It didn’t. Kelly Ladd was one hot lady, no matter what she wore.
And despite himself, he couldn’t help imagining how sexy she’d be wearing nothing...
She’s become part of your assignment here, he reminded himself unnecessarily and shrugged off any inappropriate trains of thought.
He hadn’t changed from his official uniform here—a suit. That was fine. He’d had his job with the CIU long enough to feel comfortably chameleon-like in what he wore, depending on the situation.
He hadn’t been at Tony’s often, but it always seemed crowded. And dark. And noisy.
Hopefully it was a good public place for the conversation they were about to have. One in which he intended to ensure that, no matter who the lovely woman with him was, or wanted people to think she was, they would work together for their common purpose.
“How about over there.” Kelly pointed to one of the room’s few empty tables. It was way off in a corner. There were plenty of other people around it, but there was something remote and impersonal and—well, promising about it.
“Looks good,” he agreed, and used the excuse of maneuvering through the crowd in the darkness to take her arm.
The moment he touched her, she looked up at him, her eyes wide and wary. And then she grinned. “I have a feeling this evening is about to get interesting,” she said.
“You got it,” he agreed and, not letting go of her, moved in front so he could be the one to steer them through the crowd.
In a minute, they were at the small, square table. He did his gentlemanly thing again and pulled out the chair.
He took his seat across from her and pushed one of the menus in the table’s center toward her, keeping one for himself.
“Let the games begin,” said Kelly, her smile this time appearing to challenge him.
“And may the best person win,” he agreed.
Chapter 5
“So what would you like to drink tonight?” Alan looked across the table at Kelly with an expression that suggested he might want to drink her. Her shiver indicated both nervousness...and pleasure.
Under other circumstances, she might even enjoy flirting with a man like him.
But now, caution had to win out over any sexual interest. He was most likely playing her.
Well, she could do the same to him.
“Something nice and smooth and...tasty.” She smiled at him in a way she hoped suggested she might want to taste him.
“Sounds good to me.”
Their server came over. He wore a T-shirt and jeans and acted enthused enough that he was clearly hoping for a big tip. Kelly knew the type but had no problem with that, especially since Alan was apparently treating. She ordered a rich-sounding zinfandel, while Alan asked for an imported German beer. He also requested chips and salsa so they could nibble while they drank—and talked.
The volume of conversations around them was intense, which also provided Kelly with some relief. This could be considered a date between acquaintances, and no way could they have a heavy discussion here on any topic—just the way she liked it.
Not that she was certain what this meeting was about, but she could guess. Still, because of the covert nature of the ID Division and its assignments, even if Alan was who she believed he was, and he also knew who she was, they couldn’t talk about it in this place.
The only way to hear much of what each other said here required at least some shouting, which increased the unlikelihood of getting very personal. Neither wanted anything of any importance to be overheard.
“So what made you decide to move to Blue Haven?” Alan asked loudly.
To save my nephew, for one thing, was the first response that flew into Kelly’s mind. But she kept things simple, engaging in part of the lie she was supposed to use. “I come from the DC area and always heard how wonderful things are in California. This town sounded especially nice to me, and so far I’m enjoying it.” That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it seemed to work. She regarded his truly handsome, angular face with a smile, her head cocked. “How about you? What brought you here—or are you from here originally?” She felt certain he wasn’t.
“Kind of the same thing—I just heard interesting things about this area.”
Their enthusiastic server returned with their drinks, and the rest of their somewhat loud conversation involved things Kelly would have preferred not talking about, like her background and life before she came here. But some of that was built into her cover, so it wasn’t like she had to invent entirely new things—or anything she wouldn’t want overheard. According to what she told him, she had been a restaurant server forever.
She also wondered how much of the story Alan told was true. He said he had grown up in Virginia, served in the US Army, and liked the military but not enough to stay in it. He had decided to go into private security, also in Virginia, and that was his experience before moving here.
Interesting. Believable, whether or not it was true. Kelly found herself relaxing a bit, as if this were a true date.
Not that she would ever let her defenses down. She couldn’t.
Some of the tables around them emptied, then refilled. Kelly wondered how long they had already been there. She didn’t check her phone for the time, but realized it was getting somewhat late. She kept nursing her wine, not wanting to order another—and not just because she had to drive back to her apartment when they were done.
No, she needed to stay fully alert.
But she almost spilled the small amount of it that was left when she heard a familiar voice behind her, talking loudly over the crowd.
It was Stan.
* * *
Alan had been enjoying their time together—especially since he had an agenda he hadn’t told Kelly about yet. But he would when it was over.
He intended for them to take a short walk. Now that anyone paying attention to them would figure they’d been on a date, they could be seen together even more without suspicion about their real reason for seeing each other.
But now, he noticed Kelly wince at the same time he heard Stan Grodon’s raised voice and guffaws as he marched into the lounge area with a woman Alan hadn’t yet met.
From Alan’s perspective, that was okay. To Stan, security guy Alan Correy should be just an ordinary fellow who also sought out sexy women to date.
But despite how Kelly quickly got a hold of herself, it was better if she didn’t spend a lot of time in that man’s vicinity.
Alan knew she’d been well trained, but she was only human.
Oh, was she human...and female...and sexy...
And Stan, standing behind her, had apparently just noticed her presence. He glanced down, away from his own attractive date, a blonde who was even more skimpily dressed than Kelly had been in her server outfit.
Under other circumstances, Alan might have leveled a challenging look at the guy who’d dared to zero in on his date. But he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his ability to remain a security provider for Stan.
Time to get her out of here.
“Looks like you’re done, right?” he said to Kelly. “I’ll get our check.”
* * *
Kelly felt relieved when, after paying their tab, Alan pulled her chair out for her, then grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd—right past Stan—and out the bar’s back door.
She had to get over this. While she was here, she was likely to run into Stan in a lot of unexpected situations, and she had to maintain her cool.
He hadn’t recognized her yet. Hopefully he never would—at least not until she had found a way to make him stop hurting Eli and pay for what he’d done to Andi.
When they reached the dimly lit parking lot, Kelly turned to Alan, planning on thanking him for the drink and his company and saying good-night, just as she would do on a date.
Instead, he smiled at her in a way she could only describe as grim, and said, “Let’s walk.”
She started to refuse, but he took her hand ag
ain, even more firmly this time, and started leading her past the rows of cars and toward the street.
“Anyone seeing us will just think we had a great enough time that we don’t want our evening to end.” His deep voice was low, but she could hear it just fine in the cool outdoor air. They soon reached the sidewalk by the bar and liquor store, and Alan led her to the left, in front of the bar. A roar of noise emanated from it, but the sound was muffled by the closed door. “But you and I are going to talk,” he added, stopping to look down at her with as sexy a grin as she had ever seen. To get her turned on—or to make anyone watching them think they were actually attracted to each other?
Oh, Kelly was attracted to Alan, all right, but she didn’t trust him.
What did he really want?
Apparently the games he’d mentioned previously were now about to actually begin.
Well, no sense just waiting for him to start. Kelly also knew how to play the game—or so she hoped.
“Great.” She clutched his hand even harder. “So what do you want to talk about?”
“You, Kelly. And Shereen Alsop.”
Even though she’d expected this, at least somewhat, she flinched—but didn’t stop walking.
“Who’s that?” she asked. Part of her training when provided with a new identity was to admit nothing, so she wasn’t about to tell Alan she recognized that name. Her real name.
“That’s good,” he said. “You’re at least complying with some of the instructions you were given. But you shouldn’t have come here. That was completely against what you were told.”
“Oh, really?” She kept her tone light. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The hand holding hers moved enough to swing her around, and suddenly Alan was looking down at her. Despite the lack of streetlight, Kelly could still see the anger on her companion’s face.
“I... I...” Before she could figure out how to finish, his mouth came down on hers.
His kiss was startlingly sexy, and so was the way his body soon molded to hers.
Get away from him! something inside her screamed. They might be in public, where they could be observed, but nobody was near them now. She could be in danger.
And yet she didn’t believe that. She threw herself even more into the amazing kiss.
When he finally pulled away, he said perhaps the last thing she’d have expected from him then. “Go home, Kelly. To your real home now, the one you were given.”
She hesitated before answering. “I understand what you’re saying and why.” She ignored the absurd hurt she felt over him kissing her like that, then tossing her away as if it had meant nothing to him.
It should have meant nothing to her, too—just a means for them to continue pretending to stay in character here.
“Then—” Alan said.
But Kelly continued, her voice very soft and trembling. “I gather you’re from the ID Division.” She looked up into his face once more and saw him give a brief, curt nod. “And you clearly know who I am. You must know why I ran away in the first place.”
Another nod.
“I came back here because I learned that my nephew, Eli—you’ve met him—he’s in danger here, being abused by his father.”
“If you’re familiar with how the ID Division works, you know that I’m here to find the hard evidence against Stan that you weren’t able to gather. I’ll work on protecting Eli, too. But you need to leave.”
“Not until I’m certain that Eli’s okay.” No matter who Alan was and what discipline he might be able to get the ID Division to rain down on her, she had to do this.
She had to save her beloved nephew, notwithstanding any consequences to herself.
“That’s your final answer?” he demanded, still staring down at her.
“It has to be. I—”
He leaned down and stopped what she was going to say with another hot, incredibly wonderful kiss. This was ridiculous. This was wonderful.
Did he really think she’d start obeying him because she was turned on by him?
“Here’s what we’re going to do, then,” he said, holding her close and whispering into her ear. “We’re going to work together to find that evidence and bring Stan down. But if you’re here, you’re going to have to listen to me so I can both train you and protect you. Got it?”
He punctuated it with another kiss that took her breath away.
On one level, she wanted to shout “No!” and run away.
But on another level, she realized that two of them working directly together might be more effective than either of them working alone.
“Got it,” she said and reached up to pull his head down to hers for another kiss.
* * *
This was merely adding to their cover, Alan assured himself as he finally pulled his head slowly back, away from Kelly’s mouth. Her kiss. And then he took a step backward, too, to distance his body from her soft, enticing curves.
He had to think. To make himself remember a similar situation between a CIU operative and the person the ID Division was protecting that had worked out, even though the result of that case would be quite different from this one.
“As enjoyable as this is,” he said, “and as helpful as it may be to ensure that anyone paying attention to us believes we’re together now and thinks they know why, it isn’t helping us accomplish what we need to.”
“You’re right.” Kelly sounded breathless, but as he regarded her in the low light between street lamps, he saw that her smile was wry. “I agree that, since I’m staying here, we need to work together. Your main goal is to get proof against Stan, and I’m all for that. But my real focus now is to make sure Eli’s okay, then I’ll go after Stan.”
“I get that.” He reached out for her hand once more and started walking slowly down the wide sidewalk again, away from the bar since a few patrons had just come out. “And you’re right. Young Eli needs a guardian angel.”
She stopped, pulled herself in front of him. Her lovely face twisted into an expression of concern and fear. “What do you mean?”
Maybe he shouldn’t reveal this to her here. Maybe he shouldn’t reveal it to her anywhere.
But she had a right to know.
“There’s actually a good reason for you to be here,” he said in a tone that was more compassionate than the one he usually used. “Let’s walk some more and I’ll explain.”
“No,” she said. “Explain now.”
He’d suspected it wouldn’t be easy to work with this woman. For one thing, he had been affiliated with the military, and now government agencies, long enough to believe that orders were orders, and disobeying them only brought trouble. You could discuss them, maybe, depending on the circumstances and factors like time, in case there were better alternatives or ways to comply. But disobey them completely—never.
And here he was, about to risk his career to work with a woman who disobeyed a direct order that she’d had to expressly agree to in order to get the benefits and protections offered to her by the ID Division.
Yet as much as he disliked the concept, he could understand, under these circumstances, why she did it.
She needed to know that, and why he was actually considering making an exception in her case.
“This isn’t the right time or place to get into detail,” he said. “If necessary, I’ll do so later, when we’re truly in private and can talk.”
“What?” she demanded, but at least she continued walking with him.
“Well...since I’ve been here I have seen indications that Stan Grodon isn’t always kind to his son, Eli. I mean, I’ve seen—”
“That bruise on Eli’s face.” It wasn’t a question but a statement, and Alan wasn’t surprised she focused on that.
“Right. And more.”
“Like what?” She snapped to a halt and stared up at him.
“As I said, we’ll talk about it later. Right now, I’m just going to express regrets that I probably haven’t handled
this as well as I should have.” He would never admit it to her—he even hated admitting it to himself—but his job here might become a little easier if Stan increased the cruelty to his son, particularly his criticisms while the city council security detail was in his presence. Alan had been around enough to observe some of that. And if the SOB did more, even if Alan hadn’t yet found evidence he could use against Stan for possible murder, he might obtain enough to have him arrested for child abuse.
Then, maybe more physical evidence of what had happened to his wife could be found when Alan got the right to enter Stan’s home to seek evidence of child abuse to keep the guy incarcerated for a while.
But really? He couldn’t, wouldn’t wish any more of that on the kid. He would find a way to succeed no matter what. And certainly would never admit to Kelly these cruel and nasty thoughts.
Even the idea would undoubtedly make her hate him enough to draw away immediately and refuse to work with him despite her own precarious situation.
Which would be justifiable, under the circumstances.
“What are you talking about?” Kelly demanded.
“Let’s just say that, on reflection, I can see why Eli Grodon needs someone on his side, no matter what else is going on around him—and around this town. I’ll certainly cooperate—” now “—but I’m probably not the right person to protect him. You, on the other hand, are—”
“The perfect person to protect him,” Kelly said. “And you can be sure I will. Now—are we meeting somewhere away from here for dinner tomorrow, on a supposed date if anyone asks?”
“That’s probably the best plan,” Alan acknowledged.
“Fine.” Without asking his permission, she turned, grabbed his hand and began leading him back to the bar.
He admired that she was, to some extent, playing the role he had created for her.
He only hoped she wouldn’t come to regret it—and make their working together here for a somewhat common purpose completely ineffective.
He regained at least some hope after they hurried back down the driveway and into the parking lot behind the bar. Kelly dragged him along to right beside her car, where she reached up, pulled his head down and involved him in one heck of a long, hot and sexy kiss.
Covert Alliance Page 5
