Secrets of the Sapphires

by T. Sue VerSteeg

  Nia forced her sniveling, crybaby ego down as deeply as she could, standing tall in front of Lexie. She stifled a fake, overstated yawn with her hand then checked her nails before turning her attention back toward the woman who would love to know how badly she really felt. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you done rambling? I must have finally found the frequency that turns your whiney voice into white noise. Yay, me!” Nia popped both of her hands into the air, braking into cheerleader mode, clapping, kicking, and cheering out of the locker room, away from Lexie’s taunting, back to her cubicle.

  Nia flopped in her chair and dove head first into her work. So deeply, in fact, she had to remind herself to breathe on occasion. Anger still reared its ugly head, showing in every move she made; each key strike was more of a hard poke and every open drawer was slammed back shut. When Lexie walked by, Nia flipped the internal switch, smiling and framing her face with wiggling spirit fingers until she left.

  Brandon emerged from his office and Nia pounced on him. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

  His face blushed pink, while he looked intently at his feet. “Sure, anything for you, Nia.”

  She turned his shoulders and guided him back into his office, closing the door behind them. Lexie appeared through the glass pane alongside his door. Nia propped a fist on one hip as she bounced and flashed a number one with her other hand, then switched to her middle finger before dropping the blind over Lexie’s face.

  Brandon raised a brow when she turned toward him. “Is Lexie bothering you again?”

  Nia swallowed the “captain obvious” comment and refrained from taking any of her anger out on the sweet man. “Again? You mean still. She will forever be a pain in my ass, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  She sat down on a high stool next to his computer, crooked her heels on the footrest—briefly morning the loss of her Manolo’s—and smoothed her long, periwinkle blue skirt over her legs. A place she rarely visited, Nia scanned his office. Metal shelves lined the perimeter, the gadgets and gizmos that filled them literally overflowing onto the floor in places. Large boxes were stacked two and three high in the corners, with paperwork littered about his computer area. When her mental tour returned to Brandon, he was still staring at her.

  Nia reached out and touched his arm. “I need your help. There are only a few people I can trust in this organization. You’re one of them. Can I talk to you off the record?”

  He nodded, placing a finger to his lips. After fumbling through a box, he turned toward her with what appeared to be an old radio. When he popped the antenna all the way out, he finally spoke in a hushed tone, “In case we’re bugged in here, this high pitched frequency will drown out anything we say.”

  “Wow. Really? I guess you do have something for everything.”

  Blushing again, he finally looked her in the eyes. “I’m really glad you got back safely. Garrett too, I mean.”

  Nia’s smile faded at the sound of his name. “Any idea how he got back? I thought the light source being destroyed pretty much made it impossible.” Mixed feelings washed through her. Evil Nia now wished he’d stayed put, while her kinder, gentler side was relieved he wasn’t stuck there. Dating Lexie was punishment enough for him in and of itself.

  “To the best of my knowledge, he came through the portal with you.” Brandon’s face contorted in confusion. “I guess everyone just assumed you knew.”

  “Huh.” Nia crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess we were wrong. Garrett and I thought only one person could go through at a time. When you travel, there’s a blinding light and awful squealing/screeching noise…”

  As though on cue, Lexie pounded on the door and yelled, “I need to see Shrek now!”

  Nodding, Nia muttered through gritted teeth, “Yeah, like that.”

  After he pushed the antenna down on the radio, Brandon crossed the room and opened the door. Lexie shoved him to the side, barging in.

  “I really hope I’m not interrupting a little love session between the two of you.” Her sweet smile contradicted the mean, evil glint in her eyes.

  Nia slid from the stool and walked to the door. “He’s all yours.” She turned, running a hand down Brandon’s arm. “I’ll talk to you later about my computer issues.”

  As she closed his door behind her, Garrett came around the corner. Nia turned away, making a valiant attempt to get back to her computer. Garrett’s hand seized her arm, bringing her to a dead stop.

  She huffed out her frustration. “What? Did you want to swap spit with Lexie in front of me again? She’s in with Brandon right now. Let me get her.” Nia swung herself around, reaching for the door handle; Garrett spun her back toward him.

  “You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever known in my life.” Both of his hands gripped her shoulders, accentuating random words with a brisk shake.

  The spicy smell of his cologne and the closeness of his lips nearly toppled the hastily reconstructed wall around her heart.

  Fortunately Lexie walked out of Brandon’s office and spewed, “Get your filthy hands off of my man, you disgusting whore.”

  Nia glanced down at her own hands placed at her sides then tossed Lexie a what-the-hell look. “My hands?” She placed them in the middle of Garrett’s chest, shoved him away, and walked back to Brandon’s office.

  She was all wound up to slam the door when she heard Garrett’s overstated words, “Come on, sugar lips. Let’s go plan our date for tomorrow night.”

  Nia leaned her head into the hall. Garrett flashed her an odd look over Lexie’s shoulder. One of his “think about it” faces complete with a mock mix of Nia’s crossed eyes and gaping mouth. He then turned a sweet smile back to a clueless Lexie, escorting her around the corner.

  Falling against the door as it shut, Nia felt giddy relief wash over her and smiled at a befuddled Brandon. “I think I know who I’m looking for now.”

  Still perplexed, Brandon cocked his head to the side and raised a brow.

  Nia motioned for him to use his radio thing and he popped the antenna up again. “I need you to look at Lexie’s computer. Someone sent out that bogus mission to destroy the light source. It had to have been internally. Levinson showed me the orders and they were on embossed CIA wire paper. When I first came in here, I was going to have you check Hornung and Castile, but I have a hunch that Lexie may be at the bottom of this.”

  Brandon shook his head. “Lexie may be mean and more than a little bit evil. I don’t think she’d have the clearance to do that, or the intelligence level even if she did. Let’s face it; Lexie is more concerned with maintaining her makeup than the drive partitions of her computer.”

  “That’s what I thought too, well other than the computer part there. I figure Levinson would agree. I doubt he would do anything to help me, but Van Deren is on to something.”

  “Nia,” Brandon reached out and grabbed her hand, pity scrunching his features. “Just because she’s dating the man you have a thing for doesn’t make her a double agent or a mole.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course.” He released her hand, leaning back to place his elbow on a shelf. He missed and ended up sliding to the floor. Scrambling, he perched back atop his chair, looking at her like nothing had happened.

  After successfully fighting the urge to laugh, Nia leaned toward him. “Have you ever known me to be an outwardly jealous person?”

  He vehemently shook his head.

  “Okay then, I would imagine Van Deren is starting his date tomorrow night with Lexie early. We’ll have plenty of time to get into her office before the department locks the computer system down at nine. Can you hack into her computer and find any modified documents?”

  “I can do that kind of stuff in my sleep.” He leaned back again, this time looking at the shelf as he placed his elbow on it.

  “Are you willing to do this even though it isn’t an official act of the department?”

  Brandon looked down at his feet. “For you, I will.”

 
; Nia jumped to her feet and scooped Brandon into a bear hug. “Thank you. I’ll get back to you later on what time we’ll be able to get into her office. I’ll figure out a way to get the spare key from Levinson. You concentrate on what you’ll need for the computer.”

  Grabbing her arm when Nia turned to leave, Brandon yanked her back toward his desk. He dug through a box, handed her a mirror compact, and popped it open exposing a blob of putty. “Push the key in here to make an impression. I’ll get you a duplicate made so we won’t have to worry about anyone missing it.”

  She snapped the case shut. “You’re a genius, Brandon.” Planting a kiss on his cheek, she turned and flew through the doorway, into the hall, smack into Garrett.

  Glancing around, Garrett grabbed her arm, dragged her into the cleaning supplies closet, and slammed the door, plunging them into total darkness. The pungent smell of bleach cancelled out his cologne. He left her no time to complain. His lips crushed down on hers and his arms formed her body to his. Need replaced any questions as the harsh kiss turned passionate. Their tongues mingled and hands explored each other in the inky void. Garrett pressed her against the cold outer wall and lifted her. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him, which made Garrett groan in pain.

  Nia slid her feet to the floor and stammered, “I…I forgot about your side.”

  Garrett nibbled her earlobe and purred, “A wise woman once told me that I’m basically a puss if I don’t push through the pain.”

  “I don’t want to hurt…” His kiss cut her words short. She pushed him gently away and continued, “Seriously, I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Relax. I had the doctor look at it a little while ago. As much as it pains me to say, he told me you did a great job with what you had to work with. Besides, I’m a quick healer.

  Garrett lifted her onto a shelf. She wrapped her legs around his lower hips, hiking her skirt around her waist. His hands slid to her ass and ground his hardness against her. He freed himself from the confines of his pants and slid her satin underwear out of his way. Burying himself inside her in one swift movement, they both cried out. For some reason Garrett felt the need to place his hand over her mouth when he was equally at fault.

  “You don’t want to get us busted, do you?” he whispered.

  Nia had every intention to argue, but Garrett resumed his hungry kisses and the urgent pace to their lovemaking, which shoved any inkling of malice or common sense from her brain.

  All that remained was animal lust and need. Need to know Garrett wanted her and not Lexie. Need to finish the quickie they had started in a closet.

  As soon as both were done basking, Garrett whispered into her ear, “I missed you.”

  After she allowed her head to sway back against the cement wall, Nia whispered, “I need to hear you say it.”

  Garrett’s entire body went stiff within her arms.

  Nia let out a giggle. “Not that. I just want to hear from your own lips that you’re playing Lexie to get information.”

  “I thought that was obvious from the beginning; your actions proved otherwise. You said it yourself; this exact scenario was bound to happen. You had to seduce that awful man at the castle, didn’t you?”

  Nia snorted a laugh in his ear. “Are you intentionally avoiding it? Please say the words.”

  “I am only interested in Lexie for the information she can provide.”

  “Thank you for humoring me.” Nia nuzzled the crook of his neck, planting tiny kisses across his chin. “I missed you, too.”

  Garrett squeezed her tightly. “I wanted to come by your place last night. I couldn’t risk it. When I came back here, Lexie was at her desk. She was typing a letter to the group responsible for my partner’s death but closed the document when she realized I was there. She left soon after, but locked down her computer. I need to figure out how to get her back here and distracted so I can access her computer before the system shuts down.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What?” Garrett let Nia slide to her feet. “Is there something else?”

  “Something huge. I’m just at a loss that Lexie, of all people, could be responsible for all of this, though. I think she’s the one who changed the mission orders that almost stranded us back in time with Mr. Congeniality. I also thought that was the reason behind your seduction tactics.”

  “Maybe we can get Shrek…”

  “Brandon.”

  Garrett cleared his throat. “Excuse me. Maybe we can get Brandon to help us out and hack into the computers.” Excitement tinged his words.

  “That’s a great idea, which is why I’ve already got him on the case.”

  “Smart ass,” he whispered; his words were sharp, his tone seductive.

  “Better than being a dumb ass, I suppose.” Nia punctuated her sentence with a playful punch to his bicep.

  “Okay, I guess I’ll try to get into Lexie’s pants tomorrow night, so you and Brandon can get into her office.”

  Again she punched him, this time much harder. “Can you try to figure out a way where you don’t have to get naked?”

  “She’s pretty adamant about fucking my brains out.”

  The dark silence of the room was bursting with tension.

  Garrett’s quiet laughter and response to his own statement eased the mood, “Those are her words, not mine. What’s a man supposed to do?”

  Nia sat quietly in the dark with many retorts swimming in her mind and more than a little jealousy eating at her pride.

  His soft words trickled into her like warm honey. “I would have to overdose on Viagra to sleep with Lexie. Besides, I’ve got a feisty redhead who is presently keeping my brains out on hiatus.” He punctuated his statement with a curt nip on the earlobe.

  “And remember that the gate keeper doesn’t allow sloppy seconds.” She grabbed his face, pulled it directly in front of hers, and added, “Ever.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Garrett successfully stifled a laugh when Lexie opened the door to her apartment. She stood proud; chest protruded, in a light gray, strapless, form fitting mini dress with black hooker heels, crystal studded leather choker and matching wrist cuff. Cold air wafted around him and ruffled her dress, popping her nipples to attention.

  Dear Lord in heaven. She’s not wearing anything under that dress.

  She leaned forward and whispered, “I’m not wearing any panties,” confirming his suspicions.

  His two heads fought for control. The one in his pants swelled against his zipper; the one on his shoulders knew better. The idea of Nia dressed in a similar outfit caused even more blood to rush south.

  What’s Jeter’s batting average this year? The war overseas, starving children in Africa, disease riddled animals… Damn it all anyway!

  Shifting nervously back and forth on the front stoop, he hoped his suit jacket hid any evidence of his arousal.

  Lexie stood back, opening the door wider. “Care to come in for a drink before dinner?”

  After a quick glance at his watch, Garrett sputtered, “Well, we only have thirty minutes to make our reservation.”

  Why the hell am I always punctual? Especially now.

  A demure girly giggle escaped her lips. “Silly, that’s what reservations are for. Julio’s is only a ten minute drive from here, and that’s if traffic is bad.” She yanked his arm, pulling him into the living room.

  Dark pink walls assaulted his testosterone level. The floral couch and love seat with neon pink daisies finished him off. He could almost feel his masculinity drain as he stood there gawking, though the awful distraction did loosen his pants again.

  He closed his gaping jaw when Lexie returned to the room with a bottle of red wine in one hand, dangling two glasses from the other. She slid down onto the awful couch, sat the items from her hands on the coffee table, and pulled a Sharon Stone moment right out of Basic Instinct. Spreading her legs, she showed him her cleanly shaved crotch then proceeded to cross her legs in the slowest, most obvi
ous display he’d ever seen.

  Damn it, damn it, damn it!

  Garrett sat on the loveseat across from her and poured the wine, prompting Lexie to uncross her legs, affording him the view again. After a quick glance, he forced himself not to stare, though the horny teenager inside of him screamed, “Look at the cootchie, look at the cootchie! Look. At. The. Cootchie!” Allowing his peripheral vision to wander quieted his inner pubescent.

  “What should we drink to?” Lexie cooed after she scooted to the edge of the cushion. The hem of her dress was almost around her waist.

  Garrett’s eyes dropped to the shiny folds of skin between her legs and his pants grew tighter by the second. Without running his thoughts through common sense, they spilled out his mouth. “Nude beaches, strip bars, and good old internet porn.”

  Lexie tossed her head back in a laugh then literally crawled across the coffee table. Within seconds she had straddled him, pinning him against the loveseat. Her gooey glossed lips and wet tongue invaded his mouth. Her kisses reminded him of an inexperienced teen, probably his only saving grace at that particular moment. He made a mental note to never give Nia grief about being the decoy. Ever. Being a man, a stiff breeze could cause arousal, so he forced sports stats back to the forefront of his brain. Lexie ground herself against him, undoubtedly spreading Lexie juice all over the front of his pants. Kissing her back, he pretended to enjoy her tongue licking his teeth, flicking around haphazardly. He let out a moan and pried her from his face. Lip gloss now covered his lips—inside and out—his chin, and up into his nose. He fought the urge to wipe it on his sleeve and spit. Instead, he pushed her back a bit. Framing her face, he tucked her hair behind her ears, which she immediately un-tucked and tousled with a look of shock and disgust plastered on her face.

  “Garrett, don’t ever touch a woman’s hair.” She slid off of him and walked over to the mirror on the wall. She smiled and blew kisses at her reflection while she fixed her locks, then returned to the couch where she retrieved a shawl, draping it around her shoulders. “Shall we go?”