LITMIR.BIZ

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      “I should have been the one to go undercover with him,” Paula said. “Seriously. I would’ve appreciated the experience so much more than Jeannie.”

      Brad’s laugh was more about disbelief than amusement. “You have a boyfriend.”

      Paula gave them an innocent smile. “It’s not cheating if you’re doing it for a case. That’s like vacation sex but you still get paid.”

      “Like hell it’s not cheating,” he said to more laughter, which said more about their long hours and how punchy they all were than it did about the quality of the humor. “Angie should’ve been the one to go undercover with Vail. No offense to Jeannie but you two would’ve looked more like the Ebsens.”

      Angie snorted, and not with any grace. “Me and Vail? Yeah, right.”

      Paula shrugged. “You know I hate agreeing with Brad, but I see what he’s saying.” She tilted her head, glancing at Angie’s shoes again. “The right clothes and hair and you two would look as if you’d stepped off the cover of In Style.”

      Angie chuckled. No one else did. Was it conceivable they were teasing her because they knew about her thing for Ryan? No, not possible. She barely glanced at him when he was in the office. Absolutely no one knew. Except for Liz, and Liz didn’t count. As her closest friend who also happened to be an FBI agent in the San Diego office, she knew almost everything about Angie. But certainly no one at work had an inkling that Angie might have thought about Ryan in a sexual context. A few times. “Shut up. All of you. As if I’d ever volunteer for an assignment with Vail.”

      “You liar,” Paula said, a little louder than was appropriate in the bullpen. “I’ve seen you check out that ass. Everyone with a pulse has checked out that ass.”

      “I’ve got a pulse,” Brian said. “Trust me. I have never—”

      “I meant people who were into that kind of guy.”

      “I have,” Sally said, raising her hand without a bit of shame. “And Angie, my dear friend, as cool as you play it, I’ve seen you blush when he walks by.”

      “Probably because Vail had done something to blush about.” Angie was terrified she’d start blushing right this minute. The subject needed to be changed, although it wouldn’t hurt to make a definitive statement. “I mean, come on. To sleep in the same bed as him? To act like his wife? Palmer could’ve offered to pay off my car loan and no way in hell would I have—”

      Assistant Director Gordon Palmer walked into the bullpen, and Angie swung her feet off the desk. Everyone else in the room sat up straight, dropping the banter like hot coals. “We have a problem,” he said, as if his demeanor hadn’t already tipped them off.

      Palmer was a good man, a fair boss and someone who had a knack for assigning the right agents to the right tasks, unlike several A.D.s she could mention. “Agent Foster is being held over in court. Indefinitely. We’ve been trying to get a postponement, but the judge won’t budge.”

      Angie’s chest tightened as if pressed by a vise. All their work, all the hours they’d spent putting this sting together…. This was the final Intimate At Last retreat being held in the United States.

      “However,” Palmer said, turning toward Angie with purpose. Had he overheard? Was this part of the joke? No, he wasn’t the type. “There is one solution.”

      The pressure in her chest got so heavy she could hardly breathe. “Oh, my God.”

      “You’re up to speed with every aspect of the case,” Palmer said, making it very clear he was completely serious. “You helped build the cover stories. I feel certain that you can pull it off.”

      “Wouldn’t Paula be a better choice?” she said, her voice tight and her hands gripping her chair as if her life depended on it. “She was just saying …”

      Paula shook her head, all business. “I don’t know the cover, not like you do.”

      Palmer walked to Angie’s desk. “I can’t order you to do this,” he said, softly now, for her ears only. “And there will be no negative repercussions if you aren’t comfortable taking over the assignment. I realize it’s a sensitive situation. No one’s going to blame you for declining to step in.”

      The very thought of sleeping in the same bed as Ryan Vail made her skin tingle, made her want to hide under her desk. For all his colorful reputation, he would be a perfect gentleman, she had no doubt, but that didn’t mean she could be a perfect lady. Knowing she’d never be with Ryan in real life had no effect whatsoever on what she did with him in her fantasies. The idea of actually sleeping with him … She felt sick with panic.

      Taking her own idiotic issues out of the equation, there were several practical reasons to turn down the assignment. She might have helped with the cover stories, but she couldn’t step directly into Jeannie’s shoes.

      However, she couldn’t dismiss the short- and long-term benefits of saying yes. She didn’t want to let down the team. And if she’d thought writing the search engine code would get her noticed, agreeing to the undercover work would put her front and center in the Deputy Director’s radar.

      She weighed the pros and cons: pretending to be Ryan’s wife all week versus nailing the job in D.C.

      She stood. “We don’t have much time. Jeannie and I aren’t close to the same size so I’ll have to get a new wardrobe. We’ll need to put my paperwork and computer cover in place faster than is humanly possible.”

      A.D. Palmer shook her hand. “Thank you, Wolf. Or should I say, Mrs. Ebsen.”

       2

      HE WOKE TO THE BED DIPPING. For a few seconds, Ryan’s adrenaline spiked until he remembered where he was. He groaned at the bright red numbers on the clock. “One a.m.? What the …?”

      The rest of the question got lost in the dark, but it didn’t matter, because Jeannie didn’t answer. He didn’t blame her, she must be exhausted. At least she hadn’t turned on the lights. And he had asked her not to wake him. “You okay?”

      She tugged sharply on the covers, pulling more of them to her side of the bed. But she didn’t confirm or deny.

      Ryan craned his neck until he could just make out her head on the pillow, her back to him, hunched and tight. Must have gotten stuck at the airport or something. If she didn’t want to talk about it, fine.

      He curled onto his side hoping to find the dream she’d interrupted. It had been nice. Smelled nice. He sighed as he closed his eyes, thinking vaguely that he’d been right that sharing a bed with her was no big deal. Especially when he considered what else was going to take place in the next few days.

      It was amazingly quiet; they weren’t in the hotel proper, but a separate group of bungalows that had their own locked gate, their own pools, even an exclusive bar. That’s why the retreat cost an arm and a leg. So they could be near the secluded Namaste courtyard where the private couples retreat would take place. Too bad he had to work. This was the best vacation spot he’d been to in years.

      He sighed as he let himself slip deeper and deeper into sleep…. The scent came back, a little like the beach and jasmine, low-key and sexy like—

      His eyes flew open. His heart thudded as his pulse raced and it had to be the dream. The dream had gotten him confused. That’s all. No need to panic. That was Jeannie next to him. For God’s sake, who else would it be?

      So why wasn’t he turning around? Even in the dark, it would only take one look to know for sure and then he would cool his jets and go back to sleep. Undercover jitters. It happened. Not to him, but he’d heard tales. Nothing to see. No chance in hell the boss would do something insane like pull a switch at this stage of the game.

      Moving slowly, not wanting to disturb her, Ryan twisted until he could see his bed partner.

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