Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
“Here you go,” he said with what she was sure he thought was a charming smile. He was roughly her height, and he wasn’t looking at her face.
Well, there was a reason the girls were on generous display. She gave him a smile and reached for the bag, her hand lingering one second too long. “Thanks. I was worried about bending over. I guess my dress is on the tight side.”
“Your dress is perfect.” He was taking in every inch of her, and it was clear he liked what he saw. “Like the rest of you.”
“The car that’s supposed to pick him up is incoming. You don’t have much time,” Lou warned. “Also, I’ve got a great camera angle on Ben, and let’s have a long talk with him about resting murder face because that’s what he has right now. Luckily that dude only has eyes for your boobs.”
She didn’t want to make anything of it. Ben had a murdery vibe to him a lot of the time. It was one of the things she found most attractive about him. He was all dangerous and seriously fucked up, so she could fix him with her love. Had she at times seen herself in a pretty sundress on a farm her family had never owned running toward her father with the wind in her hair screaming but daddy I love him as a Taylor Swift song surged in the background?
Yes. Yes, she had.
“Thanks.” She gave the target a soft smile and then a little frown. “I wish my husband thought so.”
There were times when she wouldn’t mention another man’s claim on her, but she rather thought this one would view it as a challenge. A man’s ego and libido were the smart spy’s keys to the kingdom.
“Your husband’s an idiot.” He glanced around. “Where is he?”
“Reel him in, sister,” Lou encouraged.
She shrugged and let the hint of tears pierce her eyes. It was easy. When she needed to cry she thought about her dog and that someday she would lose Bud Two the way she’d lost Bud One and… Nope. Only a hint of tears. She didn’t do dripping wet sobs. That would defeat the point. Men wanted her to cry pretty, not see her soul. Even Ben. “I think he’s talking to someone on the gala team. A woman. He didn’t even dance with me.”
A brow rose, and she saw the calculation in his eyes. “Well, why don’t I step in for him and then maybe I’ll whisk you away? Wouldn’t that teach him a lesson?”
Yeah, that was a way to get herself raped, but he didn’t have to know that she could kill him fifteen different ways. Instead, she smiled tremulously and took his hand.
From there it was simple. She was charmingly graceless and bumped against him, looking at him with breathless anticipation so he was watching her lips while her hands slipped inside his pocket and she transferred the thumb drive to the hidden pocket in her evening gown. She would have to tell her cousin Devi how well it worked in the field. Lou was their gadget guru, but Devi designed and made clothes, and there was nothing wrong with that.
“Why don’t we…” the target began.
“And here comes the drama,” Lou advised.
Ben was right there as though he’d been watching and waiting for the chance to extract her. Or he simply wanted to get it all over with. “Maggie, what the hell are you doing? I told you to wait for me. I didn’t tell you to plaster yourself all over another man.”
There were suddenly eyes on them, and the target stepped back, disappearing into the crowd. Coward. She hoped he got his ass kicked for losing those files.
Ben’s hand was on her elbow as he led her off the floor. “You okay?”
“Perfect,” she whispered back. “My team is one block over. I’ll meet you at your hotel.”
He huffed as they walked past the line waiting to get in. “Not on your life. You don’t leave my sight until I have a copy. Do you think I forgot how you walked off with the Mongolian intel?”
Again, that was her sister, but she couldn’t point that out. “Fine, but we should move.”
They made it outside and started walking toward the small building a block away where they were set up. The townhouse was a CIA safe house complete with all the gadgets Lou could ever want to play with.
And a lonely twin bed for Kenzie to sleep in. She didn’t even have Bud Two to cuddle while she was here.
“You’re safe. I’ve got her in lockdown since you’re bringing the boy back after your date,” Lou promised. “She’s locked up good and tight if you want to bring him upstairs.”
She wasn’t about to do that because while her sister might hide, her father wouldn’t. He would be right there with judgmental eyes and sharper than a stiletto sarcasm. “Meet me in the lobby and I’ll pass it off.”