Sleeping With the Enemy

by Tracy Solheim

  She’d been on the warpath ever since the latest installment of the Girlfriends’ Guide to the NFL dropped onto the Internet this afternoon. Delaney had gone for broke, implying that Jay was involved with organized gambling on NFL games. She’d claimed he’d been sighted in the Wynn—a fact that could be easily substantiated via surveillance cameras—where a known gambling ring was operating. As parting shots went, it was a doozy. He’d underestimated Delaney’s apparent vendetta and that frustrated him more than having Bridgett strutting her stuff with half of the NFL sponsors two hundred feet away.

  “What were you thinking?” she continued. “I told you not to go vigilante on this blogger, but do you listen? No! Now she’s implicated you in something much more difficult to defend against. The commissioner is apoplectic and threatening to take away your team. As for the media, they’ve descended into a feeding frenzy. Seriously, the women protesting on behalf of the cheerleaders are the least of your worries right now. Yet you’re sitting here coolly. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Jay stood to his full height, adjusting his tuxedo around his very tight boxer briefs, not wanting to let her know he was anything but cool. “What was your brother talking about earlier today?”

  He’d caught her off guard. She blinked those silver eyes a few times, apparently trying to catch up with his quick subject change. “What do you mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean, counselor.”

  Bridgett shifted uneasily on her heels. “He was just being Brody. It doesn’t concern you.”

  She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and once again Jay was glad he had her all to himself. He didn’t want to share her with another man. Ever. But someone had “messed her up” according to her brother and that thought had been consuming him all afternoon, too. Was it the guy she’d sent him the Dear John letter for? Whoever he was, Brody had better hope he got to him first.

  Jay reached out and traced a finger along the line of her jaw, shifting it up to tangle in the cascade of stones hanging from her ear. “Everything about you concerns me.” It was an admission he didn’t want to make out loud, but the words hit the air before he could stop them.

  Bridgett sunk her teeth into her lower lip before jutting her chin up defiantly. “I think it’s best if we keep things professional from here on out, Jay. I don’t want your mind games getting in the way of my mounting a winning defense for you.”

  “I told you not to worry about my defense. It’s all going to work out.”

  Her eyes widened as her hands shoved at his chest. “For the love of Pete, this isn’t something you can buy your way out of, Jay. This is serious.”

  Jay wrapped his arms around her and did what he’d wanted to do ever since he’d laid eyes on her in that dress: He crushed her to his body. She inhaled sharply when she came in contact with his arousal. “The only thing serious right now is how soon I can get you out of that dress.”

  “Your arrogance really knows no bounds,” she said.

  He smiled confidently to himself, though, when she sank farther into his body. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you actually cared about what happens to me.”

  She pulled back, eyeing him in what looked like disbelief. Her lips quivered slightly before she reined her emotions back behind the cool façade she wore for everyone else. “You’re a fool, you know that?”

  Bridgett stepped out of his embrace and the inches separating their bodies suddenly felt like a gulf. Jay silently cursed at himself. He was a fool. A damn fool who, if he wasn’t careful, could lose his heart to this woman a second time. There was a loud knocking on the office door and Bridgett took another giant step back.

  Jay moved behind the desk. “The cavalry has finally arrived.”

  The door swung open and Linc charged in. “Boss, the FBI is here.” He stepped aside and Jay’s friend from prep school, Matt Kovaluk, strode into the room.

  “You didn’t tell me this shindig was black tie,” Matt said. “I could have come dressed as Bond if you’d given me some warning.” Matt’s eyes darted over to Bridgett and his face relaxed into an appreciative grin. “Damn. And a Bond girl, too. You really have the life, McAnus.”

  Linc chuckled at the stupid boyhood nickname that Matt never let him outgrow. Jay leveled a look at his assistant and Linc’s laugh turned into a cough.

  “The commissioner?” Jay directed the question at Linc, but Matt answered for him.

  “The director of the field office drew his name. He gets to schmooze with the big celebrities while I get—you.” He shot Bridgett one of his smarmy grins, which never failed to help him score in a bar but was bugging the shit out of Jay right now. “Although I must say the view in here is much nicer.”

  Jay signaled for Linc to close the door behind him on the way out. He didn’t want one of his guests—most of whom had shown up tonight in hopes of getting ringside seats to Jay’s dressing-down by the commissioner—to overhear their conversation.

  “Don’t say a word, Jay,” Bridgett said, her lawyerly mask firmly in place. But if he wasn’t mistaken, her fingers were trembling a bit as she reached for her phone. “If they’re going to question you, I want Stuart on the phone, too.”

  “Whoa there, gorgeous.” Matt held up a hand. “The last time I asked this idiot a question, he gave me the wrong answer to a U.S. history test. He actually thought Lewis and Clark were a rock band.” Matt laughed and Jay shook his head.

  Bridgett narrowed her eyes at the FBI agent, but she didn’t loosen her death grip on her phone. “What’s going on here, Jay?”

  “Bridgett, allow me to introduce you to Not-So-Very-Special Agent Matt Kovaluk. Matt is with the organized crime unit of the FBI. But not because he deserves to work in such a prestigious agency. His mommy made them pick him. She’s a federal judge.” Matt’s pretty smile didn’t fade despite the dig. Jay sighed. “Matt, this is my attorney, Bridgett Janik.”

  “She’s your lawyer?” Matt heaved a reverent sigh. “I am seriously on the wrong side of the law.” He stretched his hand out to Bridgett, his green eyes twinkling obnoxiously. “Your client isn’t under any suspicion here. In fact, he’s been doing his civic duty for the past few days. Never mind sanctions. The commissioner will be forced to name a stadium after him when this is all done.”

  Jay walked over to the bar and poured Matt a drink. “Something tells me he won’t like that.”

  “Could one of you catch me up here, please?” Bridgett was starting to get that testy look—the one Jay loved to kiss off her lips. But he didn’t dare touch her right now. Not when he felt the line between sex and emotional involvement was beginning to blur.

  Matt took the drink and settled into one of the chairs while Jay leaned a hip on the corner of his desk. He nodded toward the chair beside Matt, but Bridgett shook her head, practically tapping her toe in frustration.

  “Jay and the super spy network that he’s cultivated throughout his career just helped us nab a Chinese gambling ring known as Sagittarius X. Interpol has been trying to take them down for three years,” Matt said as he sipped his Scotch. “It was almost child’s play, it was so easy once you came over from the dark side, Jay.”

  Bridgett’s eyebrows went up a hair as she cocked her head. “And just how did he do that?”

  “By being a ruthless pain in the ass.” Matt saluted him with his glass. “But you owe me fifty-yard-line seats for the rest of the season. I told you she wouldn’t take the bait and shut down her blog. Not even for you. Delaney Silverberg seriously has it out for you and Blake Callahan.”

  “Delaney?” Bridgett’s arms dropped to her sides. “Your Delaney? She’s the blogger?”

  Matt snickered. “Technically she was Blake’s Delaney. But Blue Eyes here had a soft spot for her up until the end. Sucker.”

  Jay rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to make the squeezing stop. He’d really ho
ped Delaney would make the wise decision. For such an intelligent woman, she wasn’t very smart.

  “I’m still not following why Delaney is writing the blog and what it has to do with a gambling ring,” Bridgett said.

  “Do you want to do the honors or shall I?” Matt asked.

  Shaking his head, Jay looked over at Bridgett, who was now gripping the back of the chair. “Delaney has always had gambling issues,” he began. “It was the reason she and Blake broke up. She owed a lot of money. I bailed her out with the money I was supposed to pay Vincenzo DiSantis for his pinot grigio formula.”

  Bridgett gasped softly and her fingers dug into the chair.

  “First mistake,” Matt chimed in sarcastically.

  “She has a brilliant mind for software. Without her McManus Industries wouldn’t be where it is today,” Jay snapped. “I made the money back in less than two years.”

  “And you eventually got your winery.” Matt spread his arms wide. “Which produces a very fine pinot grigio, I might add.”

  “There are still a few pieces of the story missing,” Bridgett said irritably. “Like how she went from McManus Industries to a Chinese gambling ring, for instance.”

  Jay slammed his drink down on the desk. None of this was his fault. Except for being an idiot and trusting his former roommate to have more sense than she obviously did. “She has an addiction. One she thought she could outsmart, but apparently not. A few years after the company took off, I caught her stealing funds from one of the accounts. She’d managed to pilfer a little at a time, but by the time I was wise to her she’d socked a million dollars or so away in a Swiss bank account. But instead of using that money to pay off her increasing gambling debts, she stupidly tried to sell some proprietary data of ours to the Chinese. I fired her on the spot.”

  “You took the money back from the Swiss bank account, though, right?” Bridgett didn’t include the word “chump” at the end of the question, but he heard it loud and clear in her tone.

  Matt snickered again and Jay’s hands balled into fists. “No. I didn’t. I wanted her out of my life and that money was an insurance policy against her having to come back around looking for more. It was a pittance compared to what I made from her designs.”

  Bridgett shook her head. “So instead of selling the data to the Chinese, she sold herself instead.”

  “She liked to play the indentured servant, but she’s spent the last six years skimming money off the top of their winnings. I kept tabs on the account. The world economy hasn’t been that robust that she’s earned twenty-five million in interest.”

  “And now it’s all in the hands of Interpol,” Matt muttered in disgust.

  “So you went to Las Vegas and used that information to suggest she stop blogging?”

  Jay wanted to kiss her and her keen mind for catching on so quickly. “Yes.”

  “Well, that was an epic failure,” she said caustically, making Jay not so eager to kiss her anymore. “We learned last year when Brody’s trainer was being blackmailed by her to sell out Brody’s secret that she was only blogging to get back at someone. Now we know that someone was you.”

  “And Blake,” Matt chimed in, seeming to enjoy the direction the conversation was going. “She used her ill-gotten gains to finance her gossip purchases.”

  Bridgett crossed her arms beneath her breasts again and Jay watched out of the corner of his eye as his friend sat up straighter to enjoy the view. “She clearly didn’t care about money, as you might have noticed if you’d taken just one second to think this through.” Nope, he definitely didn’t want to kiss her now. “A woman scorned isn’t going to be satisfied until she gets even.”

  Jay arched an eyebrow at her, challenging her to say more, but her lips formed a harsh line.

  “Exactly what I told you, McAnus, but you had to be a softy and give Delaney one more chance.”

  Bridgett stiffened at Matt’s words. “One more chance?”

  “Yeah, he nearly blew the whole thing by warning her off,” Matt explained. “But it turned out her desire to prove she still had the upper hand was her downfall. Our tech guys put a wormhole in the blog. If we were lucky enough she’d post from the hotel suite. But in her desperation, she did us one better, and used one of the gambling site’s laptops. Right there in the Honolulu airport. It was awesome. She won’t be blogging again for a very long time.” Matt grinned widely. “The case was broken wide-open on U.S. soil all because Jay was a sucker. I’ve told you not to be so trusting but you never learn, do you?”

  Jay’s gut clenched at the haughty look Bridgett was wearing. She thought he was a fool for trusting Delaney, but he’d been a bigger fool for trusting her. He was actually grateful for Matt’s reminder. “I believe I’ve learned my lesson,” he said, never taking his eyes off Bridgett. “I won’t be giving my trust away freely ever again.” He watched as she swallowed harshly and her stance became brittle.

  “So this is it, then,” she said. The implication in her words wasn’t lost on Jay.

  “No, there are still some unresolved issues.” Like the fact that Jay’s desire for her body hadn’t ebbed in the least. He was aware that Matt was studying them both carefully, but he didn’t give a shit. Jay still wasn’t ready to let her walk out of his life again.

  She snatched her cell phone off of the desk. “I’m fairly certain I’ll be able to dispense with the class action suit without too much effort on your part. Mimi can work with Asia to defuse the media circus that currently surrounds you. I’ll make sure the commissioner gives them a statement before I leave.”

  The urge to lunge after her was overwhelming, but Jay remained where he was. He’d let her escape to the B and B, but tomorrow they’d have the discussion they’d been putting off for days now. “My car will pick you up at ten tomorrow.”

  She paused at the door, tossing another haughty look over her shoulder.

  “The Sparks haven’t dismissed their suit yet, Bridgett,” he told her. “So technically, you’re still on the case. And at my beck and call.”

  Whatever retort she wanted to spew at him, she bit back; most likely in deference to the fact there was an armed agent in the room. It was the first time he was glad Matt had arrived at the vineyard. She nodded regally before gliding out the door.

  Matt whistled softly. “My Spidey-sense tells me there’s more to your relationship than just attorney-client, McAnus.”

  Jay moved off the desk to refill his glass. “Is that what they teach you guys at Quantico? Spidey-sense.”

  “With great power comes great responsibility.” Matt was the only one laughing at his own joke. He covered his glass when Jay went to refill it. “Technically, I’m still on duty.”

  “Good,” Jay said. “I have another favor I need from you.”

  “It’s gonna cost you.”

  “When doesn’t it? If we make it to the Super Bowl, I’ll make sure you have the entire fan experience.”

  Matt scoffed at him before he swallowed down the last sip of his drink. “I was thinking more like the phone number of your lawyer after she dumps your ass.”

  The air stilled in Jay’s lungs. This was why he couldn’t let Bridgett walk away. The thought of her being with another man made him blind with rage. He needed to treat his dealings with her like any other business deal he ever made: with cool detachment.

  “Jay, you still with me?” Matt was standing, waving a hand in front of Jay’s face.

  “Yeah. If you find yourself in need of an attorney, hire your damn mother.”

  Matt’s laughter echoed around the room. “Blake’s right. You’ve got it bad for that woman.”

  “Are you going to do me the favor or not?” Jay didn’t want to discuss what he did and didn’t have with Bridgett with either Matt or Blake, especially when both were doing a good job discussing it among themselves.

  “You hav
en’t told me what it is yet,” Matt said with a grin.

  Jay reached into the top drawer of his chest and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Matt.

  “Who is this guy?” Matt asked after scanning the paper.

  “A deadbeat dad.”

  Matt leveled a quizzical glance at Jay. “And?”

  “And, I want you to find the sonofabitch and make him pay his child support.”

  His friend waved the paper as if to say “go on.”

  Jay sighed. “He’s the ex-husband of the attorney heading up the Sparks’ case. I’m reasonably certain she’s only going after the team to pad her pocketbook because this guy doesn’t pay.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding!”

  He kept his face stoic as he stared at Matt, who was still grinning like a fool.

  “You’re not kidding.” Matt swore. “There’s got to be something unethical about this.”

  “What’s unethical about making a father pay his child support?”

  “Sure, look like a big softy when all the while you’re getting your case dismissed.” Matt blew out a breath. They both stared each other down for a minute. “The full Super Bowl experience, McAnus. Sideline passes for the halftime show and if Taylor Swift is the halftime performer, I want her to sit on my lap.”

  Jay eyed his friend incredulously before nodding.

  Matt conceded defeat with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll get the local boys in Virginia on this and we’ll see if we can rattle his cage. But that’s all.”

  “Fair enough,” Jay said as Linc slipped back into the room.

  “The commissioner wants to make a statement to the press assembled at the end of the drive. The FBI guy says it’s okay.” Linc looked from one man to the other for confirmation.

  “Not without me, he’s not,” Jay said. “If I’m going to make the commissioner eat crow, I want to stand next to him and watch.”

  Linc grinned. “That’s what I thought.”