by Cynthia Eden
Vivian would be cursing his name.
Chapter Five
“Morning, sunshine.” Chase smiled at Vivian when she entered the kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee teased her nose, and Chase…with his hair all rumpled, his golden eyes sparkling, and that faint stubble coating his jaw…
Hello, sexy sight in the morning.
He lifted a mug toward her. “Got this ready for you. The Wilde crew should be arriving within thirty minutes.”
She took the mug. Her fingers curled around the warm ceramic surface. Vivian savored a bracing sip. “You put cream in here. Honey. And milk!” Just the way she liked it. “How did you know I took it that way?”
Chase turned away and reached for his own half-full mug. “That’s the way I take mine,” he said.
She smiled a little as she took another sip. They had the same taste in coffee. She didn’t know why, but that little bit of randomness made her feel good. After last night, she could use all of the good feelings that she could get.
“I have a question for you.” His shoulders seemed a little tense. “I should have asked before, but it was after three a.m., and I wasn’t exactly thinking at my best.” He turned back to face her. “Who have you given a spare key?”
“No one.” She took another sip. She’d dressed in her running shorts and t-shirt. Her shoes were laced up and ready to go. Normally, she took a three-mile run on Sunday mornings. Speaking of it being Sunday… “I can’t believe you got a crew to come out here on such short notice, especially on a Sunday! I’m starting to think you’re my guardian angel.”
“Something like that,” he muttered. He was staring at her. No, correction, frowning at her smile.
Her smile slipped. “Is something wrong?”
“You’re sure you didn’t give the key to someone? Maybe to a boyfriend?”
She put down the coffee. “If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t have kissed you yesterday.”
His hold tightened on his mug. “Good to know.”
“You don’t, ah, do you have a girlfriend?”
He stared straight at her. “I wouldn’t have kissed you if I did.”
So they were both single. And his gaze had heated. And this scene was tense. The air had even seemed to thicken. “Glad we cleared that up.”
“I’m available. You’re available.” He shrugged. “Two good things to know.” His stare didn’t leave her. “You still planning to make dinner tonight?”
Dinner?
“Because we could go out. I could take you on a date. Wine you. Dine you. Let you see me for the amazingly charming man that I am.”
“I—”
“The installation could go long. Maybe it would be better to have that date out of your place.”
“Okay.”
He smiled at her. It was a wolfish grin.
There was a sharp knock at her door.
“They arrived faster than I thought.” He put his mug in the sink and headed to answer the door. “I’ll get the team settled. Hey, by the way, noticed your outfit. Are you planning to go for a—” Chase opened the door. “Run,” he finished flatly. His body stiffened. “Who the hell are you?” Chase demanded.
Sunday morning. Vivian plunked down her coffee and rushed for the door. “Luc, you’re right on time.”
Luc Coderre beamed at her. He was wearing black running shorts, one of his typical wicking shirts—he always ran in those—and his water bottle was gripped in his hand. “Ready to get sweaty with me?”
“What?” Chase snapped.
“Let me guess.” Luc pointed his water bottle at Chase. “New boyfriend?”
Chase puffed out his chest. “Listen—”
“Chase, Luc’s my running partner.” She caught Chase’s arm and pulled him toward her. “Luc Coderre runs with me sometimes, and he’s a co-worker.”
Luc raised his brows as his gaze darted to her hold on Chase, then back up to Chase’s hard face. “And you’re the new boyfriend?” A faint French accent slid under his words.
“Damn straight, I—” Chase began.
“No, he’s my neighbor,” Vivian explained quickly.
Chase’s muscles stiffened beneath her touch. “Yep, that’s me. The friendly neighbor."
Luc craned his head to see into the apartment. “You’re here very early, friendly neighbor.”
“That’s because I stayed here last night, friendly jogging partner.”
Luc’s mouth tightened. “Are you ready, Vivian?”
“I can’t go.” She winced. “I’m sorry. Something came up last night, and I have to stay here today.”
“Something came up,” Chase repeated. “You know how it is.”
Luc frowned at her. “But you never cancel.”
“She’s canceling today, buddy,” Chase told him flatly. “Deal with it.”
She cut him a glance. He seemed…extra. Why all the hostility toward Luc? Trying to ease the tension, Vivian explained, “I have a security team coming to install an alarm system for me. I need to be here.” She motioned toward Luc. “Please, go without me. Sorry I didn’t call.” Getting a call from her at three a.m. probably wouldn’t have been ideal. To be honest, she’d forgotten that he was coming by until he’d rapped on the door. She’d put on her jogging clothes because that was her Sunday routine, but she hadn’t even thought about Luc. Not until he’d knocked on the door.
She wasn’t normally so forgetful.
Then again, people didn’t normally try to break into her home.
Luc frowned at her. “Is everything bien?”
No, things were not bien. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”
“Au revoir.” He popped an ear bud into his left ear as he turned away. His right hand still clutched his water bottle.
Chase’s gaze narrowed as he watched the other man head for the elevator. “You run with him every day?”
“No, just sometimes on the weekends.”
He shut the door. “And I just have to know…you said he was a co-worker, right?”
She nodded.
“Does he also have that specialized training that you mentioned?”
She swallowed. “I think he has more training than I do.” Luc was a full-fledged operative. “But he hasn’t discussed that with me. We’re just jogging buddies.”
“Huh.”
Her head tilted. “You did that thing again.”
“What thing?”
She smiled. “You said ‘huh’ just then.” She liked it when he did that. “You figure something out?”
“Yeah, good old Luc wants to be more than jogging buddies with you.”
Doubtful. “I don’t think so.”
Chase laughed. “Trust me on this. I know what I’m talking about.”
“And how do you know?”
“Because I’d sure as hell want to be more than jogging buddies with you. The dude didn’t like it when he found me in your place at this time of the day.”
“He seemed fine to me.”
“His accent got thicker. Seen it before. It’s a tell for some people when they get angry. Your Luc was pissed.”
They needed to back up. “He’s not my Luc.”
“Wonderful to know.” Chase tapped his chin. “Luc doesn’t happen to have a key to this place, does he?”
“Why would he have a key?”
“Can’t think of a reason.” His hand fell. “Out of curiosity, do you keep your keys locked in your desk at work?”
“I keep them in my desk, but it’s not locked. I work at a very secure facility.”
“What is it?” Chase wanted to know. Then he teased, “The FBI?”
“No.” But he was close.
She worked at the CIA.
***
“I don’t trust him. Dig up every piece of dirt that you can on Luc Coderre,” Chase snapped into his phone.
“I told you already,” Merik fired back, “he’s supposed to be on our side. I told you this stuff this morning when you called me all huffing and puffing about th
e man. He’s—”
“He’s trying to screw my target, so that makes him a person of interest for me. Dig deeper. A lot deeper. Use a freaking shovel.” The day had passed in a blur of activity. It was almost time for his big date with Vivian. Time to wine her. Dine her. And get every bit of intel out of her.
Why the hell was his stomach knotting? Just a job. Just a job. He’d lied plenty on other undercover operations. You did what was necessary to get the job done. “I don’t trust him,” Chase repeated once more.
“Dude, are you sure that you’re not just jealous and—”
Vivian’s apartment door opened. She stepped into the hallway, and the black dress that she wore floated around her thighs. As he watched her, she paused to lock her door. The security team had finished up an hour earlier.
Just a job. Except she didn’t look like a job. She looked like the sexiest woman Chase had ever seen in his life.
“You aren’t even listening to me,” Merik muttered. “Hello?”
“I’ve got a date, buddy.” Deliberately, Chase raised his voice. “So, got to let you go. Just take care of that business for me, would you? Thanks. You’re a rock star.”
Vivian glanced toward him.
Just a job.
A smile lit her face.
Fuck me.
“You are a bastard,” Merik told him.
Tell me something I don’t know. “It takes one to know one.” Chase laughed. “Talk soon.” He shoved his phone into his pocket. Then he headed straight for Vivian. “I was about to come to your place.”
“I…” She faltered. “Does this make me seem overeager? That I came to meet you? Because I’m not really good at following dating rules. I never understand all the games people are supposed to play.”
He shook his head. “Screw the games. All I want is for you to be yourself with me.”
Her wide smile came again. The one that made her eyes light up. The one that made his chest ache.
The one that made him feel like a total ass for lying to her. Yeah, I’m saying no games when I’m playing her for all that I’m worth. Chase cleared his throat. “You are beautiful.”
Her cheeks pinkened. “And you look very handsome.”
He offered his arm to her. She took it, and he felt the burn of her touch all the way through his body. They walked toward the elevator together, and he slanted a quick glance down at her heels. Two-inch heels. Sexy as hell.
If she was trying to seduce him, Vivian had definitely brought her A Game.
***
“I want one of the thirteen secrets.” Chase leaned back in his chair and locked his eyes on Vivian. He’d just paid the check. They’d laughed and chatted easily—too easily—through the meal, and he’d almost forgotten to do his damn job because he liked being with her.
She doesn’t seem like the type of woman who would sell out her country.
She lifted her water glass. Took a sip. Her eyebrows rose questioningly.
“You told me that most people had thirteen secrets,” Chase reminded her. “Tell me one of yours.”
She put down the glass. “Only if you share one of your secrets with me.”
He’d play, and they’d go dark with their secrets. No light and fluffy BS about him secretly loving long road trips or being soothed by a sunset. They’d cut straight to the hard and painful parts of life because he didn’t have time to waste. Her place had been searched—both by him and by the Wilde security team—and no one had turned up the intel they needed. If he didn’t gain her confidence, fast, lives could be lost. Time to form a bond with her. Time to break through her walls. “My childhood was shit.”
The faint smile that she’d been wearing slipped.
“My father was an alcoholic. My mother cut out as fast as she could. Left me with him when I was just a kid. Not that I blamed her, she had to look out for herself.” All of this was true. He’d found it was easier to stick to the truth as much as possible on assignments like this one. Too many lies could trip you up later.
Vivian’s hand flattened on the table.
“Didn’t want people to know what it was really like at home for me. So I got good at pretending.” It was why he loved undercover work. “Happiness is easy to fake. Hell, most things are easy to fake, if you have the right motivation.”
Her lashes flickered.
Holy shit, were there tears in her eyes? Was she about to cry for him? Was she that good of an actress?
“Sorry.” Chase cleared his throat. “Probably not the secret you wanted to hear. Supposed to keep first dates light, aren’t we? How about I try again?”
“No.” Her hand reached across the table. Her fingers curled over his. “I like seeing who you really are.”
That was the point, wasn’t it? To make her think she was truly getting to know him?
Even if she wasn’t.
“Secret one.” Chase turned his hand over and threaded his fingers with hers. The electric surge was still there when they touched—the awareness that told him sex with her would be absolutely phenomenal—but there was more, too. Something almost intangible. Something deeper. Her touch had made him feel better. It seemed to soothe a part of him that had been hidden deep inside.
Okay, stop this shit. Get back to business. “I gave you my first secret. Now it’s your turn.”
Her tongue snaked over her lower lip. “Secret number one.”
Chase nodded even as desire surged through him. That little pink tongue of hers was—
“It is only fair that I give you a secret. Okay.” She squared her shoulders, but didn’t pull her hand from his grip. “My childhood was also less than ideal.”
From what he’d read, that was a serious understatement. She was holding back. Way back. “Vivian, I’m not going to judge a single thing you tell me. That’s not who I am.”
She seemed to pull in a bracing breath. “My father was a criminal. I didn’t know him very well because during my childhood, he was in and out of jail cells. Not some sort of petty criminal, either. He was a very smart man, and he viewed his criminal activities as a sort of challenge.”
“I’m not sure I understand.” He did, because he’d read her file.
“My father liked to collect things. Unfortunately, those things belonged to other people.”
According to her background info, her father had been a world-class thief. He’d made easy work of getting past the security systems of the rich and famous. He’d stolen almost for sport.
“Getting those items was a challenge for him. He stole incredibly valuable things. Unfortunately, he took some things from the wrong people.”
Russian mafia counted as wrong, yes.
“And he was killed. Then it was just me and my mom, but she passed away the summer before I turned eighteen.”
“I’m sorry.” His grip tightened on her hand.
Her long lashes swept down. “Thank you.”
Sadness seemed to surround her.
He leaned forward, brought their joined hands to his mouth, and pressed a careful kiss to her knuckles.
Her lashes immediately flew up as she sucked in a quick breath. Her eyes locked on him.
“I didn’t mean to make you sad,” he told her. “How about I give you a different secret to make up for it?”
“You didn’t make me sad.” She blinked quickly. “We can’t change the past or what happened to us back then, but it’s the future that matters now. We can change what happens in the future. We can make anything happen that we want.”
Her hand was close to his mouth. He wanted to press another kiss to her skin.
“I promised myself I’d never be like my father. I enjoy challenges, too.” A faint smile came and went on her face. “But I don’t plan to break the law or spend my days trapped in a jail cell.”
He didn’t let his expression waver. “I promised myself I’d never get lost in a bottle. That I would never treat my family the way my father did.” Shit. He’d just slipped up and gotten dead serious
with her. Chase found that he couldn’t look away from her eyes. In that moment, he felt more connected to her than he ever had to another person.
He pressed another kiss to the back of her hand and let her go.
She lifted her water glass. “Here’s to keeping our promises.”
He lifted his glass.
Fuck. Am I playing her? Or was Merik right? Is she playing me?
***
Vivian stepped into the elevator, and her heart was racing. The dinner had been so nice. Easy. Talking with Chase had felt like the most natural thing in the world. There had been no awkwardness at all. Not like the way it usually was for her with people.
They’d had so much in common. The things he’d said…it was as if he already knew her.
He’d just gotten her.
“I think this was the best date I’ve ever had,” Vivian blurted out the truth.
She saw his shoulders stiffen as Chase pressed the button for the top floor. The doors began to slide closed as he turned toward her.
“Thank you,” she told him softly. “It was nice.”
His expression hardened, and some emotion that she couldn’t quite name flashed in his eyes as the elevator began to rise. “You don’t need to thank me.” His voice was low and growling. Rough.
Sexy.
He stepped toward her.
She crept closer to him.
His arms rose. His hands curled around her waist.
Vivian put her hands on his chest. Leaned toward him.
His mouth came toward hers and—
The elevator plunged into darkness and jerked to a shuddering halt.
Chapter Six
Vivian’s breath choked out. “Did we stop?” It sure felt as if they’d stopped. The elevator had gone pitch black for an instant, but now she could see a faint, red glow coming from near the control panel.
“I’m sure it’s just a glitch.” Chase’s hands were warm and steady around her waist. “Nothing to worry about.”
Oh, if only. Her heart thundered in her chest.
“We’ll be moving in no time, I’m sure,” Chase added.
She waited. Thanks to the red glow, she could make out his features and—
The red glow winked off.
Darkness. Complete and total.