Secrets of the Sapphires

by T. Sue VerSteeg

  She slid her hand into his, nodding her answer; a genuine smile lit her face. Shane had her whisked onto the open area of the floor; she seamlessly followed his lead. Garrett leaned against the wall, watching them dance. They actually made a cute couple and the green-eyed monster stabbed his gut a little harder. He thought back over his weeklong crash course that was all-things-Nia. If the weekend had been a casual fix up, they were perfectly matched. Unfortunately, it was indeed a fix up, just CIA in origin. He tried to convince himself that the reason he was walking toward Nia to cut in on the dance was to retain their cover, not because of any feelings he may or may not have.

  Tapping Shane on the shoulder, Garrett asked, “May I?”

  Shane gazed seductively into Nia’s smiling eyes. “That’s entirely up to the lady.”

  She scanned back and forth between the men with an honest look of confusion clouding her face. Finally, she tilted her chin and replied, “I guess I should give the hubby a whirl.” A sly smile crept across her lips. She winked at Shane before sliding into Garrett’s embrace.

  The feel of her silky dress under his fingers, the familiar smell of her hair made him lose sight of how he knew Shane and allowed his knuckle dragging side free reign. Garrett pulled her in tightly, enjoying the sensation of her lithe body pressed against his. Lost in thoughts of a primal nature, Nia’s words were nearly lost on him.

  “What the hell?”

  Clearing his head, he mumbled, “I’m workin’ here.” He looked down into her green eyes. Smiling, he hoped to take away the anger from her face, but he was doomed to actually say the words. He spouted a few curse words before mumbling, “I’m sorry for biting your head off earlier.”

  Nia raised a single brow. “Are you?”

  “I just said I was.” Confusion clouded his thoughts, not that he expected anything less from a woman?

  “Are you sure it isn’t because a nice looking, impeccably dressed, highly educated, age appropriate…” Her words trailed off as she looked around the room. “Did I mention that he was nice looking? Anyway, are you out of sorts because he asked me to dance?”

  Garrett tried hard to keep the anger from his voice. “Can’t you just accept my apology and leave it at that?”

  Nia placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself back slightly while staring him straight in the eyes. “I’m a woman, so probably not.”

  Yanking her back against him, Garrett breathed into her ear, “At least you’re honest.” Garrett felt a tap on his shoulder.

  Gentry smiled as he reached between them for Nia’s hand. “I believe the lady promised me a dance as well this evening.”

  Nia smiled flirtatiously at the older man, sliding into his arms. At least she rolled her eyes when Garrett’s gaze met hers.

  He turned and bellied up to the bar demanding double shots of Crown. A bit cross that the only other women in the room were his mother’s age, he was also thankful it wasn’t in his job description to dote on them. Several double shots later, Tango music rambled through the room followed closely by a sweeping round of applause. It took Garrett half of the song to work up the guts to turn around and see if Nia was on the floor.

  Of course she was.

  As Garrett swiveled in his seat to face the dancers, Nia tossed an ankle onto Shane’s shoulder. He dragged her across the floor as applause broke out again from the crowd surrounding them. Cursing under his breath, he turned back around and caught the bartender’s attention.

  “Leave the bottle,” he muttered as the man filled his glass.

  Somewhere in the midst of his attempt to finish the decanter, a breathless Nia returned to his side. Perspiration dotted her chest and held strands of her wig to her face.

  An evil grin tugged at Garrett’s lips. “Shane wear ya out?”

  She returned his smile. “So what if he did?”

  Garrett spun around in his seat. The lights trailed around him, dancing before his eyes long after he stopped moving. He decided it might be time to quit drinking. “You’re s’posed to be my wife this weekend,” he slurred.

  “No worries. I’ll just tell everyone that I hate when you drink.” The evil smile returned to her face. “Need help back to the room?”

  Clearing his throat, he glanced around the room at the dwindling crowd as he gathered his bearings. “I’m fine.” The thought of sleeping next to her crept back into his mind. It was almost more than he could take in his semi-inebriated state. She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, which immediately caused a tingling in his groin.

  Damn it! When did I become such a woman?

  They walked back to their room; the soft tapping of Nia’s shoes on the stone floor the only sound to break the silence between them. After he unlocked the door, she disappeared into the bathroom, allowing him time to toss his suit on a chair and pull on a pair of pajama bottoms. He climbed on the bed, staring at the bathroom door. When Nia finally emerged, she wore her slip instead of the bulky flannel gown.

  Garrett didn’t even try to stifle his groan.

  Looking down at herself first, she whipped her gaze back toward him. “Easy there, big guy. I didn’t sleep much last night because I kept getting tangled in that flannel monstrosity. This isn’t for you.” She disappeared beneath the covers and flopped on her side, facing away from him. He followed suit, releasing a growl as he slapped an extra pillow over his face.

  Tossing and turning, he tried to clear his mind of the image of her in the black, strapless slip. The alcohol coursing through his body allowed his overactive imagination to run free. He pictured his hands exploring every inch of her flesh, kissing the nape of her neck.

  They rolled over, simultaneously facing one another as though fate squished them together.

  Desire and need took over as Garrett scooped Nia into his arms, crushing his lips to hers. She attempted to pull away at first but became pliable and molded herself to him, her arms snaking around his neck. His tongue teasing at the part in her lips, she readily opened to him. Her leg came up, wrapping around his hip, turning him to rock solid stone as he ground himself against her. Trailing kisses down her neck, he nuzzled the nape, flicking his tongue along the tender skin. When she released a soft moan, he bit down on her flesh, nearly losing himself in the moment. Regaining control, he grabbed her hips, rolling her over on top of him, grinding against her wet warmth. The silkiness of her panties added to the slick sensation and drove him dangerously close to the edge of release.

  Breaking the seal of their kiss, Nia leaned back, placing her hand on his chest to balance herself. Her eyes were mere slits, lips tinged red from their kiss.

  She was breathtaking.

  Her lips parted as she breathed a heavy sigh. “I…uh…”

  His fingers flew to her mouth. “No, we aren’t going to make anything more out of this than there is. We’re simply two people who need each other. Two people who need to escape.”

  “But, I…”

  “No ‘buts,’ just a night of mind blowing sex; we’ll see if we can maintain a working relationship later.”

  Nia’s eyes narrowed and she flung herself back onto her side of the bed.

  Common sense threatened to kick his ass. Go ahead! Call her your sex buddy now.

  He slapped a palm to his forehead. “That’s not what you were going to say, I guess.”

  “Um, no, I was going to say that I didn’t have any condoms and hoped you did.” She sat up and swung her legs off the bed, turning her back to him.

  His fingers wound through his hair, tugging really hard. “I’ve got one in my wallet. I was a Boy Scout. You know, being prepared and…all that.”

  She stood, hands on her hips, over annunciating each syllable, “I don’t think we’ll need it.” She then walked calmly toward the bathroom, slammed the door closed behind her, and punctuated it with a click of the lock.

  Chapter Ten

  Nia woke to a light rapping on the door. The past evening’s debacle tumbled back into her mind. Reassessing
her surroundings, she found herself curled up on one fluffy robe in the huge bathtub with the other covering her. It had actually been more comfortable than she’d figured. Even a good night’s sleep didn’t erase the huge mistake she’d made, though. How could she let herself get caught up in that way? She’d fought with Alex over and over regarding the same thing, yet she’d fallen into it so easily with Garrett. She’d been convinced she felt a connection to her new partner—deluded herself was more like it. Her one saving grace was letting Garrett speak his mind, airing his true feelings before they had gone any farther. He was undoubtedly just like Alex and would move on to his next one-night-stand soon enough. She had to thank her lucky stars her heart wasn’t invested. Maybe it was the closeness of their mission, or the crash course on him the past week. Now she would move on and pray Levinson kept her out of anything as detailed as the weekend had become.

  Garrett’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.

  “Do you want me to go outside? I’m okay with that…but it is pretty cold out there. You know, shrinkage and all.”

  Pulling the top robe around her, she crawled out of the tub, unlocked the door, and yanked it open. There he stood, an arm braced on each side of the door opening, wearing only his pajama pants. Her heart raced to a staccato beat at the sight of his washboard abs. Steeling her pride, she ducked under his arm and out of his apologetic gaze, hoisting herself to sit on the edge of the tall bed.

  “Brooks…”

  Turning toward him, she slapped her hands over her ears. “Save it. We were both there last night.”

  Shuffling over to her, Garrett pulled her hands into his own. “I tried to pass out, go to sleep, will my own death. None of it worked. I kept thinking about you.”

  The little princess buried deeply inside of her wanted to giggle and ask him what he thought about. Thankfully, the hardened CIA Agent smacked the whiney bitch back into the dark recesses of her mind. “Don’t patronize me. We have a job to do. We need to concentrate on that. Our line of work doesn’t bode well for warm, fuzzy crap.” Her words could’ve held so much power, but her lack of enthusiasm squelched it all.

  “I’m not patronizing you. I thought you at least knew that much about me.” Garrett’s gaze dropped to his feet.

  Inhaling a deep breath, she sat up straight and motioned to the bathroom. “Use it now, or forever hold your pee. I plan on the longest bubble bath known to woman-kind.”

  Shaking his head, he turned and disappeared through the door, closing it behind him. Nia heard the shower come on. Within minutes he appeared again in nothing but a towel. He motioned toward the door, bending at the waist. “Your tub awaits, madam.”

  Entering the steam-filled room, the fresh scent of his cologne overloaded her senses. She sat on the edge of the tub and turned the tap on full blast, quickly adding her own scented bubble bath to counteract it. As she submersed herself into the satiny, fragrant water, she tried to shut off her mind along with the water faucet. It didn’t work. She’d succumb to the warmth then sense his kiss on her lips, causing her eyes to fly open. The final time she opened her eyes, she spied an overstuffed garment bag hanging on the back of the door.

  A wave of nausea crashed over her.

  She’d yet to unveil Lexie’s choice for her New Year’s Eve ball gown. A streak of nude, bubbly wet flesh, she flew to the door and unzipped it. Mounds of aquamarine crinoline expanded and fluffed from its restraining carrier, making her feel physically ill. Wrapping herself in one of the robes, she begrudgingly dismissed the idea of a quick flight back to strangle the woman responsible. Instead, she sat on the edge of the tub, contemplating her rational options. The outer shell of the dress was sheer, allowing the nearly neon color of the rigid layers underneath to show through. Looking under the crinoline, she found a solid black sheath. Grabbing her scissors from the sewing kit, she carefully cut a layer at a time from between the shell and sheath. The bodice was strapless with layers of the same stiff fabric jutting up from the waistband. She was able to remove them as well to reveal the black satin material beneath. It took some tedious work to remove all of the stitching that still held traces of the gaudy color, though it was well worth it when she stepped back to see the finished product: a simple black strapless dress with a sheer aquamarine overlay on the skirt. A few stitches in the front area of the sheer material kept it from dragging the ground. Voila, an acceptable dress for the ball.

  So proud of her accomplishment, she was willing to bear the olive branch of peace and carried it out into the bedroom to show Garrett. He was nowhere to be found. Shrugging her shoulders, she hung it back up, finishing with her daily routine. After donning her wig and clothes—a pair of dark gray wool pants, yellow cashmere sweater, and black pumps she had purchased the day before—she set off to find Garrett and finish casing the ballroom for their mission later that evening.

  With her partner still missing, Nia grabbed a plate of food from the buffet and walked into the ballroom. The decorations were tasteful and elegant. Wide silver streamers wound their way down the huge columns and balloons were netted all along the ceiling, undoubtedly to be released when midnight brought in the New Year. She made her way to various tables, touching the glitter-coated arrangement of flowers in each vase. They were all real and fresh, definitely a huge expense in a winter climate. Their bright colors filled every open space around the room. Spying the nook at the rear of the room, she noticed only one guard at the doorway. Throwing on every ounce of charm she had, she ditched her plate, stalking toward her prey. After giving the sharp dressed, thirty-something guy a sideways glance as she got closer, she flirtatiously batted her eyelashes and pursed her lips. He barely acknowledged her existence. She grabbed at the knot in his tie, prepared to seduce him. He snatched her hands in his harsh grasp, glaring at her.

  Inching away, she contorted her face in shock. “Is there a problem?”

  “Yes, ma’am, there is. Don’t ever touch me again.” His words were monotone and curt.

  “I’m sorry, but your tie was lopsided. I was only trying to help.” She popped her bottom lip out, his fingers still digging into her wrist.

  His expression remained blank. “My tie is fine. Is this understood?”

  “Yes sir.” She forced tears to her eyes in hopes that he’d go for the whole damsel in distress thing. All he did was toss her hands away, nearly dislocating her shoulders. Huffing as she walked off, she whined, “Well, I never…”

  Spying Garrett at the buffet, she scurried over to his side, looping an arm through his.

  Sporting a lopsided grin, he said, “Wow, I didn’t think you’d be this excited to see me today.”

  Waving her free hand between them as though she were erasing his words, she mumbled, “Don’t flatter yourself.” Grabbing his hands, she pulled him toward a corner away from the crowd, running her hand up his arm and tossing in a coy smile to lead people to believe she just wanted a moment alone with her adoring husband.

  He looked deeply into her eyes and leaned forward. “What’s up?”

  “Mr. Congeniality over there almost ripped my arms out of their sockets. I had to force myself not to cold cock him, but that’s beside the point. There are two locks on the door: a regular five lever key lock and a solenoid deadbolt. The first of which I’m pretty sure I can pick with no problems.”

  “I take it he was immune to your feminine wiles.” A haughty take-that look contorted his features.

  Rolling her eyes while shaking her head, she continued on with her plan. “You’re going to have to kill the power for me or the deadbolt won’t budge. That particular type is usually wired into the electricity as a backup measure, so I can’t pick it until the power is out.”

  “I guess darkness would be some help for us both. Our best bet on pulling this off is right after midnight when everyone is wound up and distracted.” He reached out, tucking stray hairs behind her ears and running a finger down her cheek.

  A renegade spark ran through her body, but memories of
the prior night quickly doused it. “What the hell?”

  A seductive smile crooked his lips. “Oh, who’s flattering themselves now? We’re being watched.”

  From the corner of her eye she saw Shane walking toward them. Touching her hand over Garrett’s on her shoulder, she purred, “Honey, you tell me how beautiful I am all the time. One of these days, I just might believe you.” She turned her gaze to her feet, admiring her new Manolo Blahnik pumps, wishing she’d gotten several more pair while the CIA footed the bill.

  Shane’s seductive voice trickled directly in her ear. “Such modesty in a beautiful woman is hard to find these days.”

  In a possessive tug, Garrett wrapped an arm around Nia’s waist, yanking her to his side. “My sugar lips sure is a keeper.”

  Nia enjoyed the display of raw male egos clashing before her. Shane slipped her fingers into his hand, kissing her knuckles while his eyes glanced back and forth between her and Garrett. From the corner of her eye she watched her pretend husband clench his jaw and glare at Shane without even attempting to mask his disregard for the other man’s actions.

  Shane smiled at Nia, peering through his lashes. “I pray you will save another Tango for me tonight.” With a wink, he flipped her hand over and placed a kiss on her palm.

  A bright smile spread across Nia’s face, partly for the chance to show off in front of a crowd again, also because she knew it would irritate Garrett that much more. “Of course.”

  Garrett snorted his distaste but quickly smiled when Shane glanced his way.

  “That is, if it is okay with your husband,” Shane said as he stood tall in front of Garrett, nearly matching his height.

  Nia imagined them in the wild as two rutting pigs fighting over a truffle and had to stifle a laugh. The men in front of her stood silent, sizing one another up in an awful show of dominance.

  Ending the scene before they started peeing on things to mark their territory, Nia grabbed Garrett’s arm to lead him away, “We will see you this evening, Shane.”