by Tess Summers
“Can we choose not to answer?”
“Sure. But, keep in mind, this is your first time meeting me. Do you want to see me again? If so, answer accordingly. I’m not going to go out on a second date with someone sketchy who won’t answer simple questions about himself.”
“Well, if this is your first time meeting me, I would hope you’re not going to get too personal with your questions.”
“We’ll see where the night takes us,” she said with a coy smile as they approached the hostess stand.
They stood to the side and waited to be seated, and he leaned over to whisper in her ear, “I’m not sure if I’ve told you this already, but you look stunning tonight. Good enough to eat.”
She shot him an admonishing look.
“Would you really say that to someone you just met?”
He hesitated, and she held her hand up as she shook her head in disgust. “Don’t answer that.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t. I’m sorry. But you do look beautiful. And I love your haircut; it reminds me of Tinkerbell.”
That made her smile.
“I’ve been told that.”
He loved that she’d cut her hair in the pixie-style he was used to on her. She was beautiful with longer hair, of course, but the new cut was more his old Tink.
“Any reason you decided to get it cut?”
“My ex-husband hated my hair short. When I sat down in the stylist’s chair today, and she asked me what I wanted, I realized what I wanted was to wear it short again.”
“You should always do what you want.”
“I think I’m just now realizing what a pleaser I really am.”
“Sometimes being a pleaser isn’t a bad thing,” he said with a flirtatious smile and wink.
“No,” she flirted back. “Sometimes pleasing can be oh-so satisfying.”
And, just like that, his dick was hard.
Tonight was going to be interesting, that was for sure.
Chapter Seven
Jacob
They were seated and waiting on their drink order, perusing the menu, when she asked, “What looks good?”
He broke out into a wicked grin as he looked her over from her sexy tits to her adorable face and back down to her tits again.
“On the menu.”
“Oh, sorry. I think I’m going to have the New York Strip. You?”
“Hmm, tough choice, but I’m going to go with the fettuccine alfredo.”
“Can I interest you in sharing?”
They used to do that all the time when they went out to eat.
She broke out into a big smile. “I’d love that.”
He needed to keep reminding her of their good times.
“So, Jacob Smith. What do you do?”
No lies. Shit. Were they really going to do this?
Maybe it was a good thing. He’d promised himself he was going to tell her everything.
Calmly, like he was explaining he worked at Target, he said, “I used to work for the government, but I retired about four years ago and am a troubleshooting consultant now.”
He saw her wheels turning.
“The government? I thought you were—” she asked with a tilted head, her brows furrowed in confusion.
With one eyebrow raised, he cut her off, reiterating slowly, “The government, Tink.”
The light bulb went on, and he nodded his head as her expression changed when what he meant hit her, just as the waiter approached with their wine.
She waited until the server walked away, then dramatically looked around to see if anyone had been listening to their conversation. He’d have to work with her on her covert skills.
“And now you’re a troubleshooting consultant? Who are your clients?” she whispered harshly.
Jacob casually lifted his wine glass, pausing mid-air as he contemplated her question, then answered before taking a drink, “Different government agencies, some countries, some private individuals.”
Her eyes were wide as she stared at him.
“Is it dangerous work?” Her voice was low now, and she kept looking around.
“It can be. Fortunately, my fee is pretty high and that affords me tight security, among other things.”
“Other things?”
He shrugged. “A private jet, remote locations when I travel, access to some pretty important people…”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to play my I’d rather not answer card.”
“Is that why you left me?”
He smirked over the rim of his glass.
“Why, Taren, I just met you tonight; I don’t know what you mean by that.”
She narrowed her eyes and folded her arms.
“Have you ever been married?”
Sneaky girl.
“No.” He knew where she was going with this.
“Have you ever been close?”
“There was a girl I loved with all my heart about seven years ago. Then a colleague’s wife was murdered in revenge for something we’d done. Even though I’d done a decent job of keeping our relationship hidden, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to risk her getting killed.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“You should have told me,” she whispered.
The game was over.
He reached for her hand and squeezed. “I couldn’t, baby.”
“If you’d had, at least your leaving me would have made sense. I wouldn’t have sat up night after night wondering what I’d done wrong.”
Jacob didn’t have a lot of regrets in life, but how he ended things with her was right up there at number one. He’d left her devastated, and it had all but gutted him. When she didn’t heal and move on like he’d hoped, it weighed even heavier on him. Then she married that asshole.
He wanted to scoop her up into his lap and rock her against him. He settled for caressing his thumb over her hand as he held it, only letting go when their dinner was served.
She scraped half her pasta onto his plate while he was busy cutting his steak in half.
“I wish I would have done so many things differently, Tinkerbell. But to be fair, my heart was breaking too, and I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”
She paused mid-bite and asked, “So, what’s changed? What makes you think my life wouldn’t be in danger now?”
“I don’t think that,” he stated matter-of-factly, sliding her half of his dinner onto her plate. “But I have the resources now to ensure your safety.”
“And you didn’t back then?”
“Not like I do now.”
Her face was twisted as she processed everything he’d just disclosed.
“What if I don’t think I can live like that?”
“Then I’ll respect your wishes and go back to making sure you’re safe from afar.”
“You wouldn’t try to talk me into being with you?”
The way she said it, like the idea he’d give up so easily hurt her feelings, made him pause.
“That depends.”
“On?”
“On whether or not I think there’s a shot you’d eventually say yes.”
She bit her bottom lip nervously.
“And what would make you think that you had a shot?”
Staring into her eyes, he replied with a smirk, “I can think of a few things.”
She quickly looked away, a smile forming on her lips as a blush crept across her cheeks.
“Oh.”
“So, Taren Fairchild, what do you do?”
****
Taren
Holy shit.
Holy fucking shit.
Jacob was a spy?
Jacob was a spy!
Suddenly, things made sense. His secretiveness, how he’d never answer her questions about his job, why she never once went to his house in the three years they were together, why she’d never met any of his friends or family—other than his brother, and why he wasn’t exactly thri
lled at the prospect of meeting hers. And so many other little things.
He. Was. A. Secret Agent.
Was, past tense?
It kind of sounded like he still was, in some capacity.
Was it wrong that she was turned on?
Yes! She hadn’t really known him at all. She couldn’t be having horny feelings for him at a time like this.
But damn… a secret agent? That was sexy as hell.
He tried restarting their game of pretend but there were some things she needed to know first.
“We’ll get back to playing in a minute. I have some more questions.”
“Understandable,” he nodded and gestured with his utensils in his hands. “Proceed.”
“Was anything real? Between us, I mean?”
His expression was pained as he set the knife and fork down and reached for her again.
“Baby, you were the only thing real in my life.”
“But everything you told me was a lie.”
“No,” he quickly corrected her. “I lied about what I did for a living. Everything else was the honest-to-god truth.”
“I feel like I don’t even know you.”
“Taren,” he said in an exasperated tone as he briefly looked at the ceiling. “Outside of my family, you are the only person who does know me.”
She let that sink in until she finally whispered, “So what now?”
He picked up his utensils like he was going to continue his dinner.
“How about we spend the next eight days getting to know each other again, and go from there?”
“Do you promise to be one hundred percent honest with me for the rest of the cruise?”
“I promise to be honest with you for the rest of my life.”
“One hundred percent?”
“How about ninety-eight? You’ve got to leave me a little wiggle room in case I don’t like your cooking or I’m planning a surprise party or something.”
She tried not to smile. This wasn’t the time for jokes, dammit, he needed to be serious.
“Okay, but not about the big stuff.”
He nodded solemnly. “Not about the big stuff.”
“Okay then.” She refolded the crease in the napkin in her lap then reached for her wine glass. “To answer your earlier question, I’m an ER nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital, but I was just offered a new position in—”
Setting her drink down with a thud, she sat back in her chair and glared at him.
“Where are you living right now?”
“New Orleans.”
She folded her arms across her chest.
“You wouldn’t happen to have had anything to do with the job offer I just got from East Jefferson General Hospital, would you?”
He looked like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar as he glanced down.
“I might have made a few calls,” he said before taking a bite of food.
“First the headhunter, and then this? You can’t just go around manipulating my life,” she hissed.
He set his fork down with a clang.
“Hold on, one second. I didn’t manipulate your life. I made sure opportunities were presented to you—that’s all. You’ve had complete free will whether to accept or reject them. I had no influence in your decision. Any job you choose to take, or not take, is completely up to you.”
“How convenient that the latest opportunity you made sure to be presented is in the city where you live.”
“It is very convenient.” He picked his fork back up. “I’m not going to apologize for wanting you closer to me, Tink. But it’s up to you whether you accept the position or not.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“It’s why I get paid the big bucks,” he replied with a grin then took another bite of his dinner.
Damn him and his sexy face.
Chapter Eight
Jacob
Talk about laying his cards on the table.
She’d responded better than he’d thought, which led to him having more regret about how he’d handled things in the past. He should have been honest with her seven years ago; the agency’s rules be damned.
He should have done a lot of things differently, but he was willing to cut himself some slack. His forty-year-old self was a lot smarter than his thirty-three-year-old self. Same could probably be said for Tink. Who knows how the twenty-three-year-old Taren would have handled what he’d just told her.
“So what should we do next?” he asked as the waiter cleared their dessert dishes. “Want to go to the lido deck and see what’s going on there?”
“That sounds fun.”
His hand was at the small of her back as they left the restaurant, but when they stepped outside, he reached for her hand without thinking—as if out of habit. And just like she used to, she entwined her fingers with his.
It was funny, but that simple act caused a sense of peace to come over him. Because he knew in that moment, she still loved him, and they’d figure out a way to make this relationship work.
Eventually.
Right now, he still had a penance to serve.
They reached the lido deck to find a DJ playing a pop song, and people having a great time drinking, dancing, and doing—of all things, the limbo.
He was standing behind her and leaned down close to her ear. “You should do that; I bet you’d win.”
Looking over her shoulder at him with a smirk, she asked, “Why do you bet I’d win?”
Grinning, he said, “I don’t know. You look flexible.”
She rolled her eyes, so he couldn’t help himself. His hand came around to the front of her hips, and he pulled her back into him so she could feel his hard cock against her ass.
“I already know how flexible you really are, baby,” he whispered in her ear, then subtly pressed his dick harder against her. He fought back a smile when he felt her push back.
“If I reached under this dress, would I find your panties wet?”
She shook her head, and he said in a low voice. “Lying isn’t permitted tonight, remember?”
“I’m not—I’m not lying,” she stammered.
“Taren Scarlett Fairchild,” he growled. “Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Okay, then. How about I take you to a deserted spot on deck right now and feel your panties? If they’re wet, you have to spend the night with me. Every night. For the rest of the cruise.”
“And what happens when you don’t find them wet?”
“Baby girl, we both know that’s not going to happen. But, if by some miracle, your panties are dry, I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Anything I want?”
“You name it.”
He was already tugging her to the empty part of the deck that was dark and secluded.
“Anything I want?” she reiterated.
Something wasn’t right. She was too confident.
“What do you want?”
“I want a back and foot massage.” She pointed her finger at him. “And only a back and foot massage, every night.”
“Tinkerbell, you don’t have to win a bet for me to give you a massage. All you have to do is ask. I’d be happy to.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t you get one at the spa today?”
“Yes, but no one gives better massages than you. And it’s been so long. All I was thinking about the entire time she was massaging me was how much better you are at it.”
That made his ego swell a little. But it quickly deflated because he now knew he was going to lose the bet without even checking. He’d been so sure that she was as turned on as he was. Was he losing his touch?
He backed her into a dark corner and reached under her dress. His middle finger probed between her legs and found her drenched.
“You were lying,” he snarled as he began to slide his digit inside her soaked pussy and slowly finger fuck her.
She was having trouble talking, but she managed to stammer out, �
��No, I wasn’t. You said wet panties.”
That’s when it dawned on him that she wasn’t wearing any, and his cock almost punched a hole through his zipper.
“You sneaky little minx,” he growled and curved his finger inside her, yanking her dress waist high so she was completely exposed. “I’m going to have to punish you for that.”
“Punish me? H—h—how?”
He began to jackrabbit his hand between her legs, his curled finger ramming deep inside her.
“You’re going to squirt for me, naughty girl.”
His arm wrapped her middle so he could hold on to her when her knees gave out. It also allowed him to play with her clit with his other hand.
“Wh-at?” she panted. “No! I can’t—I’ve never… Ohhh fuck!”
He yanked his finger from her pussy as she began squirting all over the deck, but continued vigorously rubbing her clit. He began finger fucking her again, hard, intending to make her squirt and come at the same time.
Minutes later, she did just that, chanting, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god… Yessss!” and just like he predicted, her knees buckled. He bent his legs to help catch her, then scooped her up in his arms and sat down on a nearby deck chair with her still in his embrace.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered as he smoothed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead. “I’ve got you…”
She was like a ragdoll in his lap, limp and pliant against his chest. They sat there like that for a long time, Jacob gently rocking her as he kissed her reverently.
Finally, she softly murmured, “I can’t believe you just did that.”
Suddenly he froze. She’d always been adventurous yet deliciously submissive, but there were some boundaries they hadn’t crossed before.
“Did I go too far?”
He felt her shake her head.
“No. I loved it. If it were anyone else, I’d be embarrassed by how much. I just didn’t think I could, you know, do that.”
“You mean squirt?” he said smugly.
“Yes, that.” It was kind of adorable how she wouldn’t say it.
“Well, I’m glad you liked it because it was sexy as fuck to watch, and I’m definitely going to want to do it again soon.”
“Mmm,” she purred and nestled closer to him.
“Come on, beautiful. Let’s go back to your room.”
