Behind her, there was a soft tap at the door. Anxiously, she raked her fingers through her hair again. But it was useless. Her hair was going to do what it wanted and that was curl.
Another tap.
She took a breath that sounded a lot like a sob.
Alex Graham was about to see the real her.
Her feet felt like lead weights, her legs rubber, as she walked to the door. With trembling fingers, she turned the knob, bracing herself for his reaction.
He let out a sharp breath, eyes widening. “Wow.”
She felt self-conscious, just as she had as a young girl when her breasts had budded out early. She’d always been thin and having breasts had made her stand out. She’d hated the attention from the boys and did everything she could to hide her curves even back then. Now, though, she had no choice but to reveal her true self.
ALEX COULDN’T BELIEVE IT. Finally, he felt as if he was seeing the real Samantha Peters. “You look fantastic,” he said. Tears welled in those big brown eyes of hers but she smiled, then worried at her lower lip with her teeth.
Without makeup, there was that adorable trail of tiny golden freckles that arched across the top of her high cheekbones over her perfect nose to the other cheek.
“Samantha.” The word caught in his throat as his eyes met hers. Heat shot through him.
He had a flash of memory. His mouth on hers. The taste of her in the back of the limo. On the beach. He knew he was lost long before she stepped to him and, standing on tiptoe, gently touched her lips to his.
He didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. Desire burned in her gaze but so did uncertainty.
She kissed him again, this time parting her lips to touch the tip of her tongue to his. Desire rocketed through him, as hot and moist as her mouth on his.
His arms came around her. He dragged her to him with a sound like a curse or an oath. Or a prayer. His hands splayed across her strong back as he dragged her even closer and kissed her as if there was no tomorrow.
He knew better than to get involved with another woman with secrets. But he could no more stop kissing her than he could forget the way she’d looked when she’d opened the door.
Heat blazed through his veins. Every instinct told him to stop as he cupped her wonderful behind in his hands and pulled her tightly against him.
She let out a gasp against his mouth but her arms had found their way around his neck. She drew his lips down to hers again, her eyes sexy slits, as he lifted her and, kicking the motel room door closed, shoved her back against the wall.
He slipped her out of the slacks and slid his hand beneath the panties. She arched against him as his wet fingers took her to pleasure. Her own fingers found the buttons on his jeans and in moments he was driving into her. She cried out, her fingers twined in his hair. His mouth on one breast. He felt her release, a dam breaking. She slumped against him.
He wrapped her in his arms and carried her to the bed where he slowly made love to her again as the wind howled at the window and rain beat down in a steady torrent.
VICTOR CONSTANTINE made the call right after he saw the SUV careen over the side of the mountain and disappear into the trees. No one could have survived that.
He’d hoped for an explosion. Or at least to see flames. But he was convinced, even if they hadn’t died at once, they would be injured too badly to ever climb back up that mountain to the road.
“That nasty little problem you had is taken care of,” he said when his client answered. Victor had mixed feelings about it. He still wished he could have spent some quality time with Samantha Peters. He’d just have to find another woman like her and relieve this itch he had before he started his retirement.
“Good. Don’t call again. As far as I’m concerned you and I never did business.” The phone went dead.
Victor sat for a moment before he dialed his foreign bank. He couldn’t put his finger on what was bothering him. Not until the bank representative took his password and told him his greatest fear had been realized. The client had wired money from an account which was then cleaned out and closed.
Another first for Victor Constantine. He’d been duped by a client. His last client.
He called the cell phone number the client had given him and wasn’t surprised to get nothing. Not even a ring. No doubt the client had destroyed the phone, believing it was the only connection between them.
Victor smiled to himself, more amused than angry. Did the fool really think Victor Constantine would just let this go? Was anyone that stupid?
Apparently his former client was.
Victor couldn’t wait until he found him, until he looked the man in the eyes and saw not just fear—but the realization that he was about to die a very painful death.
Chapter Fifteen
The phone woke Samantha from the most peaceful, contented sleep she could ever remember.
“Peters,” she said, after groping her cell out of her purse beside the bed and snapping it open.
She could see a sliver of gray daylight coming through the blinds. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Last night came back in a rush. Her skin warmed at the memory and she swung her legs over the side of the bed and headed for the bathroom with a glance over her shoulder at Alex.
He lay on his side, eyes closed, an indentation in the bed where she had been snuggled next to him.
A feeling of euphoria flooded her. Had she ever been this happy? She found herself smiling as she closed the bathroom door.
“Samantha, can you hear me?” It was Rachel. She sounded worried.
“Yes. Sorry. I dropped the phone.” She had tucked the phone against her hip as she was looking back at Alex and now realized that Rachel had been speaking that whole time.
“Is everything all right there?” Rachel asked.
“Great.” The word was out before she could catch it back. But it was the right one—just not one Rachel was used to hearing from her. “Fine. Everything is fine.”
“I woke you,” Rachel said.
Samantha glanced at her watch and realized it was after nine. “No, that is…” She mugged a face at the bathroom mirror, grimacing at how ridiculous she must sound. Rachel was no fool. Of course she could tell she’d awakened her.
“Is Alex there?”
“No.” Samantha took a breath and let it out slowly. “He’s in the next room.”
“I see.”
She figured Rachel did see.
“Does he know?”
Samantha didn’t have to ask what she meant. “I had to tell him about me, but not about the team.”
Silence, then, “You do understand that this puts your position in jeopardy?”
Samantha knew what she was asking. Was her relationship with Alex important enough to put her work on the line—as well as her life? “Yes.”
“You surprise me, Samantha,” Rachel said. “In the four years we’ve worked together has there been anyone else?”
“No. No one.”
“And within a matter of days you have fallen for this man.” It wasn’t a question but Samantha answered it anyway.
“Yes. But it won’t affect how I complete this assignment.”
Rachel chuckled softly. “That’s what they all say.”
Samantha had seen others come and go at Miami Confidential. Some not under the best of circumstances. At least one had gotten herself killed. Samantha knew Rachel was concerned for her welfare—and that of their clients.
“I will do my job. No matter what,” Samantha said with more force than she’d intended.
She could hear the smile in Rachel’s voice when she spoke, “I believe that. Clare wants to talk to you. Let me know when you fly out.”
“I will.”
Clare came on the line. “I did that financial you asked for on both Presley Wells and Caroline Graham.”
Samantha held her breath.
“Looks like they have everything inves
ted in an area called Sunrise Estates.”
The project where Caroline’s condo was located. “So everything is riding on it?”
“Everything.”
Samantha glanced toward the bathroom door. “I need you to check out a couple more names,” she said and turned on the shower, covering her words. “Brian Graham, C. B. Graham and—” she took a breath and let it out slowly “—Alex Graham.”
“What exactly am I looking for?”
“Any irregularities, recent large investments, anything that sends up a red flag,” Samantha said. Rachel didn’t think she could be impartial, objective. Rachel was wrong.
“I’ll get back to you.”
Samantha stepped into the shower feeling guilty and yet righteous. She had a job to do. If Alex was the man she believed him to be, he would understand that. She just prayed he was that man and that she hadn’t just jeopardized not only her career but her life for a man she couldn’t trust.
ALEX ROLLED OVER on his back and stared up at the ceiling. After a moment he heard the shower running and thought about joining Samantha.
Last night had been amazing. The intimacy they’d shared surprised him. He’d never felt anything like it before.
He heard the shower shut off. As he turned to watch her come out of the bathroom, one towel wrapped around her hair, the other around her slim body, he reminded himself who she was.
A federal agent masquerading as a wedding planner. He corrected that, a wedding planner masquerading as an ordinary woman.
Samantha Peters was no ordinary woman. Not by a long shot. And Alex Graham wondered if he could handle this much woman.
She stopped beside the bed and looked down at him. He wondered who’d been on the phone, but he only wondered if for a moment.
Light shimmered in her brown gaze like an expensive whiskey. He could smell the fresh scent of soap on her smooth skin. Her lips parted slightly and she knelt forward and kissed his cheek.
He closed his eyes, weak with desire for this woman. He opened them when he heard her straighten.
Slowly she took the towel from her head, dropping it on the floor. She raked a hand through her wet curly hair. She couldn’t have been more beautiful, her skin glowing from the shower, her face flushed—just as it had been during their lovemaking.
And those eyes, deep and dark. His gaze locked with hers and a bolt of desire ricocheted through him, but he didn’t move, barely breathed as he watched her.
Slowly, she unhooked the end of the towel wrapped around her. It dropped to the floor with barely a whisper.
She smiled at his intake of breath and was already leaning toward him as he threw back the covers and pulled her down on top of him.
THE STORM PASSED, leaving devastation in its wake. Everywhere there were downed trees and power lines. Once the hurricane farther south had come ashore it spawned high winds and tornadoes. One tornado had touched down not far from where they were staying.
As Alex drove them to the airport in the new rental car he’d procured, they passed some of the debris. Samantha found herself wishing they didn’t have to go back to their real lives.
And that surprised her. Her two jobs had been everything for so long, she’d never believed anything else could fulfill her the way her work did.
But that was before she’d met Alex Graham.
He’d grown quiet, as well. For a while they’d escaped everything, but those many hours together couldn’t last and they both knew it.
Eventually, they’d known they would have to return to Miami. Samantha feared that would change everything. In Tennessee in a motel with Alex, she hadn’t been a wedding planner or a special agent. She’d just been a woman.
ALEX HAD CALLED Caroline the minute the plane landed in Miami. His sister was doing much better. He hadn’t talked to her that often over the years, so when she came on the line, he didn’t really know what to say to her.
“Pres called,” she said. “He feels so badly that he is out of the country and unable to return but he’ll be home soon.”
Alex knew she was lying, but he said, “Good. That must be a relief to you. I know about the baby, Caroline.” Silence. “Hell, I’m ready to go out and buy a football. Or some dolls. It doesn’t matter. I can’t wait to be an uncle.” He heard her crying.
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Alex. For us to be a family. You’re going to love Pres. I planned to tell you about him the other day at Weddings Your Way…before the accident. I was just afraid you wouldn’t understand. You know, about the baby and all.”
“You know I’d love to talk to this fiancé of yours,” Alex said. “Congratulate him and welcome him to the family. You have a number for him?”
Silence. Then, “He said the phones are terrible where he is, can’t get calls in but he’ll be calling me again soon and I’ll tell him. He’ll be glad and it won’t be that long before you’ll get to meet him in person.”
Yeah right. “What country did you say he was in?”
More silence, then a weak laugh. “You know I didn’t even ask. Somewhere in South America, I think he said. He moves around so much, who can keep track?”
It broke his heart to hear his sister try to cover for the man. How long did she think she could keep this up?
“Okay, sis,” he said. “You just take care of yourself. I’ll see you real soon.” He had ended the call, anxious to get back to Miami, afraid for his sister even with an added guard on her room.
He understood that she’d lied about Pres because she loved the man. He understood love, maybe now more than he ever had before, he thought, looking over at Samantha as they walked through their terminal at Miami International Airport.
“Caroline says she’s heard from Pres.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I can hear the love in her voice for this guy. It kills me.” He saw her expression. “I know you still want to believe in this guy, but if you’re wrong about him, it doesn’t mean you’re wrong about me.”
SAMANTHA HOPED that was true as she smiled and took his hand in hers. “I still believe he loves her.” She couldn’t have been wrong about that.
She wanted Presley to be innocent of any wrongdoing even more now that she’d met his family. She wanted him to be like her—the one who’d escaped that life, made good, prove it could be done. She needed that reassurance.
“If what you say about your father is true, he would never have accepted Caroline marrying Presley Wells of Tennessee,” she said, trying to convince herself as much as Alex that that was the reason Presley had called himself Preston Wellington III.
Alex nodded slowly. “You saw how much my father admired him. Pres did a great selling job. I think he fooled my sister, as well.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Alex narrowed his gaze at her. “How can you say that? She had to have fallen for his lies. Let’s not forget that she’s pregnant with his child and he is nowhere to be found.”
“His shirts in the closet,” Samantha said. “Your sister had to have seen them. I think she knows who he really is.”
Alex looked stricken. “You’re saying she was in on this deception?”
“I’m saying it’s likely, given that Presley became Preston Wellington III about the time he met her.”
“Exactly.” Alex sighed. “Even if you’re right, he could still be behind her hit-and-run.”
She couldn’t argue that.
“And how do you explain the man who’s been following us. Or the attempt on our lives? Someone doesn’t want us returning to Miami with what we know. Who else could it be besides Presley Wells?”
She wished she had an answer. But she knew C. B. Graham would never have accepted Presley Wells as a son-in-law if he knew about his background. Just as he would never accept Samantha Peters of Algona, Iowa, dirt-poor farm girl as a daughter-in-law.
“You all right?” Alex asked, his gaze softening with concern. He squeezed her hand gently. “Let’s hope Presley is the man you thought he was. Believe me noth
ing would make me happier for my sister’s sake.” He leaned toward her, meeting her gaze as he leaned in to kiss her. The kiss was soft and gentle. Almost a goodbye kiss.
“Let’s go see my sister.”
ALEX WAS GLAD TO SEE that Caroline was awake and sitting up in bed when he and Samantha entered her room. She smiled and seemed happy to see them.
“Pres just called again,” she said, her hand going to her stomach, her smile broadening.
“I’m sorry I missed that,” Alex said.
Caroline’s smile slipped a little. “You’ll meet him soon enough.”
“Oh? Is he on his way back?” Alex asked.
Caroline seemed to ignore his question as she turned to Samantha. “It is so good of you to stop by.”
“How are you feeling?” Samantha asked, brushing Alex’s hand as she stepped past him.
He moved to the end of the bed, telling himself to let Samantha handle this. She was much better at this kind of thing. That’s right. She was an agent. How did he keep forgetting that?
His gaze settled on her as she visited with his sister and he felt his body heat with a desire he wondered if he could ever quench. Even a lifetime with that woman wouldn’t be enough, he suspected.
Caroline seemed relieved to have Samantha there. “The doctor told me I was unconscious for a while. I’m so glad the baby is all right.” She looked up and caught him watching Samantha. She quirked an eyebrow. “Has something been going on that I don’t know about?” Her expression made it clear that she couldn’t imagine a more unlikely pair.
“Alex?” Caroline’s gaze seemed to take in Samantha’s attire that he’d purchased for her in Tennessee, an admiring glance before she met his gaze again. “You both seem…different.”
“We need to talk,” Alex said, moving to the other side of his sister’s bed. “And not just about me and Samantha.”
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