What's Her Secret?

by Geraldine O'Hara, Natalie Dae, Nichelle Gregory, Crissy Smith, Lisabet Sarai

  “Umm…”

  Oh, God. She was going to kill him. Problem was, she knew exactly what he usually drank but wasn’t in the position to say anything or give away that she knew him.

  Jay maintained his pleasant, expectant expression, though by now Tyson had wandered over to top off his cup with half and half and Sienna was about to throw an espresso cup at Boyd’s balding head.

  “Would you like some suggestions?” she prodded.

  “Uh. Well, I’m actually kind of set on what I like…”

  “And what would that be?” Jay asked patiently.

  “Sorry. Your menu is just different from the places I usually go…”

  Enough was enough. “Why don’t you tell us what you order at your usual coffee place and we’ll tell you how to get a similar drink here?” Sienna was proud of how calm—and even a bit disinterested—her voice sounded to her ears.

  “Oh, sure.” Boyd smiled with relief. “That’s a great idea, miss. Thank you. I usually order an extra hot, grande white chocolate mocha with an extra shot and a pump of caramel. With whip. At…Starbucks.” He whispered this last as though speaking the name of the coffee giant might get him kicked out of the café.

  Actually, in some indie coffee houses around town it might.

  Sienna grimaced—she had tried a sip of his concoction once and it had about put her into a diabetic coma. “Yes, sir. We can absolutely do that for you.” Though she wasn’t sure why he would want to do that to himself. She got the triple espresso going then started steaming the non-fat milk as a compromise since Boyd was always trying to lose weight. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

  The guys also bought a couple of scones, which were obviously both for Boyd since Tyson didn’t eat gluten. Once they’d paid and left, Jay glanced at the time. There were only a handful of people sitting around, all by themselves and all on their laptops or other devices.

  “We’ll be closing up in five minutes,” he announced.

  There was a flurry of motion as customers started to gather their stuff and unplug cords. Jay walked over to the neon ‘Open’ sign and switched it off. He returned to the counter. “I’ll walk you through closing.” They were the first non-drink related words he’d said to her since Greg had left.

  “Great,” she replied, then, because her character would have definitely got the message by now, she went on, “Hey, Jay, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” he said, while pulling a cart out from where it was tucked by the wall. He opened up the pastry display case from the back and started pulling plates of leftover baked goods out one by one and setting them on the bottom shelf.

  “Did I offend you in some way? I mean, I thought we were getting along pretty well, then all of sudden you got really quiet.”

  Jay went still and pressed his lips together. “Sorry about that.” He went back to working without saying anything further and it didn’t escape her notice that he hadn’t answered the question.

  Sienna sighed then let it drop as she looked around for something to do.

  She worked on pulling the carafes and fixings. Meanwhile, the last customer had filed out. Jay went over to the door and locked it up behind her, then drew the blinds on all the windows as well as the door. He must have felt her watching him and said, “I always close them down right away, otherwise people see you working in here and they’ll knock on the door to try to get a last-minute drink.”

  “Really? Even though we’re obviously closed?”

  “Yeah.” He gave a reluctant chuckle, seeming to loosen up a bit now that they were talking again. “It’s almost irresistible for some reason to the types who think they’re pretty special. Happens all the time.”

  “And of course they want something super complicated.”

  “And don’t tip.” Jay grinned at her, and she smiled back, glad that they’d regained some of their earlier ease with each other.

  They finished the clean-up of both the public area and the kitchen working in tandem, then Jay headed back to the office with her, each of them carrying one of the boxes Greg had left earlier.

  “I usually do the bank deposit on the way home then just bring the receipt back the next day and add it to the credit card machine closeout.” He picked that up and waved it at her, placing it deliberately on the inbox tray sitting on Harlan’s desk. “He goes over the previous day’s books the next morning. Sorry, I don’t know everything about that part, though I’m sure you can call him if you need help.”

  It was the opening she’d been looking for. “Yeah, I thought I’d stay here and get oriented, if that’s okay with you?”

  After a couple of seconds, Jay nodded. “Sure. You’re the boss. Well, the boss’ niece anyway.” They both laughed. “Come on—let’s get this stock put away and I’ll get out of your hair.”

  Jay opened the storage closet and kick-shoved the boxes inside, maneuvering them over the thick industrial mat.

  “You could really use that mat out front by the machine. My feet are killing me.”

  Jay nodded. “You get used to it. Harlan said this one actually used to be out there but it was hard to keep clean so he just stuck it in here. Comes in handy during inventory, I guess.”

  They loaded the shelves with the non-perishable supplies then Jay grabbed the empty boxes and nodded at her to go out of the narrow space ahead of him. “I’ll break these down and stick them in the recycling…unless you need them?”

  She shook her head.

  “Okay then.” Jay put on his jacket and picked up the bank deposit bag with the cash they’d counted out of the till. “I’m off. I’ll see you tomorrow?” he checked.

  “I’ll be here.”

  He gave her one last small smile of farewell then walked down the hall. After a few moments, she heard the chime as he opened the front door. Just to make sure she was alone, she went partway down the hall and was able to watch as Jay locked the door behind him, then headed toward the side of the building with the alley.

  She mentally tracked him as there was a slight noise near the back, alarmed door that was probably him at the recycling bin. Then just normal city sounds.

  Sienna waited a few more minutes then re-entered the office. She knew that the computer was a plant. They’d seized Harlan’s and replaced it with a duplicate that would show a record of any use. However they’d had to leave most of the paperwork in place to avoid suspicion.

  She was pretty convinced that Jay wasn’t knowingly involved in Harlan’s dealings, but until she was one hundred percent sure, he would need to be kept in the dark.

  Okay, paperwork.

  Sienna had just opened the right side file drawer when she heard a knock that sounded like it was from the front door.

  Christ, people, we’re closed.

  A second, louder knock came, and she narrowed her eyes, wondering if it was Boyd and Ty, though she didn’t think they’d risk drawing attention to themselves after hours this way. She rose and walked partway down the hall to where she could see the front. The sun shade obscured the person from view, but from the silhouette she knew instantly that it wasn’t Boyd or Tyson. Or Jay, for that matter.

  Making a quick decision as the third knock came, she stomped into the café and threw the deadbolt. The door opened about six inches before she stopped its progress with her boot.

  Was Greg here to pick up where they’d left off at the club, or for a less savoury reason? “We’re closed,” she pointed out unnecessarily, her heart hammering, whether with adrenaline or something else she didn’t know.

  Greg looked down at her foot blocking his entrance then trailed his gaze slowly back up to meet hers again. “I know.”

  Sienna swallowed, almost feeling that perusal as a physical touch as it brought back memories of the other night. “What are you doing here?” she asked him, standing her ground.

  “We need to talk, Cici.” His serious tone was far removed from his flirty joking around of earlier.

  Ugh—again with tha
t name. But the name reminded her of her team, who might very well be watching this unfold. And his demeanor and the way he’d said he ‘needed’ to talk had piqued her curiosity. Damn it.

  “Fine. Come inside before some random person decides they desperately need a latte.” She moved aside to let him in then closed and locked the door behind him.

  He moved up right behind her, not touching her but in her space in a way that made her instantly aware that they were alone for the first time. She fought to keep her breathing even, not from fear but from the almost overwhelming urge to pull him into the back and do something that didn’t require talking.

  She turned to the side enough to look him in the eye. “What do we need to talk about?” she prompted, deliberately using his word choice.

  He fixed her with a level gaze. “What you’re doing here and what answers you can give me about Harlan Coffman.”

  She froze, running through her options in her head. Shit, she was alone in here with him. Her backup gun was in one of her cargo pockets, but she wasn’t sure that at this range she could get it out without him being able to stop her or take it away. Especially if he was, as was becoming evident, more than just a delivery guy.

  She needed to put some distance between them, but as soon as she took a couple of steps back away, he followed her, his expression becoming concerned.

  “Hey, don’t be scared.” He reached into his pocket and she tensed, preparing to fight back.

  But instead of pulling out a weapon as she’d been expecting, he pulled out something else that caused her mouth to literally drop open in shock.

  “Oh my God.”

  Chapter Four

  He raised his eyebrows, but before he could say anything, she grabbed his free hand. “Come in the back. Now.”

  Sienna tugged him to get him going in the direction she wanted. Her mind was going a million miles a second and she couldn’t get him into the greater privacy of the office quickly enough.

  As soon as they were both in there, she slammed the door behind him then held out her hand, impatiently beckoning for the familiar object in his.

  He gave her the flat wallet while watching her closely.

  She flipped it open and studied the badge inside, swallowing her surprise. “You’re a cop?”

  “Sort of,” he answered, which was true. The DEA wasn’t exactly the local police.

  When the hell had the Feds become involved and moreover, why the fuck hadn’t anyone told Sienna or her team? And why did she get the feeling that he didn’t know she was undercover?

  She decided to play dumb. “What exactly seems to be the problem, officer?”

  His expression didn’t change, but she could sense that he was assessing her. “Special Agent,” he corrected. “But you can just call me Greg.”

  “Okay, Greg. Sorry. I don’t usually talk to law enforcement.” Yeah, that was a total lie, but whatever. “I don’t understand what this is all about.” That, on the other hand, was the utter truth.

  “We’d like to have you come down to our office and answer some questions about Mr Coffman and about Primo Café in general.”

  She felt like she was playing catch-up. What would her character say? “I’d be happy to, but I’m not sure if there’s much I can tell you. Especially about the café. I just started working here today to help out.”

  “That’s fine. Whatever information you can give us would be helpful.”

  Sienna hated to admit it—and never would under pain of death—but Greg was about ten times sexier now that she knew who he really was. It took a smart and focused person to get as far as he had, and intelligence was a huge turn-on for her.

  It occurred to her for the first time that she now knew for certain that Greg wasn’t a suspect. Immediately her mind went to an area considerably lower on her body, which was already aching with the memory of what Greg and she had done on the dance floor the other night…and all the other things they could do. Yes, that night they’d both been breaking the rules—well, maybe bending them. But a bit of public dance-floor flirtation wasn’t the worst of what she’d heard about going on while undercover, not that she’d ever indulged before. Okay, so it had been more than flirtation, but still.

  And now it wouldn’t even be an issue. At least from the standpoint of cop to potential suspect. Maybe it was still a bit dicey to become involved in any way with another person working the same case, but they weren’t even under the same jurisdiction.

  If that was justifying her next action to herself, so be it. Her conscience was—mostly—clear. His? Greg could worry about that. The insane chemistry between them had to be dealt with. Now.

  The adrenaline burst from the scene out by the door had finally faded and left in its wake a humming sort of arousal burning her from the inside out. She walked confidently forward until she was pressed against him.

  Greg’s eyebrow went up with a smoothness she envied. “Can I help you?”

  Her lips twitched with the effort it took not to smile in triumph. He wasn’t moving away, though he could easily. “Yes, you can.” She slid her hands into the back pockets of those tight uniform pants she’d admired earlier.

  Almost at the same time, he put his arms around her in a similar embrace. Her cargo pants didn’t have rear pockets, but that didn’t faze him. Instead, he cupped her ass in those huge hands, molding and caressing it through the thick fabric.

  “What can I do for you?” His voice had dropped in tone and volume to a husky, intimate near-whisper. He’d bent his head to speak near her ear, then lingered there. His nearly invisible, blond five-o’clock shadow rasped against her cheek and she shivered in response.

  “You already did something for me. I think it’s time I did something for you.”

  Instead of waiting for his comeback to her counter-offer, she backed away enough so she could manhandle him toward the office chair, then she gave him a slight push in the middle of the chest. He fell heavily into the seat, never losing eye contact with her.

  Sienna knelt and heat flared in his eyes.

  She ran her hands slowly up and down his muscular thighs, trying to settle her thoughts. She’d needed to regain control of the situation, because when he’d had his hands on her, suddenly her gun had started burning a hole in her pocket. Its placement was low on her thigh, and she didn’t think he could reach that far in the position they’d been in, but until she got some more information about his involvement here, she sure didn’t want him finding her weapon.

  And right now, the last thing she wanted was work disrupting this scene. She spent enough of her time immersed in her job, to the detriment of her social and sex life. Sienna knew what she wanted and, damn it, afterwards was soon enough to get back into the professional mind-set. Hell, it was pretty likely that the information Tyson had alluded to with his coffee order was letting her know about the Feds’ involvement—which would mean a huge debriefing and collaboration planning session.

  Besides, she’d been at it for nearly ten hours without stop. According to the Wage and Labor people, every working person needed break time, and she was about to take hers.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” he attempted, though she could tell it was a half-hearted effort.

  “I don’t see why not.” She couldn’t resist adding, “It’s not like I’m some kind of suspect or something. We’re just two people who have a…connection.”

  He cocked an eyebrow skeptically, and Sienna barely restrained a smile. If their roles had been reversed, she would have been suspicious too, though instincts were something that developed in a hurry in their line of work. Hers told Sienna that Greg was one of the good guys, and hopefully by his acquiescence to her touch, he got the same vibe from her.

  She’d kept her hands busy while she was talking, unbuckling his belt and opening the hook fastening of the pants before slowly drawing down the zipper. He was already half hard and getting more so every second as she took her time getting to the prize.

  Stoppin
g short of taking him out of his boxer briefs, she instead used her hand and fingers to learn the feel of him while stroking him through the thin cotton.

  Greg reached out and trailed his fingers across the edge of her ear then continued along her jaw line. A hot surge of feminine power made her lips curve. Though he was being patient, that gesture made it clear exactly what he wanted. And she wanted the same thing—had for two days and now that she had the chance, Sienna had every intention of following through…just not quite yet.

  Leaning in, she breathed out heavily against the cotton over his erection then inhaled his masculine scent.

  “Fuck.” Greg’s abs rippled as he tipped his pelvis up, seeking contact. He slid his fingers into her hair, though he didn’t grab onto it. Not that she would have minded.

  “Not yet,” she answered and was pleased to see his cock shift in reaction to her promise.

  She finally took pity on him, not wanting to abuse his gentlemanly behavior in letting her set the pace. Running her fingers along each hip, she instructed, “Up.”

  He obediently lifted his hips and she worked his pants and briefs down to his lower thighs, being careful of his erection. No gun at his back. Probably had it in an ankle holster then, because she’d be surprised if he was unarmed.

  Greg’s skin from the upper legs to his waist was almost white, and smooth except for a small, trimmed patch of dark blond pubes. The contrast, especially at his waist, was very pronounced. This was definitely not a guy who did any nude tanning. And his cock?

  Wow. Nice.

  This was an instance where a guy’s height and build definitely translated over to what was in his pants. She was bit surprised to see he was uncircumcised, but not put off—not by a long shot. Just gave her more to play with.

  He was stiff enough that the smooth, red head of his shaft was mostly visible above the lighter skin of his foreskin. She gave it a little help in escaping its confines by grasping him and giving a few gentle pumps that had him thumping his head back on the headrest of the chair.