Chapter 14 #2
Kev nodded. Then he put his mouth next to her ear. “It’s inconvenient in some respects, but better too. We’d stand out somewhere else. Here, we’re part of the crowd. And hopefully we’ll blend in as just another set of Americans who’ve come to report on the unrest.”
“Don’t you think interested parties will pay attention to this hotel in particular?
” Not all the women wore abayas, but they were wearing hijabs to cover their hair.
Lucky could have done the same, but she felt safer this way.
She was shapeless and anonymous, and it helped her to breathe easier when she thought about Al Ahmad and the Freedom Force being out there somewhere. Watching.
“Of course they will. But they don’t have the resources to background check everyone who checks in, so unless someone stands out in some way, they’ll ignore us.”
Lucky frowned. For some reason she’d thought they’d be a whole lot more inconspicuous than this. “I hope you’re right.”
They left the bus and entered the lobby to stand in line with everyone else. Kev put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him. His expression was dead serious. “We’re on it. This is what we do. Have some faith.”
She firmed her jaw as she gazed up into his eyes.
This was probably the longest they’d made eye contact since the night they’d had sex, and it shook her deep in her core.
A thrill of sexual awareness flared to life inside her as his hands held her in place and his eyes seemed to burrow into her soul.
She’d felt so close to him when they’d been wrapped around each other in his bed, and not just physically. She wanted that feeling again, but she knew it was all on her side. Kev didn’t have that same need. He’d warned her he’d only wanted sex, and then he’d move on.
Well, she’d moved on for them both. She’d overheard him and Billy talking that night, and she knew she had to give Kev the space he needed. She’d seduced him, put him into a position where he had to lie to his teammate, and she wouldn’t do it again.
Still, she’d gone back to her own room and lay there listening for him. She’d heard him go into his room. She’d half-hoped he would fling her door open and demand to know why she’d left. But he hadn’t. He’d gone to bed alone. The next morning, he’d acted like nothing had happened.
Well, almost nothing. He’d asked her if she was okay.
She’d said yes. And then he’d stood there for a long moment, hands in pockets, looking like he wanted to say something.
The longer he hesitated, the more she knew she didn’t want to hear it.
So she’d given him a smile and told him thanks for the stress relief.
He’d blinked. She’d poured her coffee into her go-cup and went to put on her coat.
By the time he’d joined her, he didn’t look like he was having trouble figuring out what to say anymore.
Now she nodded at him. “I trust you, Kev.”
His throat worked and she knew those words affected him in some way. And then he gave her that cocky grin he’d adopted since they’d started this mission. “That’s why you married me, sugar.”
His hands dropped, and she stood there for a moment uncertain what to do. Then she pulled her cell phone from her purse—a newly issued phone, of course, not her personal one—and checked for bars. There were two.
She looked up when Kev spoke again. “Why don’t you have a seat with the luggage while I check us in, babe? It was a long trip, and I know you’d like to rest. In your condition and all.”
Lucky’s eyes widened. Flash leaned over Kev’s shoulder and grinned. “Congratulations, you two.”
Lucky shook her head at their antics as she plopped on a nearby bench.
If Kev needed her for translation, he’d call her over.
But in this hotel it was likely everyone spoke English.
Kev and Flash were still grinning like crazy asses as she opened up a game on her phone and ignored them.
About twenty minutes later Kev was back, an envelope in his hand.
“All set?” she asked.
“Yep.”
They dragged their luggage to the elevator and stepped inside.
It took its sweet time getting started, but soon they were on the fifth floor and heading down the hallway toward their room.
The hotel definitely wasn’t luxurious, but it had elements of faded Old World grandeur.
The floors were tiled mosaic. Crystal light fixtures that had seen better days lit the hallway.
They reached a room at the end, and Kev slid the key in the card reader—at least they’d updated the locks—and threw the door open.
Lucky tried not to groan as she followed Kev inside.
There was only one bed. It was not quite queen-sized, but the white linens were crisp and looked inviting.
The walls were salmon-colored, and the plaster was chipped away in places.
But again there were hints of Old World elegance in the crystal chandelier and the antique carpets scattered over the floor.
Lucky pushed away thoughts of the bed and walked into the bathroom. It was large and had a sunken tub, a shower, and two sinks. The floor was tiled in mosaic and the wall over the sinks had a carved wooden mirror inset with mother-of-pearl around the ornate frame.
Lucky returned to the room. Kev was dragging in the last of the luggage, and she put her hands on her hips as she faced him. “What’s with that business about my condition?”
He looked grim as he shook his head and she clamped her lips shut. He picked up his carry-on and unzipped it. Then he pulled out some equipment. A few moments later, he was sweeping the room with what looked like a small handheld radio. Lucky sank onto the edge of the bed and waited.
He was completely focused on his task so she used the time to study him. His hair was damp and sweat glistened on his arms. His shirt stuck to his skin in places, delineating all that smooth hard muscle for her gaze. Geez, he was delicious. Even sweaty.
Especially sweaty. Lucky closed her eyes and swallowed at the unwelcome wetness between her legs.
Kev finished his sweep for bugs and deployed a small item that looked like a speaker, setting it on a shelf to face the room. Then he took out his phone and dialed.
“All clear,” he said when someone answered. “Yeah, copy.” A few seconds later he put the phone back in his pocket and looked at her. “You can speak freely. But always be careful. If it doesn’t need to be said, don’t say it. Got it?”
“I think so. What’s that thing?” she asked, tipping her head toward the speaker that wasn’t a speaker.
“Basically, it’s a white noise generator. But much more effective than the sort of things you can buy from your local spy shop. If anyone’s trying to listen into conversations in this room, they won’t get anything but white noise.”
“All right. Now care to tell me why I’m suddenly pregnant?”
He grinned. “You mean you don’t know? Do I need to demonstrate for you again, sugar?”
She rolled her eyes even while a sharp pain pierced her heart. He was just playing around, but she couldn’t help but think of them twined together again. “Stop it for two minutes, okay? I can’t keep up. Besides, that wasn’t part of the cover.”
He sobered. “No, it’s not, and we don’t have to play it that way. I was just trying to make you laugh. I know this is all a bit intense for you.”
“It is, but I’ll cope.” She stood and unwound the hijab from her hair. “I’ll cope even better once I get out of these hot clothes and into a cool shower.”
At least the room was cool, the central air rattling through the vents and circulating thanks to the ceiling fan that whirred softly overhead.
She shook her head and scrubbed her fingers through her damp hair.
The ride in the hot bus hadn’t been much help, that was certain.
Next, she lifted the abaya over her head and almost moaned as cool air wafted over the cotton shift she’d worn beneath it.
She tossed the abaya on a chair and lifted her hair off her neck. Kev sat down at the desk and opened his computer.
“So what happens now?” she asked.
“We wait for everyone to get here.”
Lucky sat on the bed again, her heart kicking up a little as she contemplated all they had yet to do.
It was maddening to think that all she could do was go to work teaching children to speak English and wait for Al Ahmad to show up.
What did they think he was going to do? Come to a parent-teacher conference?
She’d asked Mendez that very question. He’d told her they had no idea what would happen, but they hoped that watching the class and waiting would result in something that would lead them to him.
Kev was tapping on his computer, his back to her.
She glanced around the room again. When they’d told her she was going on a mission with HOT, this wasn’t what she’d expected at first. She’d envisioned them rappelling down a line from a helicopter, dressed all in black, and busting into a secret hideout, even though she knew it wasn’t always like that.
“I always wanted to be an operator, you know. Before, I mean…”
Kev turned toward her, one muscled arm hanging over the back of the chair. He didn’t ask before what. He knew she meant before North Africa. “And now?”
She laughed softly. “It’s a little maddening, to tell the truth. I think I believed there would be a lot more action. Instead, there’s a lot of waiting.”
“Every mission is different. Sometimes, you go in and the metal of your barrel is so hot it glows. Other times, you don’t fire a shot.”
“I’m hoping this is one of the latter, to tell the truth.”
“Yeah, me too.”
She stood and stretched. His eyes dropped over her and she found herself wishing she could walk over and put her arms around him. Wishing she could press her mouth to his and just find comfort in his kiss.
But she didn’t know that he would welcome it. Besides, this wasn’t the place. So much remained unresolved from the last time they’d let restraint go out the window. It was always there between them, the purple elephant in the room that they’d both been pretending not to notice.
The last couple of days before they’d deployed, they’d spent their nights in the dorms at HOT HQ. There’d been no opportunity to talk alone, much less anything else.
Maybe she was the only one who felt itchy and achy, who couldn’t get the images of his naked body out of her head or stop thinking about how it had felt to have him moving deep inside her.
Now, she could feel her nipples beading as she thought of it, feel goose bumps forming on her flesh. She dropped her arms and wrapped them around herself, hoping to hide her reaction from him. He was watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite fathom.
“I think I’d better take a shower,” she said.
She left him sitting there and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and then twisting the lock at the last second, as if he was the one who needed a barrier between them when she was the one who couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the night they’d spent together.
It was only when she turned around and looked at the shower that she realized she’d forgotten toiletries and fresh clothing. Lucky sagged against the door and let out a frustrated breath.
It was going to be a long, long mission…