She smiled. “Call me Rylee.”
Carter had also told her keeping her first name made it easier to make the ruse feel real.
“Rylee.” The man smiled back, then held out his hand to Dex. “Julian Parks.”
“Dex Harrison.”
The way the fake last name flowed from his lips told her he’d used it before, or maybe he was just that good at thinking on his feet. After all, he’d been Delta for a long time.
After the two men finished shaking hands, Julian’s attention returned to her. “How is your shoulder?”
Lifting her other hand, she rubbed it gently. “Sore, but it kind of feels a little looser. I’m just sorry I missed all your sessions here, but I’m glad I at least managed to come today.”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to see you about.” The trainer glanced at Dex then back to her. “If you two are free this weekend, we’re doing a couple’s retreat at Gulf Shores Resort for those who need more focused, intense sessions with pain relief in mind.”
Yes. She got the invite.
Satisfaction tugged a smile from her lips, and she didn’t even bother to stop it. “Sounds great.”
“And you, Mr. Harrison?” Julian asked. “What do you say?”
Dex stepped close and set a hand on her hip. “We’ll be there.”
The trainer smiled. “Good, because you’ll be participating, too. We’ve found that progress is achieved when you have the support of a partner.”
“Anything for Rylee,” he said, his tone sounding so earnest even she believed him.
Warmth swirled in her chest and rushed up into her face.
That was new.
She’d do well to remember this wasn’t real. They were acting. Whatever Dex said and did would be for Julian’s benefit and to help the case.
Her investigation.
That thought was never going to get old.
It put a smile on her face again, and she was still smiling long after Julian had given them the specifics and left.
“So…you mind telling me what we just signed up for?” The brown gaze peering at her held a mixture of amusement and what looked suspiciously like dread.
As they walked outside, she told him about Alma and her hunch. “Sorry you got roped into this.”
When she’d arrived at the center to take the class and talk with the others, she hadn’t expected her investigation to lead to a couple’s retreat. And certainly not with Dex as her pretend boyfriend.
Expect the unexpected…
That was what he’d told her back at ESI. Well, this certainly qualified.
“No problem,” he told her as they reached her car. “It’s all part of the job.”
It was a little more than that. She set a hand on his arm. “Thanks, Dex.”
He lifted a brow. “For what?”
“For having my back,” she replied. “It’s nice to have support. Be treated like an equal with honest help. Not kept in the dark or out of the way because it’s for my own good.”
Remorse flickered through his eyes a second before he nodded and tugged his arm free. She hadn’t meant to make Dex feel guilty, but he needed to understand how much she appreciated him not treating her like he had in the past.
She reached for her door handle then stopped and turned back to face him. “What were you doing here, anyway? Did Carter need you to gain access to a computer or something here?” Rylee had seen that in movies a lot. Maybe it was real.
“Something like that.” He shrugged.
“He could’ve just texted me and asked me to do it, and saved you a trip,” she said. “Although, it worked out good this way.”
Real good. And so was the kiss they’d shared. Goosebumps skittered down her body at the memory. That kiss had been unexpected and amazing…and dangerous.
Kissing him hadn’t been part of the plan but it had been necessary. Would it be necessary at the retreat?
As she drove back to ESI, the situation hit her. Dear Lord, she was going undercover as Dex’s girlfriend for the whole weekend. Her heart rocked in her chest. And they were probably going to have to share a room, too. A rush of heat flooded her belly.
That’s not good.
Before this week, sharing a room would’ve been annoying.
Before this afternoon, it would’ve been part of the job.
Since that kiss? It was…different.
Dangerous.
If only she could go back to not knowing how Dex kissed. Or tasted. Both were shockingly amazing, and she was honest to goodness terrified they’d have to do it again to keep up the ruse.
Maybe that was what had made it so incredible. The adrenaline from her first undercover investigation.
Yeah. She blew out a long breath and relaxed her grip on the steering wheel. That made sense. The excitement of the job made her think his mouth devoured and worshiped hers, drinking her in as if she was more precious than air.
But what if it was just Dex?
Her heart did that rocking in the chest thing again.
She passed ESI and drove home to park her car. It was silly not to since it was only a block away. Besides, she needed a walk and some fresh air to try to sort out the mess in her head.
If that kiss was amazing because Dex made it amazing, and she might have to kiss him again this weekend, then she would just have to find a way to keep her enjoyment a secret, especially from him.
How hard could that be?
Chapter Six
Friday evening after checking into their room at the Gulf Shores Resort, Dex rode the elevator with Rylee down to the first-floor conference area to register for the retreat. His gaze kept straying to her, despite his attempts to the contrary. The way yoga pants hugged her sweet curves was enough to stop his damn heart. He’d barely survived on Wednesday. Hell, it’d been the reason he’d run into her in the hall…literally.
His mind and gaze had been focused on her gorgeous ass and her sexy sway. It had affected his reaction time, and they’d collided when she’d suddenly turned around. Having blown his undercover assignment, he’d switched gears. A few strategic steps had gotten them out of the middle of the exiting crowd, but getting his arms to release her afterward had been damn near impossible.
The feel of her soft curves pressed against his body had been too incredible to give up. A second later, amidst a lot of crazy damn awareness zinging between them, she’d squished those delectable curves of hers against him even harder, told him to “go with me on this” then pressed her lips to his, shocking the shit out of him.
It’d taken him one-point-two heartbeats to realize what she’d said and that the Jedi yoga master was watching. By this time, his body was like “hell yeah.” All the years of wondering what it would be like to kiss the beautiful woman and taste her had ended with the sweet brush of her lips. To find her eager and willing—even if it was for someone else’s benefit—put his control on the line and it had promptly snapped. Dex had jumped right into the situation with both feet…and fell right on his ass.
Then she’d thanked him for helping.
He’d helped himself to her delicious taste and her hot as hell responses to his hunger. Dex couldn’t get enough. Unsure how long the kiss had lasted or where he’d gotten the presence of mind to stop the sensual exploration, he’d severed their connection and vowed never to be put in that tempting position again.
Signing up for this damn retreat had nullified that vow. He was in way over his head and in a boatload of trouble.
It’d taken the entire drive back to ESI on Wednesday to get his body under control. Too bad he couldn’t say the same for his guilt. It still clawed at his gut. His presence at the rec center that afternoon hadn’t been to investigate. He’d gone there to keep an eye on Rylee.
Without her knowing.
Mac’s orders.
Dex was officially Rylee’s bodyguard.
And any part of the investigation that dealt with danger—if there was any—was to be handled by him.
> When she found out, and she would, because that’s how fate worked, she was going to be pissed. And hurt. And dammit, he hated hurting her. He’d done that once by taking away her freedom to deal with her cheating ex-fiancé. It had taken her years to get over it. He wasn’t sure she’d get over it this time.
The sooner they found the person, or persons, stealing identities, the better. Tonight would be best. It was the only thing that would save his ass from breaking something that couldn’t be repaired. He didn’t want to undermine her. Didn’t want to stomp on her freedom. He didn’t want to hurt her, dammit.
Of course, if it came down to her safety or her heart, he was going to have to go with her safety. No way in hell would he let any harm come to her.
“I’m glad there are only four other couples. It should make things easier,” Rylee whispered.
Because of the pleased look in her eyes, he decided not to burst her bubble by telling her less didn’t necessarily mean better, and that the lack of suspects wasn’t always a good thing.
Instead, he motioned for her to precede him into their designated conference room. It was small with no chairs, other than a few stacked on top of each other in the far corner near a water cooler. And other than a tiny table with plastic cups and several napkins on it, there was no other furniture, just floor space for mats. The diminutive size of the room and lack of windows made things intimate, and he forced his mind from straying to thoughts he shouldn’t entertain.
Sharing a room with the tempting woman would be trying enough.
But, they were here to work and do yoga.
Well, not him. Rylee would do the yoga. Thank Christ.
Only the person with pain was doing yoga this weekend. That was the second time this week he’d escaped that torture.
Unsure if his boss had been serious about the yoga thing on Wednesday, Dex had been damn relieved to discover the session at the rec center had sold out. Which was a good thing. Mac was evil enough to put Dex through it, too. Although, technically, Dex couldn’t participate in the class and avoid her seeing him, so it’s possible Mac had just been yanking his damn chain.
And Carter had been no better. When Dex had rolled back into headquarters on Wednesday, he’d walked in to find the video feed of the hot as hell kiss he’d shared with Rylee playing in a damn loop on Carter’s computer. The bastard had razzed his ass unmercifully until they’d heard Rylee come in the front door.
Soon after, Mac had returned with Cooper and after a quick SITREP, they’d spent the rest of the afternoon playing catch-up with their old friend.
“Okay, before we get started, let’s do some introductions. You all know me.” Julian smiled from his stance in the middle of the room next to another man, thin in stature with receding dark hair and a blue gaze that shifted from face to face.
“And I’m Ross,” the guy said, with a ready grin.
The jury was still out on its genuineness.
The next ten minutes were spent meeting people Dex already knew a lot about, thanks to Carter. The guy had used his computer mojo and hacker tactics to find the names of attendees and start files, like the ones he had on Julian and Ross, and included information on financials, credit reports, and medical history. And while Dex and the other guys had been working a security detail yesterday, Rylee had researched education and criminal backgrounds. Today, after Cooper finally had some time to unpack and catch up with Gabe, Dex and Cooper had visited one of the victims while Rylee had accompanied Mac to talk with the other one.
So far nothing appeared out of the norm on any of the people here. But he and Rylee had the whole weekend to shake trees. If someone here was steeling identities, Carter was monitoring everyone’s computers and accounts, and set up some kind of backtrack trick to alert of any activity.
For now, Dex and Rylee just needed to sit tight, and let the weekend play out. With the word “play” and Rylee in the same sentence, his body heated. Doing his best to ignore his body, Dex focused on the last couple to speak before it was his and Rylee’s turn.
They’d already heard from a dentist, and his secretary wife, a postal worker, and his postal worker girlfriend, and a bus driver, and his florist wife, all from Harland County.
Alma, the retired schoolteacher, and her scientist husband, George had the floor. The couple was married forty-four years, with two grown boys, five grandchildren, and an old coonhound named Bubba.
All things he already knew.
“Oh, and I’m here to find some relief from my darn slipped disk,” the older woman added with a grin.
“And I’m here to find relief from her nagging.” George’s eyes twinkled when his wife backhanded his arm. “Just kidding. You know I love you, dear.”
Alma grinned. “Yeah…you love my cooking.”
Everyone in the room laughed then turned their attention to him and Rylee. Having already discussed who would handle most of their intro, he set his hand on the small of her back and waited for her to speak.
“I’m Rylee,” she said. “I’m a paralegal and Dex is a mechanic. And I’m here because of pain in my shoulder.”
“And who is Dex to you, honey?” Alma asked, a twinkle in her eyes similar to her husband.
Dex felt Rylee tense under his palm.
“Oh, sorry. He’s my b-boyfriend.” At the stutter of the last word, color crept up her neck and into her face.
Damn, she was beautiful.
He slid his hand to her left shoulder and tugged her close, placing a quick kiss to her temple. “We’ve only been together a few weeks,” he added, in case anyone else caught her slight stumble.
“Ah…you two are still in the honeymoon stage.” Alma smiled. “That’s sweet. You remember the honeymoon stage, don’t you, George?”
The smirking guy nodded. “Yeah. Bang. Zoom.”
Once again, laughter filled the room and when it died down, Julian waved at the floor. “Okay, participants on your mats and spouses, significant others, and honeymoon stagers,” the guy smiled at them as he spoke, “get ready to support the moves.”
For the next hour, Dex supported Rylee’s shapely legs, those sexy ankles of hers, her arms, he even had to place his hands on her hips when she stretched one leg in front of her while the other was stretched behind her and she bent down, as if picking up a penny.
She wasn’t the only one stretching. Dex grit his teeth and tried, really tried not to stare at her perfect ass…or imagine them naked. But given the proximity and vicinity of their bodies and the fact heat from hers was seeping into his…he had a problem.
A big one. And it was getting bigger by the second.
Recalling baseball stats didn’t work. Military training, reciting the alphabet, reciting it backward, he tried several other things and only managed to ease some of the biting zipper discomfort. But he was immensely grateful for the jeans and that “supporters” weren’t required to wear athletic gear. Otherwise, hell, he’d be super tenting his sweats right now.
Changing his focus, he switched to thoughts of Lex and some of his random phrases.
Oh, Carter, yeah…more.
That one did the trick. In fact, his dick almost did an about-face at the thought of his friend and his friend’s junk.
“Okay, that’s it for today,” Julian said, and if Dex hadn’t been busy picking up the mat and rolling it so they could get the hell out of there, he might’ve actually kissed the man’s feet. “We’ll meet back here tomorrow morning at eight for our first session. That one will be a little harder.”
Dex fought back a groan. Not possible. He’d sported a lead pipe today. There’d been no room for “harder.”
“For those of you who want to meet up for dinner in an hour, we’ll be at the main restaurant,” Ross said, reappearing from nowhere.
The guy had disappeared ten minutes into the session. Dex would’ve followed, but his “supporting” role wouldn’t allow it. If it happened next time, though, he was going to figure out a reason to leave, too.
&
nbsp; “Ready,” Rylee said, reaching out to hold onto his arm while she slipped her pink toenail-polished feet into her flip flops.
It was still a shock to his system every time she touched his skin. A heated energy shot through him, and he became acutely aware of every inch of her body. Even at the simplest gesture, like holding onto him for support.
“Yep.” And because he wasn’t ready to break the connection yet, he slid his hand to meet hers and entwined their fingers together.
In a few days, they would be back to real life. Back to their separate lives, being acquaintances. Almost friends. Civil coworkers. But right now, since their roles called for touching, Dex decided for this weekend he was going to forget the “no touching Rylee” rule he’d lived by since the day they’d first met and enjoy the bitter sweetness of “playing” her boyfriend. It was the closest he’d ever get to it in real life.
So, two hours later, after dinner was over and the group migrated to the beach bar, Dex led Rylee to the outdoor dance floor, eager to finally be the one to experience what it felt like to hold her sweet curves close while swaying to the music.
Earlier this week at the Texas Pub, he’d silently stewed, unable to do anything but watch her dance while a bunch of eager cowboys were vying for her attention. And when she’d actually gifted one of them with a slow dance, all Dex could do was sit on the sidelines and let someone else experience heaven.
Not tonight.
No. Tonight, it was his turn.
Finding an open spot, he gathered her close, taking his time to enjoy the exquisite feel of her body brushing his, her palms sliding up his chest, over his shoulders, making room for her sweet curves to press closer and closer, until she sighed and melted against him.
Heaven.
He knew it would feel that way. Knew she’d fit perfectly. Hell, she even swayed in perfect rhythm with him. Dex had never been much of a dancer. He could hold his own if need be, but it was never really his thing. With Rylee, though? Holding her like this…toe to toe, hip to almost hip, the soft swell of her chest brushing his just above his ribs…he’d make an exception. She was the exception. She was perfect.
Dex (HC Heroes Book 3) Page 7