I undressed while the water pounded into the old-fashioned claw-foot. The tub was the main reason I’d chosen this apartment. The owner had refurbished the older complex with whatever he’d been able to find at the secondhand yard. As far as I was concerned, I’d won the lottery by getting a unit with a too-large-for-the-space slipper-style tub. I could barely get inside the bathroom and still close the door, but I loved it.
I lit a vanilla-scented candle and turned off the faucet. Hot water lapped at my collar bones as I leaned against the sloped back and pushed Barry out of my mind. He wasn’t worth getting upset over. Dan was worth ten of him, even if he was only marrying me as a cover. The tension in my shoulders eased and I closed my eyes.
CHAPTER TWELVE
DAN
Dan held the pizza box in one hand while knocking with the other. The pizza place hadn’t been busy and traffic had been light. He’d made good time, but the trip had still taken longer than he wanted. Marianne had sounded pretty shaken up. She’d covered it with anger the way his sister Jill did, but he could tell.
What had Mackson been thinking? He’d had his chance and passed. Had he come to his senses and realized that he’d thrown away a chance to marry a smart, brave, beautiful woman? Or had someone at the Trust pressured him to reconsider?
He knocked again, and waited. No answer. Dan’s senses sharpened, and he pressed an ear to the door. No sounds of movement. Marianne was expecting him. She wouldn’t go out.
“Marianne!” Dan pitched his voice to carry, in a tone that demanded an answer. He pounded on the door with the side of his fist. “Marianne!”
Had Mackson returned? Had he refused to take no for an answer? Dan scanned the dimly lit parking lot. Marianne’s Corolla was in its space. There was no sign of Mackson or his car. Dan tossed the pizza onto the landing and pounded with both fists. “Marianne!”
There was no way she couldn’t hear that. If she was home, she wasn’t able to come to the door. If she was in trouble, he’d already wasted too much time, and lost the element of surprise. He’d have to kick the door in and hope that if there was someone inside with a weapon that they didn’t shoot him as soon as he came through the door.
“Ow! Ow! Son of a bitch!” Marianne’s voice came faintly from inside her apartment.
Was someone hurting her? He stepped back and kicked the door. It shook in the frame but didn’t open. The neighbors would call the cops if he kept this up, but he didn’t care.
“Hold your horses!” Marianne yelled. Five long seconds later, she yanked open the door. Her blond curls were twisted up in a knot on top of her head, with little tendrils dangling around her damp face. Water beaded on her bare shoulders and arms above the peach colored towel wrapped around her body.
“Why didn’t you answer?” he demanded as he stepped inside, scanning the room for danger. It was clear. “I’ve been knocking for five minutes!” He strode back to the bedroom to check that, too.
“Don’t shout at me!”
It sunk in that she wasn’t acting like someone under coercion. He turned back to her. “I thought something had happened to you.” His gaze swept over her, taking in the water still dripping down her legs, the scrape on her knee, and the towel barely covering her body. “You were in the shower,” he said in a calmer voice.
“Tub, actually. Asleep.” She pointed at the box laying on the stoop. “Is that our pizza?”
“Yeah.” He retrieved it and peeked inside the lid. The cheese had skated to one side, but it was still warm.
“Great.” She waved a hand in the direction of the kitchen. “Plates are to the left of the fridge. Help yourself to a beer while I dress.” Dan watched her hips sway under the towel until she closed the bedroom door. Her apartment was tiny so it only took a few seconds for her to disappear, but that was plenty long enough for his dick to stand up and take notice. He distracted himself by setting out the plates and popping a beer. A minute later she returned wearing socks, jeans, and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Even covered neck to toe, she was still sexy as hell.
As she helped herself to the pizza, he said, “I’m taking you to the shooting range tomorrow. I want you to know how to defend yourself if you ever need to.”
Marianne paused with a slice halfway to her mouth and made a face. “I don’t have a gun.”
“I do, and since we’ll be living together, I want you to know how to handle a weapon safely and accurately.”
She took a bite and chewed. “Wouldn’t some kind of hand-to-hand combat be more useful? I really can’t see myself carrying a gun around.”
Dan smiled, liking the way she thought. “I’ll teach you some Aikido, too. Even with your lack of size and strength you’ll be able to use that, but I still want you to know how to shoot. I’d rather you never let an attacker get close enough that you have to grapple with him.”
“Barry wasn’t trying to attack me. He was just being a jerk.”
He wasn’t thinking only about Mackson. Marianne’s first line of defense was to look ordinary and keep a low profile. That would probably be enough to keep her off the Golden Path’s radar. He didn’t want to scare her, but a smart soldier always had a back-up plan. “Take pity on my poor nerves.”
Marianne chuckled. “Okay. For the sake of your nerves.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MARIANNE
There, that’s the last one,” Dan said, pressing a stamp onto a wedding invitation and dropping it into a box with the rest.
“Thank God,” I said.
“Who knew getting married was so much work?” He took a sip of his beer.
We’d picked out a cake earlier in the day from a local bakery, then stopped by the florist and selected flowers. Now we sat at my kitchen table surrounded by the last few cream-colored envelopes. I’d been planning on using off-the-shelf stock, since we didn’t have time to place a custom order, but Mr. Kincaid had intervened, insisting I use the Trust’s business account, with expedited delivery. Even so, the invitations were only going out two weeks before the ceremony.
“I told you we should have eloped,” I joked. As much work as this was, he’d been right. My folks needed this wedding. My mom had been on the phone with me every day. “I’ll be glad when this is over.”
“It won’t be over for a good long while.” Dan covered my hand with his. I liked the way that felt.
“For me, anyway.” I patted my waist. I’d made a life-long commitment.
He frowned. “I’m in for the duration.”
His declaration made me feel better, even if I knew there was no way to be sure about something like that. Half of normal marriages ended in divorce, after all. Still, it was nice to know he wasn’t planning to bolt as soon as the baby was born.
“Why? Once our cover is established, you’re off the hook.”
I saw several answers flicker through his eyes before he spoke. He leaned back in his chair. “Several reasons. For one, I like you.”
His declaration warmed me, but liking me didn’t seem like a big enough reason for him to sacrifice the next twenty years of his life. “I like you, too, but—”
“That’s not all. You know I was in the military.”
I nodded, waiting for the rest. Kincaid had mentioned it that day Dan had signed up for this gig. Dan hadn’t talked about his time in the service, and I hadn’t pressed.
“I was a Green Beret. We usually operated in small squads, on special assignments. Kind of like you are, now. The success of an operation depends on a lot of factors. The operatives, the strength of their preparation, the support they get, and luck. You’ve proven you have the grit to do what’s difficult. You’re as prepared as you can be. But you need support.”
“Foxworth—”
“Foxworth is winging it. An opportunity presented itself, and he grabbed it. He grabbed you. Sometimes, in war, that’s the best a commander can do.”
“War? Is that what this is? War between the Trust and the Golden Path?”
He pursed his li
ps, considering. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Foxworth sees it that way. Or maybe he and Altesse are just generals in a much larger conflict.”
My brows rose. I didn’t know what to say to that.
“Regardless, troops on the front lines need someone to have their backs so they can get the job done, and no one had yours.”
His explanation made sense. Unaccountably, I was a little disappointed. I guess that, deep down, I’d been hoping for an explanation that was just a little more romantic. “If what I need is someone to watch my back, the Trust—”
“The Trust has its own agenda. You need someone looking out for you.”
“It didn’t have to be you, though.” My voice was soft. I didn’t want to talk him out of his decision.
He leaned forward again. “The person who sees that a job needs doing is the one who should get it done, if he has the skill and the will.”
Is that what this was, what I was, to him? A job? He’d seemed to care, at least a little. And he said he liked me. “You’re giving up years of your life to this job.”
He held up a finger. “One, I don’t see my commitment to you as ‘giving up’ anything.” A second finger joined the first. “Two, my contribution doesn’t compare to yours. And three, you need me.”
Did I need him? I wasn’t sure I was ready to admit that, but I was glad it was Dan who had my back. “Thanks. I would rather have you coaching me in the delivery room, than Barry. Or Kincaid.”
He made a face. “God, I hope so!”
I laughed, feeling happier than I had since I’d started this.
“What about this one?” Janna asked with a smirk. She knew very well what my reaction to the dress would be, as she held up another long gown with flounces of ivory lace from the waist to the hem. We were in the “off the rack” section of the Happy Day Bridal Salon and her offering was very definitely not my style.
“Oh, that’s beautiful!” my mom exclaimed. She’d flown in for a few days just so she could be part of shopping for my dress. The trip was an extravagant expense, but I was glad to be able to share this with her, even if the marriage was a sham. I wasn’t going to do anything to spoil it for her.
I examined the price tag and frowned to hide my relief. “Too expensive.”
Mom looked at the tag, too. “Well, maybe …”
“No. We have a budget and we’re sticking to it.” Kincaid was giving us a bonus to cover the cost of the wedding, but as far as the world at large was concerned, Dan and I were footing the bill with a little help from my folks. “Let’s keep looking.”
“What movie shall we go see?” Lloyd, Janna’s date, asked, opening the paper.
We were double dating. I’d gone bowling with Dan and his friends the previous weekend. We were trying to integrate our lives, the way normal couples did. So far it was going well. Both his friends and mine had bought our story that we’d had a whirlwind romance, especially since Dan was doing a good job of selling it by pulling me in for a quick hug and a kiss every chance he got. The first time he’d done it he’d taken me off guard, but now I enjoyed playing along. I was sitting in his lap while the four of us discussed movies. Dan ran his fingers lightly up my spine, causing me to shiver and arch my back.
A smile played around Dan’s lips as my reaction thrust my breasts forward.
“Stop that!” I whispered, then retaliated by wiggling my butt in his lap.
Dan’s hands tightened on my hips as he tried to hold me still.
“Oh I know,” Janna said. “What about that new one with Michael Douglas and Jack Lemmon? What’s it called?”
“‘The China Syndrome,’” Lloyd said. “That sounds good.”
“No.” Dan’s tone was sharp and final, his body rigid.
I knew why, and I agreed.
“Why not?” Lloyd asked. “It has Jane Fonda in it. She was pretty hot in ‘Barbarella.’” Lloyd waggled his eyebrows and Janna backhanded his chest with a soft whap.
“Because we won’t spend good American dollars on a movie with Hanoi Jane in it,” I said.
Dan’s jaw was tight, but he nodded to me.
Janna knew about Mark. “Of course not. Sorry. I didn’t think,” she said.
Lloyd didn’t get it, though. “She was just trying to show that our government was censoring information about the war. She had a right to protest like everybody else.”
“Except she didn’t protest like everybody else,” I said sharply. “She went over there and—”
“How about ‘Norma Rae’?” Dan said, cutting me off.
“Yeah, let’s see that.” Janna said, relief in her voice. “Sally Field is the only actress I know who’s shorter than Marianne.”
I was glad Dan had stopped me. I didn’t want to spoil our date. “Just don’t start calling me Gidget,” I said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MARIANNE
Late March
I rearranged the candlesticks on the mantelpiece for the umpteenth time, then paused as a tingle of warning rippled through me. “They’re almost here.”
Dan lowered the newspaper he’d been reading and glanced at the clock. “They’re not due for another hour.”
I shrugged and tried not to sound defensive. “I have a feeling they made good time.” I still hadn’t told him about my intuitions. I intended to, I just hadn’t found the right moment.
Dan tilted his head, considering, then threw the paper aside. “Okay.” No doubt, no questions.
It had been three weeks since the Trust’s doctor had confirmed my pregnancy, four since Mom had gone into commando mode to plan our backyard wedding. Dan’s sister Jill and her family were driving in from Albuquerque for the wedding, which was only three days away. I’d dusted and cleaned and polished the house the Trust had rented to us like a good Suzy Homemaker. The house had been as clean as I could make it for a week. Dan had mowed and cleaned the yard. My fussing was akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Dan, on the other hand, was the definition of calm.
“Do I look all right?” I curled my fingers into my palms to keep from wringing my hands.
It wasn’t like me to feel so jumpy, but Jill was Dan’s closest family. I really wanted her to like me. Or at least not hate me. We’d talked on the phone, and I could tell she wasn’t thrilled with this rushed wedding. I couldn’t blame her, but we couldn’t tell her the truth, either.
Dan rose and pulled me into a hug. “You look terrific,” he said, then dropped a kiss on my forehead. “The house looks terrific. There’s nothing to worry about.”
I lifted my face and kissed his lips. I liked the way they felt firm and pliable at the same time. We both tilted our heads just right so we could deepen the kiss. My anxiety subsided, while a different kind of tension started to rise. I felt my nipples perk up where they pressed against his hard chest. I stopped worrying and focused instead on the way his tongue played with mine. Something deep inside grew hot and hungry to be naked with him, sharing our bodies skin to skin. His breath against my cheek came faster. I pressed closer. A moment later Dan groaned and ended the kiss, leaning his forehead against mine.
“Soon.” His deep voice rumbled softly. “Just a few days.”
That was about as intimate as we’d been. We’d decided to wait until we were married to make love. It was proving to be more difficult than I’d expected. If this was any example, our marriage of convenience was going to be extremely pleasant.
“Right.” My hands stilled on the muscles of his broad chest. “Just a few days.”
So far, Dan had done little more than hug me, and most of his kisses had been almost brotherly. I’d found myself wondering on more than one occasion if I could provoke him into doing more, but then the memory of what Barry had said would rise in my throat like bile.
Dan said Barry was an idiot, and I was inclined to agree. But how many women volunteered to sleep with a stranger?
“You said they’re almost here?” He stepped away from me with a gentle squeeze o
f my shoulder, then turned away to adjust himself in his jeans. I was glad I wasn’t the only one affected.
Dan opened the front door. The house the Trust had rented to us was a small three-bedroom Craftsman bungalow with hardwood floors and a front porch big enough for two wicker chairs and a small table. Before we had a chance to sit down, a white Chevy turned onto our street.
“That’s them,” he said with only a hint of surprise in his voice.
I wiped the sweat off my hands as the Chevelle drove into our narrow driveway.
Dan put an arm around my shoulders. “Relax. She’ll love you.”
I hoped so, but I thought he was being overly optimistic. Dan and his sister were tight. I didn’t want this weird relationship of ours to come between them.
The family climbed out of the car. Jill had the same dark hair as her brother and a slightly soft figure. Her husband was tall and lean and black. Dan hadn’t mentioned that, but then, he wouldn’t. I was starting to know my husband-to-be better, since we’d moved in together. In his eyes, Sam would just his brother-in-law, and the father of his nephew. The only thing that would be important to Dan was whether Sam made Jill and Tim happy. Race was irrelevant. That was good enough for me too.
“Unka Dan! Unka Dan!”
Jill smiled broadly as her brother plucked his three-year-old nephew from her arms, then kissed her on the cheek.
“Thanks for coming, Sis.”
“It was a slow weekend. Football is over. Baseball hasn’t started yet.”
“Not to mention the free party,” Dan added.
“Not to mention,” Jill agreed with a smirk.
Sam winked at me. “A company of Airborne Rangers couldn’t have kept her away.”
“Damn straight.” Jill grinned.
“And this is Marianne.” Dan introduced me, even though Jill and I had been discussing flowers and dresses on the phone for the last three weeks.
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