Cinderella's Secret Agent

by Ingrid Weaver

  Del frowned. Love? No, it hadn’t gone that far. He couldn’t let it. He knew where that road led. “Give it up, Bill. SPEAR agents aren’t suited to love and marriage.”

  “Don’t tell that to Tish Buckner,” Bill said.

  “What?”

  “Didn’t you hear the news? Tish is pregnant.”

  Del was startled. Tish? Pregnant? How could that be? Tish Buckner was the agent who had been caught in the warehouse explosion last month. Del had burned his hands pulling her to safety. The last time he had seen her, she had just come out of a coma. Her husband, Jeff Kirby, had immediately rushed to her side.

  As a matter of fact, the last time Del had seen Tish had been on the day Delilah was born. He had just come from visiting her in the hospital when he had decided to stop into the diner…and had ended up delivering Maggie’s baby.

  Del cleared his throat. Even after all this time, he still felt a lump there when he thought about the wonder of Delilah’s birth. “Tish was in bad shape after the explosion. I’m glad to hear she recovered so quickly.”

  “Actually, she was already pregnant when you pulled her out of that fire,” Bill said. “That’s what Jeff told me. They had been keeping the news to themselves until they were sure she was out of danger.”

  “How about that,” Del murmured. For a man who normally did his best to avoid dealing with babies, it appeared he had ended up rescuing not one but two pregnant women in the past month.

  Jeff Kirby and Tish Buckner were a good match, Del thought. They were both SPEAR agents, so there weren’t any secrets between them. Still, having a child was bound to curtail their activities. They would have to tone down their careers. They wouldn’t be able to take the dangerous assignments and risk leaving an orphan. With a baby to care for, they would have to give up the excitement of the chase, and what would they have in return?

  They would have the simple pleasures of holding their baby in their arms, of watching it grow up, of sharing a home and planning a family and forever together….

  No. That train of thought was pointless. Other people could plan a future like that, not him. With an effort, he turned his attention to what Bill was saying.

  “…but I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  “Sorry,” Del said. “What did you say?”

  Bill pushed his empty pie plate aside and crossed his arms on the table, leaning closer to Del. “Word has it that there’s going to be a special session of the UN security council here in New York next week.”

  “Concerning what?”

  “World terrorism.”

  “Apart from contributing to the problem, what connection would Simon have to that?” Del frowned and answered his own question. “Unless his intended target is attending.”

  “That’s exactly what I figured. As I said, I don’t believe in coincidences. Whatever Simon is planning is going to happen during that session.”

  “We’ll need a list of the speakers and attendees.”

  “The meeting has just been scheduled. We’ll know more in a few days.”

  “Good.”

  “If my hunch is right, it would appear that by next week at this time, our waiting will be over.”

  Could Bill be right? One week to go, and what had been almost a year of near misses by SPEAR would be finished. The hunt for Simon would end.

  And so would Del’s time with Maggie.

  Suddenly, the idea of being through with the endless hours of surveillance wasn’t as appealing as it had once been. When once he had wanted to hurry the time along, now he wanted to slow it down.

  He looked toward the door that led to the diner’s back room. He had planned to take Maggie and Delilah straight home when she finished her visit with Joanne. After the way he had come so close to losing control the night before, he had even been considering the idea of moving back into his hotel room. But now he changed his mind. With his assignment in New York rapidly drawing to a close, he didn’t want to squander one second of the time he and Maggie had left.

  Twenty minutes later, when Maggie finally joined them, instead of taking her and Delilah home, Del took them to Central Park. Although Delilah was too young to care about the animals in the children’s zoo, Maggie enjoyed showing them to her anyway. Del did, too. He felt like a kid again as Maggie talked him into riding the park’s famous carousel. He pushed thoughts of his work to the back of his mind and let himself be swept along by her enthusiasm.

  By the time they arrived at Maggie’s apartment, dusk had fallen. Delilah, exhausted after the long outing, settled down to sleep with a minimum of fuss.

  Del sipped a beer and eyed the couch. His back was already twinging at the prospect of the night ahead, but putting up with that broken spring in the couch would be better than the sterile four walls of his hotel room.

  “Whew!” Maggie said, collapsing into the rocking chair. “I hadn’t realized how out of shape I am.”

  “I’m sorry,” Del said immediately. “I should have realized you were getting tired.”

  “No, no,” she said, waving away his apology. “I had a great time and I wouldn’t have cut it short for the world. Do you know how long it has been since I took a day off for fun?”

  “No, but if it’s been as long for you as it has for me, I’d say we were both overdue for it.”

  She smiled. “Yes, I think we were. Thanks again for those hats.”

  Del sat on the coffee table in front of her and leaned forward, dangling his beer can between his knees. He returned her smile as he thought about how she and Delilah had looked on the carousel, with their violet ribbons fluttering behind them. He wished he had thought to take a camera from the equipment pool when he had requisitioned the car today. “The pleasure was all mine, Maggie.”

  “I should have remembered to get some new sneakers while we were out,” she said, toeing off her shoes. “I think all that extra weight I was carrying around a month ago made my feet spread. Or maybe I should go back to wearing sandals.”

  “Are your feet sore?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing a soak in the tub won’t fix. I used to do that after a long day at the diner. I’m just too lazy right now to move off this chair.”

  “Allow me,” Del said, setting his beer aside in order to pick up her right foot. Angling himself to the side, he propped her heel on his thigh.

  She grabbed the arms of the chair. “Del, what are you doing?”

  “Relax, Maggie. You need a massage.” He reached down to pick up her left foot and set it beside the right one. He tugged off her socks, then folded his hands over her toes and squeezed gently. “How’s that?”

  She heaved a noisy sigh and let her chair rock backward. “Heaven.”

  He felt her skin warm beneath his touch as he slowly eased away the stiffness. “Better?”

  “Mmm. Much.”

  He wiggled her toes, his lips twitching as he saw the purple nail polish. Despite Delilah’s demands on her time, Maggie still managed to keep her toenails painted.

  That was part of her nature, he thought. She set out to enjoy each day, to live life to its fullest. “I need to go into the office tomorrow morning, but if you can wait a few days, I’ll take you shoe shopping on the weekend.”

  “Thanks, that would be nice.” She fell silent as he kneaded his way from her toes to her heels. When he rubbed his thumbs into the balls of her feet, she gave a low moan of pleasure.

  At least, he assumed it was pleasure. His hands stilled as he thought about how he could have hurt her the night before when all he had wanted was to give her pleasure. He lifted his head and looked at her.

  Maggie smiled. “Don’t stop, Del. It feels so good.”

  He grasped her ankles and turned to face her. “Let me know if I hurt you, Maggie.”

  “My feet are feeling better by the minute.”

  “I would never want to hurt you. If I do, just tell me to stop, all right?”

  The amusement faded from her face. “Okay.”

  “I
can’t keep from touching you, Maggie.”

  Her grip on the chair arms tightened as she regarded him in silence. Obviously, she realized that he was talking about more than a foot rub. Her reply, when it came, was as straightforward and uninhibited as the way she had handled their kiss the night before. “I won’t lie to you, Del,” she said. “I like it when you touch me. I always have. I’m just not ready to…well…”

  “Let me worry about that,” he said, giving her toes another squeeze as he set her heels on the coffee table. He left her briefly, then returned with a towel and a bottle of Delilah’s baby oil.

  Her eyes widened. “Del? What are you doing?”

  “Only as much as we’re able to,” he replied. He spread the towel over his legs and lifted her feet onto his lap, then uncapped the bottle and drizzled oil into his palm.

  Maggie stared, motionless. And fascinated. Somewhere in a corner of her mind, an annoying little voice was telling her that she should get up and run.

  But she didn’t really want to. Besides, she couldn’t, could she? Trying to run now would be hazardous. Del had already spread baby oil on the soles of her feet.

  She sighed and dropped her head against the back of the rocking chair. His hands should be registered as lethal weapons, she thought. Her skin tingled with little spurts of pleasure as his clever, nimble fingers worked the oil between her toes.

  She had never given much thought to reflexology, but people who practiced it were definitely on to something. The feet really were packed with bundles of nerve endings. What else could explain the echoes of sensation that were coursing to other parts of her body with every shift of his hands?

  First her earlobe, now her feet. If they kept this up, how many more erogenous zones would he help her discover?

  He lifted his gaze to hers, and her breath caught. Naked passion coiled in the depths of his eyes. For a moment she thought she glimpsed the hard stranger who had pinned her to the table last night, but then the tiny laugh lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled, and he tickled the arch of her foot.

  Another sensation echoed along her nerves, but this one targeted the most erogenous zone of all. It went straight to her heart.

  Chapter 10

  “What a darling baby. How old is she?”

  Del glanced at the heavily pregnant woman who had paused in front of him. “She’s six weeks old today.”

  “Oh, that’s the best age. They’re so easy.”

  Del thought of the night feedings, the diapers and the endless laundry baskets full of baby clothes. “Uh, really?”

  “They stay wherever you put them and they don’t talk back.” She turned, grasped the arms of the chair beside him and carefully levered herself down to sit. “Ah,” she murmured.

  There was a shriek from the other side of the waiting room. A girl with black pigtails and two missing front teeth raced around the miniature parking garage that sat in the center of the floor. Behind her trailed an overalled boy of about three. He grabbed in vain for the plastic dump truck she held.

  The woman sighed. “Emma, stop teasing Bruce and give him back his truck.”

  The girl grudgingly complied. As soon as he got the toy, the boy plopped down on the floor and started to make what were probably supposed to be engine noises.

  Delilah lifted her head from Del’s shoulder to follow the boy’s progress. She emitted a gurgle that could have been a burp but sounded more like a reply.

  Del turned her around, holding her under her arms so that she could see the action more easily. She braced her feet on his lap and flexed her knees in a miniature jumping jack, then gave his hand a splayed-finger pat, as if in approval.

  The woman laughed. “I wish my husband was as good with our kids as you are. Is this your first?”

  Del ignored the sudden shaft of pain her words caused. Her mistake was understandable. Anyone seeing a man sitting with a baby in an obstetrician’s office first thing in the morning would naturally assume he was her father. “She isn’t mine. I’m just watching her while her mother’s in with the doctor.”

  “Oh.” She paused. “Well, you could give my Stanley some tips, anyway. Bruce, not in your mouth,” she called suddenly.

  The toddler on the floor grinned, the corner of a magazine clamped in his teeth.

  “Bru-cee! I got your truck,” the pigtailed girl called, grabbing his toy and skipping out of reach.

  The boy spat out the magazine and started to cry.

  “Oh, God,” the woman moaned, levering herself out of the chair. “And I wanted a third? I must be nuts.”

  In spite of her perilously swollen abdomen, the woman squatted beside her son and gave him a hug. Her daughter joined them, and after some patient negotiations, some more hugs and a small plastic bag of animal crackers the woman took from her purse, the children calmed down and snuggled against their mother as she read a cardboard book.

  As Del watched the family interaction, he thought about Maggie. He had a vivid image of Maggie years from now, her belly swollen with her third child, acting as referee between a pigtailed Delilah and a sturdy little toddler.

  She wanted more children, and she would undoubtedly adore them all as much as she did Delilah. Her home would be filled with noisy, loving chaos, just like his sister’s. Just like Elizabeth’s.

  Another shaft of pain, deeper than the last, stabbed through his heart. Why was he torturing himself this way?

  Del focused on Delilah’s wispy blond curls, then closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, drawing in the clean, soft baby scent of her scalp.

  Maggie tucked her blouse into her skirt and took a seat in front of the desk, craning her neck as she tried to read the notes the doctor was making in her file. “I’m getting plenty of rest, Dr. Hendricks. Really.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Exhaustion is one of the most common problems with new mothers.” Dr. Hendricks scribbled something undecipherable. “Do you have any help at home?”

  “Oh, yes,” Maggie said. “I have a wonderful friend who has been giving me a hand since Delilah was born. And now that Delilah’s practically sleeping through the night, things are almost too easy.”

  “Too easy?” The doctor set down her pen and folded her hands on her desk. “That’s one complaint I haven’t heard before.”

  “Oh, I’m not complaining. Not really. I just…oh, I don’t know, sometimes I worry.”

  “That’s because you love your child and you want to be the best mother possible for her, right?”

  Maggie sighed. “I wonder whether I’m trying hard enough, Dr. Hendricks. I’ve heard babies are supposed to be so difficult to take care of and so much work, but so far Delilah has given me nothing but joy.”

  The doctor smiled. “Babies are joy, Maggie. Why do you think most of my business comes from repeat customers?”

  “I’d love to have more.”

  “And there’s no reason you shouldn’t, once you give your body a year or two to recover.”

  “Do I have to wait that long?”

  “The choice is yours, of course, but pregnancies spaced too closely together can drain a woman’s reserves of strength and put too much strain on a system that is already weakened.” The doctor drew a brochure out of a stack on a shelf behind her and passed it to Maggie. “This details the birth control options that are available. Have you given any thought to which one you would like to use?”

  Maggie held the brochure in her lap but didn’t open it. “I wanted to ask you about that. When will it be safe for me to, um…”

  “Resume sexual relations?”

  She nodded. It sounded so clinical when put like that, Maggie thought. It was a far cry from the warm, tingling awareness that she felt whenever Del was around.

  Over the past weeks, that awareness had been growing at a breathtaking rate. Neither one of them could pretend that the kisses and caresses they shared were merely friendly. Although Del had restrained himself from pressing her for more, he didn’t try to hide the desire he felt
. Nor did she. They both were adult enough to realize where their intimacy was inevitably leading.

  It was such a major step to take in any relationship, somehow it didn’t seem right to be thinking about it here.

  “The timing varies with each woman, Maggie,” the doctor said. “In your case, I would say there’s no physical reason to delay any longer, if that’s what you want to do.”

  “You mean I could start right away? Tonight?”

  “Whenever you want,” the doctor said. “But please, while I do like repeat customers, I strongly advise you to consider some kind of contraception. It’s not impossible to conceive while you’re still breast-feeding.”

  Maggie knew the doctor was right, but she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like someday to have a little sister or brother for Delilah, another baby to love, perhaps a child with dark hair and warm amber eyes….

  She knew what she was doing. She was picturing Del’s baby.

  Well, why shouldn’t she? If ever there was a man who was meant to be a father, it was Del.

  And babies were the natural consequence of sexual relations, weren’t they?

  Although a doctor’s office really wasn’t the place to be thinking about lovemaking, Maggie found herself doing just that as she went to join Del in the waiting room. He was sitting in a chair near the door, Delilah on his lap with her head nestled in the crook of his arm. He had tipped his head back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, but she could tell he wasn’t asleep by the way his fingers moved in Delilah’s hair.

  What would it be like to make love with Del?

  Anticipation shot through her as she realized that there was no longer a physical reason to keep her from finding out. Yet although she might be physically capable, was she emotionally ready to take a step like that? To some people, sex was merely an enjoyable activity, but to Maggie, it was so much more. To make love, she had to be in love.

  Had she fallen the rest of the way in love with Del?

  Whenever Del was near, he drew her gaze like a lighted window on a dark night, as if he were surrounded by one of those auras Joanne was always talking about. The sound of his voice never failed to set her heart vibrating. His touch was something she was coming to crave, even if it was no more than the casual brush of his hand against her cheek as he smoothed a curl behind her ear.