by Jo Leigh
She had to give it to him. His technique was subtle and effective. To her own mortification, his charm had almost worked on her. Admittedly it had been at a party and they’d both had too much to drink, but it still embarrassed her to think about it. Nothing would have come of it, though, because the last thing she wanted was to be another notch on Vail’s belt.
“I think you guys are nuts. This week isn’t going to be easy for either of them,” Brad said as he rolled a quarter over the backs of his fingers in what he called a dexterity exercise, but was in truth his way of coping without cigarettes. “Sharing a bed? Intimacy exercises? I mean, what the hell would intimacy exercises even be?”
“Oh, brother. If you have to ask I feel sorry for your wife,” Angie said, and the rest of the crew laughed.
God, she hoped that cut the conversation short because she knew exactly what the exercises would entail. Lots of touching, kissing, maybe even getting naked and she absolutely could not think about Ryan in that context. At least not at work.
“I should have been the one to go undercover with him,” Paula said. “Seriously. I would’ve appreciated the experience so much more than Jeannie.”
Brad’s laugh was more about disbelief than amusement. “You have a boyfriend.”
Paula gave them an innocent smile. “It’s not cheating if you’re doing it for a case. That’s like vacation sex but you still get paid.”
“Like hell it’s not cheating,” he said to more laughter, which said more about their long hours and how punchy they all were than it did about the quality of the humor. “Angie should’ve been the one to go undercover with Vail. No offense to Jeannie but you two would’ve looked more like the Ebsens.”
Angie snorted, and not with any grace. “Me and Vail? Yeah, right.”
Paula shrugged. “You know I hate agreeing with Brad, but I see what he’s saying.” She tilted her head, glancing at Angie’s shoes again. “The right clothes and hair and you two would look as if you’d stepped off the cover of In Style.”
Angie chuckled. No one else did. Was it conceivable they were teasing her because they knew about her thing for Ryan? No, not possible. She barely glanced at him when he was in the office. Absolutely no one knew. Except for Liz, and Liz didn’t count. As her closest friend who also happened to be an FBI agent in the San Diego office, she knew almost everything about Angie. But certainly no one at work had an inkling that Angie might have thought about Ryan in a sexual context. A few times. “Shut up. All of you. As if I’d ever volunteer for an assignment with Vail.”
“You liar,” Paula said, a little louder than was appropriate in the bullpen. “I’ve seen you check out that ass. Everyone with a pulse has checked out that ass.”
“I’ve got a pulse,” Brian said. “Trust me. I have never—”
“I meant people who were into that kind of guy.”
“I have,” Sally said, raising her hand without a bit of shame. “And Angie, my dear friend, as cool as you play it, I’ve seen you blush when he walks by.”
“Probably because Vail had done something to blush about.” Angie was terrified she’d start blushing right this minute. The subject needed to be changed, although it wouldn’t hurt to make a definitive statement. “I mean, come on. To sleep in the same bed as him? To act like his wife? Palmer could’ve offered to pay off my car loan and no way in hell would I have—”
Assistant Director Gordon Palmer walked into the bullpen, and Angie swung her feet off the desk. Everyone else in the room sat up straight, dropping the banter like hot coals. “We have a problem,” he said, as if his demeanor hadn’t already tipped them off.
Palmer was a good man, a fair boss and someone who had a knack for assigning the right agents to the right tasks, unlike several A.D.s she could mention. “Agent Foster is being held over in court. Indefinitely. We’ve been trying to get a postponement, but the judge won’t budge.”
Angie’s chest tightened as if pressed by a vise. All their work, all the hours they’d spent putting this sting together....This was the final Intimate At Last retreat being held in the United States.
“However,” Palmer said, turning toward Angie with purpose. Had he overheard? Was this part of the joke? No, he wasn’t the type. “There is one solution.”
The pressure in her chest got so heavy she could hardly breathe. “Oh, my God.”
“You’re up to speed with every aspect of the case,” Palmer said, making it very clear he was completely serious. “You helped build the cover stories. I feel certain that you can pull it off.”
“Wouldn’t Paula be a better choice?” she said, her voice tight and her hands gripping her chair as if her life depended on it. “She was just saying...”
Paula shook her head, all business. “I don’t know the cover, not like you do.”
Palmer walked to Angie’s desk. “I can’t order you to do this,” he said, softly now, for her ears only. “And there will be no negative repercussions if you aren’t comfortable taking over the assignment. I realize it’s a sensitive situation. No one’s going to blame you for declining to step in.”
The very thought of sleeping in the same bed as Ryan Vail made her skin tingle, made her want to hide under her desk. For all his colorful reputation, he would be a perfect gentleman, she had no doubt, but that didn’t mean she could be a perfect lady. Knowing she’d never be with Ryan in real life had no effect whatsoever on what she did with him in her fantasies. The idea of actually sleeping with him... She felt sick with panic.
Taking her own idiotic issues out of the equation, there were several practical reasons to turn down the assignment. She might have helped with the cover stories, but she couldn’t step directly into Jeannie’s shoes.
However, she couldn’t dismiss the short- and long-term benefits of saying yes. She didn’t want to let down the team. And if she’d thought writing the search engine code would get her noticed, agreeing to the undercover work would put her front and center in the Deputy Director’s radar.
She weighed the pros and cons: pretending to be Ryan’s wife all week versus nailing the job in D.C.
She stood. “We don’t have much time. Jeannie and I aren’t close to the same size so I’ll have to get a new wardrobe. We’ll need to put my paperwork and computer cover in place faster than is humanly possible.”
A.D. Palmer shook her hand. “Thank you, Wolf. Or should I say, Mrs. Ebsen.”
2
HE WOKE TO THE BED DIPPING. For a few seconds, Ryan’s adrenaline spiked until he remembered where he was. He groaned at the bright red numbers on the clock. “One a.m.? What the...?”
The rest of the question got lost in the dark, but it didn’t matter, because Jeannie didn’t answer. He didn’t blame her, she must be exhausted. At least she hadn’t turned on the lights. And he had asked her not to wake him. “You okay?”
She tugged sharply on the covers, pulling more of them to her side of the bed. But she didn’t confirm or deny.
Ryan craned his neck until he could just make out her head on the pillow, her back to him, hunched and tight. Must have gotten stuck at the airport or something. If she didn’t want to talk about it, fine.
He curled onto his side hoping to find the dream she’d interrupted. It had been nice. Smelled nice. He sighed as he closed his eyes, thinking vaguely that he’d been right that sharing a bed with her was no big deal. Especially when he considered what else was going to take place in the next few days.
It was amazingly quiet; they weren’t in the hotel proper, but a separate group of bungalows that had their own locked gate, their own pools, even an exclusive bar. That’s why the retreat cost an arm and a leg. So they could be near the secluded Namaste courtyard where the private couples retreat would take place. Too bad he had to work. This was the best vacation spot he’d been to in years.
He sighed as he let himself slip deeper and deeper into sleep.... The scent came back, a little like the beach and jasmine, low-key and sexy like—
His e
yes flew open. His heart thudded as his pulse raced and it had to be the dream. The dream had gotten him confused. That’s all. No need to panic. That was Jeannie next to him. For God’s sake, who else would it be?
So why wasn’t he turning around? Even in the dark, it would only take one look to know for sure and then he would cool his jets and go back to sleep. Undercover jitters. It happened. Not to him, but he’d heard tales. Nothing to see. No chance in hell the boss would do something insane like pull a switch at this stage of the game.
Moving slowly, not wanting to disturb her, Ryan twisted until he could see his bed partner. He hadn’t used the blackout curtains because he never did—might have to see in the middle of the night. Like now. Just to check. Just to be certain.
He swallowed as his gaze went to the back of Jeannie’s head. Shit. It was a trick of the moonlight. Jeannie’s blond hair looked darker, that’s all. And longer. He bent closer, grabbing his side of the mattress so he wouldn’t tumble on top of her, then took a major sniff.
“What the—” Ryan sat up so fast the whole bed shook. His hand flailed in his search for the light switch, but even after he’d found it he didn’t blink.
It wasn’t Jeannie. The woman next to him. Wasn’t. Jeannie. Jeannie smelled like baby powder and bananas. The woman next to him smelled exactly like...
She groaned and as she turned over, he whispered, “No, no, no, no.”
Special Agent Angie Wolf glared back at him with red-rimmed eyes. She wasn’t supposed to be here. In the bed. With him.
“Jeannie is being held over in court,” she said, her voice as gruff as the hour. “They weren’t able to get a postponement. If you’d answered your phone or picked up your messages, you would know that. Palmer asked me to take her place. I would prefer not to be here, but we really don’t have a choice if we want to salvage the operation. Now, turn off the light and go back to sleep. Please.”
It took him a minute to digest what she’d said. Eventually he nodded. “Okay.”
She punched the pillow, looked once more in his general direction and said, “Oh, and if you wake me before eight, I’ll kill you with my bare hands,” then pulled the covers over her head while Ryan thought of five different reasons he should get up and go straight back to L.A.
That would end any chance he might have had for the D.C. job, but hey, he was a good agent. He could still rise to the top, even if he had to climb stairs instead of ride the elevator. Which would leave one of the other candidates to slip right into that sweet, sweet position working for the Deputy Director. For example, the woman sharing the goddamn bed.
What he couldn’t do was pretend to be married to Angie Wolf. This operation was possible because Jeannie and him, they had seen each other in their underwear before. It had been funny. No embarrassment whatsoever. Hell, he was pals with her husband. He played with her kids. They were cool, him and Jeannie, no matter what cockamamie new-age tantric yoga tofu-covered bullshit they might have to sit through.
Angie Wolf was a whole different kettle of fish. She was hot, for one thing. Hot as in smokin’ hot. Tall, lean, small up top, but on her it worked, and legs... Man, those runner’s legs. Her dark hair was straight and thick and flowed halfway down her back, and he’d found himself too often staring into her cocoa-colored eyes.
Worse than that, he’d almost broken one of his cardinal rules because of her: he did not cross the line with anyone connected to the job. But at last year’s Halloween party they’d come uncomfortably close. He’d been joking, sort of, but then there was this heat between them, and he’d realized that the fire had been smoldering for a long time, probably since they’d met. But A.D. Palmer had interrupted what had been dangerously close to a kiss and she’d stepped back. He’d laughed as if it was no big deal, as if his heart hadn’t been beating a wicked drum solo in his chest or that he’d been half-hard just from the scent of her perfume. They’d kept their distance since. Sixteen months later they still had to be careful because the pull hadn’t diminished one iota. At least not for him. She was kind of hard to gauge.
God, just a few hours ago, he’d been laughing about the Intimate At Last brochure. Body work. Couples massages. Delightful homeplay assignments. Shit. How was this supposed to work now?
Once the light was off, he stared into the shadows of the room. He wasn’t about to fall asleep anytime tonight. Angie Wolf was going to be his wife. For a week. Holy hell.
* * *
THE FIRST THING ANGIE thought when she woke up was how surprised she was that she’d slept at all. She’d assumed sharing a bed with Vail would have kept her wide-awake for the entire night, but the exhaustion of the day had won out. At least the bed was big enough that they wouldn’t have to touch. The thought of feeling his bed-warmed body brush against hers was enough to cause a surge of panic that woke her more efficiently than a cold shower.
“I’m ordering coffee,” he said, shifting behind her. “You want?”
She exhaled as she remembered her role. Not the one as his wife, but as his partner. “Yeah, thanks.”
The sound of the bedding rustling as he reached for the phone caused her muscles to tense and her jaw to tighten. So much for her resolve. She’d made a choice yesterday. She could have refused the assignment. As with everything worth having, and there was no doubt that the job in D.C. was, compromise and sacrifice came with the package.
No matter what her personal feelings were toward Ryan, her only task this week was to play his loving, entitled, slightly insecure wife so that Ryan became the perfect target for blackmail. The end. Nothing else mattered. Not sharing a bed, not the intimacy exercises they would participate in, not the inevitable touching. As long as they were both completely clear that no “optional” nudity was going to occur under any circumstances, they’d be fine.
Behind her, Ryan hung up the telephone, then the comforter shifted as he stood. Angie stayed frozen on her side just long enough for things to get really awkward. A quiet huff broke the silence and a moment later, the bathroom door closed.
She rolled onto her back and the way she relaxed told her just how tense she’d been. She hadn’t moved all night. Good thing because she’d been so close to the edge she could have very easily fallen right on the floor.
A shower would help things immensely. Personal issues aside, yesterday had been a killer. She’d barely made it on the last flight to Vegas. Getting into character had been insanity. While she’d had to suffer a mani/pedi, two of the L.A. team had hit Rodeo Drive armed with her measurements and crossed fingers to pick up a complete designer wardrobe. Underwear. Bras. Shoes. Earrings. She hadn’t had someone buy her panties since she’d been twelve.
Her own style was business casual, built around the fact that she carried a Glock in a shoulder holster. She’d be more comfortable dressing up as a vampire than pulling off Prada or bebe.
The bathroom door opened, and there was Vail. Shirtless. Wearing UCLA Bruins sweats that hung low on his sharp-edged hips. Of course, he was sculpted like a professional athlete, a swimmer, damn him. Even worse, he had a Hollywood–handsome face to go with it. Dark hair, piercing green eyes, goddamn chiseled jaw. She let out a groan but immediately stretched, trying to make it seem natural, and not a reaction to the six-pack and the shoulders-to-hips ratio.
He tried to fight a grin, not very convincingly, then took a few more steps toward the big dresser. “The bathroom’s all yours. I showered last night.”
Angie threw the covers back and swung her legs over, determined to get her act together. What she needed was to talk to Liz, who couldn’t have picked a worse time than yesterday to be incommunicado.
“You gonna sleep in your clothes every night?” Ryan asked. “I suppose it wouldn’t blow the gig, but I imagine it won’t be very comfortable.”
“Yeah, no, it was late,” she said, keeping her head down as she went to get her suitcase. Why wasn’t the room bigger? Like the size of Montana? “At least the room’s nice.”
“So is
the minibar.”
She didn’t look up at him. “I don’t think the budget’s going to cover twenty-dollar beers.” The snick of the pull handle on her suitcase seemed alarmingly loud, but then everything since she’d agreed to this...situation had felt excessive.
To give Ryan credit, he was being extremely civil. She’d been worried he’d be in her face about the change in plans. She’d also imagined him very, very pissed. But then, they were officially on the job, and working for the government made acceptance of the absurd a necessity.
Ryan was a good agent. He was dedicated. More than that, he was smart. He wasn’t as concerned with rules and regs as the brass would like, but that wasn’t a big deal, not to her. He got the job done. He could be pleasant. Nice, even. He’d never been anything but professional, even after they’d had that brief...misunderstanding at the Halloween party. Hell, he’d moved on without missing a beat.
It was as a man that he failed spectacularly.
No, that wasn’t fair. He had different values than her own, that’s all. It wasn’t up to her to judge someone’s sexual practices. If he wanted to sleep with the entire female population of Los Angeles, it was his own business.
She made sure she didn’t look too anxious as she made her way to the bathroom, but slamming the door might have given him a clue. When the back of her head bumped the door she realized that she’d done nothing but behave like a child since she’d opened her eyes. Not moving, not looking at him, avoiding his touch. The man didn’t actually have cooties, and she would eventually have to meet his gaze. Touch him. Act like a professional. Act like his loving wife.
The first thing she did was turn on the shower. The second thing was to pull her iPad out of her suitcase and turn it on to Skype.
Liz answered the call in seconds. “I got your message. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” she asked, and Angie could see her redheaded friend perched at her breakfast counter, still wearing her Nike running gear. In front of her was a glass of orange juice and a bowl, probably oatmeal.
