Batting her lashes and widening her eyes, Amber allowed her lips to form the slightest pout. She knew her part, and knew which poses could knock off a few years.
“Can you?” She was going for airhead, but the narrowing of Danny’s eyes told her he wasn’t buying it. She switched gears, raising one eyebrow and smirking to show she’d only been playing the vixen. If possible, his smile got even wider, showing her a perfect row of pearly white teeth.
“Oh yeah.” He rumbled. The shift from shy boy to practiced charmer had her eyes narrowing. Her original instinct came rearing back. Something wasn’t adding up.
If he wanted to play games, she’d play along. She’d played with some of the best, and here she was, a bit worse for wear maybe, but still alive and kicking it. He might be good, but she was better.
“And what would you recommend first?” she asked, leaving him with two options. Drop the innuendos and back off, or go all in and proposition her. She was curious to see which he’d choose. And worried he’d call her bluff. Because no matter how sweet or how handsome Danny was, she wasn’t inviting him inside, especially not with the sexual innuendoes they’d been passing between them. No matter how much she might want to, or how long it had been since anyone had touched her with anything beyond sympathy. Not since Nick. Amber barely managed to suppress the instant panic that surfaced at the thought. Here and now. Concentrate on that.
“Why don’t I take you out for dinner and drinks? Show you around town a bit.”
She blinked, not hiding her surprise. A date? She hadn’t expected that. She’d been more worried about what would happen if he made a move on her. Maybe Danny wasn’t more than he seemed. Just a nice, attractive guy interested in a girl. Too bad he chose her, someone who was an agent first and a woman second.
Before responding, she analyzed him. Brown hair, medium height but stocky, and with a lot of muscle. If she had to guess, she could take him, but it would be one hell of a fight. Her stomach rolled with another swirl of unease. An air of strength surrounded him, but with something more. Something hiding just beneath the surface, tightly restrained.
Amber had been around a lot of powerful men in her lifetime. Men who wrapped power around them like a shield, and she recognized the differences between those who sought power and those who radiated it without trying. Danny’s power infused his very being. Not something he sought, but something he was straight down to his core. So the question became, what were his motives? And whose side was he on?
If only she could simply come out and ask, excuse me, where do your loyalties lie? To your country, or to a secret anarchist organization we think is operating in the area?
“I’d like that,” she finally replied. After all, she needed information about the town and the people. First dates were all about questions. A perfect way to learn some basics about him and about the town. That was why she was saying yes. The only reason.
“Shall I pick you up around six, then?” he asked.
She looked at her watch. It would give her two hours. Plenty of time to run a background check and do a bit of research. Amber didn’t believe in the phrase being too careful.
“Perfect.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
As he passed, she smiled, not taking her eyes off him until the car door was firmly between them. Good or evil, nice guy here to welcome her, or enemy here to keep an eye on her? Her guard would stay up until she knew for sure one way or the other.
As he pulled away from the house, she turned her attention to his trunk, committing his license plate number to memory. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his head turn her way, and quickly met his gaze, raising her hand in a cheery wave until he passed out of sight.
As the tension of the moment disappeared, she became aware of the pounding in her head. Relief rushed forward, filling her with giddy euphoria.
She inhaled deeply, and put a hand against her temple. To trust or not to trust, that was the question.
She knew her job. Had once been able to do it without questioning every move. Now questioning seemed to be all she did. Constantly wracking her nerves. If only she could get out of her own head, away from the memories of another time and place.
A stronger person than her would have overcome these issues by now. It had been eight months since her last assignment ended, and although her therapist had lauded her progress, Amber still felt it was too slow. She couldn’t do her job if she was scared all the time.
Not for the first time, she wondered if she should quit. And maybe it would be the simple thing to do. But being an agent was all she knew. After college, she’d gone straight into the FBI and been promoted to field agent in two years, moving to undercover work almost immediately. For whatever reason, facing down a madman with a gun scared her less than a nine-to-five desk job.
With a sigh, Amber glanced around at the forest surrounding her cabin. Maybe here she could gain a level of peace. Or maybe this would be the job that put the final nail in her coffin as an agent. She knew the higher-ups were watching her closely, testing to see if the last assignment had broken her or not. But she’d prove to them she could be the same agent she’d been in the past. Better, even.
Somehow…
Dejection and determination warred as she turned and strode inside. The satellite phone that allowed her to check in with the agency even in the most remote locations sat on the island in the kitchen. She kept it on her and hidden at all times. At least she usually did. It had saved her ass on more than one occasion. But she hadn’t expected visitors this soon and had only left the house for a short walk around the perimeter of the property. For security, but also to clear her head.
Stupid. Leaving the phone had been a rookie mistake. Even though she hadn’t thought she’d need it, the phone should have been glued to her from the moment she’d stepped off the plane. Not like her at all. She was better than that, and had to start acting like it.
Sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear, she sighed as it swung back in her line of vision. Her new short haircut showed the nerves behind the useless gesture.
Picking up her phone, she pressed the number preprogrammed into speed dial.
“Jiffy Dry Cleaners, we clean your clothes in a jiffy,” a woman on the other end answered.
“This is Agent Mason, passcode Alpha Gamma six, requesting a background check on the owner of a blue Ford Explorer.” Amber rattled off the license plate number from memory.
“Okay, the requested information will be sent to your email momentarily, Agent Mason.”
Efficient, as always. The Agency always was.
“Thank you,” Amber replied before hanging up.
The information would take a while to assemble, but she knew that thank you would speed things up a little. Remembering the frustration other agents expressed when they discussed her average information wait time, she smirked. It always amazed her how many people forgot the simple courtesies. Sure, providing agents with information was the operator’s job, but that didn’t mean a little thanks wasn’t appreciated. Gratitude went a long way.
Amber glanced at the clock. If she got ready for the date now, she could spend all the time leading up to Danny’s arrival to check up on him. With a nod, she headed for the shower. Time to get beautified. The more he stared at her chest and legs, the less he’d notice if she seemed a bit too inquisitive.
Chapter 2
Daniel Christopher Callahan. No criminal record to speak of. A couple minor traffic incidents, including one at-fault crash when he was seventeen, but no injuries. Started a software business with his two older brothers with inheritance money from their grandmother. He also had two sisters, one older, one younger. Took a few online college courses in computer programming from Phoenix University, which he’d aced, but never earned a degree.
Everything matched up with the sweet, sometimes a bit awkward, but still confident, and definitely dominant, man across the table from her. A good ole country boy, the boy next door, born a
nd raised in the same town he lived and worked in as an adult. But some instinct whispered that there was more to Danny than met the eye. And she’d learned the hard way to trust her instincts.
Maybe it was in the way he’d start to make a move, then pull himself back. Almost as if he didn’t trust himself. As if he thought he was dangerous to her. Amber didn’t think he meant her harm, but every now and then when he’d touch her, she felt him…hesitate. Yet, he reached for her hand time and time again.
The pieces to the Danny puzzle kind of fit together, but only if hammered in. With a few empty spots as if she was missing a piece or two. He was a riddle. Amber loved solving riddles. And wasn’t it lucky that solving this one happened to be part of her job? Well, kind of.
As soon as she’d read over his file, she’d suspected he wasn’t involved in whatever her bosses had sent her here to investigate. By the time he’d shown up with his heated eyes, slow smile, and bouquet of bright yellow daisies, she’d grown pretty certain. And after the ride to the restaurant while he pointed out things of interest in the town, she’d pretty much ruled him out entirely. But, there were still plenty of reasons to pursue a relationship with someone who knew the area as well as Danny did, even if it wasn’t directly related to her job. The information he could provide would help narrow down her search.
Besides, Danny was great company. She couldn’t remember enjoying an evening more. He proved charming and courteous, with just a flair of danger. Not the for her life kind–there’d been too much of that in her life already–but the kind that reminded her of the time she’d snuck out and gone skinny dipping with Bobby Thompson in high school. The kind that pooled in her belly and made her smile with secret wicked intent.
Easy on the eyes, too. When he smiled, one crease appeared to the left of his mouth. Not so much a dimple, but a small indent. Just on the one side. Amber found it adorable. Not that she’d tell him that. Men wanted to be dashing or handsome. Not adorable.
“Are you ready to order?” a waitress asked, standing beside their table with a pen poised over her pad of paper.
Amber peered over her menu and met Danny’s gaze. A jolt of heat struck her as their eyes met. The portfolio she’d gotten on him had stated his eye color as brown, but it hadn’t described the rich honey color of them or the flecks of darker brown hidden within. She could get lost in those eyes.
She stiffened. No, she couldn’t afford to get lost in a pretty pair of eyes. Not ever again. She was here for information. Nothing more. But how easy it would be to pretend, if only for one night, that things could be different.
Across the table, Danny raised an eyebrow, a slight smile tugging the corner of his mouth.
“I think he’s pretty too, sugar, but I need to get your order if you want to eat sometime tonight,” the girl said, making Amber aware of just how long she’d stared at him. What was wrong with her?
“Right, sorry. I’ll have a buffalo blue burger, well done, with fries.”
Jeez, caught ogling a potential informant during a mission. She could almost hear her director’s lecture now.
With as much pride as she could muster, Amber handed the waitress her menu, meeting her eyes directly, a pretty girl with large blue eyes and a name tag that read Charlee. Amber sized her up with no more than a glance. Cute as a button and completely harmless. She winked at Amber in friendly gesture, but Amber cursed her and herself as she felt a blush rise up in her cheeks. Damn it, she’d almost escaped with no visible evidence of her embarrassment.
“Well done?” Danny cringed at her dramatically, before turning his attention to the waitress.
Amber looked down and smiled into her lap, grateful he hadn’t teased her about staring too long.
If Danny really was everything he appeared to be, he was a stand-up guy. The kind she hadn’t thought existed anymore.
“I’ll have the BBQ burger, and onion rings.”
The waitress took the menu from him and left.
Amber watched her progress, before turning a questioning look at Danny. “She didn’t ask how you wanted it cooked.”
“They know me here,” he responded with a shrug.
“Which means?”
“They know how I like my meat.”
Curious. Not “burger,” but “meat.”
“And how is that?” Blame it on her inquisitive nature, but she couldn’t let the subject go.
“Medium rare, emphasis on the rare. They cook it just the way I like it.”
Rare hamburger meat? “Eww.”
He laughed, reaching for his beer. A Guinness, which was another eww in her book, but to each their own. “That’s how I feel about the charred version you ordered.” A teasing smile softened his words.
“We’ll just see which one of us comes down with food poisoning first,” she teased back, making his smile grow.
With Danny, it was so easy to forget who she was and why she was here. So easy to forget her facade and be natural around him. Maybe she had lost her investigative skills when she lost her heart for the job. Or maybe she was still stalling. Time to get to work.
“So Danny, how long have you lived here?” Of course, she already knew the answer. But he didn’t know that, and she had to keep up appearances. Couldn’t appear too eager for the knowledge she needed.
Besides, even the typical first date questions had their uses. By studying his body language and expressions, she could pick up tells, to see how he reacted when he told the truth and when he lied.
Civilians were often clueless to how easily they could be read by someone with a little experience. She wasn’t a profiler by any means–tried that and it was not for her–but the mandatory courses she’d taken to become an agent had included some basic skills.
“My whole life. The town doctor delivered me, and I haven’t left.”
Amber paid close attention to his face when he answered, watching the way his eyes moved, how the lines around his mouth shifted when he talked.
“So what do you do?”
Again she watched when he answered, asking the expected questions and analyzing his responses. So far nothing seemed suspicious. It all jived with the information she’d been given. What she needed to do was catch him in a lie, just a small one, but something that would allow her to assess his physical response. But what to ask…
“So why relocate to this area?” he asked her before she could come up with something.
She’d expected this. Had prepared for these types of questions. She’d spent an entire week learning her supposed history. Even an expert psychologist would have trouble distinguishing the lies from the truth. Not foolproof, granted. She knew a few agents who could call her out. But still pretty damn good, if she said so herself. The trick was to stay as close to the truth as possible.
“After my parents passed, I floundered a bit.” Truth. “My father wasn’t close to his family. They didn’t approve of my mother and cut him out when he married her. And my mother was an only child.” Truth. Amber looked into her beer and shrugged her shoulder. “I guess I just got restless with my job, my home, everything.”
Another truth. She wasn’t just restless with her job, her home, her life–but tired. Bone weary tired. Every day she struggled more, but nothing helped. She felt…stuck. Moving to the middle of nowhere and escaping her current existence sounded like heaven. If she had the money. Which she didn’t.
Not because she didn’t make enough. But she hadn’t exactly been worried about saving it before. As an agent, her life had constantly been in turmoil. Hard to prepare for retirement when standing so close to death. Now she was cursing her expensive apartment and the fancy car that she still made payments on after four years.
But that was why she was here, trying to discover what secrets this town and its people held, and not quitting her job and moving for real. There had to be some mysteries, and she would find them. After all, every town had secrets. It fell upon her to find out this town’s secrets and decide whether they were dange
rous to the country.
She glanced at her hand in surprise as Danny reached across the table and squeezed it in sympathy, almost as if he could read her thoughts. Dreading the look in his eyes, Amber cautiously met his gaze. She’d seen a lot of pity in people’s eyes in the past year, and didn’t know if she could stand seeing it in a virtual stranger’s. How pathetic could she get?
But Danny’s eyes didn’t carry the dark knowledge of what had happened to her. The sympathy in his eyes wasn’t pitying, but warm.
Amber took a moment, letting it pierce through her barriers and comfort her. She filled up on the glow, basking in it for just a moment, before slamming the barriers close again. Cutting off the pleasure she’d received from his gaze, was harder than she’d thought it would be, causing her to worry her lip. What was happening to her?
Shaking off her concern, she took a sip of beer to hide her discomfort, letting the tart liquid sooth some of the tightness in her throat and chest.
“So it’s just you, then?” Danny asked.
Amber cleared her throat. “Just me.” Her first lie of the evening. She had a younger sister, one of the few bright spots in her life. But she refused to talk about her sister during a job. Someone had to protect her from the things that went bump in the night. Doing her job and hiding Tara’s existence from the bad guys was the best way Amber knew how.
Danny laced their fingers together. “Well, you moved to the right place. Alpine Woods is kind of like one giant extended family. Everyone helps each other out here.”
“Sounds too good to be true.”
He laughed. “I guess it would seem that way to an outsider. I’ll have to introduce you around. You’ll love my siblings.”
“How many siblings do you have?” Another question she knew the answer to, but she had to keep up appearances.
“Two brothers, two sisters, two sister-in-laws, and one almost brother-in-law.” The smile on his face when he talked about them brought a sharp pain to her chest. There was love. A lot of it. And Amber was jealous. She took a hasty sip of her beer, covering up the awkward moment. What would it be like to be surrounded by that much love? She hadn’t spoken to her sister more than a few sentences in the past year. Before that… Well, it had been best all-around to keep her existence a secret, even if that meant cutting her out.
Covert Desires Page 2
