Only Her Undercover Spy

by Cami Checketts

  She stood and stormed around the desk, forgetting her role as hospitality manager in her need for answers from this infuriating, demanding man. “What are you? Who are you?”

  His eyebrows rose, but he replied calmly. “My name is Chris Wilson. I’m a security specialist from San Francisco, California.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Security specialist? Are you working in my valley? Is there danger here? If so, we need to call Sheriff Greenwood.”

  He shook his head slightly. “I’m here on a vacation, getting away from the stress of evaluating and installing security for huge corporations and very demanding clients. I believe your ‘Happy Valley’ is … safe.” He didn’t look like he believed it. “I am simply telling you that you need to take precautions because of the innocent light I see shining from your beautiful eyes.”

  “You say innocent and beautiful like they are something negative.”

  “They are liabilities in my line of work.”

  She didn’t want to pursue that negative line. “And you aren’t working now?”

  He shook his head.

  “Then why were your first questions to me this morning ‘What are you doing here?’ and ‘What is your purpose?’”

  He shrugged. “Simply my norm. I’m used to being on a job. Dealing with so many security threats and issues has made me suspicious by nature. Hence not wanting anyone in to clean my room.”

  That had been her next question, but he’d preempted her. “So if you are simply ‘suspicious by nature,’ it is highly likely that I am in no danger whatsoever and you’re flipping out just because you think I’m some innocent, immature woman.” She put her hands on her hips and dared him to contradict her.

  He strode around the desk, getting in her space and taking her by the shoulders. Her bare skin tingled under the pressure of his palms. Lowering his voice, he said, “You are in danger exactly because you refuse to recognize it.”

  Iris stared up at him. What a sad life he must lead, suspicious of everyone around him because of his work and his experiences. Yes, she’d almost been attacked once, but her brothers and cousin had taught her how to defend herself, and she refused to live in fear. As long as she stayed in Mystical Lake, she was safe and happy. “What I refuse to do is live my life in fear and stay hidden in my cabin on the possibility of ‘what if.’” She backed away from his grasp and walked over to open to the office door. “Thank you for your visit, Mr. Wilson. Please let me know if there’s anything else we can do to make your stay more pleasant.”

  Chris’s blue eyes glinted dangerously as he stepped toward her. He bent down to her level, and his lips grazed her earlobe. She startled and quivered at the sensation. “If you won’t take your safety seriously, I will be forced to miss out on my vacation and monitor your security for my own peace of mind.”

  She turned to glare at him, but with his lips hovering near her ear, he was far too close for comfort. “You wouldn’t dare,” she hissed.

  He straightened and smirked at her. “I am a very impressive security specialist, Miss Chadwick, and I think you’d be surprised what I dare do.” With that, he sauntered past her and down the short hallway. Before he turned and was lost from sight, he glanced back at her and winked—a gesture that should’ve been obnoxious and overconfident, but was actually sexy enough that her knees knocked together and she had to lean against the doorjamb.

  So Chris Wilson, Mr. Security Specialist, was going to monitor her? Somehow, she wasn’t as annoyed and angry as she should be. Instead, she found her stomach heating up at the thought that he wanted to protect her. Not that she needed it now that she was smart and grown up, no longer a trusting teenager who’d almost lost her virtue to a despicable jerk.

  Heading back into her office, she tried to focus on work until her dinner date with Antonio. Yet it was impossible to think about anything but Chris, the crazy conversation they’d had, the way he looked at her, and the way he made her feel.

  Chapter Four

  Devon was partially fuming and partially chuckling at the conversation he’d just had with Iris. She was infuriating and so attractive she muddled his brain like nothing he’d ever experienced. He feared he’d overstepped bounds a spy should never even approach. He’d used the job of security specialist often and always told people he was from San Francisco to keep the story simple. Using names like Chris Wilson, Tom Jensen, or Jake Smith kept him safe from being discovered. There were dozens of such names in San Francisco.

  Iris. What a lady she was. She didn’t bow to his demands or act afraid, though there was something in her eyes that said she had felt fear before and dealt with it. If he’d read her correctly, that was remarkable, but that lack of fear terrified him when there were men such as Antonio Jasper around and most likely preying on her. It was still impressive that she wouldn’t live her life in fear. Stupid, but impressive.

  Before long, his phone screen displayed the view through her resort’s security cameras that he’d easily tapped into. She was meeting up for dinner with Antonio in one of the resort’s restaurants; Antonio’s men were sitting at another table. Devon headed for his own room and his surveillance suitcase. He didn’t like being away from watching over Iris, especially when she was basically in Antonio’s grasp, but Devon had a job to do, and once he got everything set up, he could focus on watching Iris—and sadly, Antonio too.

  Minutes later, he’d jammed the camera in the hallway outside the penthouse, used the all-access key card he’d lifted from Iris’s desktop when they’d had their talk, and slipped inside. He stayed just inside the door, listening and searching with his eyes and his probe for heat sensors or lasers. Interestingly enough, Antonio didn’t have either, or maybe hadn’t set them up yet. More likely, the man didn’t think he needed them in this safe little valley, and it wasn’t as if he was hiding anything in his hotel rooms.

  If Devon’s contacts were correct, this trip was to identify and find distribution spots for drug exchanges, and possibly trafficking as well. This beauty valley, with a quiet, unmonitored airstrip and plenty of spots to take cover in trees and mountains, would be a decent spot for them to fly in shipments and then distribute through the countryside. There were only a couple of drawbacks he could see: there was really only one way in and out of the valley, and the airstrip was pretty exposed to the small town. Maybe they’d find that out in their research, give up, and leave. It was interesting that an affluent criminal would take the time to do the research himself, but it would explain why he not only was successful but also hadn’t been caught yet. He trusted only himself.

  Devon located several cameras that Antonio’s men must have installed. He scrambled them into a constant repeat of the seconds before he entered the room, and then he got to work. Ten minutes later, he’d hidden his own cameras throughout the room, along with tracking devices and some microphones in laptops, shoes, suitcases, and anything he could find that they might take with them when they went to meet with contacts. He downloaded a copy of everything on their computer hard drives and would send it on to Interpol for them to try to decode and find information that would help nail Antonio. He’d already bugged their Land Rover and with the easy access to the hotel’s security feed, he felt he’d covered his bases.

  Once that task was complete, Devon stepped back into the hall and headed downstairs, deciding it was time to go to dinner himself. It would be torture to watch Iris eat with Antonio, but it was his job to monitor the drug dealer, and Devon was making it his personal quest to watch over the beautiful hotel manager.

  Iris enjoyed her dinner conversation with the Italian millionaire, but her mind kept wandering to the fireworks she felt around Chris. A security specialist. That fit him. She wondered if he had a military background and found herself thinking of all kinds of questions she wanted to ask him.

  Was he really on vacation, or was there some sinister reason he’d chosen her hotel and given her such an intense warning? A shiver trailed down her spine as she thought of danger coming
to her beautiful valley. She shook it off like a wet dog. That could not happen. Not again. Besides the one incident when she was sixteen, she had always been safe and loved by all the people here.

  “Everything all right, love?” Antonio asked, swirling the wine in his glass and taking a slow sip. His English was impeccable, but she did like his accent.

  “Wonderful. Thank you for eating with me. Was the wine and food up to snuff for somebody from the vineyards of Tuscany?”

  He smiled easily. “It was all perfect, but most perfect was the company.” He reached across and squeezed her hand. “Would you permit me to walk you home?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve still got a pile of work to deal with, and my cabin is close by. Thank you, though.”

  Disappointment flashed in his dark eyes. Iris had seen a lot of men pass through her hotel, and she’d dated her fair share, but she hadn’t interacted with the likes of Antonio and Chris, especially not in the same day. Chris. She wouldn’t mind seeing him again and bantering with him some more. He’d said he was going to monitor her safety. Hopefully, that meant he’d stay by her side rather than in the shadows. She bit at her lip, warmth filling her cheeks.

  “You look very lovely when you nibble at that full lip,” Antonio said in a low voice, obviously intending to be seductive.

  “Um, thank you.”

  “May I see you tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Crazy busy day. Several of our housekeepers shared strep throat with each other, so I’m having to fill in throughout the morning, then deal with my own work in the afternoon and evening.”

  His eyebrows drew together. “Pardon me. Fill in … as a maid?” The disdain in his voice was unmistakable. She didn’t expect a wealthy and handsome man to understand.

  “Sometimes you have to humble yourself and use a toilet scrubber as your weapon.” She smiled to herself, thinking of Chris again.

  As if her thoughts had conjured him, she caught movement in a corner table and glanced that way. He was eating dinner by himself. He caught her eye, gave her a secretive, smoldering glance that was meant for only her, but then focused on his food as Antonio spun to look over his shoulder.

  “What are you looking at?” Antonio asked.

  “Just checking out my restaurant, making sure everything’s in order.”

  “Ah.” His eyes flickered over the other occupied tables. “I’m afraid although I like to believe my English education was thorough, I miss some of your American jokes. A toilet scrubber as a weapon?”

  Iris smiled. “It’s an inside joke with … my cousin Catalina and I.”

  “Is Catalina the Spanish beauty who runs the front desk? You are cousins by birth?”

  “Yes, sir. She’s my favorite person in the world.” At the questioning look in his eyes, she explained. “Our fathers are brothers. Catalina’s mother is originally from Argentina.” She left out the part about Arianna ditching Catalina and her father and brother for a handsome rancher. The rancher was a man most of the valley had loved for his bright smile and easygoing attitude. Then he’d lost his wife to a car accident, and weeks after he and Arianna skipped town together, with the aid of hundreds of thousands stolen from his son’s ranch. They’d all learned a smile can be deceiving. Cat and her dad suffered as much as the rancher’s son, Stetson, who Cat avoided like the plague.

  “I see.”

  She stood. “Thank you again for having dinner with me.”

  Antonio stood and took her hand. “It was my pleasure. After your busy day tomorrow, could you spare time to show me the area and share dinner again?”

  “Not tomorrow, but thank you for asking.” Before he asked for the next day, she tugged her hand free, gave him a brilliant smile, and walked away. “Bye.”

  “Good night, beautiful Iris,” he said to her back.

  Iris gave him a wave and hurried out of the restaurant. She only let herself glance at Chris once. He watched her steadily, and the alluring look in his blue eyes sucked the oxygen from her lungs. She tripped over who knew what. Straightening herself, she rushed along the main floor to her office. Working late. That was smart and safe—much safer than spending more time with the intriguing Chris Wilson.

  Iris settled in to work. She soon realized she couldn’t focus on anything but that look in Chris’s eyes. Night fell outside her windows, and her beautiful valley went to sleep, with only minimal lights twinkling across the lake. She stood and stretched, knowing Grams would want her home. She wished Catalina lived with them so Grams had someone else to fuss over, but Cat felt a duty to her father. Cat’s brother, Cruz, had moved on to become a well-known snow-skiing and wakeboarding phenomenon and was rarely home. Iris adored her uncle Jay. He’d really stepped in as a father figure after her own dad had left. She worried right along with Cat that he was wasting away. He seemed thinner each time Iris saw him, like he’d given up on living when the beautiful and fun Arianna had left him six years ago. At least he kept busy, spending his days fishing, hiking, and fixing up their cabin—which was a half mile away from Grams’s—as well as anybody else’s that needed some help.

  Once she’d put her computer to sleep and shut down her office, she said good night to a few employees as she made her way out one of the back entrances and onto the magnificent patio that overlooked the lake. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back. Nothing was as wonderful as a summer night in the mountains. The birds had mostly settled, but some still chirped, an owl hooted, and insects buzzed. The water lapped against the shore and glistened under the light of a delicate slice of moon. She walked along the patio and then down the steps and along the lake’s shore. All was quiet in the adventure area, and as she moved toward the trail to her house, she could stare up into a sky full of stars. Ah, she loved it here so much. Nothing and nobody could get her to leave again.

  A branch cracked off the side of the trail, and Iris wondered what animal might be making its way through the woods. Probably a racoon looking for some dinner, but possibly a deer, an elk, or even a moose or a bear. She had no fear of the animals in the forest. She’d grown up roaming these trees and the mountains beyond and had never had trouble with any beast.

  Men, though … that was a different story. Her lips pulled down as she thought of Chris’s warnings. In a way, she appreciated that he was concerned about her, but she had no fears in her beautiful mountain home. Not now that she was savvy, carried pepper spray, and knew defense moves. No one had threatened her in ten years, and she knew she was safe here. Chris had probably seen too much of the sadness and wickedness in the world with his profession. Spending time in the heaven that was Mystical Lake Resort would be good for him. She smiled, hoping by the end of his stay he’d believe her that everything in her idyllic spot was good and happy and—

  A hand wrapped around her mouth and an arm slipped around her waist. Iris was lifted off the trail and into the woods. She tried to scream, thrash, and fight her way free, digging into the man’s hands with her fingernails and kicking back at his shins as he held her off the ground. She couldn’t reach the pepper spray in her pocket, and the man was too strong for any of the moves she knew to be effective.

  Her fear was closely followed by shock. How had Chris known? He’d warned her. Why hadn’t she listened? Please, please let Chris be watching over me and come help, she prayed.

  Her body trembled with fear and she felt weak in this strong man’s grasp. She bit at the hand covering her lips, but it was holding her mouth too firm. She tried to stomp on the man’s instep, but he easily avoided the movement.

  Despite her panic, she recognized his scent. The man smelled amazing, like Chris’s warm cologne. Could it be?

  “Calm down, Iris, it’s me.” Chris’s voice was soothing in her ear. He released her and stepped back.

  Iris whirled to face him, raising her hand to smack him in the face.

  He easily caught her hand. “I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said, “but you didn’t listen to my warning
, did you?”

  “You … how dare you?” she sputtered. “I have nothing to be afraid of in these woods. Nothing except for you.”

  Even in the dark, she could see his smirk. “I assure you I would never harm you or any innocent person.”

  Something about his words struck her as interesting. Would he harm a non-innocent person? Maybe he’d had to with his career.

  “Can I walk you home, please?”

  Though his voice made her want to accept, she felt duty-bound to refuse. He had no right to terrify her, and what if tomorrow night she walked home like a scaredy-cat, looking over her shoulder and thinking every branch creaking was an ill-intentioned predator? She wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t return to that scared sixteen-year-old. “No,” she said sharply. “You have no right to scare me and ruin my beautiful night. Goodbye, Mr. Wilson.” With that, she stomped back to the trail and toward home.

  She could hear his footfalls behind her, but she ignored him, keeping her back straight and her head tilted proudly up. When she reached the cabin, she ran down the gravel road and up the steps to the wraparound porch. Glaring back over her shoulder, she saw him standing at the edge of the circle of light from the porch.

  He stared steadily at her and tilted his chin up, all manly, tough, and appealing. “Good night, Iris. I’ll be watching over you.” He said the words with that smoldering look in his blue eyes that made her knees weak.

  She clung to the railing, not sure how to respond. Then, like the professional woman she was, she stuck her tongue out at him. Chris smiled and then chuckled. Iris wanted to join in his mirth, but she was still upset with him. Though he hadn’t hurt her and he’d only held for a few seconds, she hated that he’d grabbed her and made her feel like a terrified teenager again. Giving him one last glare, she turned and hurried through the rear door, his laughter following her. If she wasn’t so ticked off at him, she might really like the guy.