Chris shed his shirt, dropped a cell phone and … was that seriously a gun? … on the pile before sprinting along the dock and diving into the water next to her. He surfaced from his shallow dive, wrapped his strong arms around her, and lifted her higher out of the water and pulled her against him. “Are you okay?”
Iris clung to him, loving the warmth of his chest and the strength emanating from his body. The way he’d dived in to help her touched something deep inside of her, something that had been damaged when her mom died, her dad deserted her, and her brothers all left to make their fortunes. Chris was her anchor. She realized she could trust Chris to watch out for her, exactly like he’d been saying he would.
She realized it was silly, irrational thinking. He’d leave her just like everyone else had. Yet she couldn’t dismiss the warmth, safety, and happiness he represented to her at this moment.
“What is going on here?” Uncle Jay demanded from above them on the dock.
Embarrassment rushed in, and Iris tried to disentangle herself from his arms, but Chris held on tight. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Iris stopped resisting and looked up at Uncle Jay. “This is Chris Wilson. He’s staying at the resort. He’s my … friend?” She looked to Chris for confirmation.
“Well, sir.” Chris stared up at Uncle Jay, his warm, strong arms holding her even closer. “I’m hoping for more than a friend but haven’t been blessed with that opportunity yet.”
Uncle Jay gave him a stern look, though his blue eyes sparkled. “You treat my girl with respect, and maybe you’ll be blessed more than you can imagine.”
“Yes, sir.”
Iris’s face filled with heat, even though her body was chilled from the water. Well, every part that Chris wasn’t touching was cold. Her torso, which was wrapped tight in his embrace, was plenty warm.
“You good, sweetheart?” Uncle Jay asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
He smiled, waved, and walked toward the house, leaving them alone.
Iris debated fighting her away out of Chris’s arms or burying her face in the crook of his neck, see how that smooth flesh felt against her lips. The one thing she didn’t know if she could handle was meeting his gaze. “Um, thank you for … diving in for me. As you can see, I’m fine.”
“You are fine-looking,” he murmured, his gaze tracing over her face. “But I’m worried about you. Why did you run from me? I called your name.”
Fire flashed through her. She pushed away from him, grabbed the dock, and launched herself out of the water. Chris easily popped up beside her. The sun was just rising over the eastern mountains, and his broad chest sparkled with droplets of water. This was her second gift of seeing his muscular perfection, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to become distracted by it.
“The reason I ran is you,” she said shortly.
“Me?” He put a hand on his chest, and his blue eyes turned somber. “You have to believe I could never hurt you, Iris.”
She blinked up at him, softening a bit that he was so intent on protecting her. “I don’t think you’d hurt me, but all your warnings scared me, and I don’t want to be scared. I want to feel safe and happy exploring my beautiful spot of earth.” She’d worked hard to put the fears behind her, meeting with her pastor regularly and focusing on deeper prayers. Her sanctuary couldn’t be compromised now. This place was not only her safe haven; it also held her family together. She loved Grams, Cat, and Uncle Jay. She missed her dad, her brothers, and Cruz. She ached for her mom. The great memories of growing up together in this valley were all she really had now.
He nodded. “I’m sorry to scare you, but you need to be aware and safe. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”
She folded her arms across her chest, trying to protect herself from his sweet words. “Nothing is going to happen to me,” she insisted. When his eyes filled with this almost mocking doubt, as if she were an innocent simpleton, she shifted gears. If only he knew—but she’d never tell him. “Why are you carrying a gun on a trail run?” She pointed at his discarded shirt, phone, and gun.
His eyes widened with fear—not a fear of her or anyone else, but a fear of discovery. He concealed it quickly, but she had that unnerving feeling that he was hiding a lot from her. “Just habit.” He gave her an easy smile. “In my line of work, you’re always prepared.”
Iris stepped up closer to him. “Tell me the truth. You’re here on a job, aren’t you?”
He opened his mouth. Would he confide in her?
Something sliced through the water close by, and then she heard movement below her. She glanced down. Beautiful Catalina. She looked pretty even in swim goggles and cap.
“Hello, my sweet cousin and the handsome bare-chested man. What’s going on here?” Cat pushed her goggles onto her swim cap and blinked her gorgeous dark eyes at them. She winked at Iris and then tilted her chin to Chris. “I’m Catalina Chadwick. You can call me Cat. You two look like you’re having fun.”
Chris smiled down at her, that charming smile that Iris loved yet hated. It was gorgeous, but he wore it like a mask to keep the world out. “Chris Wilson. Pleasure to meet you, Cat.”
Cat grabbed the dock and jumped up, trim and fit in her one-piece racing suit. She’d been a competitive swimmer in high school, traveling to meets in other states, and she’d gone through college on a swim scholarship. Iris had missed her horribly while she’d been away to school. Unless the lake was near-freezing, Cat swam in it most mornings. “You too. Did I interrupt something?”
“No, nothing.” Iris couldn’t meet her best friend’s gaze.
Cat pulled off her swim cap, and her long, dark hair fell down her back. “Why don’t you both come in for breakfast? Dad makes a mean breakfast burrito and promised me that was on the menu this morning.”
“I’d love to,” Chris said.
“I can’t,” Iris said at the same time.
Cat arched an eyebrow at her, silently begging her to reconsider.
Iris backed away instead. Chris was confusing her, and he was hiding something from her. Nobody just wore a gun when they were running around a peaceful valley. There was trouble in her haven, and he was working to find it—and he was lying to her about it. If he wanted to protect her, why wouldn’t he tell her the truth so she could protect herself? Please, Lord, let my home be safe. Protect the good people here.
“Lots of work today,” Iris said. “I have three in housekeeping still sick.”
“And you know how to wield a toilet brush well,” Chris said, smiling softly at her.
Iris couldn’t resist returning his smile, but then she remembered that he was hiding things from her. “I’ll see you soon, Cat.” She tilted her chin to Chris before running off the dock and toward the trails. Her feet sloshed in her wet shoes and her hair dripped down her back, but she wasn’t about to turn around.
Chapter Seven
Devon enjoyed breakfast with Cat and Uncle Jay. Cat teased him about Iris, but he just smiled at her and gave her evasive answers. The feel of Iris in his arms in the water had taken a toll on him. She’d looked great in her wet running clothes, and she’d felt even better. Had a woman clinging to him ever felt like that? Not that he could recall. It scared him, yet it made him want to hold her close over and over again.
He helped them clean up, then excused himself. He wasn’t able to run back to the lodge with all that food in his belly, so he took a walk and enjoyed nature. The time was still before eight a.m., and a simple check of his phone told him that his quarry was asleep. Were they ever going to do anything? Many of his assignments were boring as he watched for criminals to make their move, but watching Antonio was excruciating, as he wanted to spend time with Iris. If only he was on vacation like he’d lied to her about.
Lied to her. Iris was interested in him yet wary. Did she know he was lying? Did Grams? Was that gift of discernment passed down from generation to generation? Cat and Uncle Jay had seemed great, but he’d kept the focus on
them, asking all about Iris’s swimming and her schooling, Jay’s fishing, Jay’s son Cruz, the resort, and this beautiful area.
He didn’t like lying to Iris. That should have scared him as much as anything. He admired people with integrity, but in his line of work, there was usually no possible way to tell the truth. He knew his job was honorable and he’d helped take down more criminals than most average-sized police forces, but for the sake of the good, honest people out there, he lied to criminals and he lied to the innocent. He also was diligent about keeping his identity secret to protect his family. If only he could tell Iris everything.
He shook his head and hurried through the beautiful lodge and into his room. The day passed slowly as he watched, listened through his translator, and waited and waited. Nothing happened besides Antonio working, maybe making another million dollars, and his goons watching porn.
Devon was also able to watch Iris whenever he caught her on the hotel’s security cameras. He kept an almost constant eye on the one outside her office that gave glimpses of her with her office door open. He got through hundreds of burpees and push-ups as he watched and waited, so at least the day wasn’t completely wasted. He also talked to the contact he’d been assigned to work with in the CIA, and Devon frustratingly had to admit that he had no information for them besides a few possible locations Antonio had scouted and the fact that they’d visited the airport. Maybe Antonio was here to rest and relax, but if that was true, why did the man hardly leave his room? Devon had promised he’d call the instant he heard anything about a meeting or place.
The men were all settled in their separate rooms, watching shows Devon really didn’t want to focus on, when the resort cameras showed Iris step out of her office and shut down her lights. Devon slid into some Sanuks, grabbed his phone, wallet, and gun out of habit, and rushed out into the hall and down the stairs. He was only on the second floor, and he’d found that the stairs were faster than the elevator.
He burst out onto the main floor and rushed out the closest door, stepping onto the wide patio that ran the length of the back of the resort and extended over the peaceful lake. He ran along the dock toward the west, the direction of Iris and Grams’s cabin.
“Hey,” a voice said from the shadows.
Devon spun, and Iris materialized before him. She looked so beautiful in a white button-down shirt and red skirt with those heels he loved seeing on her. “Hey.” He lifted a hand and tried to calm his breathing. It wasn’t easy with her striding toward him so purposefully.
His eyes widened as she came right into his space. Devon felt his chest rising and falling quickly and wondered how, with all his training and years of experience, he couldn’t school his expression and hide his reactions. This woman in front of him was messing with him, and he loved every second of it.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” she said in a sultry voice that made his heart threaten to beat out of his chest and his throat feel dry and scratchy.
He cleared his throat and managed, “You have?” Smooth, Devon, real smooth. Come on, think James Bond, man.
“All day.” Her voice deepened, and she put both hands on his chest.
Devon couldn’t catch a breath. He might die from lack of oxygen, as his throat now felt like it was closing off, but dying would feel so good with her hands on him, her blue-green eyes staring into his, and the smell of her sweet perfume tantalizing his senses. “Wh-what have you been thinking?” he managed. James Bond would be severely disappointed, but come on. Devon was a top-notch spy and normally was good with the ladies, but that meant nothing when an incredible woman like Iris Chadwick was finally showing interest in him.
“Yes,” she purred, easing in closer. Then her voice rose a notch and her eyes flashed and she said, “Thinking about what a jerk liar you are.” She shoved him as hard as she could.
Devon would have been kicked out of all spy organizations everywhere if anyone had heard him yelp in surprise as he stumbled off the dock. His only reaction besides the unmanly yelp was instinctively grabbing Iris’s arm in an attempt to stay upright.
She yelled as he yanked her with him. The cold water hit him, covering his head and giving him a mouthful of lake water, as his mouth had been open yelping. He sprang off the bottom—it was deeper here than it had been at Cat’s dock—and his head burst out of the water. Still holding on to Iris’s arm, he swam quickly to the dock, tugging her with him.
“Let me go,” she demanded.
Devon obeyed, but only so he could yank out his cell phone and pistol and set them on the dock. Her eyes widened as she looked at the pistol, and she gave him a disgusted glare. Instead of saying anything about the Glock, she spat, “You pulled me in.”
“I instinctively grabbed for something to stabilize myself when you pushed me.” He swept at his face. “I can’t believe I fell for you acting like you were into me.”
She was still glaring at him. “I might be into you if you’d tell me why you carry a pistol to walk me home each night, how you know exactly when to walk me home, and why you’re really here.”
Devon pushed out a breath. This was why he didn’t allow himself to get involved with locals. He planted his hands on the dock and leapt up, feeling like he weighed four hundred pounds with his clothes and shoes soaked.
Bending down, he offered his hand. Iris ignored his hand and tried to pull herself out, but her fitted skirt restricted her movements and she landed on her knees, not her feet. Devon wrapped his hands around her waist and easily lifted her to her feet. She stepped quickly away from him, looking glorious with her wet hair trailing down her back and her clothes clinging to her.
Devon scooped up his phone and his gun, shoving the latter into the back of his pants and shaking the former. “They claim they’re waterproof, right?”
Iris pulled out her own phone and shrugged. “I hope so. I heard the rice trick was actually a bad idea.”
He nodded, then gestured with his hand. “May I walk you home?”
Iris folded her arms across her chest. “You implied to Uncle Jay this morning that you were interested in dating me.”
Devon’s eyes widened. He would absolutely love to date her, after he finished this job and could get back here. It would be well worth a break from work to see where things went with Iris, and then he could return to his pursuit of fifty million and retirement. He was at thirty-two million, and it had taken him eight years of very hard work. Another eighteen million wasn’t going to be quick or easy. “I would,” he admitted, trying his level best to be honest with her whenever he could.
Her eyes softened, and she said, “I would love to have you walk me home, if you’ll answer some questions honestly for me.”
Devon’s spine stiffened again. He would try to be honest, but he couldn’t compromise this mission. If he promised that he would keep her safe, even if he couldn’t give her details, what would she say? She’d probably push him back in the lake.
She was watching him and waiting. Devon passed a hand over his face, glanced around at the deserted patio, and admitted in a quiet voice, “I’ll try my best, Iris, but my career doesn’t lend itself to honesty.”
She gave him a concerned glance, turned, and started walking forward. Devon fell into step beside her. “This is the second time today that I’ve had to walk in wet shoes because of you,” she said.
Her comment wasn’t what he’d been waiting for, and he chuckled. “I blame the first one on Uncle Jay.”
She smiled. “How was breakfast?”
“Delicious. I really like your uncle and Cat.”
“Thanks.” They stepped off the patio and continued past the pools. “Cat is my best friend and business partner.”
“Partners in crime. You two could take on the world with a toilet brush.”
“For sure …” She smiled contentedly. “But we’re happy to make our little corner of it a wonderful experience for all who come to visit our beautiful valley.”
Devon thought that was
admirable and interesting and it hit him that Iris would never leave this valley for more than short vacations. He knew that shouldn’t matter to him, but it did.
They continued along the dirt path past the adventure course and beach spot. As soon as they were in the woods, she looked at him. “You’re here on a job,” she stated.
Devon swallowed. Despite all his training and all his instincts, he found himself admitting in a croaky voice, “Yes.”
“Aha!” She triumphantly jabbed a finger at him, hitting him in the shoulder. “I knew it. Why did you lie to me?”
He splayed his hands, hoping he could toe this crazy line he was trying to walk. He should never give an innocent local information, but he wanted Iris to trust him. He wanted it so badly. “I did it to protect you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him as they slowly walked along the darkened trail. “The way you talked, you design or install security systems or something, but that’s a lie too, isn’t it?” She didn’t wait long enough to let him figure out how to explain. “I think you’re more like James Bond.”
He smiled now. “I try.”
“You try to be like James Bond? So you’re like a super spy?” Her voice was getting louder as she got excited, or upset—he couldn’t tell which.
Devon had no choice. He wrapped his arm around her waist and covered her mouth with his other hand. They stopped in the middle of the trail. She went still in his arms, but he could feel her breathing quicken under his palm. He whispered in her ear, “Please keep your voice down. I want to share with you, but if someone was around and overheard, it could be tragic for my mission and dangerous for you.”
He stared into her aqua-colored eyes, and she looked so beguiling and beautiful it was all he could do to remove his hand when she slowly nodded, not kiss her like he was aching to do. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“Can you please tell me, everything?” Her eyes were lit with interest and excitement, as if this were some movie set she’d walked onto.
Devon didn’t know what to do, and he hated not knowing what to do. He was always the epitome of cool under pressure but right now he realized he was irrational. He wanted to kiss Iris and forget he was on a job and pretend he knew nothing about espionage. He backed away. “I apologize, Iris, but maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
Only Her Undercover Spy Page 5
