by Lisa Weaver
She had to go! The thought ricocheted through her head, prompting her to spin around and head for the bank. Once she reached it, she only managed to take a couple of steps before her foot slid out from under her on the slippery lake bottom, sending her stumbling headfirst back into the water.
He moved to catch her in a heartbeat, preventing an ungraceful splash. A frisson of awareness zip-lined down her spine as he enfolded her in his arms. Suddenly, everything was fuzzy. She was forgetting to do something important—she just couldn’t remember what. Fortunately her oxygen-starved synapses took it upon themselves to jolt her memory, screaming an order to breathe.
Luke drew her closer to steady her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, desperate to extract herself from the temptation zone. She needed to get a grip. So the man was absolutely scrumptious. That didn’t mean she should latch on to him like a chocoholic devouring a box of truffles after a cacao drought. “You can let me go now.”
His searing gaze devoured her, betraying he was as conscious of the sexual tension zinging between them as she was.
“Oh, but I’m not ready to give you up so soon. It’s not every day I get to experience a close encounter with a beautiful mermaid.”
The newly replenished air in her lungs whooshed out again. The urge to close the scant distance between them had her heart rate revving even faster, but she knew she needed to distance herself from this man and his heady male magnetism ASAP.
Her brain was transmitting the “must leave now” signal loud and clear. Too bad her body wasn’t in agreement. Her fingers itched to trace the sexy stubble shadowing his strong jaw. She wanted to memorize every perfect contour of his beautiful lips—and worse, she wanted to sample them.
She should override her body’s objections and do the sensible thing. She shouldn’t allow her arms to abandon their censorship posts over her breasts to encircle his broad shoulders. She shouldn’t let him draw her against his lean hardness and brand her with the heat from his body. And she most certainly shouldn’t press herself against the firm, muscular contours of his rugged chest like she wanted to melt into him.
Somehow, she wound up doing all those things. And it still wasn’t enough.
His soft growl told her it wasn’t sufficient for him, either. He reached out to touch her lips, brazenly outlining their fullness. Then his head dipped toward hers, and she forgot to breathe again.
He’s going to kiss me.
Her passion-drugged mind barely had time to process the thought before his lips were dancing where his fingers had caressed, paying homage to her mouth. She sighed, a soft murmur of surrender, and he deepened the kiss.
In the space of a few scant heartbeats the kiss morphed from exploration to conflagration, and she was lost. Sweet became hot and carnal, and her pulse thudded in her ears as their tongues tangled in an erotic duel so intense it left them both gasping for breath.
The angry chattering of a red squirrel laying claim to his territory penetrated her passion-induced haze, catapulting her back to reality. The intensity of their attraction vibrated in the air between them. He was making her feel special. Valuable. Desirable.
But she wasn’t any of those things. If he knew the truth about her, he wouldn’t be looking at her the way he was now.
Breaking free from his embrace, Brianna scrambled out of the water. Willing her trembling hands to cooperate, she struggled to pull her cycling clothes on over her still-damp body. As soon as she was dressed, she ran to her bike.
“Wait!” he called after her.
Pedaling away on shaky legs, she ignored his summons. She didn’t dare look back. If she did, she knew she’d change her mind.
Chapter Two
Two months later.
Luke Reynolds sat across the table from his beautiful dinner companion, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The moment Liz had asked him to meet her for dinner at Chez Pierre, he knew something was up. Briefings were part of the agency’s standard operating procedure, but the venue his boss had chosen for this meeting—a popular five-star eatery near their office—wasn’t.
In the four years since he’d joined Sentinels as a covert bodyguard, Liz had never conducted a case overview with him outside of headquarters. Yet here they were. And to add to his unrest, she was paying an inordinate amount of attention to a menu he was certain she could already recite by heart.
He pinned her with his best “out with it” look. “Since you offered to treat me to dinner, I know whatever incited you to call this meeting can’t be good. You might as well tell me the bad news up front. If you spoil my appetite, it will be cheaper for you.”
She looked up from her menu with a sigh. “Do you remember the Philip Dimitriou disaster from a couple of years ago?”
At the mention of the name, Luke’s teasing smile faded. He remembered. How could he possibly forget, when his sister had been caught in the middle of the mess? Sentinels had discovered terrorists planned to assassinate a high-ranking official in the Moroccan government while the man was a guest at a prominent Greek businessman’s private estate. Since they couldn’t protect him covertly from within the estate’s compound, and since the host’s own security detail didn’t have the resources to handle an unanticipated and professionally orchestrated attack, Liz had opted to employ Lauren’s photojournalist cover to derail the threat preemptively.
After photographing the Greek host in the company of Lawrence Mendacci, a man rumored to have ties to the Mafia, Lauren wrote a speculation piece suggesting the host’s activities might not be entirely above board. The hope was that alluding to the mogul’s possibly improper dealings would spur the Moroccan official to cancel his visit. The plan had worked.
“Lauren inadvertently caught Dimitriou in her lens when she photographed him lunching with the businessman who was her target, along with Lawrence Mendacci, on the Moroccan mission,” Luke recalled. “While her article stopped the visit and planned hit, we didn’t have enough proof to pursue the Mendacci-Dimitriou angle, so we dropped it.”
“Except we both know there was more to Dimitriou’s story,” Liz replied. “I’m not convinced he was innocent, as he claimed. I think he was hiding something back then, and that something has come back to bite him. He’s in trouble. Trouble serious enough to compel him to enlist our services.”
Luke choked on the sip of water he’d taken. “Mega-tycoon Philip Dimitriou is our new client? But he has his own security team. Why hire us?”
“It’s not his own safety he’s concerned about. There have been threats made against his son.” Liz paused, fiddling with the stem of her glass before continuing. “His newly discovered daughter could be a target as well.”
“That’s not surprising, in light of all the drama the press made over Dimitriou’s former mistress keeping his daughter a secret from him for twenty-three years. They dubbed Dimitriou’s love child the ‘Reluctant Heiress’ because of her refusal to acknowledge him as her father, right?”
“Yes. But some additional information has come to light since the story broke, and it’s softened Brianna’s adamant stance against having anything to do with her father. Philip says they’ve spoken on the phone recently. He doesn’t want to jeopardize that newly opened line of communication by telling her about the threat, though. He’s afraid that if he doesn’t keep her in the dark she’ll distance herself even further from him.”
“It might be better if she did,” Luke grumbled.
“I understand why Dimitriou doesn’t hold a spot on your top-ten fellow billionaires list after the hell he and his son put your sister through. Regardless of our personal opinion of the man, we need to set our prejudices aside and treat him with the same level of care we do all our clients.” Pulling a case file from her portfolio, Liz set it on the table. “The other reason Philip has opted for our services is because Rafe Dimitriou refuses to accept protection from his father’s personal security team. Rafe is vehemently opposed to any type of security at
all, actually.”
“That won’t be a problem. He’ll never know I’m there.”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about. I’ve already assigned your sister to safeguard Rafe.”
“What were you thinking?” Luke fumed. “You know very well that ‘acquainted’ in this case equates to ‘had her heart stomped to smithereens by him’.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation for how I manage my team. Lauren’s prior relationship with Rafe makes her the most logical choice for the mission. However, just so we’re clear on this, know that it was your sister’s idea, not mine. Rafe approached her with a business proposition, which places her in the perfect position to watch over him without his being any the wiser. What I need you to do is protect Dimitriou’s daughter.”
Luke held up a hand, shaking his head. “Oh, no. There’s no way I’m going there. We had a deal I wouldn’t draw details on spoiled heiresses, remember? And I know you haven’t forgotten why.”
Liz met his haunted, green-eyed gaze, her own blue brimming with sympathy. “No, I haven’t forgotten. But I wouldn’t be asking you to take on this assignment if I had any other option. I need someone who can slip into this young woman’s life undetected, and your cover as Intrepid Explorations’ editor-in-chief allows you to do that better than anyone else on our team. Dimitriou’s daughter works for Upwords Development. Her boss is a friend of mine, and he’s agreed to task her with creating a seminar for Intrepid. You’ll be in a position to stick close to her without arousing her suspicion.”
“That’s a nice plan, but you’ll have to put it into play with a different agent. Why not have Parker execute it? His cover would fit.”
Liz shook her head. “Not nearly as well. Parker’s landscaping firm has a much smaller staff than Intrepid. It doesn’t lend itself to a development seminar the way your magazine does. I need you on point on this one. An innocent young woman’s life is on the line. If you won’t do it for her, do it for me.”
Luke blew out a frustrated breath. His boss was well aware he was indebted to her. She was the reason he was doing what he loved.
“That’s a low blow, Liz.”
As a teen growing up in the bitter desolation of a New York ghetto, his widowed father’s drunken abuse had been as much a part of his daily struggle as the relentless gang terrorizing that had infiltrated his neighborhood. When liquor had claimed his father’s life, Luke had stepped up to care for his younger sister. He’d scratched his way through college, determined to make something of himself.
He majored in journalism, but he’d discovered he also had a knack for investments. Using that talent to parlay his limited savings into a fortune, he’d clawed his way to a life far removed from the poverty he and his sister had cut their teeth on.
He’d amassed more than a billion before his twenty-fifth birthday, but his success hadn’t left him satisfied. He wanted to do something more. Something that mattered. He’d been looking for that something when Liz recruited him to join her covert bodyguard agency. She offered him a chance to save lives; a chance to make a difference. He’d jumped at her offer.
Capitalizing on his journalism background, Liz helped him establish a cover career at Intrepid Explorations magazine. The placement was a perfect fit.
He shook his head now, looking at his boss pointedly. She’d been his rock when his fiancé had been murdered. She knew better than anyone what Tanya’s death had cost him. “You’re asking too much.”
“I’m fully aware of how difficult this would be for you.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t take this assignment. I don’t need another murder I failed to prevent on my conscience.”
“When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours that you weren’t responsible for what happened to Tanya?”
“I might as well have pulled the trigger,” he countered vehemently. “I should have realized something was wrong. I missed the signs. If I hadn’t been so blind, she’d still be alive today.”
“You couldn’t have known she was in danger. There was absolutely nothing you could have done to protect her, under the circumstances. I know you think there are parallels between Tanya and this package, but that isn’t the case. Brianna Atwood may be a newly minted heiress, but she’s by no means spoiled. She comes from a very modest background. She’s refusing any financial assistance from her father, so clearly tapping into the family bankroll isn’t on her agenda. I need someone on this assignment I have complete and utter confidence in. I want you on this case.”
Luke took a swallow of ice water, wishing it were something stronger. “I’m sorry,” he reiterated, the firm set of his lips telling Liz this was one mountain she wouldn’t be moving. “I’m not your man.”
“Okay,” she surrendered, disappointment clearly reflected on her beautiful features. “If that’s your final word, I’ll pass the dossier on to Parker. We’ll just have to figure out a way to make his cover work.”
She picked up the case file and began to tuck it back into her portfolio. A photograph fluttered loose and Luke grabbed the picture, catching it before it fell to the floor. He sucked in a surprised breath when he saw the subject in the snapshot.
He would recognize those blue eyes and long, ebony curls anywhere. The face staring back at him had dominated his dreams for the past two months.
“How is this woman connected to the case?” he blurted.
“Actually, that’s a recent photo of Philip Dimitriou’s daughter. She looks strikingly different from the publicity photo that ran alongside the news story, doesn’t she? She managed to elude the media when the scandal broke, and since the press couldn’t nab a picture to run alongside the article they pulled one from her college yearbook. She’s grown her hair out, and she no longer dyes it blonde.”
If Liz had sucker punched him, she couldn’t have caught him more off guard. Heather Wright and Dimitriou’s daughter were one and the same. He’d held the Reluctant Heiress in his arms and never realized it.
“I’ve met her,” he murmured, still staring at the photo. “I ran into her while I was on vacation.”
“Oh,” Liz replied. “That’s possible. Trevor has a summer home in Maine not far from yours. He mentioned Brianna had vacationed there. Why didn’t you tell me you’d met the Reluctant Heiress?”
“I had no idea that’s who she was. She didn’t introduce herself.” At least not with her real name.
Liz’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “Well, it sounds like your encounter with her wasn’t entirely unmemorable. It seems she made an impression …”
“She’s a very striking young woman.” And that was the mother of all understatements. He’d lost count of the number of cold showers he’d taken in an effort to chase away the memory of their brief encounter at the lake—and the self-imposed water torture had barely taken the edge off.
He wished he could scrub her from his mind. She’d invaded his dreams nightly since that mind-blowing encounter, wreaking havoc on his carefully controlled libido. The memory of her delectable body covered in nothing but lake water made his blood rush to areas it had no business loitering in during a business meeting.
“And it’s Sentinels’ responsibility to keep her safe,” Liz reminded him. “I’d better put a call in to Parker. The sooner I appoint an agent to her, the better.”
“Don’t bother,” Luke asserted, tucking the photo into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.
“Why not?”
“Because you won’t need Parker. I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take the assignment.”
Chapter Three
I can’t let him catch me.
Brianna ran faster, every molecule in her body reverberating with the need to escape her pursuer. Fear clawed through her, propelling her leaden limbs forward and overriding the pain as she struggled to draw in oxygen. Her lungs burned and her legs screamed in protest, but she kept running. Her life depended on it.
She didn’t need to look behind her to know her assailant
was closing the distance between them with alarming speed. The heat of his foul breath on the back of her neck told her there was no way she was going to outrun him. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as he reached out and clasped a clammy hand around her arm, jerking her back toward him. A cry of terror, fierce and primal, bubbled to her throat and catapulted from her lips.
And then suddenly he was there, an avenging angel shooting icy waves of fury at her attacker.
“Let her go,” he growled.
His deadly tone left no room for argument. Evil retreated, leaving her alone with the man who’d held her spellbound since they’d met in the Maine wilderness.
He opened his arms, inviting her into their refuge. “You’re safe now. Come to me,” he murmured.
She went willingly, trusting the promise she saw in his eyes. He drew her to him, wrapping strong arms around her. The circle of his embrace felt like home.
He dipped his head, his laser-sharp gaze focusing on her lips, and her heart tripped a beat before resuming its frantic pace. Attraction sparked and ignited with a fiery intensity. As his shielding hold turned seductive, she realized she’d simply traded one danger for another.
The thought should have terrified her, but it wasn’t a frisson of fear that tangoed down her spine. It was a delicious tingle of excitement … an intoxicating melding of heady attraction and potent temptation. She’d run from this man before, but she wouldn’t run this time. She couldn’t. Not without knowing where this was headed.
Her bravery didn’t go unrewarded. He captured her lips, melding his mouth with hers in a repeat of their first kiss that was far more impactful than its earth-shattering predecessor. His masterful tongue invaded every sensitive nook and cranny as he pressed her to his hard length, leaving no doubt as to how this encounter would end.
He slipped off her bra, freeing her breasts to the ministrations of his waiting hands. His skillful fingers teased her pebbled nipples, eliciting a moan of pleasure. He captured the errant cry with his mouth before bending to worship their peaks, his tongue tantalizing each one in turn, drawing out the sweet torment.
