Chapter 14
“What does this do?” I ask Caleb, snatching an object off the van desk without looking. His obnoxious partner, Serena Cruz, is behind me, strapping the mic receiver somewhere on my bra strap. At least that’s what she said she was doing. It feels like she’s trying to give me a piercing.
“That’s a pen.” Caleb rubs his forehead. He’s already told me what everything in this van does.
Which is surprisingly very little. I thought the government would have more resources at its disposal considering the amount they took from me in taxes last year.
“And that?” I ask, pointing at a gun they left sitting around. Completely irresponsible by the way.
“It shoots things,” Caleb smirks.
“I’d like to shoot something,” Serena mutters, cinching something on my back.
“Ow!” The pinch knocks me off balance and Caleb steadies me with his hands on my hips. His thumb brushes the exposed skin on my torso and I shiver.
“Would you like to know what these do?” Caleb asks, lifting a pair of handcuffs off the desk.
“Only if it comes with a demonstration.” I pump my eyebrows.
A blush creeps up his cheeks. He thought he had me. It takes more than a pair of government-grade handcuffs to do that.
“Not tonight.” He slips the handcuffs into his back pocket.
Oof.The man is going to give my heart whiplash with all this sexiness.
“So,” I prop my hands on my hips. “Do I get a fake ID and a whole new cover story? What about a foreign princess?” I grin up at Caleb. “I’d look great in a crown.”
“You will be Amelia Quinn,” he says slowly, ”because the target has already met you.”
“I guess that means the Tom Cruise face mask disguise is also out of the question.” I sigh dramatically. “I’ll settle for a weapon.”
“No,” both of the grumpy agents say simultaneously.
“Well, you guys are no fun.” I pout.
“If he finds a weapon on you, you’ll be in trouble,” Caleb says.
I tap my fingers on my arm. “See, I think if I’m found without a weapon I might be in more trouble. Besides, if he doesn’t do anything, what”s the harm of having one on me? He won’t see it.”
“Where would you keep it?”
I shrug. “The usual places.”
His eyes glint. “Such as?”
“Like…” What are the usual places? I glance down at my shirt, but I barely have anything to hide there anyway. Serena was, unfortunately, and annoyingly correct on that account. “My purse?”
“What if you drop it?”
“Why would I drop it?”
“I don’t know. Isn’t that a thing women do?”
Serena stops jabbing me and we both look at him. “Wow.”
“What?” Caleb raises a clueless brow.
I scratch my ear. “Nothing. You just might find a bug in your coffee later.”
Serena snickers and resumes stabbing me.
“What’s my code word?” I ask Caleb.
“You don’t need a code word. We are going to be listening to every word. If there’s a problem, we’ll be there.”
I screw up my nose. “I’d feel much safer with a code word.”
He drags a hand through his hair in frustration. But it doesn’t fool me. He likes me. I’m sure of it. His gruff exterior is simply a facade. At the very least, he finds me attractive. That was obvious from the many times he blushed while in my apartment. A man as tough as him would never admit to blushing, but I find it endearing.
“Fine,” he says. “What do you want the code word to be?”
“Pineapple.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “Use that normally in a sentence.”
“I’m highly allergic to pineapple.”
“Are you?”
“Of course not.” I wave my hand in the air between us. “I’m a spy now and spies can’t have weaknesses.”
“You’re not a spy,” he says. “And all spies have weaknesses.”
“What’s yours?”
“Are you truly allergic to pineapple?” He ignores my question.
“I guess you’ll know if you fail to save me once I say our code word.” I’m not. But a woman has to keep a man guessing.
“Amelia—”
“Or I could tap Morse code on the table.”
His mouth hinges open. “You know Morse code?”
“Of course. One of my monthly hobbies, remember? One month knitting, the next Morse code.”
“Naturally.”
“I’m done,” Serena sighs. “Thank heavens.” She grabs an apron and fake name tag off the small shelf and hops out of the van like she can’t wait to be rid of me. We need to work on her people skills.
“Here’s your phone,” Caleb says. “I installed an app so I’ll be able to hear anything you say. And with that tiny camera on your jacket,” his eyes dart to my chest, then swiftly back up. “I’ll be able to see everything.”
“So you’ll tell me if Chad’s looking down there all night?”
He clears his throat. “Yup.”
“Well gee.” I flip my wrist. “It’s almost like you thought of everything, except for a code word.”
He rests his hand on the holster at his side. “Are you going to stick with pineapple?”
“It sounds good to me. Unless you want me to call out for Romeo.”
“Pineapple it is. Do you need to run through the list of questions again?” he asks.
I scoff. Their question ideas were unimaginative. I’ve got this thing in the bag. “Nope.” All I need to do is figure out why Liam is here. I’ll have that done before dessert.
“Great.” He grabs my arm and spins me toward the back of the van. “Are you good?”
“Not really.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m hot.”
“I know.”
My head whips in his direction, but before I can tease him about his slip of the tongue, he leans closer until his face is only a few inches from mine. “You have sweat droplets on your temples.”
My hands fly to my hairline and I pat my head. “I do not.”
“Nope, but you will. It’s a hundred and fifteen right now.”
I die a little inside.
“I have to admit, I’m a little nervous.” I’m also delaying my departure from this man, and this van with beautiful A/C. Mostly the van though.
Caleb pauses, and I feel like I’m seeing the real him. His green eyes soften and his grip on my arm loosens. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” His breath stirs a strand of my hair, causing a shiver to rush down my spine.
“My parents are dead.” The words burst from my mouth.
He swallows and nods. “I know.”
That makes sense. Of course, he ran a background check on me before involving me in all of this.
“My brother is all I have left. I don’t want him to lose anyone else.”
He frowns. “You’re worried about him, but not yourself?”
I glance down at my adorable pink heels, hoping they’ll perk up my spirit. “I’m more used to losing people. I’m better at being alone.” I lift my chin, confirming that belief to myself.
A flash of something crosses his expression. It makes me wonder if he knows something about loss. Or is it because he’s all alone too? He’s in an occupation that requires secrecy. And it’s hard to form a real relationship based on lies. I know.
“Are your parents alive?” I ask, then immediately regret it. No one asks, ‘Are your parents alive?’ No one except me.
He presses his lips into a firm line. “Not the parent that matters.”
“Which parent is that?”
“My mom.” He clears his throat.
A familiar ache forms in my chest. “And your dad?”
“Is not worthy of discussion.”
Now I feel bad for mentioning his daddy issues. Before I can ask any more inappropriate questions, he squeezes my wrist where he still holds it.
“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispers, his rough voice doing a miraculous job of comforting me.
“I know you won’t.” And then, before I can talk myself out of my stupid ideas, I raise up on my toes and press a kiss to his lips. “Thanks, Romeo.”
He goes still, his hand falling away from my arm. “I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to kiss your bodyguard.”
I beam and open the door. “Good thing that’s not you.”
Then I hop out of the van. Let the mission begin.