His Undercover Lover

by April Zyon

  Megan pulled back and looked up at him with a laugh. “Yeah? So what is it that you do so well that I will pass out? I personally cannot wait to find out. Just so you know.” She was more than ready to learn all there was about Simon Markham.

  “You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?” he asked. Laughing, he shot her a wink. “Don’t worry, I think you’ll be quite impressed by my talent given it will be beneficial to you after a long night of shaking your ass around. I’ll have to try and keep my eyes to myself when you’re up there. Otherwise, I might forget myself and jump to the other skill I’m very talented at.”

  “Oh if your talents are anything at all like your kisses, then sweet merciful heavens, I will be desperate for more.” So much more than she could possibly tell him. “I will make sure to dance a dance just for you.” Thankfully, she only had to do three sets tonight, so that was a very good thing.

  “It had better be your last one up there,” he told her. “Because if it’s your first, you won’t be doing any others. That much I can promise you,” he said. Giving her a squeeze, he pulled onto Main Street and headed for the club.

  “It will be my last,” she assured him. “And it will be one where you can play jealous boyfriend about and carry me off the stage. How does that sound to you? I think that would be the best thing, don’t you? That way we will be able to get the hell out of there as fast as possible.”

  “And have your bouncer friends try to brain me? Yeah, I see this going over well. Everyone knows the rule around the club. Don’t touch the talent unless you pay for the luxury. I’ll toss you over my shoulder, but you better damn well tell them you’re okay with it, sweetheart.”

  “I will. The moment that we walk in.” She rubbed her hand up and down his thigh and then frowned. “Wait, how do you know how strip joints work? Just how many have you been to in your time, mister man?”

  “Really? You’re going to give me grief on this?” He laughed, and then groaned. “I’ve only been to one. It happened to be for a friend’s bachelor party where we were given the rules before we were served one drink. The groom, and two of the groomsmen, ended up getting tossed out because they got handsy with the talent. The bride was very displeased with the groom, and as far as I know, he’s still sleeping on the damn sofa.”

  “Oh, I can imagine. Looks like we are here.” She took a deep breath and put the mask back on that she wore everywhere. “Let’s get our asses in there, shall we?” Back to the Megan she needed to be for this place.

  Slipping out of the truck once he’d parked, he gave her a hand out. “Remember, I’m looking out for you. So try not to get all tense up there like you tend to do when the door opens at your back.” Giving her hand a squeeze, he tugged her toward the very door he’d mentioned.

  “I will try,” she whispered. “Thank you for letting me know.” She hadn’t realized she tensed up, but now that she knew she did, she would watch out for it to ensure that she didn’t. “You are a good man, Simon Markham. I think that I’m seriously going to owe Brant huge for bringing you into my life and making me get off my rumpus and accept you.”

  “I know,” he said with a huge smirk. “Too bad you were so blind until recently to the fact I’m so marvelous. Think on that. Had you not been so stubborn, you could have had me for all these long months I’ve been hanging around.”

  “Damn,” was all that she could say. Honestly, she wanted to have those months back, but all she could do was live from this moment forward. “I guess we just have a lot of making up to do, don’t we?”

  “Damn straight we do,” he said. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he pulled the door open for her to go ahead of him. “Remember to warn the brawny twins I’m on the no beat down list, and then you’d better go get changed. Or is it undressed?”

  She laughed. “Changed. I have a body suit that I wear. I also have pasties that I will never pull off.” She might show a lot of her body, but she did have limits. “Same with my thong. Never comes off. Ever.” She liked to cover at least a part of her body.

  “Good to know. I’d have to kill any man that got too much of a look at you. Not even kidding,” he said softly to her.

  That surprised her. A great deal. “Oh,” she said, and licked her lips. “So you are as affected by me as I am by you, aren’t you?” She slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. “You would be surprised how few people have seen my full naked body.” She wasn’t a virgin, but she could count on one hand all the men who had seen her naked and had fingers remaining, especially when you added that two of them were her dad and doctor, and that wasn’t in the way he was thinking.

  Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers, nipping at one until she lifted it enough for him to suck into his mouth. He slowly drew her finger out and stepped in closer to her. “Megan, I’m definitely affected by you, likely a hell of a lot more than you’ll ever realize. Now, go shake your ass so we can get the fuck out of here and away from all these assholes.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” She pulled back from him and nodded. “Now, onto making us some money.” She spoke loudly, enough that the people milling about would hear her. She stopped at the door and looked up at Jonesy. “Hey, bubba.” She fist bumped him. “Tonight, when my shift is over, I’m going to give my Si a nice happy dance, so if he carries me off, make sure that the boys don’t give him shit? I happen to really want to be able to dance just for him for a moment since I’ve been ignoring his happy ass since he forgot our anniversary.” She lied so well that it stunned her a great deal.

  “I didn’t forget it, babe,” Simon said. “You were mad at me, and didn’t want to hear anything I had to say, if you remember. Hell, you were pissy at me all that week for God only knows what. I said I was sorry. I didn’t mean to turn your favorite pink tee that shade of puke. Who knew a pair of socks would do that?”

  “I tried to tell you.” She was hoping that they were pulling off couple. “Now then, you go and get your seat. Remember, two drink minimum and do not eat any spicy foods or else we will not be kissing.”

  “Who said I’d be kissing your lips?” he asked. Wiggling his eyebrows, he dropped a kiss on her mouth, then smacked her ass. “Go shake your ass, babe. How many sets are you doing tonight?” he asked with a frown.

  “Just three numbers. That’s it for me tonight and for the rest of the month.” She had asked for fewer numbers. She was burning out and Brant knew it as well as she did. Evidently so did Simon. “Just three, so make sure that you save your money to tuck up into my crotch, bub.”

  “Oh, babe, I won’t be tucking my money up there, but something we both know you enjoy much more.” Giving her another kiss on the lips, he moved around her and toward the bar to order the first of whatever he’d be drinking for the night.

  Chapter Three

  It had been an exhausting night on top of already being utterly worn out, so by the time Simon carried her out of the strip club, Megan was more than ready to sleep. When they were in his truck, she laid on the seat, putting her head in his lap and closing her eyes. She didn’t ask him, she just trusted him to ensure that they got to where they were going.

  After they were on the road, her eyes still closed, she asked, “Did you see how our good mayor cornered off with the owner of the club? I didn’t like how they mentioned Eli Davidson. With her running the local diner and coming from the home she did, why they would mention her name was beyond me.” Eli was a good girl, like whoa good girl. Then again, she had been raised by the town pastor and his wife, adopted into their family when she was three. She was three years younger than Megan and Mercy, but she recalled Eli because the girl could cook, and still did. She had left Massey to follow her dream of owning a string of restaurants, but ended up coming back home four years earlier when she had turned twenty-one. No one knew what happened, and Eli sure as shooting wasn’t telling either. The girl had been hurt, though. Anyone with a brain could see that. And anyone with a penis that might want to get with her got turned
down flat, which caused the men in the town to immediately peg her as either gay, or a crazy cat lady.

  He was toying with her hair as he drove. “I did see that. They were talking in code, but if what I was picking up from the discussion is what I think it is, we may need to let Brant know to put a couple agents on Eli. I’m not entirely sure what it’s all about, but the gist I got indicated they might be moving some merchandise. Actually, the mayor’s exact words were, ‘the buyer likes the merchandise we showed the other night, and is willing to pay top dollar. We’ll pick it up in two days, keep it locked down until then so there are no issues with delivery.’”

  All the air left her lungs. Megan went to sit up so fast that she hit her head on the steering wheel and cussed. “Shit.” She fumbled for her purse. “That’s it.” Simon’s words brought that night crashing back on her, painfully hard. “He’s moving women,” she said with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Eli would be prime because she has no family. When the Davidsons died, she was alone. I thought she had been engaged at one time, but she’s not married, obviously. Shit on a stick. That’s what I fucking saw.” She was shaking, the memories playing out rapidly and so hard that she felt like puking. “Our venerable mayor is in it up to his fucking eyeballs. His ranch is being used as a stopping point. A stopping point to get them hooked.” She heard Brant cuss his hello into the phone and said, “I know what I’ve been missing. Si and I are on our way over now. Fuck, this is so much bigger than drugs, Brant.”

  Simon was trying to check her forehead, and she smacked his hand away. He glared at her while Brant asked her what the hell she was talking about.

  “The only reason they didn’t shuttle me away is Mercy. She has the capitol to have turned the fucking world over to have found me. But the women that I saw all looked like they lived on the streets. Slavery and sex trade, Brant. This mother fucker is hooking these women on the drug that he gave me and is shipping them out.” And Brant knew just how that particular drug affected her and how hard it had been for her to come back from just one dose. If he was thinking like she was, he would be thinking of just what the women would do for another hit to ease the pain of need, the pain of wanting that drug.

  “We’re pulling up now. Hang up the phone, Megan, and you can talk to him about this in person,” Simon said. He pulled onto the road leading to Carver Ranch, and eased to a stop near the house not long after. Sliding out of the truck, he tugged her hand and helped her out.

  When Brant met them on the porch, she frowned. “Where are Mercy and Junior? Since I’m here, I need to give my favorite guy some love.” She had hung up her phone, but was still reeling from the memories unlocked by such an innocent comment. “I’m telling you, Brant, he might have moved his base of ops from the barn on the west lot, but he’s neck deep in this. I swear to you I saw at least ten women there and they had been talking about the previous ones that had been shipped out.” Those last two words made Megan sick to her stomach. The women were in God only knew what kind of hell, all because she couldn’t remember until just that moment.

  Simon was right there, his hand on the back of her neck, warming her skin while he gave a light squeeze. “Let’s get inside, Megan. You and Brant can sit down, talk this through, and figure out what the hell your next move is. It’ll also give me a chance to put some ice on that growing goose egg you’ve got going.”

  “Brant, I need you to send agents to watch over and protect Eli Davidson. I don’t know if you remember her or not. Pastor and Mrs. Davidson adopted her when she was just three. She’s three years younger than me and Mercy, but damn, she would be prime for them to take. She doesn’t have a huge amount of money and has absolutely no family to speak of since Pastor and the missus passed.” Within seconds of each other, the Davidsons had loved each other so completely that when one died, the other did as well. At least that was how Megan was choosing to see it.

  “You know I’ll put agents on her,” he said while leading the way to the kitchen. He pointed her to a seat, and waved Simon to another. Going to the freezer, he dug around and came back with a bag of peas and a dish towel. “Stick that on your already fat head,” he told her before sitting down. “The fact she’s got no family to worry about her is definitely a red flag. But she’s a business owner, which means if she vanishes, people are going to fucking look for her. So why would he go after her?”

  “She’s also about to go head to head with the good mayor at the next election. People love her. Hell, even I adore the freaking woman, and I don’t like anyone.” There was just something about Eli that made you want to protect her and keep her safe. Even as a woman, which was seriously weird. She had that hurt bird thing about her. That and with her father and mother being who they had been, even if they had only adopted her, it would sway huge in the polls.

  “Well that would explain why he wants her out of the picture,” Simon said. “He knows she’ll have the votes, unlike him. But if he runs unopposed then he can do whatever the fuck he wants for another term.”

  “He’s right,” Brant said. “Howe doesn’t have the votes because of his shady behavior as of late, and the fact that so many people adore your sister and know what an ass he was to her.”

  “Amen.” Mercy had always been the good sister in the eyes of the town and Megan the screw up. Which sadly had all been part of her cover. “He was a total jack hole to her,” Megan muttered. She was happy now that Brant was in her twin’s life. He was actually a good guy. One their dad would have totally approved of, if the hands were to be believed. “So, you boys figure out how to watch over Elizabeth, and we will all work on figuring out how to bring all these asses down.”

  “Give me a few minutes to call out some reinforcements,” Brant told her. “Grab a drink, and I’ll be back momentarily.”

  She waited for him to leave the kitchen before looking to Simon. “You okay?” he asked her. He brushed back some of her hair, and cupped the nape of her neck, gently squeezing.

  Megan nodded and moved in closer to him. When his arms wrapped around her, he pulled her body flush to his and she let him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest with her eyes closed. “I will be. Promise.”

  “I’m sorry this has been so rough on you,” he said in a gentle tone. “If you need anything, say the word.” Rubbing his hand up and down her back, Simon pressed a kiss to her temple.

  “Honestly, this is perfect. I’ve never had anyone to lean on. Just being able to have you here with me is perfect. You have no idea how much this really does mean to me.”

  “I think I have a vague idea. You’ve been working this alone for the most part, unsure where you can turn for help, or who to trust. You couldn’t even share with the one person who is closest to you in case it somehow came back on her. But now you do have someone to lean on, Megan. I expect you to lean on me often, preferably naked, but I can work with clothing too.”

  “Naked would be very good.” That had Megan leaning back to look up at him, a grin on her face. “I think that leaning up against you naked, often, is a perfect solution to the loneliness that I’ve had for the last six years.” She hadn’t meant to admit that, but she did.

  “I think so, too,” he said. Cupping her face, Simon rubbed his thumbs lightly to her cheeks. Leaning in, he gave her a gentle kiss, keeping it light and without any demand. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “A bottle of water would be wonderful.” She pulled back, heard the sound of baby Levi, and grinned. “Oh, I get to see my nephew and niece.” She pulled Simon close and gave him a quick kiss then moved away from him so that she could head toward the sound of the laughing babies. Seeing her twin, she grinned. “Gimme.” She loved Levi so much. He was such a shining light in their lives and she wanted to spend every moment she could with him. She would have demanded Angel, but the little girl was typically always in her father’s arms. Megan never would have believed that Brant would be such a pushover for anyone, but when it came to Angel, the
man would kill for that child, just as he would for Mercy.

  “I will go and hunt down my husband and daughter.” Mercy leaned in and gave Megan a hug. Meg saw the look on her twin’s face when she leaned in and wasn’t surprised when she whispered, “Simon is a good guy, Megs. I hope that this works out for you.” It was all she said before taking off.

  Holding Levi, Megan shook her head and grinned down at the baby in her arms. “Your mommy is funny. I love her, but she is also right.” She saw Simon walking toward her and pinky waved at him. “Simon is a good guy.”

  Simon held out the bottle of water, cap off for her to take a drink. “Levi, how’s it hangin’, little man?” he said to the baby. Reaching out, he tickled him under the chin and was rewarded with a giggle. “I thought so. Enjoy it while it lasts, little man. Soon enough you’ll be expected to do things to help out, then get a job, and then all there is after that is responsibility. Don’t grow up too fast, Levi. While it looks great on the surface, it’s all a lie.”

  “Couldn’t agree more.” Megan watched Simon and smiled. “He’s such a good kid. He was unexpected, but he’s such a blessing. I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with him or his sister,” she confessed with a sad sigh. “Maybe once this case is over, though, I will get to.”

  “I think you should be able to,” he said. Taking the water back from her, he capped it and grinned at her. “You can take some time off, or whatever you feel like doing once this one is signed, sealed, and delivered to the DEA.”

  “It’s my intention to fully leave the agency when this is over. I might join the police force here, but I doubt it. I’m honestly not sure what I will do, but I know that I’m over undercover work. Once this is all done, I would be happy to simply relax for a time. Maybe take a desk job. We will see.”

  “Maybe you’ll find you want to start your own business,” he said. “Work for yourself instead of someone else for a change. You have a lot of options.” Touching Levi’s nose, he grinned at the kid. “Whatever you do, don’t rush into anything. Take your time, spend time with your family until they drive you completely insane, and then decide what you want to do.”