Moving Target
Page 4
“Like what? I know I’m not the kind of woman a man like you is going to notice. All I was hoping for was a little conversation. For the past three years my life has been consumed with the clinical trials of MCX-209 and the most scintillating conversation I’ve had has been a one-sided debate with a rhesus monkey.” She hadn’t meant to reveal so much about her lonely life but the information had pretty much spilled from her lips like a tipped-over beaker, leaking all over the place. She scrunched her trash and grabbed what was left of her burger, needing to get out of there. “Let’s go. We can eat on the way. No sense in dragging out this mission any longer than we have to.”
And before Jake could really see her cry, she bolted for the car, leaving him to stare after her.
* * *
Jake wasn’t sure what had just happened or how but one thing kept snagging his brain. He’d completely crushed her feelings somehow and it bothered him. Her feelings mattered to him, although they shouldn’t. How many missions had he accomplished without a second thought as to how the target felt? Too many to count. And Kat certainly wasn’t his first female target, either, so what was the problem? He crunched his trash and tossed it, sighing as he followed in the direction Kat had gone. He’d assumed she’d gone to the car but when he found the car empty, alarm spiked his blood. Damn it. He scanned the parking lot and saw a Target adjacent to the fast-food restaurant. Double damn. They didn’t have time for Kat to go shopping but he supposed if it stemmed the tears, he’d let it slide. Besides, as she’d said, she needed a toothbrush. He wasn’t a complete jerk. Maybe this would prove it to her.
Who cares? It was better if she believed him a jerk. He didn’t need a target trying to get chummy with him. Entanglements clouded judgment.
But as the minutes ticked by, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer and trotted toward the store to collect his wayward charge. He found her easily enough by narrowing down the various locations he could expect her to be in. As luck would have it, he found her in the undergarment section. Jake controlled his gaze and said, “Next time you take off, let me know where you’re going. On second thought, no more taking off on your own. We have no secure locations at this point until we get to Washington. Got that?”
She nodded and stuffed what appeared to be a pink thong and panty set into her basket under the small pile of toiletries. But he could still see the pink frill peeping out from beneath the shampoo and conditioner and his imagination inexplicably began processing what Kat would look like clad in nothing but that piece of frilly nothing. “Do you have what you need?” he asked more forcefully than he intended but she didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she seemed to be on a mission of her own and pulled that lingerie out to dangle in front of him. “What are you doing?” he asked, a tad alarmed.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, but her eyes were wide as she added, “But I want your opinion on which is better.” Then she grabbed the black bra and panty set still on the rack and held them up to compare the two.
He averted his eyes as if scalded by the sight, which was plainly ridiculous. This was not the first bra and panty set he’d seen. Hell, he’d removed quite a few with his teeth and nothing more. But somehow having Kat ask that question threw him for a loop. “This is highly inappropriate. I must ask you to refrain from asking such personal questions that do not adhere to a certain level of propriety.” Before she launched a protest, he strode forward and pulled the ugliest, most utilitarian granny panties from the rack and thrust them at her saying, “These are more appropriate for our trip. They are functional and they won’t ride up your backside at inopportune moments.”
Kat bit her lip and accepted the ugly white drawers, then broke out into an unexpected smile. “Good thinking. I think I’ll get both. The pink and the white. A girl should have variety. Thanks, Jake.” And then she stuffed the undergarments into her basket and began walking to the checkout lane as if they were a normal couple out for a quick shopping trip and not a government official protecting a woman in jeopardy.
Once they were back in the car, Kat turned to him and said, “I’m sorry for that freak-out back there. When I’m under a lot of stress I tend to act out inappropriately. It’s one of my quirks, I guess. Once before midterms in college I was so stressed I started singing songs from My Fair Lady in the middle of the cafeteria. I’d read once that singing could reduce stress levels and what started out as a tune hummed under my breath suddenly became much more than that.”
“You must’ve been under a lot of stress,” he murmured as he maneuvered back onto the highway, but his mind was stubbornly stuck on those damn panties. Was he losing his touch? He lived his life under a certain code and that code included honor and integrity. Allowing an attraction of any kind to a target compromised the mission and he’d never allowed it to happen. Not once. Not even with a Russian model! Olga had been all legs and hips and cunning womanly wiles but he hadn’t even blinked an eye at her charms. But Kat? Awkward, gangly, too thin, nearly blind if her thick glasses were any indication of her visual acuity, she was doing strange things to his resolve? He rubbed at his eyes. “We need to find a hotel for the night,” he said. Maybe sleep would straighten him out. If not, he had bigger problems.
Chapter 5
It was nearing midnight and the only motel available with any vacancies was a small, ugly and dubiously habitable place in the middle of nowhere. Whereas Kat’s impression wasn’t favorable, Jake found it perfect.
“They probably have bedbugs and all manner of vermin,” she said fearfully. “Or those pincher bugs, you know those ones with the things on their heads and they look like they could chop your finger off with one little click...please tell me we’re not staying here.”
“Sorry. But this fits our needs. We need something that would likely be overlooked by whomever is chasing us. No one in their right mind would stay here.”
“Exactly. And I’m one of them. I’m not saying I’m high maintenance or anything but typically I like my beds to be free from creepy crawlies.”
Jake cracked a short smile. “One night will not kill you.” At her horrified expression, he added, “Don’t worry, I will check to make sure your bed is free of creepy crawlies.”
They entered the ’70s-era lobby that smelled of old carpet, cigarette smoke and bad choices, and he couldn’t help but notice Kat sidling closer to him as if she were afraid something nasty or contagious was going to latch on to her leg. He tried to ignore the urge to pull her closer if only to reassure her that it was going to be all right. Piped in elevator music—the kind that made you want to plug your ears and grit your teeth—played in the distance, probably from another room and after two sharp raps on the ringer, a fossil of a man teetered out of the back room. The man’s balding pate revealed brown age spots and broken blood vessels here and there and Jake wondered if the man was senile. “Two rooms, please.” By the expression on Kat’s face she didn’t want to spend a night alone and as luck would have it, she got her wish.
“Only one room available. But it’s got the fancy tub that the ladies seem to like.” The old man winked at Kat and she blushed a telltale shade of red at the insinuation. “Unless you only want to rent the room for the hour. We can do that, too.”
At that Kat sputtered, “By the hour? We’re not those kind of people, you old horny goat.”
“Oh, honey, in my day I christened every single bed in this joint but that was a long time ago,” he said with a regret-laden sigh. “My rutting days are all but over at this point.”
“And to think I was worried about bugs, not geriatric DNA,” Kat muttered, and looked away with obvious distaste. For a split second Jake considered looking for something less disgusting but it was late and he was tired, but he did make a last-ditch effort to procure two rooms. “Are you telling me that this place is so full you only have one room available?” he asked, incredulous. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Let’s just keep looking for someplace else,” Kat urged, tugging at Jake’s shirtsleeve as she cast a fearful glance around the dismal surroundings. “This place is disgusting and it gives me the creeps.”
Jake agreed with her and it wouldn’t have been his first choice if he were on a normal mission but there was someone on their tail and until he found out who, he would take no chances. He hesitated before sliding his credit card across the counter as it would be the easiest way to track them but he took a calculated risk in that whoever was on their tail didn’t know who he was yet to track his personal cards. Besides, he didn’t have much choice. He didn’t have enough cash on him to pay for the room. “We’ll take it,” he said firmly. Kat made a sound behind him like a groan and he smothered a grimace. The old man swiped his card and handed over a key.
“If the crapper gets plugged up there’s a plunger in the room. And sometimes the hot water goes out after ten minutes so don’t be taking all night in the shower unless you like cold showers.” The old man shot a look at Kat as if his warning were meant for her and then shuffled back from whence he came. Jake pocketed the key and directed Kat back outside and down the shotgun alleyway of rooms to the one he’d paid for. Jake turned the key into the lock but the door stuck when he tried to open it. He gave the door a hard push and it came free with a sticky sound. “Don’t try to figure out what made the door sticky. It’ll just make for an even longer night,” he advised Kat as he walked inside. The room was as ugly as the front lobby, not that he expected anything different but from what he could see it seemed relatively clean. However, the one problem that was immediately evident was right smack-dab in the middle of the room.
“There’s only one bed,” Kat observed with a tremulous tone. “And I’m not sleeping on the floor.”
One look at the threadbare carpet and he wasn’t, either. He propped his hands on his hips. “Okay, so we sleep together fully clothed. Problem solved.”
“I can’t sleep with pants on. I get claustrophobic because I can’t move freely.”
If Kat hadn’t looked so miserable in her admission he might’ve barked at her to stop complaining and just do as she was told but he couldn’t. She was a terrible actress and her misery was printed very plainly on her face. He softened for her benefit. “All right, so we share the bed,” he said, adding, “I want you to know that you are safe with me. I would never touch you inappropriately. We can successfully sleep in the same bed without anything improper happening.”
“I’m not worried about that,” she said with a mild frown.
“Then what are you worried about?”
“Do you snore?” she asked.
“Not that I’m aware. How about you?”
“No, but sometimes I talk in my sleep.”
That didn’t surprise him. The woman couldn’t stop talking when she was awake. “I’ll find a way to deal with it. Would you like the bathroom first?” he offered solicitously. She nodded and scooped up her bag of Target items and disappeared behind the closed door. Except...the door didn’t entirely close. In fact, if he looked at just the right angle he could probably have a narrow view of everything that was going on behind the partially open door. He sighed and closed his eyes deliberately. A tingle of awareness hit him in the groin region and he was disconcerted by his body’s reaction. It was baffling. Kat was nothing like the women he was usually attracted to.
Determined to regain focus he pulled up his emailed notes on his phone and then sent a quick email to his superior informing him of their minor run-in with whoever was trying to kidnap Kat. Five seconds later his phone rang and it was Miles. “Do you have the scientist?” he asked brusquely, going straight to the point, but Jake didn’t take offense. A mission this important required focus, not idle chitchat.
“Of course. I have secured the target but we’ve had to deviate from the plan because she’s afraid of flying and allergic to anesthesia.”
“How allergic?”
“Pretty allergic. And I didn’t want to risk it.”
“Of course, of course. So you’re driving from California to Washington?”
“Affirmative.”
“What is your location now?”
Jake hesitated, something in his intuition told him to withhold sensitive information due to the lack of security in the airwaves. “We’re safe for the night. I will contact you tomorrow with an update. Hopefully I’ll know more about who’s chasing us. In the meantime any intel you could provide me is appreciated.”
“I don’t like not knowing where you are but I understand. I know you’re a good operative and you will maintain your objective against all odds. This is why I put you on the job, Jake. There’s too much at stake to let that scientist fall into the wrong hands. Her research would be devastating in the hands of an opposing political power.”
“I understand, sir. I will do my best.”
“I know you will.”
The line went dead and Jake clicked off. Connecting with base reaffirmed his focus. The bigger issue was keeping Kat’s research from falling into the wrong hands and he needed to remember that. Kat might not be the most beautiful woman on the planet but the knowledge inside her brain made her the most valuable woman to the United States and he would protect her with his life.
Jake kicked his shoes off and lined them up neatly at the edge of the bed, a habit he retained from his military days and, after double-checking the door was locked, he wedged the single chair in the room up against the door handle. He heard the bathroom door open and the smell of steam, fruity shampoo and clean hair followed. He turned to tell her she could take the right side of the bed but the spit dried in his mouth. Glasses gone, and her hair braided off to the side and draped over her shoulder, Kat stood there in that pink frilly bra and panty set, looking unsure of herself and wholly unaware of how incredibly sexy she was. “What are you doing?” He could barely get the words out.
“I don’t have any pajamas,” she said. “And I didn’t want to put on dirty clothes when I was clean. This was all I had. I was going to buy pajamas at Target but you showed up and we had to leave.”
Good God, he could not sleep next to her if she were going to look like that. Already his penis was stirring like an eager teenager on a first date. He turned abruptly and grabbed his bag, pulling out one of his T-shirts and tossing it at her. “This should work. Please put it on.”
There was a long silence and he risked a second glance her way. She was looking forlornly at the shirt and he realized he must’ve hurt her feelings again. But he couldn’t risk the mission by doing something stupid and fueled by hormonal urges. He was highly trained and skilled in controlling his body, and one awkward, inexplicably sexy scientist would not derail him. “Is there anything else you require?” he asked.
“I must seem pretty pathetic to you, right?” she asked.
Why would she ask such a question? “Of course not,” he answered, taking care to avert his gaze from her delicate body. Everything about her seemed delicate and highly breakable, from her lean body and completely cuppable breasts. “Let’s get some sleep,” he suggested. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Kat disappeared into the bathroom and returned a second later wearing his T-shirt. But it was then he realized he’d made an even bigger mistake. How was it possible that she looked ten times more the seductress in his simple white T-shirt than she had in that pink frilly getup? Sweat beaded his brow but he did his best to remain impassive. He waited for her to climb into the bed and then he followed, ensuring that he kept a cushion of distance between them, and then he turned off the light. He lay there, rigid—in more ways than one—and he wa
s thankful for the darkness. What a fraud he was. If she knew that his entire body was as hard as an oak, particularly the downstairs region...Jake would never live it down. Well, he just had to make sure that it never happened again.
A small voice in the back of his head whispered, Good luck with that, and he knew this mission was going to leave a mark.
Chapter 6
Kat turned away from Jake and rested on her side, staring into the darkness, wide-awake. Her insides crawled with mortification at what had just happened. She must’ve looked like a boy in girl’s clothing with how few curves she actually had. What had she been thinking buying that pink getup? It’d been so beyond her comfort zone.
Truth be told, she preferred men’s boxers to girly panties, mostly because her uncle, being an older bachelor with absolutely no experience in raising children, much less young girls, had been disconcerted by the idea of such fripperies that he had given her boy’s underwear from the start. And frankly, she’d discovered they were far more comfortable than girl’s underwear, anyway.
What would Jake think about her wearing boxers? The look on his face was seared on her brain. Had he been disgusted? She was so inept when it came to the social etiquette of attraction and how to act on it. She was a genius in the lab but a total idiot in the real world. What was she thinking? The circumstances were highly irregular but given that there was a tangible sense of danger and there was something about Jake that made her insides light up like a Christmas tree with twelve strands of Christmas bulbs, she hungered for something that was just out of reach. She knew it wasn’t right because the situation they were in was bananas but she couldn’t help the way she felt. Kat tossed around and punched her pillow, swallowing a groan when her brain wouldn’t shut up.
“You need to get some sleep,” Jake murmured, adjusting his pillow. “Morning will be here before you know it and we’re hitting the road at first light.”