Chapter 20
That movie where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt played a married couple who had no idea they were both secret agents on opposite sides? Great movie. It could never happen in real life, though. Not to Cole, at least.
Because he could always recognize another agent. And unless there were two sleeper agents in this little suburban hellscape, this guy was a spy.
First of all, there was his stance. Even though he looked relaxed, his weight was perfectly balanced to move or fight instantly without his feet getting crossed or tangled.
Then, there was the constant scanning. His eyes were checking exits, chokepoints, and hands.
Every move he made was economical. No wasted movement.
It was like looking in a damn mirror.
Finding their sleeper agent so quickly was a blessing. It meant he could go back to his regular life faster than he’d thought. His nice, peaceful, antisocial life.
His totally Hadley-less life.
No more waking up with her in his arms, all soft and sleepy. No more of her citrus-y perfume clinging to his skin and clothes every time she brushed past him. No more listening to her sweet voice or tasting her even sweeter mouth. No more making her moan and fall apart in his arms. This was good.
So why was he half a heartbeat away from turning on his heel, throwing her over his shoulder, and carrying her back to their bed?
Hadley looped her arm through his. “Ready for this?”
Sure. Why not head off to meet a Russian sleeper agent while sporting a semi-hard cock? Seemed like a great fucking idea. “Let’s get this over with,” he mumbled.
The guy straightened to his full height and slid a protective arm around his wife’s shoulders when they got within a few feet. He didn’t take his eyes off Cole as Hadley gave them a little wave and chirped, “Hi! I’m Emma. This is my husband, Clark. We just moved in across the street.”
The wife took Hadley’s hand and gave it an enthusiastic shake. “Hi! It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Stella. This is my husband, Eric. We live in the ranch over on the cul-de-sac.”
Eric, Cole noticed, cringed every time his wife gave them a bit of information. He understood. He felt the same way about everything Hadley said in front of anyone, and they had the cover of a fake identity. He couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if Hadley was handing out real information.
Meanwhile, Stella was an open book. And the way her already sunshine-bright smile warmed when she looked at her husband, he’d say Hadley’s ideas about their marriage were accurate. This woman either wasn’t aware her husband was a sleeper agent, or she was fully aware and adored him anyway.
Hadley and Stella continued to make small talk for a few moments while Cole and Eric sized each other up.
Cole would be willing to bet he’d have a slight advantage in a physical fight against this guy.
He was a little taller, had reach on his side, and if he hadn’t missed his guess, he’d say he outweighed Eric by at least ten or so pounds of muscle.
Eric probably had a speed advantage. Cole had never been very fast. But what he lacked in speed he made up for in his sheer willingness to destroy an opponent.
So, while it wouldn’t be a pretty fight, Cole wasn’t worried.
He could defend himself and Hadley if he had to.
“Isn’t that right, honey?” Hadley elbowed him in the side.
Damn, she had a sharp elbow! “Um…sorry…what?”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “He’s got so much on his mind with the new job and everything. You’ll have to excuse him. I was just saying how much we’re loving the neighborhood so far and how everyone here has been so welcoming, right?”
He really needed to get his head straight.
Hadley was doing all the work on this mission and he was offering fuck all.
He smiled down at her. At least he hoped it was a smile.
Moving his face muscles that way still felt so damn foreign.
“That’s right. We’ve certainly never been invited to a barbecue on day one before. ”
Stella laughed. “That’s all Mitzy. Did she bring you the charcuterie board?”
“Yes!” Hadley grinned at her. “I couldn’t even identify half the things on that board. It was awesome, though.”
“I think she makes those boards just to make normal people feel bad about their culinary skills,” Stella joked.
“Worked on me,” Hadley agreed.
“Where did you live before this?” Eric asked in a sharp tone that led Cole to believe the guy’s people skills were as rusty as his own.
Cole took the question as the test it was meant to be.
Eric had found the planted fake IDs in Cole and Hadley’s home office and he wanted to see if he could trip them up.
Dude was in for a rude awakening, because he knew his fake history backwards and forwards.
His people skills might suck, but his memory was fucking flawless.
“Jersey,” he answered. “Before that, Ohio.”
Stella grabbed her husband’s hand, and Cole saw her give it a hard squeeze. “Emma said they’d traveled a bit for Clark’s job, remember?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched as he glanced down at his wife. And as she stared back up at him, clearly squeezing the fuck out of his hand, they had what seemed to be a silent argument. He wanted to grill Cole for more info. She wanted him to back down.
After what appeared to be an impressive battle, Eric let out a deep sigh and relaxed his stance ever so slightly. Huh. Good to know the sleeper agent wasn’t out of control.
Mostly because his wife clearly had all of it.
Cole wished that gave him the upper hand in this interaction. It didn’t. He knew damn well he’d back down if Hadley gave him that stern glance, too.
But because he was in a bad mood, he asked Eric, “What about you, man? Where are you from? Thought I noticed a little bit of an accent, there.”
He had, too. Good old Eric did a hell of a good job hiding that accent, and he could probably fool 98% of people intro thinking he was a run-of-the-mill, Joe Average American. But Cole wasn’t part of that 98%.
Eric narrowed his eyes at him. Cole smirked. Target hit, he thought.
“I’m originally from Poland,” he answered, jaw so tense it looked like he might snap a molar at any moment.
Riiiiggghhhttt. Poland.
“Wow, you have a good ear,” Stella said innocently. “We’d probably been on ten dates before I noticed that little accent. It only comes out on certain words.”
Hadley let out a nervous giggle. “I certainly didn’t notice. Hey, listen, Clark and I have to run, but we’d love to talk more. How about dinner tomorrow night at our place?”
“No,” Eric said at the same time Stella said, “Yes! We’d love that.”
Eric and Cole continued to glare at each other as Stella and Hadley exchanged phone numbers.
“Why did you invite them over?” Cole hissed after they said their goodbyes and made it back to their own yard.
“Because we have no proof he’s actually the sleeper agent, so we need more information, but if I’d let the two of you talk for one more minute, I was afraid you were going to whip out your dicks and start measuring,” she said calmly. “It was déjà vu back to when you were arguing with Franklin.”
You tell me if you think I’d win that particular contest. You felt it last night.
But he didn’t say that. First of all, it was a ridiculously childish thing to say.
Second of all, he did not need to think about last night.
He hadn’t needed to think about it—or the sounds Hadley made when she came or how sweet her mouth tasted or how well the perfect curves of her body had felt crushed beneath him in that bed—all damn day.
It had been a mistake that couldn’t happen again.
That was his story and he was sticking to it.