Chapter Two #2
“Yes, you will, and so will I, and one day I won’t be so lucky and I’ll have that on my soul for the rest of my life,” she said with a sigh.
“Somehow, I think you’ll be fine. You’ve got a good team.” He needed to focus on the op. She would be gone tomorrow, and then he might never see her again. They ran in the same circles but that didn’t guarantee they would work together. She could get reassigned. He could get reassigned.
She could die.
He could die.
“What’s our cover?” Ben asked, desperate to change the subject. Since the Americans had done the work of getting the invite, he’d let them pick the cover.
She stared for a moment like she didn’t want to let go of the conversation and then sighed and sat back, crossing one long leg over the other.
The high slit in the evening gown she wore showed off toned legs and perfect skin.
“We’re recently married. You’re a tech investor and I’m your trophy wife.
Easy peasy. I included a hefty check in the envelope with your ID and papers. ”
Naturally, she’d put him in a position where he had to have his hands on her. “You didn’t think work colleagues was a good way to go?”
He opened the envelope and there was the invitation and all his papers, including a check written out to the foundation holding the gala this evening.
The European Children’s Fund was supposed to help children in war-torn parts of the world, but they were in bed with another organization. Manny’s organization.
“I think recently married is something people will buy,” she replied. “We have a certain chemistry, you and I.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. “And Cooper doesn’t mind?”
An enigmatic smile crossed her lips. “Cooper genuinely doesn’t care what I do with my body since I’ve never touched the man.
Would never touch the man.” She frowned, suddenly seeming to catch on something.
“I mean outside of an op. Obviously we needed to look like a D/s couple in Australia. I should point out that you wouldn’t know about that if you hadn’t been running around with that fucker Whittington. ”
“I wasn’t running around with him.” That time had been a clusterfuck of a situation.
Her team hadn’t known he was Canadian intelligence.
His team had no idea there was another Agency team on the ground.
And that was how he ended up tied to a spanking bench in an Australian sex club.
“He was literally assigned to help me with an important operation. I work for CSIS. The agency doesn’t send us work rosters, you know. ”
She shrugged slightly, the diamond necklace around her throat sparkling in the low light. “Surprise, Ben. They don’t send them to us either. Look, if it had been up to me, I would have sat you down and talked to you. I knew you weren’t mob.”
“They thought I was mafia?” It was ridiculous.
“My team can be suspicious,” she admitted. “But I knew you were intelligence. I knew you were one of the… I want to say good guys. I guess what I should say is one of the guys we can work with. Sometimes what we do doesn’t feel like good.”
It was in the long run. At least it was supposed to be, and he needed to hang on to that fact. He needed to focus on that and what the intel tonight could produce if they played their cards right.
Her hand suddenly ran over his, and he practically jumped away from her.
A brow arched over her eyes. “Benjamin Parker, how are we going to pose as a married couple if you can’t stand my touch?”
“Maybe we’re one of those arranged marriage couples who actually hate each other but stay together for the family.”
There was no way to miss the hurt in her eyes. “You hate me?”
This was what she did. She drove him insane pushing him away, and then she went all soft and he got gooey. He was fucking gooey on the inside for this woman. “No. I don’t, but I sometimes think I should.”
“But only half the time, right?”
She was weird. “I’m talking about the incidents when you fuck me over, and not in a physical way, although leaving me in that rice paddy was a dick move.”
She turned all that charm on him, and he felt an actual dick move.
His own. She smelled like citrus and sunshine, and the smile she gave him threatened to rock his whole world.
“I made sure you were face up.” She scooted over, and her voice went low.
“Ben, I’m sorry. I sometimes get way too involved in an op and forget how to be polite.
I think you should understand that. How about we call a truce?
You’re so uptight right now I’m worried about you. ”
He wasn’t… His shoulders were up around his damn ears, and every muscle was tense because she was here. “I’ll be fine.”
“He won’t,” a voice came over the intercom. “He’s not great when he’s all pent up and shit, and he hasn’t had sex in like a year or something, so it’s a lot.”
Tim was a fucking asshole. Ben reached down and shut off the intercom.
She was looking at him with the sexiest smile. “Ben, we need to get comfortable with each other. I know this is a big gala, but the head of the organization is known for being a stickler about who comes to his parties.”
“I would think that check would be enough.”
“And yet it won’t be.” She stared for a moment. “Is it so horrible to touch me?”
She wanted to play this way? He reached over and hauled her across his lap, his arm going around her waist to keep her there. “For the mission. This doesn’t mean anything, Maggie.”
She relaxed in his arms, her hand coming up to stroke his face. “It certainly doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you.”
Her nearness was a fucking drug. He couldn’t help but breathe her in, let the soft silk of her hair brush against his cheek.
She felt right sitting on his lap. He liked that she wasn’t some waifish supermodel.
She was stunningly gorgeous, but she was solidly built, with hips and curves and breasts he wanted to see more than he wanted his next breath.
He’d thought Deanna had ripped him apart. What would this woman do to him? He hadn’t been able to keep a normal woman satisfied, much less a freaking goddess.
“Ben, talk to me,” she whispered, her cheek against his. “Not about the op. We know the op. Talk to me about your life.”
“I don’t have a life outside of work.” He should set her back in her seat and concentrate on the op, but she was right about one thing. He was a mess. He needed to calm down or he would fuck up, and this job was all he had. “How are Tasha and Dare doing? Do you ever see him?”
Her smile turned… How to describe it? Bouncy?
Happy? Like a flower opening to the sun.
“They’re doing so well. Dare found a job at a security company and the Agency is open to letting him come with Tash when he would be good cover for her.
Not anything dangerous, of course, but Tash is mostly logistics and gathering intel. ”
When she got like this all he could think about was what a happy wife she would be. What a happy life he could share with her. When his day was shitty, Maggie could smile at him with that sunny expression and it wouldn’t be so bad anymore. “I heard they got engaged.”
She clapped her hands, and she wasn’t a deadly agent. She was a teenaged girl at a boy band concert. “I’m a bridesmaid. It’s so exciting. Let me tell you everything.”
He let his chin rest on her shoulder and listened, wishing this could be his life.
* * * *
The gala was in full swing as Kenzie walked into the glittering ballroom, her hand in Ben Parker’s.
If only they were here to enjoy the beauty of Croatia, the elegance of a ball. He looked like Prince Charming in his tailored tuxedo. She’d already straightened his perfectly placed bowtie just so she could feel like they were connected.
Her twin sister was a menace. Poor Ben. He was traumatized, and he didn’t even realize she wasn’t the one who’d done it. He likely thought she was some weirdo with a split personality.
“Mr. and Mrs. Packson?” The guard looked down at the invitation. “Can I see some identification?”
Ben pulled out his Agency-approved passport that showed he was an American from California. If anyone looked, he had a nice place right in the middle of Silicon Valley where his latest start-up was located. “Of course.”
The guard studied it and handed it back with a solemn nod. “I apologize for the delay, but we can’t be too careful these days. My employer would like to welcome you to the gala. Please enjoy yourselves.”
Ben brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing her with what seemed like great affection. “We will. Thank you.”
He had his full American accent on, and she missed the Canadian one. She wanted to get him to say eh or sorry so she could hear those sweet, rounded vowels. Maybe if she got him talking about hockey…
“Well, you seem to have put him in a good mood,” a sarcastic voice said in her ear. She wore a small communications device that connected her to her team. Ben wore one that connected him to Tim. But that hadn’t been the voice she’d expected to hear.
She frowned and glanced up at Ben, though he couldn’t hear what was being said in her ear. “I thought Lou was running this one.”
She kept her voice low, but they would be able to hear her. She couldn’t simply come out and ask why the hell her twin was watching when she was supposed to be back at the safe house, far away from here so there was no chance of Ben finding out there were two of her.
“Lou is at the site. I busted into the feeds,” Kala admitted. “You had comms off in the car. Did you forget what that asshole did to Lou? Are your girl parts in charge tonight?”
She thought seriously about turning them off again. She kept her face a careful blank.
Ben wrapped an arm around her, his voice barely a whisper. “Is it Tash? Does she have anything?”
Well, she couldn’t say no, it was her asshole twin who had a burr up her butt about the Canadian. Like didn’t her sister want her to be happy? If she ever got her shit together with Cooper, Kenz would be thrilled.