And then he released her so suddenly she staggered.
She grabbed the corner of the table to regain her balance and fought to steady her breathing.
The phone kept ringing, its insistent peals falling like pebbles into the tense pool of silence between them.
Sam rubbed his face, then dragged his fingers through his hair and stepped back. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I was out of line.”
Her fingers unsteady, she tugged the neckline of her blouse back into place.
“It’s one of the hazards of assuming a cover,” he continued. “Sometimes you tend to slip into the role even when it isn’t necessary.”
Tingles still chased over her skin from the dampness he’d left between her breasts. “Slip into the role,” she repeated numbly.
“Yeah.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I apologize.”
Did he think she’d been acting? Had that been all it was to him? A game? Part of the cover they needed to work on?
It had felt real to her. And she might not have a whole lot of experience when it came to this kind of thing, but there’d been nothing fake about that bulge she’d felt pressed against her stomach....
But this was Sam, the macho cop, the man who was perfectly at ease wandering naked around a stranger’s bedroom. Engaging in a bit of slap and tickle in a kitchen would mean next to nothing to a man like him. How could she have forgotten, even for an instant? He wasn’t interested in her. He was using her as part of his job.
Humiliation surged over her as she turned to reach for the phone.
It was Geraldine, calling to congratulate her on her engagement. That made six out of six. The deception was succeeding even better than they’d hoped.
Oh, Lord. Was it ever.
Chapter 6
“My parents are expecting us at seven.”
“We still have plenty of time,” Sam said, pulling off the street into the parking lot of an elementary school. He eased to a stop at the side of the yellow brick building and shut off the engine.
A few children were playing ball on the diamond in the corner of the schoolyard, their faces winking golden as they ran in and out of the slanting sunlight. A set of swings, their pale canvas seats drooping downward, hung motionless in the still evening air. The other side of the schoolyard bordered a small park, where a winding path led past a huge weeping willow and a pair of wooden benches. Sam watched as a white-haired man strolled past, a small terrier tugging at the leash he held while a couple with a baby carriage lingered in the shade of the willow. It was a peaceful scene in a quiet residential neighborhood, as cliché as something out of an old television show.
Audra had probably gone to this school when she’d been a kid. Along with all her brothers. They’d likely played on those swings or that ball diamond while their mother was at home cooking dinner in her ruffled apron and their father was sitting in his favorite easy chair with his pipe and evening paper. And if that scene seemed like something out of an old television show too, it was because watching it on TV had been as close as Sam had ever come to seeing a normal family.
“My father’s a stickler for punctuality.”
Propping his forearm on the steering wheel, he turned to face her. “There’s something we need to take care of first.”
She stared out the windshield. “All right. What is it?”
He studied her profile, noting the lift of her chin and the tight set of her mouth. She’d avoided him for the past two days. Ever since that incident with the chocolate sauce...
Damn, how could he have been so stupid? Xavier had warned him about letting a woman distract him, about getting personally involved in a case. And this one was progressing so well—
At least it had been, until he’d let his libido overrule his brain. He was as bad as Bergstrom. No, he was even worse. He would have expected Bergstrom to take advantage of the situation, but Sam wasn’t like that. He knew where to draw the line, right?
The frustration he’d felt when he’d come to his senses had been bad enough, but it was the look on Audra’s face that had really shaken him. Her sweet, spontaneous response had transformed to shame when he’d told her he’d only been playing a role.
He’d had no choice. It had been the only way out if he’d hoped to continue working with her.
But it still made him feel like scum.
“Come on,” he said, opening his door. “Let’s go for a walk.”
She hesitated, even after he’d rounded the hood and opened her door. Then she unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out. They walked in silence toward the park, following the path where the grass had been worn down to dusty gray soil. “There’s a meeting scheduled for Friday afternoon at the Fitzpatrick estate,” Audra said, watching her feet. “I’ll be going over the menu plans with Marion Fitzpatrick.”
“Good.”
“I suppose you still want to talk to my father about a job tonight.”
“That’s the whole point of what we’re doing.”
“Of course,” she said crisply. “I know that. I’m not stupid.”
He grimaced inwardly, moving aside to let the couple with the baby carriage go by. “Look, Audra, I’m sorry about what happened the other day.”
“I’m a big girl, Sam. It didn’t mean anything. And if you’re worried that I’m going to back out of this, don’t be. I have no intention of giving up that reward money.” She glanced at her watch, her steps slowing as they reached the shade of the willow. “If that’s all you wanted to talk about...”
“No, there’s something else.” He stopped and reached into the pocket of his slacks, then pulled out a small, velvet-covered box. “Here,” he said, holding it out to her. “This is for you.”
She drew in her breath, then snapped her gaze to his face. “That looks like a jeweler’s box.”
“Yeah. It is. I got you a ring.”
“But...” She paused, moving her head back and forth in a slow negative. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did. You need an engagement ring.”
“But—”
“Your parents will expect you to have one, won’t they?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose they would.”
“Then you might as well take a look at it.”
She took the box from his hand hesitantly. “You didn’t pay for this, did you?”
“It’s a loaner. I worked with the jeweler on a gem-smuggling case last year. He owed me a favor.”
“Oh. Well, as long as you didn’t have to...” Her words trailed off as she opened the lid of the box. “Oh my.”
“If you don’t want it, I can exchange it for something better.”
“No,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”
Sam felt an unexpected rush of satisfaction at the pleasure he saw on her face. “I’m glad you like it.”
Audra ran the tip of her finger over the ring where it nestled in its velvet-lined slot. A delicate design of apple blossoms was etched into the gold, with a diamond sparkling from the center of the largest blossom.
“I had to guess at the size,” Sam said. “If it doesn’t fit, we’ll exchange it tomorrow.”
She nodded.
“Here, you’d better try it on.” He lifted the ring from the box and offered it to her, waiting until she held out her left hand. But instead of placing it in her palm as she’d obviously expected, he gently grasped her wrist and turned her hand over so he could slide the ring onto her third finger.
It was a perfect fit. And it looked as good on her as he’d imagined when he’d chosen it.
For a moment she stood without moving, her hand still clasped lightly in his, the diamond winking in a slanting ray of sunlight. Her lips softened into a shy smile. “Thank you, Sam.”
He wanted to kiss her. That’s what a man did when he gave a woman a diamond ring, wasn’t it? Not a light brush like the other time in front of her brother, but a real kiss. A lover’s kiss. He should dip his
head and capture her smile, taste the warmth of her budding passion as her smile turned from shy to sensual. He should murmur intimate secrets against her lips and give her promises...about their future together...and how they might walk here with a child of their own someday, and how their home would be filled with love....
Damn, this case was really messing with his head. He couldn’t remember getting- this confused about a role he was playing before.
He released her hand and stuffed the empty box back into his pocket. “This should help convince your father the engagement is legitimate.”
Her smile disappeared. “Yes, of course,” she said stiffly. “You’re right. It should help convince my father.” She checked her watch and turned around. “We’d better go or we’ll be late.”
Naturally, her mother loved him. She would have loved anyone Audra had brought home, as long as he didn’t have running sores or knuckles that dragged on the floor. But her father’s reaction had surprised her. It had taken all evening, yet there were definite signs that John McPherson was beginning to approve of his daughter’s new fiancé.
Audra grabbed another plate from the stack on the counter and shoved it under the tap. The two men were in the living room now. looking at old photo albums. She could hear them talking together, their deep voices blending with the background sound of the ball game. Her father wasn’t an easy man to please. Just ask any of his seven children. Yet Sam had somehow managed to make a favorable impression.
He’d dressed up for the occasion, relinquishing his usual Hawaiian prints and tight jeans in favor of a tailored white shirt and pleated tan trousers. As determined as Audra was not to notice, the neat clothes still managed to add to his appeal. Odd, how clothes could do that, considering the fact that she’d seen him in nothing at all.
It had been fascinating to watch him in action tonight. He’d already figured out what buttons to push with her parents, and although he’d been subtle about it, he’d done exactly what he’d told her he’d do. He’d played on her mother’s dreams of a loving, stable marriage for her daughter. He’d played on her father’s protectiveness and that old helpless-female-needs-a-big-strong-man attitude. And he’d done it well.
Almost as well as he’d managed to push her buttons, right?
Pressing her lips together, she crammed plate after plate into the dishwasher. After she’d told herself not to let him get to her again, she’d been on the verge of making a fool of herself over that ring.
Granted, she never wanted to be really engaged again, but there still was something special about having a man slip a diamond ring over her finger. How could she help feeling something? Although it had been seven years, she vividly remembered when the man had been Ryan.
How different that had been. Ryan had gone through the whole ritual, bringing her a dozen roses, getting down on one knee and swearing his eternal love and devotion. They’d thought it would last forever.
She’d worn that ring proudly. She’d refused to take it off, even after he’d declared that their engagement was over. She’d worn it right up until the time she’d had to sell it back to the jeweler so she could use the money to help pay Ryan’s medical bills.
Audra closed the dishwasher and leaned against it. She shouldn’t let the ring bother her. Why should one more lie added to all the rest be any worse?
“There you are.” Constance bustled through the swinging door with a tray of empty coffee cups. “I told you to leave those dishes for later.”
Pasting on a smile, Audra turned around. “I wanted to help, Mom.”
“Thanks, dear.” She set the tray on the counter and slipped her arm around Audra’s shoulders to give her a quick hug. “Oh, I’m so happy for you. Sam is such a nice young man.”
“Yes, he is, isn’t he?”
“I could tell the moment I saw you two together there was something very special between you. Besides the chemistry, I mean.” Her eyes sparkled as she lowered her voice. “I still didn’t tell your Dad about...you know, Sam’s spending the night at your place.”
“Mo-om.”
“Come on, sweetie. There isn’t much that shocks me. And it all worked out fine in the end, now that you two are getting married.” She gave her a squeeze and stepped back. “The way Sam can barely keep his eyes off you is so romantic. He reminds me of your father.”
Audra blinked. Sam? And John McPherson? The two men couldn’t be more dissimilar. Her father was half a head shorter than Sam, and before his hair had begun to turn gray, it had been strawberry blond like Jake and Christopher’s, not thick and black with loose rakish curls that fell temptingly over his forehead. As a young man, her father had been good-looking, but his classic, wholesome features didn’t have anywhere near the appeal of Sam’s rough-hewn handsomeness.
And apart from the obvious physical differences, there was the matter of their personalities. Her father was calm, conservative and scrupulously honest. He wouldn’t be remotely interested in the unpredictable, exciting, dangerous work of an undercover policeman. If he knew what his so-called future son-in-law really did for a living, he’d probably get her brothers to throw Sam out on his ear and lock Audra in her old room.
“Sam mentioned he’s been downsized,” Constance went on. “That’s a shame. There’s so much of that happening these days.”
“He received a very generous severance package from his former employer,” Audra said immediately.
“Oh, yes, he just finished telling us all about it. Now that he has time on his hands, do you think he might lend some of his expertise to Nathan? You know how your brother’s been talking about getting all the company bookkeeping on his computer.”
“Uh, I’ll ask him.”
“No hurry. Once he’s a member of the family, we’ll be able to take advantage of him shamelessly. Speaking of which, would you mind if I asked him to give us a hand with the Fitzpatrick wedding job?”
“What?”
“We’re going to be swamped. And he did mention that your work keeps you too busy and he wished he could spend more time with you. If he helped out, you two could work side by side.” She sighed. “Just like your dad and me when we started out. We were inseparable.”
This was too easy. Way too easy.
But she already knew that Sam had a knack of getting people to do what he wanted.
“That would be nice,” she said finally.
“If he’s sensitive about being downsized, I wouldn’t want to offend him by offering him a job.”
“Don’t worry about that, Mom. I’m sure Sam would appreciate the offer.”
“Wonderful.” Her mother patted her hand, then picked up a plate of cookies and backed toward the swinging door. “I’ll talk to your father about it tonight.”
The guards at the gate had guns. That’s why they both wore those jackets, even in this heat. There was no mistaking the lumpy outlines of the holsters under their khaki windbreakers. Audra probably wouldn’t have looked for them if Sam hadn’t warned her, but now that she knew, she couldn’t seem to see anything else.
The taller guard spoke into the microphone of his headset as he walked up to the van. Stopping beside the driver’s door, he motioned for Sam to roll down his window. “Name?” he asked. His voice sounded like something from the bottom of a bucket.
“Sam Tucker and Audra McPherson,” Sam said, a pleasant smile on his face. “We’re with McPherson Catering. Miss Fitzpatrick is expecting us.”
The guard tipped his head and spoke into his microphone again. He continued to scrutinize Sam. “Wait here.”
A movement at the corner of Audra’s vision made her jerk nervously. The second guard had come up to her side of the van and was peering past her into the interior. “What’s in there?” he demanded.
She glanced at Sam. His smile still in place, he swiveled out of his seat. “Relax,” he whispered as he stooped over to move to the back of the van. “As long as we don’t do anything suspicious, they’re not going to touch us. This is all rout
ine.”
As soon as Sam opened the rear doors, the second guard rounded the van. Propping one foot on the bumper, the guard agave the interior a thorough inspection. Evidently he found nothing suspicious about the empty metal shelves that were fastened to one wall or the loose-leaf binders that rested on the floor. With a grunt, he stepped away and slammed the doors shut.
“Mom told me about this,” Audra said, her gaze darting from the guards to the iron gates. There was a square cement building with narrow slits for windows on the other side of the fence. It looked like a bunker. “I just hadn’t imagined it would be quite so...fortified.”
“This is only the part you see. Fitzpatrick makes sure it’s highly visible to discourage trespassers.”
She looked at the thick black iron bars that made up the fence. Coils of razor wire looped along the top. “Oh, it looks discouraging, all right,” she muttered.
The first guard returned, a clipboard in his hand. “Okay,” he said. “You can go through. Drive straight to the end of the lane. Don’t stop anywhere.”
“No problem,” Sam said, nodding cheerfully.
The guard turned away, tapped a combination into a remote control device and the gates slid open. The van had barely made it through before the gates clanged shut.
Audra took a deep breath and wiped her palms on her skirt. “Now what?”
“We go straight to the end of the lane without stopping, just like he said.” He kept to the center of the pavement, maintaining his speed at an even twenty. “Would you mind leaning against the door for a while?”
“Why?”
“You’re blocking the camera.”
“what?”
“Calm down and act natural, will you? There’s a surveillance camera attached to the birch tree on the right.”
“Oh. Why don’t you want me to block it?”
“I want you to act natural for the camera in the tree,” he said, maintaining his smile as he spoke through his teeth. “It’s the camera inside the van that I don’t want you to block.”
She started to turn her head but Sam’s hand shot out to clamp on her thigh. “Audra, for God’s sake. Just sit there, okay?”
Engaging Sam Page 9
