Sexy Liar

by Stacey Kennedy

  “Good.” Rowan accepted the phone back and returned it to his pocket as the limo drove off again, picking up speed. “We’re going to drop you off first. Get a drink before you do anything, to give me time to get in there. I’m going to have the driver circle the block once before bringing me back.”

  “Okay.” She drew in another deep breath, readying herself.

  The limo took three more right turns and then pulled to a stop. Press swarmed, which wasn’t all that much of a surprise considering how wealthy Lennox was. Celebrities would likely be at the party, as would the city’s politicians showing their support to Lennox’s cause. She reached for the door handle to open the door when Rowan stopped her by grabbing her hand.

  “Don’t forget this.” He reached across the seat and grabbed a small box and then opened it. Her heart fluttered at the gorgeous red and black metal mask. Elegant and sexy, she couldn’t help but admire the feminine lines of the mask before Rowan helped tie it around her head. When she glanced back at him, he scanned her face and then he gave her a panty-dropping smile. “Gorgeous.”

  Warmth touched her heart…and every other place craving Rowan’s touch. “Keep me safe tonight, Hawke, and you might just see me in only this mask.”

  He gripped her chin and dropped a hard kiss on her mouth. “That’s a promise, McCoy.” When he broke the kiss, she went to move away, but he kept his hold tight on her chin. His eyes were warm and soft, both very unlike him. “Thank you, Alex. For helping me find Mia.”

  Her heart did something weird in her chest. Got all tingly. “You would have done the same thing for me.” She began to open the door but someone outside opened it farther. She stepped outside and said, “Thank you” to the man in the tux, and then she turned toward the grand 1930s European-style hotel. The limo drove off behind her as she passed beneath the American flag. The doorman held the door open for her as she strode inside. It came as no surprise that she immediately met security. Lennox was a billionaire and had likely rented out the entire hotel for the event.

  “Name,” the security guy, wearing a black suit, asked.

  She pulled her identification from her clutch. “Alex McCoy.” Of course, she felt horrible for taking another couple off the list to use their spots, but if it saved their lives and got Rowan his sister back, then it was worth it. And Alex promised to donate to the cause after Mia was back home, since the other couple likely would have donated too.

  The security scanned her ID, waited for the loud beep, and then gave a polite smile. “Enjoy your evening, Ms. McCoy.”

  “Thank you.”

  Leaving the security behind her, she strode down the long hallway, with the orchestra playing classical music drawing her forward. Not a dozen steps later, she entered the ballroom and found that Lennox had gone to every expense. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings. Waiters and waitresses strode around the room, some offering glasses of champagne and hors d’oeuvres. The partygoers, all wearing masquerade masks, were mingling by the bar or standing with groups at the round tables with black linens and large feather centerpieces.

  Alex moved to the bar. She caught the eye of a bartender who immediately came over to her. “Apple martini, please,” she ordered.

  “Coming right up.” The bartender gave her a sinful smile, indicating that Rowan got the dress just right.

  Hell, even she knew he got the dress right, but she also didn’t want anyone else looking at her in this dress other than Rowan…and that was an obvious problem. They’d been in this exact spot before; she cared too much when it came to Rowan.

  Last time, she ran.

  Maybe it helped knowing he’d been just as unsure back then.

  When the bartender delivered the martini, Alex set thoughts of Rowan to the back of her mind and took a long sip to ease her nerves, then scanned the ballroom. The sparkles of diamonds around women’s necks and wrists and fingers glistened against the overhead lighting coming off the chandeliers. The ballroom reeked of wealth and status, and Alex had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. She’d never known this world, and only tasted lavish living when Ryder would invite her to parties that he’d attend for politicians or celebrities when he got suckered into it.

  “You need to relax.” Rowan’s smooth voice came across the earpiece. “You look wound up tightener than a clock.”

  “I can think of a way to fix that,” she replied, holding her glass at her mouth to keep the conversation private. But she knew it wasn’t only the atmosphere making her uneasy; it was familiarity of how she felt with Rowan. They were almost repeating history, and this time she felt herself wanting to stick more than she had before. His vulnerability about his sister opened him up and caused a rush of feelings in her that made her weak. She hated weakness. “Do you see Lennox?” she asked, getting on task.

  “He’s at your three o’clock.”

  Alex followed Rowan’s direction, and indeed, she found Heath Lennox, standing by a large ice sculpture, with two ladies at his side. Not just any women. These ladies looked like they belonged on the Victoria’s Secret runway. “You expect me to compete with that?”

  Rowan didn’t even hesitate. “First of all, you’re not giving yourself enough credit. Those women there are not you.”

  Her heart just about melted into a pile of goo before she got control of it. “Laying it on thick, Hawke.”

  “Always, McCoy,” Rowan said.

  She searched to find him in the crowd, but he wasn’t near the dance floor or the bar. A CIA agent doing what he did best, she figured. Staying hidden.

  “Second,” Rowan continued, “those women are for show. Neither are a breathtakingly stunning submissive in a red dress. Why don’t you go and demurely circle Lennox so he takes notice of you?”

  Get in, get out. That’s what Ryder always said. He never delayed any assignment. He acted quick and decisively. Leaning on his teachings, she took a long sip of her martini then set the drink down before straightening her shoulders.

  “Yes,” Rowan said in her ear. “Be poised. A Dominant wants a submissive who will not crack. But tease him, be playful, and show him how much of a treat you are.”

  “Yeah. Yeah. Got it,” she muttered. Alex had been around Hadley, Ryder’s wife, enough that she simply mirrored her. Hadley was one of the strongest women Alex knew, but she explained once that she liked letting go at times and having Ryder take care of her. Cheaper than any therapy, Hadley once said.

  Alex would rather pay for the therapy.

  Once she had a plan in mind, she headed toward Lennox, who had yet to notice her. That had to change. When Alex reached the blond woman on his right, she bumped into the woman’s arm and tossed her clutch purposely at Lennox’s feet. Before anyone grabbed it, she dropped to her knees and scooped it up.

  She gingerly looked up and said softly, “I’m so sorry, sir.” She held his gaze as sensually as she could before she cast her eyes away. Okay, so this wasn’t her thing, but she figured letting him hear the sir, while kneeling at his feet, would plant a good image in his mind.

  A hand suddenly presented itself in front of her face. “Let me help you up.”

  Gag! This whole damsel-in-distress thing churned her stomach. “Oh, thank you so much.” She slid her fingers into his hand, dragging them across his coarse skin, and let him help her to her feet. When she met his gaze again, she realized one very important fact. If Lennox was the killer, he needed to be taken out quickly. This guy had it all. Charisma, good looks, and money. A total triple threat that could lure women easily into his grip. She gave a shy smile. “I’m so clumsy sometimes. Again, I’ve very sorry.”

  Lennox returned the smile that oozed charm. “I’m just glad you’re all right.” He kept hold of her hand. “Heath Lennox.” His chin dipped. “And you are?”

  “Hadley Rose.” Alex licked her lips, and his gaze flicked right there onto her mouth and held. The way his tongue sneaked out over his lips in response, she figured she was doing exactly what she shoul
d be doing.

  “Walk away now,” Rowan said in her ear.

  Alex could have sworn she heard tension vibrating in his voice. She glanced down at their held hands and then purposely looked Lennox in the eye. She read romance novels. She knew the drill. She let her lips fall open, her breath catch, and she gave a slight shiver that only Lennox would notice because he held her hand. “Mr. Lennox,” she said.

  His gaze burned with heat and passion. “Ms. Rose.”

  Alex turned, and he slowly released her hand, but purposely dragged his index finger over her palm sensually. She strutted away, feeling his gaze following her every move, and put an extra wiggle to her hips.

  “Is he watching me leave?” she asked Rowan.

  “He’s staring at your ass and drooling.” A pause. “Now we just need to seal the deal.”

  Alex returned to the bar where she’d been standing before, keeping her back to Lennox. “Care to inform me how we do that?”

  The air shifted, and the lust she lacked with Lennox suddenly engulfed her like wildfire as Rowan closed his hard body against her back. His lips grazed her neck, and a harsh shiver puckered her nipples when he murmured in her ear, “We make you a challenge.”

  CHAPTER 7

  EVERYTHING ALIGNED FOR Rowan when he brought Alex in close against him as they joined the other couples on the dance floor. This was where he wanted her, far away from Lennox. Right there next to him. Safe and close. Her spring-like scent infused the air around him, and there wasn’t a single part of him that wanted to make her any more appealing to Lennox than she already was, but Mia’s face filled his mind. Rowan held no doubt in his mind, Mia would know he was turning the world upside down trying to find her.

  He brought Alex a little closer, all for the warmth she exuded. The slow sensual music filled the room. Rowan kept his hand low on Alex’s back, not for Lennox, but all for himself. Touching her exactly like he wanted to touch her was his one indulgence tonight. Under different circumstances, Rowan would have allowed himself to drift away while he guided her along the dance floor, but tonight, he needed to stay sharp and ensure Alex caught Lennox’s eye.

  He dropped his head into her neck and inhaled her aroma. A comforting scent that called to him on every level as a man. One he never seemed to get enough of, or never could have forgotten. And yet, he quickly pulled back, not letting his mind go where it wanted to linger.

  With her mouth right by his ear, Alex asked, “You honestly think making me a challenge will grab Lennox’s attention?”

  Rowan pulled away to look down at her. “Yes.”

  Her expression pinched while she considered that. She finally snorted and shook her head. “Men are weird.”

  On that point, he would not argue with her. “Men like playing cat and mouse, especially if he is a Dominant. This would be intriguing for him. We’re just hand-feeding Lennox that game.”

  She stopped dancing and scowled. “If I am the mouse in this scenario, I’m going to drop-kick you right here on the dance floor.”

  Rowan fought his smile, sliding his hand just a bit lower on her back, guiding her into the dance. “It’s all acting, luv.” When she didn’t look convinced, he brought her in closer against his chest, feeling the swell of her breasts against him, drawn by how incredible and right she felt in his arms. That’s what originally drew him to her when he met her in Paris. He’d never met anyone in his life that wasn’t disposable, except for his family. Being a spy, he never got attached. But he hadn’t liked the way Lennox looked at her, and he felt the surge of jealously burn through him.

  Maybe his reaction was due to her strength. Or maybe it was because behind that ironclad wall she kept up, she had a good moral fiber that was unbreakable. Alex could work in the dark web and make millions, and yet she chose the path that took out the bad guys, one at a time. Rowan respected that, and her. But maybe, just maybe, his attachment was something else entirely. Something that he knew lingered deep in his chest that no woman had ever touched.

  His cold, dead heart.

  “I’m beginning to see the draw to this kind of work you do,” Alex said, pulling him out of his thoughts. She gave him a sweet smile, one he didn’t see very often. “You can be this rich partygoer one day, then someone totally different the next. It must be thrilling work.”

  “Beyond thrilling,” he agreed.

  From their week together in Paris, Rowan had learned that growing up had been hard for Alex. Her father was a deadbeat. Her mother was a drug addict who overdosed when Alex was sixteen years old. She’d been in and out of foster homes until she was an adult, but even Rowan knew she spent more time on the street than in any foster home.

  Remembering all these details about Alex made him want to share part of himself with her too. “In my twenties, I lived for this type of life,” he explained. “The adventure. The danger. It was the adrenaline rush I sought like an addict.”

  His emotions must have shown on his face. “And now, in your thirties, how is it?” she asked, a soft curl resting against the curve of her cheekbone.

  He kissed that spot on her cheek, loving how she drew even closer toward him. “Now I see that this line of work comes at a price.”

  Her fingers tightened around his, head cocked and her eyes turning gorgeously inquisitive. “A price you don’t want to pay anymore?”

  He nearly answered, then stopped himself. After the Feds cut him out of the information loop, and the CIA wouldn’t let him help, he started to question how much of himself he’d given up for the job, and since the minute he entered Alex’s hotel room, he had started questioning life and what the hell he was doing with his. With Mia’s life in danger, everything got put into perspective. Now… Christ, his mind definitely wasn’t in the game. “The murder, the death, the darkness…it’s grown exhausting. Add that to how the agency sidelined me on the case, I’m beginning to question my dedication to them.” He let out the breath he’d unconsciously been holding. “There’s gotta be something more to this world than seeing its dark underbelly.”

  Aware of it or not, she tightened the fingers clasped on his shoulder too. “That’s why Ryder left the Army Rangers. Too much death, and working in security has a lot fewer bad guys.” She hesitated, obviously pondering something, and then her eyes filled with warm curiosity. “Have you ever considered the private sector? Ryder’s always looking for new guys, especially former CIA.”

  He didn’t hate the idea. A thought to consider later. He dipped his chin and held nothing back in his grin. “Are you asking me to move to San Francisco for you?”

  Most women would blush and gasp or show some type of embarrassment. Alex held his gaze intently and smiled playfully back. “Believe me, Hawke, the last thing you’d want to do is move anywhere for me. I don’t play nice.”

  He kept his mouth shut at that comment. Relationships couldn’t have been an easy thing for her, not coming from the past she did. They weren’t easy for him either. No wonder they’d both bolted five years ago.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Lennox leave his place next to his two trophy dates and move to the bar closest to them. Before Rowan could react to reel Lennox in, Alex’s hand suddenly slid over his neck, bringing his focus back to her. When he met the swirling hints of brown within the amber hues of her eyes, he staggered to keep his mind steady, becoming so lost in their depths.

  “Stop worrying,” she said. “We’re getting close to finding Mia. I can feel it.”

  She still thought Mia was on his mind. She was, of course, but Alex was there too. He stared intently, holding her close. He could never pinpoint the reason for the mess she created inside him when she watched him like he was her whole world for that moment, but all he knew was that she easily unraveled him. “Nothing is more dangerous to our task tonight than you looking at me like that,” he told her seriously.

  The side of her mouth curved. “And why is that?”

  He dropped his mouth closer to hers and murmured, “For the control
it has over me.”

  Her lips parted, inviting him to kiss her, whether she realized it or not. She pressed herself a little tighter against him, nearly making Rowan lose all sense of himself, but then he remembered why they were there. He drew in a deep breath to steady himself, and then leaned away, finding Lennox watching them. Rowan trailed his fingers gingerly up Alex’s back and then down again, ensuring Lennox noticed how incredible she looked there all the way down to her smoking-hot ass. “How about you answer a question for me now?” Rowan asked, not only to keep their minds screwed on straight, but for his own curiosity.

  She released a shuddering breath, obviously affected by the heat from his fingertips along her spine. “What do you want to know?”

  “Why you were so agreeable to help me find Mia?” The thought had been weighing on his mind since Alex had agreed back in the hotel room. He thought he’d need to lay claim to her physically to secure her to his side, but she barely hesitated to help once he told her the complete truth. “Not that I don’t appreciate the help, but I saw the emotion in your face that day when I told you my sister was abducted; there’s something driving you here, something personal.”

  She searched his eyes a moment then said, “I had a sister, and I understand that love.”

  “You had a sister?”

  Alex gave a soft nod, glancing away for a moment before addressing him again. “Lena died when she was eighteen. I was seventeen.”

  Rowan tightened his fingers around Alex’s hand, wanting to be anywhere but there while hearing such a personal conversation. “Do you mind explaining what happened to her?”

  “What happens to the not-so-lucky foster kids,” Alex said in a dry voice, lacking any emotion at all. “Lena had it rough, turned to drugs, and overdosed.” Alex’s expression couldn’t lie, and pain waved off her. “We talked a lot even though we were placed in different foster homes after our mother passed away, but one night she went missing. I tried desperately to find her and then ended up racing around the city, looking in all the wrong places.”