The Grayce Walters Romantic Suspense Series

by Jacki Delecki

  One of the young women looked beyond Hunter and spoke low in Pashto, unaware that Hunter and Maddy understood both Afghan languages. Suddenly, all the laughter and spontaneity vanished as the woman grew silent.

  He paused before turning to see who had such a dampening effect on the women. Two women in burkas, accompanied by a smiling Abu Abdul Hamman in a long-sleeve shirt and casual pants, approached their group. Nothing else was said, but the playfulness of the past moments promptly disappeared.

  Tension prickled along his spine. He could almost smell the approach of danger; their quarry was near.

  The women, including Maddy, separated themselves from him to greet Abu’s mother and sister.

  It took all Hunter’s control to comply with the prohibitions and step away from Maddy and the possible danger.

  With his mother and sister several steps behind him, Abu walked directly toward Hunter as if he recognized him. Abu’s mother and sister joined the women, who huddled together and spoke in hushed tones.

  Abu bowed his head and then offered his hand. Hunter shook his hand and waited in politeness.

  “My mother and sister have informed me of your wife’s dedication to helping our women.”

  Was there sarcasm or a veiled threat in Abu’s comment? This was playing out exactly as they had hoped. They had established contact with Abu, but the man was effusive and friendly. Hunter acted nonchalant and focused on monitoring the subtext of the polite conversation. Talking to a Westerner would be all about courteous form and nothing of substance.

  “My wife is very dedicated to helping others.”

  Abu smiled broadly, revealing an uneven and crooked front tooth. He had a long scar over his left eye that Hunter recognized as a knife injury. The Afghans were very skilled with knives as weapons, honed over years of battle with many invaders.

  “Yes? It is a good quality in a wife. I have heard that you live in our neighborhood and that you both worked in our country with the Red Cross?”

  “Yes, that is how I met my wife.”

  “Your wife helped with reuniting families torn apart by the war. But what work did you do?” Abu inspected Hunter, his eyes narrowing slightly as he scanned his face.

  Hunter’s body clamped in awareness. There was nothing in Abu’s placid smile that betrayed suspicion.

  “I was working on a water project. I’m an engineer. You have a beautiful country.”

  “Yes, nothing compares to our mountains. You must come to my restaurant. We serve authentic Afghan food. My Afghan pilaf and lamb kebabs are the best in the city.”

  “Thank you. I’d love to bring Maddy. She misses the incredible Afghan food.” He had no idea if Maddy actually ate Afghan food after her two tours of duty.

  Hunter turned to the shout of a woman’s voice from behind him. “Hey, Henry. I didn’t think I’d see you so soon.”

  It didn’t take but a mini-second to realize that his ass was about to be burned. Amy, the barista from Starbucks, in a tight black skirt and low-cut white blouse, strutted toward him. He bowed his head to excuse himself. Abu gave him a knowing look. Such communications went beyond language and cultural barriers. Male lust was global.

  The women had all stopped speaking at Amy’s brash shout. All female eyes turned and tracked Amy’s sensual walk and voluptuous adaptation of the Starbuck’s uniform. Women’s intuition about “other women” was also global. Maddy did a double take and then gave Hunter a close-lipped smile before she straightened and turned her back.

  Hunter took Amy’s elbow and led her away from the women and Abu. He hadn’t told Amy anything that could compromise his cover, but he couldn’t take any risks.

  She chuckled in a deep, husky voice. “Henry, you’re not happy to see me?”

  No kidding. Like having needles stuck in his eyes. Amy had been a mistake. A big fricking mistake. He never made poor judgement calls. Not until Maddy. For the first time in his life, he was in over his head dealing with one woman. A glance back told him Maddy’s spine was Marine tight, and he imagined her chin was thrust forward in battle stance.

  “Look, I explained it was a mistake. You and I shouldn’t have happened. I apologize. You were great.”

  Now all the closeness and intimacy he and Maddy were starting to share had evaporated because of a brief lapse in judgement.

  “But Henry, nothing happened. And you were such a gentleman, and I can’t stop thinking about peeling you out of those clothes… And. You know how great it would be between us.”

  He shook his head. He was tired of hookups with no attachments. He was ready for more than a night of hard, grinding sex.

  Hunter moved Amy farther away from Maddy and out of earshot. He needed this whole mess to end. He was on assignment, and somehow, his personal life was affecting the mission in a dangerous, unpredictable way.

  “Look,” he said, “it’s never going to happen. And I don’t want you to think it might. I was a total jackass to come on to you that night.” He hadn’t come on to Amy; she had been all over him when he went in to get an iced tea after moving the surveillance equipment into the house. She even offered to give him a blow job in the bathroom. But as frustrated as Maddy had him, he couldn’t accept Amy’s offer for quick relief.

  Amy moved closer and touched his chest where his shirt opened. “I get it, but if you ever change your mind…”

  As if Maddy had eyes in the back of her head, she turned right as Amy’s fingers wandered down his shirt. Maddy turned her back again.

  He took Amy’s wandering hands from his chest. “Sorry, Amy. You deserve someone who cares about you.”

  “Tell me about it.” She gave a self-deprecating, throaty laugh and then dropped her hand. “Next time, Henry. I’ve got to get back to work.” She strutted past Abu and the women and kept on walking…and then she turned and did a little finger wave for Maddy and the women’s benefit. “See you around.”

  With Amy gone, the women all turned to stare at him. Their admiration and shy looks were gone. He knew he was scowling, but he didn’t care. He felt like a ridiculous adolescent caught in a bad high school scene.

  Maddy hadn’t moved. The women moved closer to Maddy in a protective cluster. He was the bad guy in this scenario, and there was no other way to play it. Except he and Maddy weren’t married, and he hadn’t done anything wrong…except be a horny guy who got offered dirty sex.

  Maddy said her goodbyes to the women, smiling and gently touching the baby’s head as one last gesture. His stomach twisted in knots with the urgent desire to explain everything.

  Why should he care that much about Maddy’s reaction? Because he would never dream of hurting or embarrassing her. She deserved only the best from her pretend husband.

  Chapter Nine

  Maddy excused herself, ignoring the women’s sympathetic looks. Like many women betrayed before her, she reached deep into the primitive well of pride to prevent anyone from seeing her pain. She plastered a smile across her face while hurt coiled around her heart. She tried to remind herself this was a pretend relationship and shouldn’t matter. But she couldn’t feel betrayed unless she actually cared for the callous brute.

  She put her hand on his arm. “Honey, we should get our shopping done.” She didn’t make eye contact with Abu, since it was not her place to approach a man.

  Hunter flinched at her touch. What was he expecting…a jealous lover scene? They were undercover, and Abu would expect a wife to ignore a husband’s mistress. If she were a real wife and not undercover, her reaction would be a totally different kettle of sharks.

  Hunter took her arm and linked it under his. “Mr. Hamman. May I introduce my wife?”

  Abu bowed his head. “Mrs. Grady.”

  Maddy nodded in acknowledgment.

  “Your husband has been telling me how much you love our country and miss the food. I hope you both will come to my restaurant, Afghan Kebab. It is on the corner of Graham and Rainier.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Hamman. Your restaurant is
very close to where we live.”

  “Yes, that is what my sister informed me. You must come and have my gosh-e-feel—like American elephant ear pastries.”

  “If my husband has time, it would be an honor.” Her face and throat hurt from the fake sweet tone and fake sweet smile.

  Abu’s black eyes lightened. He hadn’t missed the little wifely jab, which Maddy thought he might expect from a jealous wife.

  Everyone bowed.

  Hunter led her toward the fruit stand. “Shall we get some cherries? They look fabulous.”

  “I’d like some blueberries.”

  Although the group had dispersed, she was very aware that her students were observing her and Hunter. They walked arm in arm down the long aisle of organic farmers. She played the part of a doting wife. She even went on tiptoe and whispered in her husband’s ear as a sweet romantic gesture. “Abu and his mother and sister have left. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “I thought you wanted to try La…something, the Italian place, for dinner tonight.”

  “No, I’m going to get cheese and a baguette for dinner. It’s all I need.” No more romantic meals where you charm me with great food, wine, jokes, intense gazes, and make me believe.

  They walked along Rainier Avenue in silence until they got past the crowds. Hunter carried the bags loaded with fruit, cheese, fresh pasta, bread, and a bouquet of sunflowers. Hunter had insisted on buying her flowers. This farce was getting ridiculous. As if a betrayed wife would forget and forgive adultery with flowers. She had to remind herself this wasn’t a marriage.

  Maddy hated women who pouted, and she wasn’t one of them. Hunter had been very clear after he’d kissed her voraciously. Men had needs, and since she wasn’t available, he looked elsewhere. “Did you get any helpful information from Abu? He was pleasant enough. No dark looks of censure for a mere woman.”

  “I agree. Abu is very charming. And very polite. But during my time in Afghanistan and Iraq, I learned that politeness is a public behavior and unrelated to how people actually feel about you.”

  “Yes, it’s the same with the women.”

  “He asked where we live.”

  “In class, Rasa, the woman with the cute baby, asked where we live. I shared how we just moved to the neighborhood, making it natural for us to innocently bump into Abu and his family.”

  “He was very interested in our work with ICRC. Did you tell the women anything different than we discussed? I didn’t want to contradict what you had said.”

  “I was very sketchy. Keep the lies close to the truth, right? I emphasized how I fell in love with my husband in their country. Women always want to hear love stories, how the couple met, how the man proposed.”

  Hunter stopped on the sidewalk, amusement and something else in his voice. “You’re a romantic?”

  Maddy kept walking. I’m a Marine on assignment. She repeated the mantra in her head to match the rhythm of her dogged walk. As Hunter had said from the beginning, this pretend marriage was messed up. Nothing to do with real feelings; an assignment, that’s all. Once this was finished, she’d hope to never see Hunter again. With her resolve restored, she lifted her chin and marched down Rainier Avenue to their house, where she would stay in her room with no more intimate dinners or moments with Hunter.

  “Maddy, wait up.” Hunter took two big steps toward her. His hands were full with the bags, so he couldn’t touch her with his bogus PDA.

  He had his usual scowl back in place. She should remember her first impression of him—a tighty-whities dude—before he started all the nice, husbandly gestures. She twisted the ring on her finger, wanting to take it off and throw it at him, but something held her back.

  “Maddy, we need to talk about that woman, but not here.”

  With her brisk pace and her combusting emotions, perspiration beaded up on her face, and her long-sleeve blouse stuck to her skin. All she wanted was a shower and to get away from Hunter. Surprisingly, the giant man showed no signs of the heat or the stress of a public meeting with his sweetie.

  Relieved to be at the house and out of the sun, she hurried down the brick walkway to the front porch. How quickly perspectives could change. This morning she had found the little farmhouse enchanting, and now? A brief stopover in her history of endless wandering.

  Hunter dropped the bags on one of the Adirondack chairs and unlocked the front door. He held the door so Maddy could enter first. Maddy felt his stare on her back as she walked into the living room. The overstuffed chintz couch and wicker furniture now seemed sickeningly saccharine. “I’m going to jump in the shower. I need to get into something cooler.” And I need time away from you and your bullshit ways.

  “Go ahead and shower. But you can’t run away. We have to talk about what happened.”

  Did he see her as someone who ran away from her problems? Maybe when she was sixteen and had no other choice, but not anymore. She turned quickly and stepped back into the living room. “Okay, let’s talk.”

  “You sure you don’t want that shower? You look pretty hot.”

  She was hot—hot under the collar and ready to take down a certain womanizing jerk.

  “I can wait. Let’s hear what you think I’m avoiding.”

  He rubbed his massive hand back and forth over the stubble on his chin. She was starting to like the less polished Hunter. He was such a dark man that by afternoon he needed to shave again. It was funny how she was starting to notice all the little things that came with living together.

  “I almost blew our cover back there. This isn’t like me. I never depart from my assignment. Your safety and this mission are more important than my personal feelings. I need us to get back on track.”

  Maddy picked up one of the bags of groceries and walked to the kitchen to avoid Hunter’s careful scrutiny. “What you do during this assignment is your business.” She dug into the bag for the creamy goat’ cheese. “Your girlfriend helped my relationship with the women. The colonel was right—a husband, even an unfaithful husband—really does strengthen my cover.”

  Hunter followed her into the kitchen and stood close behind her. Heat radiated off his massive frame. “Girlfriend?” She felt his hot breath on her neck. “Have I been acting like I have a girlfriend?”

  She swirled around. “How would I know how you act when you have a girlfriend? But don’t sweat it.” She turned back to the groceries and spoke over her shoulder. “Your affair is helpful—for the women to see an American woman being taken for granted builds camaraderie.”

  He grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. His voice was raw. “You think I’d be the kind of husband who would cheat on his wife?”

  His angular face was stark with emotion. She hadn’t meant to bring up the old pain of his mother’s abandonment. She understood wounds that scarred but never healed. “Sorry, I know you’d be faithful.” Her stomach got a funny, quirky feeling at the idea of Hunter as a devoted husband and father.

  His wide chest expanded deeply. He leaned closer, as if to kiss her, then reached around and grabbed the cherries out of the grocery bag. The only sound was his harsh breathing. “I’m here to protect you. I could have ruined our cover because of my need…” He dumped the bag of cherries into a colander.

  Not wanting him to see how his words affected her, she bent down to throw the pasta and veggies into the frig. “I do not need to hear about your sex with that woman.”

  He turned away from the sink to glare at her. “You find it hard to believe that women are attracted to me?”

  Oh, she believed it. She saw the way the woman had drooled over him.

  He took a deep breath and shook his head. “I didn’t have sex with that woman. Because of you.”

  She stood up suddenly and bumped her head on the freezer door which had swung open. “Ow! What?”

  He turned and opened the cupboard. With his back to her, he growled. “My greedy, crazy, over-the-top need for you drove me… Forget it.” He took a vase off the top shelf and turn
ed toward her. “We need to get this job done. Everything else has to wait. My gut is telling me there is more to the Hamman family.”

  Maddy’s heart beat harder, faster replaying Hunter’s words.

  “You can’t leave me hanging like this. You’re greedy? Crazy? That doesn’t sound like the man who said women don’t matter when it came to men’s sex drive.”

  “Right.” He used a large Japanese chopping knife to hack off the end of the sunflowers, his head bent forward, accentuating the taut muscles in his back and neck. His words were clipped, matching his precise whacks. “Doesn’t matter.”

  Was the man clueless? Maddy’s voice came out squeaky. “You barely know me.”

  Hunter dropped the knife and took three steps, backing her up against the refrigerator. He leaned close, so close she inhaled the smell of aroused male mixed with his woodsy pine aftershave.

  “I’ve been following your career since I found out you were Angie’s best friend.”

  The stainless steel door was cool and hard, just like the look Hunter shot at her. “But…but you hardly have any contact with Angie.”

  “Doesn’t mean I wasn’t looking out for her. She’s my sister.”

  Maddy lowered her eyes, avoiding his probing scrutiny. One assumption about Hunter after another was crumbling. She gave a half-hearted laugh. “Marines take care of their own.”

  His full lower lip curved into a little smile as he toyed with one of her curls. “I think you’d take care of your own even if they weren’t Marines.”

  His face was inches from hers, and she could see little flecks of amber in his nearly black eyes. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “I assumed you knew from our last assignment that I’d find out everything about you. I have access to all your files.”

  Maddy gulped around the panic rising in her throat. She was chosen to go undercover with the ecoterrorism group because she had lived on the streets after running away from her last foster family. She hadn’t really considered that Hunter could, or would, read all her files, know about her whacked adolescence, her disastrous foster families, and her drug-dealing boyfriend.