Undercover Mistress

by Amethyst Ames

  Kate stepped back and headed for the bedroom. “I wasn’t the least bit worried.” Okay, so maybe she’d had to fight the urge to pull her gun out a few times. It didn’t mean thing.

  She caught his reflection in one of the mirrors right before she stepped through the door. He was smiling.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Kate twirled in front of the mirrors, not quite believing the woman looking back was really her. It was the dress, of course. The snowy white material made her skin look as though she’d spent the summer lying on a tropical beach. It even made her hair look good.

  Crystal certainly knew her stuff when it came to clothes. Kate had thought her sister had lost her mind when she’d chosen this dress, but Crystal was right. Even if Kate did feel naked.

  Again, it was the dress. Whatever it was made from weighted about two ounces and it fit her like a second skin. Since there were no straps, the bodice seemed to defy gravity. But she’d moved every way possible and hadn’t fallen out of it, so she supposed there was magic involved.

  Midway down her hips, it billowed into soft pleats that stopped at the center of her thighs. She twirled again, watching in delight as the skirt rose in a gentle circle.

  Good grief. She felt like a girl. It wasn’t a sensation she was used to. Her whole life had been spent fighting her way through a man’s world. She’d concentrated on succeeding and tried to make herself and everyone else forget the fact that she was female. Even now she worried about what would happen if she had to run in these three-inch heels. Sneakers would have been more practical.

  A low whistle filled the room and she spun to find Angus staring at her, stunned appreciation all over his face. Kate straightened, her shoulders going back. “You don’t think it’s too much, do you?”

  “Tae much?” He crossed the room to stand in front of her. “Yer goin’ tae have every woman there cryin’ in her drink from jealousy, and every mon lusting after ye.” He paused. “I’m not sure I care much for that last part.” Lifting a hand, he ran a finger over the bodice. “What’s holding it up?”

  Kate craned her head, trying to look down. “I don’t know. I’ve decided it’s either magic, or a pact with the devil.”

  “Ye look tae much like an angel for it tae have anything tae do with the devil. It has tae be magic.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled up at him. “You look pretty hot yourself.”

  She wasn’t exaggerating. It was the first time she’d ever seen him in formal wear. Instead of detracting from that wild barbarian aspect he normally had, the tux only increased it, made it more pronounced. She suspected any heads turning tonight wouldn’t be looking at her.

  “Thanks.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “Are ye ready tae go down?”

  “I’m ready.” She picked up the bag that matched the dress. While Angus was getting ready, she’d transferred the gun to the new purse.

  “Good.” He took her hand. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.”

  She arched an eyebrow as they left the room. “Why the rush?”

  He leered at her. “I’m dying tae peel ye out of that dress, Katie. Do ye realize we havena made love since last night? A mon can only take so much.”

  She laughed. “How did you ever survive an entire year?”

  “Easy. I didna have ye around tae tempt me.”

  They weren’t the first to reach the ballroom Linda had reserved. The room was already full of people. Linda was standing at the door greeting guests, a distinguished looking gentleman she introduced as her husband at her side. She kissed both Kate and Angus on their cheeks.

  “I’m glad you’re here. Don’t forget to stop and congratulate my new author. She’s one of Angus’s fans and it will make her day to meet him.”

  “Which one is she?” Kate’s gaze swept the room.

  “The brunette in the red dress, standing near the bar. Now go mingle.”

  Angus rolled his eyes and steered her toward the other side of the room. “We’ll say hello later. There’s tae many people with her now.”

  They were intercepted by a red-coated waiter carrying a tray of glasses. “Champagne?”

  “The lady would like a club soda with a twist of lime,” Angus informed him, lifting a fluted goblet.

  “Right away, Sir.”

  “Thank you.” Kate looked around again, checking to make sure her sister hadn’t arrived. “This is really a beautiful room. I don’t think I’ve been here before.”

  Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and hidden alcoves lined the walls, each with French doors leading onto a balcony. One end of the room was a large dance floor with a live band, the other was graced with seating arrangements designed to promote interaction between the guests.

  “Ye come to these often, do ye?”

  Kate hesitated. She’d been to her share, but it had always been in a working capacity, protecting her more famous clients. She hadn’t been considered a guest, or even dressed up. Those people had wanted everyone aware that they were being protected. “Not often, exactly, but I’ve been to a few.”

  Across the room, Luna gave them a tiny wave, then turned back to the tall, blonde Adonis with her and looped her arm through his.

  “Wow,” Kate breathed. “Isn’t that Mitchell Kane with Luna?”

  Angus craned for a better look. “Who’s Mitchell Kane?”

  “Only the biggest real estate tycoon in the U.S. The man has so much money even he’s lost count.”

  Eyes lighting up, Angus clapped his hands together reverently. “Please God, let her marry him and get her off my back.”

  Kate laughed as the waiter returned with her drink, and Angus nodded. “Here comes Marc.”

  The agent took her hands and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Kate, you look spectacular tonight. Angus, Maggie said to tell you she’d talk to you later. She’s got George Thompson pinned up in a corner, talking his ear off. George is a widower,” he clarified for Kate. “I think Maggie is trying to reel him in.”

  “Is it working?” She grinned at the idea.

  “Wouldn’t surprise me. George is looking a little dazed.”

  Suddenly he went still, his gaze fixed on something behind Kate. He looked a little pole-axed himself, she decided. Angus was grinning like the cat with the proverbial canary feathers hanging from his mouth.

  “Good lord. Is she real, or am I dreaming?” Marc mumbled.

  Kate glanced over her shoulder to see whom the agent was talking about and saw Crystal moving through the crowd in their direction. She should have known, she thought ruefully. Crystal always had that effect on men.

  Her sister did look especially stunning tonight, though. The gown she wore was a powder blue satin that showed off her curves to perfection. She’d put her hair up in a twist, leaving longer strands to curl around her face and neck.

  Marc didn’t give her a chance to speak. As soon as Crystal reached them, he took her hands in his. “Are you married? Would you like to dance? A drink? Hors d’oeuvres?”

  Crystal laughed. “No, yes, yes, and no.” She glanced at Kate. “Who is this guy?”

  Kate was laughing now, too. “Crystal, this is Marc Jergen, Angus’s friend and agent. Marc, this is Crystal Rivera, my sister.”

  Marc was looking more confused by the second. “Your sister? Did she say she was married, or that she wanted to dance?”

  “She’s not married and she’d love to dance,” Crystal answered. “Thank you.” She mouthed the words at Angus over her shoulder as Marc promptly started tugging her toward the dance floor.

  “Ye probably willna see her again tonight.” Angus was still laughing. “It would seem Marc is smitten.”

  “I’m glad you invited her. She hasn’t been out since Danny died. This will be good for her.”

  His smile softened as he ran a finger down her cheek. “And what about ye, Kate? Is it good for ye tae?”

  Her shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I’ve never been much for parties.”


  “Me either. Why dinna we escape tae the balcony?”

  “That sounds good.”

  He took the drink from her and put both of their glasses on a nearby table before taking her hand and leading her outside. She could hear laughter from further down, but this section of the balcony was empty.

  She moved to the rail, inhaling the warm summer air and the scents of the city. “It’s a beautiful night.”

  “Aye, but not as beautiful as ye are.” He slid his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “I had tae get ye alone.”

  She tilted her head to give him more access, shivers running over her skin. “So we could neck?”

  “Nay.” He turned her to face him. “So I could tell ye that I love ye, Katie. ‘Twas no accident that we met. We were meant for each other.”

  Kate froze, barely aware of the blood draining from her face. Fear exploded inside her, turned her stomach into a hard painful knot. “No,” she whispered. “It’s just the sex. You don’t love me. You can’t.”

  He was staring down at her with a concerned, perplexed expression. “I know it’s only been a week, Kate, but I’ve known almost since the beginning. I love ye. And ye love me tae.”

  “No!” Her breath was coming in short ragged gasps. “It’s not true. I won’t let it be true.” Desperately she wrenched away from him. She needed air, needed to get away from him. Now.

  When he reached for her again, she dodged his hands and ran through the French doors, only peripherally aware of Marc and Crystal as they moved toward her. Panic clutched at her. Sweat coated her face and her heart nearly pounded from her chest. She had to get out of there.

  * * * * *

  Angus stood locked in shock as Kate fled from him, his gaze following her as she escaped across the room.

  Suddenly Crystal blocked his view. “What did you do to her? Angus, you have to tell me.” She looked almost as panicked as Kate.

  “I told her I loved her,” he whispered.

  “Oh, God.” Her hands came up to cover her face.

  Anger wiped away his confusion in one abrupt flood of emotion. “Why do ye both act like I insulted her?” he roared. “‘Tis not a crime tae love someone.”

  “You don’t understand. Oh, Angus, I’m so sorry. You didn’t insult her, you terrified her.” She turned to Marc. “Please. Go after her. I need to talk to Angus.”

  She twisted her hands together until the agent was out of hearing, then turned back to Angus. “She was so happy yesterday that I couldn’t help but hope this time would be different.”

  “This time?” He wanted to go after Kate himself, force her to talk to him. But something made him stay.

  “God, this is hard.” Crystal took a deep breath. “Kate has never dated the same man more than twice, Angus. She says it’s because they don’t want to see her more than that, but she’s lying. It’s because she won’t take a chance on getting emotionally involved with them. Kate is the strongest woman I know, but the thought of love and marriage scare her to death.”

  “Why?” He was watching her intently.

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure I understand it completely myself. It’s connected to something that happened in our past.” One of her hands went up before he could speak. “No, don’t ask me what. I won’t violate Kate’s trust. Besides, I was so young I only know the few details my grandmother told me, and Kate won’t talk about it. Not to me and not to you.”

  Marc reappeared in the doorway. Alone.

  “Did ye find her?”

  “Yes. Long enough for her to yell that she quit. Then she locked herself in the ladies room and refused to answer me.”

  Crystal sighed. “I’d better go take care of her.”

  “Nay.” Angus put a hand on her arm. “I’ll go. Just answer one question.”

  “What?” She looked at him warily.

  “When Kate first came to work for me she said she’d agreed tae it because she needed the money. What did she need it for?”

  Crystal looked down. “For me,” she whispered. “It was the only way to keep my store open.”

  He nodded. “Marc, give her the other half of the bonus. Now.”

  Without waiting to see if his friend obeyed, Angus strode across the room. Anger boiled inside him as he plowed through the crush of people. He’d waited his whole life for a woman like Kate. He loved her, damn it, and she loved him. Somehow, she was going to learn to accept that fact. He wasn’t about to let her quit, to let her walk out of his life without looking back. Not even if he had to tie her up and throw her over his shoulder to get her home.

  Several women gave him strange looks as he knocked on the door of the ladies room, but he ignored them. “Kate?”

  Only dead silence greeted him.

  He tried the knob. Locked.

  “Katie, either you open the door or I’ll break it down.”

  She must have believed him. The door swung open abruptly. “If you don’t leave me alone, Angus, I’ll call for hotel security.” She looked like hell, but her expression was steely. She’d obviously gotten her panic under control.

  His anger drained away at the sight of her white makeup-smeared face, but if he wanted to keep her, he couldn’t give an inch right now. He pushed her gently back into the bathroom and closed the door before relocking it. “If ‘twill make ye feel better, then call them. But yer talkin’ tae me before ye do.”

  Her chin went up and she glared at him, fire blazing in her dark eyes. “I don’t have to talk to you. I quit.”

  In spite of the way she looked, she’d never been more beautiful to him. He went to the sink, wet a paper towel, and handed it to her. “Wash yer face, Katie.”

  “Stop telling me what to do.” She yanked the towel out of his hand and went to the mirror. “I told you, I quit.”

  “Ye can’t quit.”

  “Yes I can. I just did.” She mopped at her eyes, doing more damage than good.

  “Then ye’ll be returnin’ the bonus money?”

  She spun to face him. “What?”

  “The bonus money. According tae the contract ye signed, if ye leave before the job is o’er ye forfeit the money.”

  Her chin quivered but it didn’t lower. “Fine. It means getting a second mortgage on the house, but you’ll have the money back.”

  “All of it.” Deliberately he kept his voice calm.

  “Yes. All ten thousand.”

  “Twenty.”

  What little blood was left in her face drained away. “I only got half of it.”

  “Aye. And yer sister got the other half. ‘Tis twenty ye owe me.”

  Her fist knotted so hard around the towel, water dripped from the paper. “The bank won’t give me that much. I’ll have to make payments.”

  “Nay. Ye either pay me all, or ye complete the contract.” His heart ached for her. He wanted more than anything in the world to pull her into his arms and comfort her, tell her it was going to be okay. But if he did, he’d lose her.

  “You can’t do this to me. I didn’t even want the damn job as your mistress! We’ve been lying to you, Angus. Marc hired me as your bodyguard. Pretending to be your mistress was the only way you’d let me stay. I’m not even a research assistant. I was an F.B.I. agent for five years, and now I own a personal security firm.”

  He put his hands on the counter, trapping her between his arms. There was no reason to remind her she’d told him her real reason for taking the job, he decided. Right now, she would only deny that he was her fantasy man. “I know. I’ve known most of the last week. It makes no difference tae me. The contract ye signed was tae be my mistress and that’s the one I’m holdin’ ye tae.”

  “For how long?”

  Angus hesitated and took a deep breath. “Until we find whoever’s stalking me and get them taken care of.” That should give him enough time to dig up information about her past so he could discover what he was up against.

  Someone rattled the doorknob. “What will it be, Katie? Will ye stay, or w
ill ye return the money?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. “I’ll stay as your bodyguard, but not your mistress.”

  “Nay,” he murmured. “Ye’ll do both as ye agreed tae.” Gently, he put his knuckle under her chin and lifted it until she met his eyes. “Ye can lie tae yerself if ye want, Katie, but ye enjoyed being with me as much as I did with ye.”

  Her eyes misted and her lips trembled. “You have to take it back, Angus. You don’t love me. Please take it back. It was the sex. That’s all it was.”

  “And do ye think the sex would have been so good if we didna care for each other?”

  “Yes. Sex is only sex.”

  He shook his head. “Ye know better, Kate. Somewhere down inside ye, ye know better. But if ‘tis what ye want, I’ll take it back. For now.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Kate was hanging on by a thread. It was as though Angus had looked deep inside her, discovered her worst nightmare, and then made it come true. And now he was forcing her to keep living it.

  She wanted to scream and cry; she wanted to stay and fight. She wanted to run and hide; she wanted to throw herself into his arms and let him soothe her. She was being torn to pieces and it took every ounce of her iron control to face him.

  He couldn’t force her to love him, she told herself vehemently. As long as she stayed aloof she was safe. He couldn’t hurt her. Hadn’t she proved it many times over the years? She could survive this.

  “I want to talk to my sister before I agree to anything.”

  Angus nodded. “She’s probably waiting outside.”

  Back stiff, Kate marched to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open. Crystal and Marc all but fell into the room. Crystal took one look at her and blanched.

  “Oh, God, Kate. You look terrible. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she lied. “Did you take the second half of the bonus money?”

  Crystal hesitated, her gaze going over Kate’s shoulder to Angus. Slowly, she nodded. “I’m sorry, Kate. I didn’t think there was a reason not to.”

  Kate squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before facing Angus again. “You win. I’ll finish the job. But there are a few things we need to get clear now that you know the truth. When it comes to your safety, I’m in charge. If I tell you to do something, you don’t stop to ask questions, you just do it. If you get any more letters, strange phone calls, anything suspicious, you tell me immediately. You never, ever answer a door, not here or in Maine. And you keep me informed of your movements at all times. If we’re in public, you never leave my sight. Do you understand me?” Amazingly, falling into the routine of her job made her feel better, steadier.