Gunning for the Groom

by Debra Webb

  More than the fleeting, innocent touches of her arm or knee, the way her mind worked—swift and a little dark—compounded his problem. She was a client and deserved his best effort on the case. He had to find a way to ignore how she stirred him. More, he had to find a way to ignore the brief, assessing glances she’d been aiming his direction when she thought he wasn’t looking.

  They’d been at peak altitude for just over an hour when she shifted in her seat. “Aidan?”

  Her hair was down today and as she pushed it behind her ear he caught that lovely scent again. “Yes?”

  “I’m thinking we need to change up the plan.”

  He kept his expression neutral, though he couldn’t wait to hear what she’d been mulling over since last night. “How so?”

  “If we go into Leo Solutions separately, the odds aren’t in our favor. Either one of us could get tossed out if we’re discovered. This may be my best chance to learn the truth. I can’t afford to get pushed back to square one.”

  “You don’t have much faith in me, do you?”

  “It’s not that.” She twisted more, her knee bumping his. “We’re walking into a security company. They’re going to find out we were on the same plane, that we sat together.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” he said. The problem would be keeping his hands to himself if he didn’t find some distance.

  “It’s too coincidental. We should go on the offensive.”

  He had a sudden image of Frankie charging ahead, leading a strike team, heedless of the American military rules about women in combat. “Dare I ask what you have in mind?”

  She gave him a smile and it stunned him. No falsehood in this smile, no tension, just pure excitement. The expression lit her eyes and brought a hint of color to her cheeks. For a moment he was lost to anything but the gorgeous view.

  “Rather than wait for them to confront us,” she was saying, “why don’t we just go in together?”

  “We are going in together.” Sitting together on the plane didn’t have to be a big deal. For the case.

  “No, together like a couple,” she said, her dark eyes sparkling. “Let’s tell Sophia we’re engaged.”

  He stared at her, dumbfounded, while she hurried to explain.

  “Hear me out. My mom’s a big romantic. Always has been.” Frankie’s smile evaporated. “One more reason it baffles me that she tossed her soul mate under the bus,” she added in a low voice. “If we show up and tell her we’re engaged, we effectively distract her.”

  This was a bad idea. Horrible. “I don’t—”

  “I’ve thought it through,” Frankie promised, cutting him off. “We’ll tell her you applied to the company and when you got the interview on your own merit we decided to come out and surprise her with the whole truth. She’ll eat it up.”

  “She’ll see right through it,” he argued.

  “Not a chance. We’ll tell her it’s been a long-distance thing and we can’t stand living apart anymore. This is perfect, trust me.” Frankie nearly bounced in her seat.

  His stomach pitched and rolled as if they were going through severe turbulence. “What about the living arrangements?”

  “What about them? Being engaged gives us the perfect reason to talk to each other anytime we want through the workday or in the evenings. We won’t need any excuses. It’s a stronger plan all around.”

  It didn’t feel that way to him. He had to convince her to drop it. “The plan was a hotel room for me and you in the house with your mom.”

  “Yeah...” Frankie shook her head, and the sable waves of her hair rippled. “No matter what we decide about this, I won’t stay with her.”

  “It gives you tremendous access.”

  “Access or not, I can’t do it.” She tucked her hands between her thighs as if she were suddenly cold. “I’ve lived on my own too long. We’d be snapping at each other before I found out anything useful.”

  “We need to stick with the plan and cover Victoria arranged,” he said, willing her to be reasonable. He couldn’t be engaged. Not even for a case. “This kind of change should be approved.” There, he’d found a point she couldn’t argue with.

  “What does it matter, if we get the job done?” Frankie countered. “This tactic simplifies everything.”

  Maybe for her. His fingers cramped into a fist, digging into his palm. This couldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t give in.

  “Arriving engaged is the best answer,” she said, patting his knee as if the topic was settled.

  “No,” he murmured, glancing around for anyone who might’ve caught their conversation. “I won’t alter the op without approval.”

  She snorted. “Please. Victoria knows things change and investigators have to think on their feet. Let’s make the most of it.”

  He shook his head and looked past her to the sky flying by the window. This was ridiculous.

  “Is it such an impossible task to pretend to like me when we’re in public?”

  “Of course not,” he replied. He was afraid how easy it would be to treat her as a fiancée. “It changes the dynamic. Significantly. Lying as part of a cover is one thing. Lying to each other is another.”

  “What do you mean?” Her dark eyebrows dipped into another sharp frown. “We’ll be lying to the suspect, not to each other.”

  “Only in public,” he said with a hefty dose of sarcasm. He hadn’t missed how she’d termed her mother as a suspect. “Being engaged typically means affectionate displays and exhibiting a sense of closeness and trust.” He leaned closer and she leaned away, proving his point.

  “Are you afraid I’m going to forget it’s for show and fall in love with you?” She rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m not prowling for a relationship, Aidan. Let’s agree to do whatever it takes to get the job done efficiently.”

  He eased back into his seat, letting her believe she’d put him in his place. “Let me think it over.” He flipped open his tablet and continued his study of the Leone family background.

  “Just decide before we land,” she whispered.

  He didn’t reply. Her need for control was likely a combination of her upbringing, her natural fiery personality and the career-ending injury. He couldn’t blame her for that. He did, however, want to look at her “proposal” from all angles, especially from her mother’s point of view.

  He wasn’t worried about his family finding out. In Ireland, they were all well away from any gossip, and the agency should be intercepting any queries. No, he was more concerned about how he’d feel playing Frankie’s groom-to-be, even if only for a few days. He prided himself on being able to roll with the unexpected elements of his work. Surely there was a way to talk her out of this.

  Eventually, he closed his tablet and reached over to take her hand.

  “What are you doing?” She tugged, but he held on.

  “Holding my fiancée’s hand.” This would be his ticket back to the sane side of this case.

  “Oh.” Her fingers relaxed a fraction. “You agree then that this is the best avenue to take?”

  “I’m weighing the pros and cons.”

  Her brown eyes narrowed and her intelligent gaze turned suspicious. “I outlined the only pros that matter.”

  “To you.”

  “Aidan.” She jerked her hand free of his. “What are you thinking?”

  He grinned at the wariness in her eyes. She couldn’t possibly want to play this out, not the way they needed to, to make it convincing. “I really don’t think the fake engagement is the best way to go.”

  “Why not?” Lacing her fingers together, she balanced her hands on her slim thigh. Her brown eyes lit with a challenge and her foot began to tap. “Afraid you’re not up to it?”

  On the contrary. Faking an intimacy would be too easy with Frankie. His
attraction for her was already cranked up and getting hotter by the minute. In other circumstances, with the slightest encouragement from her, he’d have made his move. When she gazed up at him, he could see flecks of gold in her brown eyes. He forced himself to take a mental step back rather than lean across the arm of the seat and crowd her personal space. “You’re an only child, right?”

  She nodded.

  “If you show up on your mom’s doorstep with a fiancé in tow, she’s going to go ballistic with excitement.”

  “That’s the point.” Frankie waved off the idea that it was a bad thing. “I haven’t spoken a word to her in months. The engagement diverts her suspicion about showing up now. What do you care if she gushes over you? It’s a week, tops. More likely she’ll be walking on eggshells, afraid to intrude in my personal life.”

  He wasn’t nearly so sure. Sophia Leone didn’t strike him as the selfish, remorseless woman Frankie thought she was. “I believe you’re underestimating her,” he pressed. Specifically, Sophia’s love for and commitment to her only child. “Our original story is strong enough without the complication of a false engagement.”

  “Is there someone else?” Frankie demanded suddenly. “A girlfriend or wife who’d be offended by our plan?”

  “Your plan,” he corrected. “And no.”

  “Then discussion over.”

  “Not so fast.” Leaning close, he caught that sweet scent of cloves and spices in her hair. “Are you prepared to play the part...completely?”

  He watched her, relentlessly quelling his grin as her eyes went wide when his full meaning registered. It was gratifying to realize she wasn’t immune to this electricity humming between them. He pulled himself together. The last thing he needed was to play with fire on a case Victoria had a personal interest in. He had to show Frankie this ploy was a mistake.

  She moistened her lips. “Are you prepared?”

  “Of course,” he replied automatically. “I always go the distance in my investigations.”

  “And in other areas?”

  “Are you flirting with me?”

  She batted her eyes in an exaggerated move that made him laugh, until she closed the distance and pressed her lips to his. Warmth spread from that point of contact down his arms, sizzling in his fingertips. She pushed her hand into his hair and drew him closer for a full, sensual kiss that blasted through him like a flash grenade.

  She was like a double shot of whiskey with a drop of honey—all fire with a hint of sweetness. He changed the angle, tipping up her chin and taking control of the kiss. When her lips parted on a sigh, he slid his tongue across hers with bold strokes.

  Belatedly he remembered the plane full of people and eased away. Her eyes were dazed, a mirror of his own, he was sure. “I think that will convince anyone.” It sure as hell convinced him.

  He prayed it would be enough to put an end to her irrational engagement idea.

  Chapter Five

  Frankie reached for the magazine, though she’d read it cover to cover already. It annoyed her no end that her hands shook. She could still taste the cola Aidan had chosen during the beverage service. The hint of crisp pine in his cologne tickled her nose and made her think of the rocky coast near Puget Sound.

  Maybe he was right and pretending an engagement was the wrong move.

  If that shocking kiss was any indication—even though she had started it—she’d have to be very careful. If they had to do much of that, it would be all too easy to believe the charade intended to knock down her mother’s defenses.

  Thoughts of her mom killed the lingering sizzle from the kiss. Sophia had boasted about keeping that spark of love and romance alive through thirty years of marriage. Obviously that had been one more lie on top of the heap. Her statement, all but convicting her husband, left no room for anything but the clear conclusion: Sophia’s career had trumped love in the end. She must have turned against her husband to avoid the demolition of her career by association. How would her security business have succeeded if shadowed by General Leone’s treason?

  Distracting her mother was worth any personal discomfort to Frankie. The announcement that she and Aidan were engaged would give them a brief advantage, and Frankie planned to make the most of it.

  She pressed her lips together, telling herself it was silly the way her heartbeat skipped when he touched her. It was true he could be her fantasy man come to life with his dark looks, quick smile and vivid blue eyes. And the accent? Dear God. Too bad this was absolutely the wrong time in her life. She had to find a way to deal with it if they were going to convince Sophia they were engaged.

  Frankie had to remember her purpose, stay focused and keep the sexy man beside her at arm’s length when they were alone. Hopefully it wasn’t obvious to Aidan that the kiss had such a lasting effect on her.

  Apparently, he’d finished protesting the change in their cover story. When they landed at the Sea-Tac Airport, he held her hand on the way to baggage claim and through the rental car line. Once they were on their way, even the new-car smell wasn’t enough to distract her from Aidan’s crisp, masculine scent. It seemed that one kiss had her locked in on him. She had to shake off this persistent feminine awareness of him. She couldn’t allow anything to splinter her focus.

  Knowing the city better than he did, she had offered to drive. Seattle was always bustling, and for the first time she was grateful for the snarl of traffic. It gave her more time to consider her approach. She tapped her fingers against the steering wheel while her mind surged into overdrive. She found her eagerness for the confrontation with her mother had faded, knowing she’d have a witness as cool and calm as Aidan.

  “What about the ring?”

  His question cut into her thoughts and she struggled to find the context. “Ring?” Frankie glanced at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “If we’re engaged, you should have a ring.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Lots of engaged women go without a ring.” She couldn’t think of an example right now, but it had to be true. No way would she let him put a ring on her finger. “My mom’s a romantic. She’ll believe us if we tell her we were planning to shop for a ring together.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Trust me.”

  Aidan turned a bit in the seat, facing her. “I don’t know you well enough to trust you.”

  That stung a little. “You have my file and we can cover the basics tonight,” she protested. Why couldn’t that be enough? She didn’t need him cluttering the plan. “Just gloss over the details, get mushy once in a while when she’s watching, and it will work out. We aren’t going to be here that long.”

  “Uh-huh.” His gaze returned to the congested roadway. “Why would I propose without a ring? I don’t think that’s something you’d tolerate.”

  “You just said you didn’t know me.”

  “I said I didn’t trust you. As for knowing you, I’m a quick study,” he stated.

  “Are you messing with me?” The freeway was at a full stop, so she gave him a long, hard look. The grin creased his face, ornery as hell and way too sexy. Eyes on the road, she ordered herself. “I don’t wear jewelry.”

  “You’re wearing earrings.”

  She thought of the small diamond studs in her ears. They’d been a gift from her father on her sixteenth birthday. She touched her ear with a fingertip, giving the simple, timeless setting a twirl. “These hardly count. I wore them to remind my navy buddies I was a girl.”

  “I have a hard time believing they’d forget that detail.”

  Frankie ignored what sounded like a compliment, her mind returning to the bigger problem of how best to greet her mom tomorrow.

  Smiling would be the toughest part of this farce. Frankie had to find a way. A happy smile and sticking close enough to the truth that her mother woul
dn’t pinpoint the lies right away was the key to operational success. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. It hadn’t been so long ago that the keys to a successful operation were preparation, attitude and the right equipment.

  “We need to stop at a mall or something,” Aidan said.

  Frankie knew she needed better wardrobe options, but shopping was the last thing she wanted to add to their task list. “What did you forget?”

  “Not for me, for your mom. It’s rude to show up on someone’s doorstep empty-handed,” he said. “As your fiancé I should bring flowers to the first meeting.”

  She sighed, frustrated with his sudden commitment to her idea. “You’re overthinking it.” One of them had to keep this charade under control. “We’ll grab a bouquet from a grocery store in the morning.”

  “I know you’re angry with her, but I have standards. Flowers are friendly, polite and thoughtful.”

  “You didn’t toss out this many objections on the plane,” she said.

  “I was processing the idea and we were in public.”

  “Right.” She wasn’t falling for that line. “You’re an investigator. You process in real time.”

  “Not always. Indulge me and stop at the mall. I only need fifteen minutes.”

  “She doesn’t need mall flowers.”

  “A future son-in-law showing up with cheap flowers is worse than no flowers. I can make you stop.”

  Frankie would like to see him try. “Would you just drop this, please?”

  “No. This was your idea,” he said. “Unless you’d rather go back to the original plan?”

  “No.” Catching on, she bit back the rant. She recognized a test when it smacked her in the face. Aidan had agreed to play this her way, and she wasn’t letting him off the hook just because he was trying to annoy her. “We’ll stop at the mall.”

  “I’ve found a couple of florists close to your house.”