip.

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “So, I was used to seeing a lot of people hook up. There was no first date rule, or third date rule. There was just hooking up, anytime and anyplace.”

  “And that wasn’t your scene.”

  “No. I don’t mind what other people do, as long as they’re adults, and it’s consensual. But I had no interest in that life,” she said. “So I never did it.”

  “So you prefer to be in a relationship if you’re intimate with someone.” It took all the manners I had to not be blunt and say she only wanted to fuck someone if she was dating.

  “Well. Possibly. But I haven’t ever been intimate with someone.”

  “In what way?”

  “In any way.”

  Holy fucking shit. This I was not prepared for. “You’re a virgin?”

  She smiled. “Most of my friends from my women’s studies class are not a fan of that word, but yes.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s not applied to men and women equally. But I don’t mind,” she said. “It’s true.”

  My mind was reeling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever met a virgin over the age of eighteen in the last ten years, much less been about to start dating one. How was that even possible? Kate had made it through college, looking like this, without sleeping with one single person?

  It seemed impossible. She must have been fighting men off constantly.

  Could she be manipulating me? Could it be a trick?

  I looked at her eyes, but all I could see was warniess, while she waited for my reaction.

  Then why was she telling me this? The selfish part of me wanted her even mor
e. The primitive part of my brain wanted to slide inside her body, knowing that I was the only man who had ever been there. It was a heady feeling, knowing I might be her first.

  Or maybe she wanted me to know that fucking her was never going to happen, and not to even try. “Did you ever want to?” I asked.

  “No,” she said. “I didn’t.”

  “So are you interested in dating with no sex? Is that why you’re telling me this?” It wasn’t something I’d ever done, being celibate while dating, but I liked Kate. After spending my days around cold-blooded sharks, it was nice to spend time with a kind and thoughtful person.

  “Not exactly.” She reached up to twist part of her hair around her fingers.

  “What does that mean?”

  She covered her face with her hands. “Ah. Now my face is wet,” she laughed. She peeked out through her fingers. “It means that for the first time in my life, I’m considering giving up my virginity.”

  I exhaled. Whew. So this meant Kate was thinking about giving up her virginity. To me. My cock was so hard now it pressed against the inside of my trunks, begging to be let out. I tried to take a small step back, not wanting to alarm her.

  Virgin. She was a virgin. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

  I was about to ask some questions, and I was going to be very frank, so we could avoid any confusion over this very sensitive topic. “When you say virginity, do you mean just intercourse?”

  She shook her head. Even her hair smelled good. She must have had Jasmine shampoo too, courtesy of the Laurents. “No,” she replied. “I mean everything.”

  “I haven’t ever dated a virgin, and I don’t want to screw this up.” I turned to the side, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into me. At least this angle kept her from feeling my urgent arousal.

  “You can’t screw it up,” she said.

  “Oh, I really, really could. I promise.”

  She tilted her head up. I couldn’t believe I was so sappy, but I liked the way she felt in my arms. She suddenly spun to face me. “I’m ready now,” she said.

  “What?” I smoothed my hand down the back of her head. “There’s no reason to rush. We have time.” I wasn’t really sure how much time we had, if I wrapped this case up soon, but that didn’t look likely.

  “I’ve decided. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

  Chapter Eight

  Kate

  Owen turned to face me, and put his warm hands on my shoulders.

  My request probably seemed sudden to him. And it kind of was. But he’d been so sweet about me being a virgin. And if I had this opportunity to lose my virginity to him, then I was going to take it. I’d spent my whole life doing the practical thing. And now, I was going to sleep with Owen.

  “Do you want to?” I asked him. I shouldn’t just assume that he does.

  He laughed. “Do I want to? I can’t think of anything I want more,” he said.

  “Then let’s do it.”

  “Well, hold on. We need to plan this out correctly. We haven’t even kissed yet.”

  I grinned. “True. We could do that now.”

  He scowled in response to my grin. “Not with Laurent watching,” he said.

  I crinkled my nose. “Yeah, that’s a good point.”

  “Have you kissed anyone before?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I have done that at least.”

  “Anything else?” he asked.

  “No, nothing at all,” I replied.

  He groaned and leaned his head back.

  Feeling bold, I put my hand on his chest. His pecs were just as firm as I’d imagined. “Is that a problem?” I asked.

  “No, there is absolutely no problem with that.”

  I could stand to be a little more daring. I liked Owen, a lot, and I had nothing to lose. No one knew me here – there were no clients, no classmates, no professors. Whatever I did here in Santiago, would stay here.

  Well. Unless I got pregnant. But that wasn’t going to happen. Mrs. Laurent had offered a birth control shot as part of my employment, and I’d accepted. I hadn’t been planning to sleep with anyone, but it would make my time of the month easier.

  So, because we were going to be responsible, this wasn’t going to follow me home. Owen and I weren’t going to have a permanent relationship. And, when I went back to school next July, a year from now, I’d never see Owen again. But I’d always have this memory.

  Losing my virginity to Owen would be a much better experience than losing it to a random football player who only cared about his stats and his Friday night poker games.

  Owen dipped his head down and brushed his lips over mine. “Let’s swim. Then we’ll plan the next part.”

  My stomach did a little flip, and the spot between my legs ached. I wanted his hand there, and then later on, his cock. I wanted him to untie my bikini top, and touch my bare breasts. But none of that could happen out here. There were too many people watching.

  “Sounds good,” I murmured.

  “We need to choose a time and a place. If I walk back in that house with you right now, and we walk upstairs, everyone will know what’s happening.”

  “You’re right. There’s no reason to give them something else to gossip about,” I said.

  He put both his hands on the side of my face now, slowly stroking his fingers over my cheeks. If that felt good, I couldn’t fathom what his hands on other parts of my body would feel like.

  “Are you allowed to leave in the evenings? On the days you work?” he asked.

  “I’ve never asked. But I will.” I had a feeling, based on her previous behavior, that Mrs. Laurent was going to be in favor of my going out.

  He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “If you change your mind at any point, that’s fine,” he said. “You just let me know.”

  “I appreciate that. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.” I breathed in. “I want this.”

  “Yeah?” he asked, standing so close that his erection brushed over my thigh.

  Oh, God. He was hard, and I’d just felt it. That was new to me too. My stomach did a somersault, a much bigger flip than it had done earlier. I wanted to push my hand down inside his shorts and feel his hard cock.

  “Yes,” I said. “I want you to take my clothes off, and I want your clothes off, and I want this. I want this so much it aches.” It wasn’t much, as far as dirty talk went, but it was honest.

  He groaned, and let his head fall forward. “I won’t survive if you keep talking like that.”

  “It was pretty tame,” I said.

  “But knowing that you haven’t done it before, it’s pretty heady.”

  Maybe men really did like the idea of a virgin. I’d have to use that to my advantage, if I was even brave enough to do that. “You like that I’m a virgin,” I said, arching my back a little.

  His eyes went straight to my breasts. My nipples hardened.

  “I’d like you no matter what. And I would love to untie those straps right now, and have you standing here in front of me, bare-chested, so I could see you,” he said in a really deep voice.

  I bit down on my lip as a moan escaped. Liquid heat pooled between my legs, and my chest flushed. I blew out a breath, and my legs got shaky.

  “Okay, you’re trembling,” he said. “What’s up?”

  “I’m turned on. I’m ready for you.”

  “I’m glad you are.” He took my hand and tugged me through the water until we were both at the sun ledge. He sat down and motioned for me to sit next to him. “But we aren’t doing this tonight,” he said, wrapping his strong arm around my shoulders.

  “I really am ready,” I affirmed to him, resting my head against his and sitting cross-legged on the concrete sun ledge. If I didn’t do it tonight, I might lose my nerve. What if I chickened out? What if I went back inside and started rethinking the whole thing?

  “I know. I feel like I’m going to explode. But we’re going to get out, dry off, and then I’m going to escort you
to the door, and say goodnight. When you find out which night you’re free again, you let me know. If that’s tomorrow night, great. If it’s next Monday, that’s great too.”

  “Where will we go?” I asked. I ran my hand over the water, enjoying the warm heat of the pool.

  “I’m still planning on that wine tour,” he said. “Then we’ll either go to my place, or to a nice hotel.”

  “Where’s your place?” I asked.

  “Near Mr. Laurent’s office. Downtown,” he said.

  I wondered if Mr. Laurent paid for it, if he liked to take care of his office employees the same way he took care of his household staff. I’d noticed that Owen sometimes called Mr. Laurent just Laurent, without the Mr., and sometimes the name held just a trace of disgust, like he hated saying it. But maybe I was imagining it. Owen seemed happy enough with his job and pleased to hang out at Mr. Laurent’s home during his free time.

  “But my place is spartan,” he said. “The hotel may be the best option.”

  “I don’t care what it looks like.” If Owen knew what the places looked like where I’d grown up, he wouldn't even say that. “I promise, I’ve stayed in places that would be lucky to be called spartan.”

  “I care where we go,” he said. “Your first time should be special.”

  “Was yours?” I asked.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “But it wasn’t bad either.”

  “Was she a virgin too? Is that too personal to ask?” I leaned back on my hands and straightened my legs out, letting them float in the salty water.

  “No.” He turned his head to look directly at me. “You can ask me whatever you want.” He bit down on a smile. “She was most definitely not a virgin. She taught me a thing or two.”

  “I bet you were a good student.” I could not believe I was saying stuff like this out loud to a man.

  “I was,” he said, and there was a definite smug tilt to his mouth. “I really was.”

  I couldn’t stop my smile. “Are you a secret romantic?”