Operation: Endeavor (When The Mission Ends)

by Christi Snow

  “Escort?” Alix’s eyes widened in shock. “I know I haven’t seen my sister in a few years, but I find it hard to believe that she’s changed that much.”

  “I know, right? That was exactly my reaction. But she swears she doesn’t want me for that.” Penelope rolled her eyes. “Honestly, after all these years of disapproving of my ‘wild ways,’ now my mom wants to use them to impress this guy. It sounds like he’s pretty unorthodox. If nothing else, it should be fun to see how my mom relates to a colleague who has more in common with me than her.”

  Penelope looked around the quiet store. “Thanks for covering for me this morning. Is there anything happening around here that I need to know about?”

  “We got a box of ARC’s and promotional swag in. I put it on your desk.”

  “Okay, good. When does Hannah come in next? She’ll want those ARC’s so she can start reading them.” Hannah was another employee at Raider Readers and she worked as their blog mistress. She read the Advanced Reader Copies of books that were coming out and posted reviews as well as giveaways, release dates, and other pertinent information on the blog for the bookstore.

  “She’s supposed to be in tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Good. She can go through them then.” There was a customer in the New Fiction section and the monitors showed someone else upstairs in the Science Fiction section. “It looks like you have everything under control here.” At Alix’s nod, she said, “I’m going to go catch up on some paperwork in my office. Holler if you need me.”

  Chapter 6

  “Colton! I come bearing food. Can I interest you in some pizza?” Penelope yelled down the hall as she set the pizzas on the table. She didn’t hear a response so she walked down the hall to Colton’s room, to see how the unpacking was going.

  She found him sitting on the floor, surrounded by a meager pile of boxes, looking at a photo album. His face wasn’t visible, but his posture seemed sad. Slumped over the photo album, his fingers lingered lightly over a photo of a couple. That had to be a picture of his parents.

  His bare feet toes were peeking out from under his folded legs. Tilting her head, she looked again at those bare toes. Why was that so attractive to her? Especially in light of the sadness that permeated the room as he looked at his parents. She knew they’d died in a plane crash through her friendship with Cassie. How hard would that have been for him to lose both parents so young?

  As she leaned against the doorframe, observing him, Colton suddenly jumped up and began searching through the few boxes in the room.

  “Son of a bitch!” The muscles in his back became tighter and tighter as he dug more frantically. Whatever he’d just discovered was missing, he wasn’t happy about it.

  She needed to give him his privacy.

  As she started to slip away, he suddenly looked up at her. She was struck by the stark anger and pain shining from his eyes at that first glance, but he quickly covered it up when he realized she was standing there.

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” he said quietly.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I brought pizza. I knew you’d be busy unpacking today and thought you could use some sustenance.” She decided not to mention whatever he was looking for. It wasn’t any of her business, but she couldn’t ignore the lack of stuff. She looked quizzically around the room and the obvious lack of boxes and furniture. “Um, Colton, where’s all your stuff?”

  He gave a self-deprecating chuckle as his eyes hardened. “Obviously, you should never trust a soon-to-be ex-wife to pack up your house and put it into storage for you. This is all there is.” He looked around the bare room. “I need to go shopping.” He scowled at the thought.

  She smiled. “I can tell you’re thrilled about the idea. First, pizza. We can figure out what you need over lunch.”

  They headed into the kitchen and settled into chairs at the breakfast bar. Penelope gestured toward his plate. “I hope you don’t mind veggie pizza. I’m a vegetarian.”

  “Naw, this is great. I love any pizza from One Guy. Thanks for picking it up, but I thought you were going to be working all day.”

  “Ah, no, that’s the beauty of being the boss. I can leave when things get slow. They can call me back in if they need me, but I think you’re going to need me more today.” She leaned over the counter and grabbed a pad and pencil. “We have some power shopping to get done. Let’s make a list.”

  “Thanks, but you don’t –”

  “Nope, no arguments. I’m going. I’m a fabulous shopper with incredible taste. You won’t regret it. Besides I have the Bus. This way you won’t have to borrow Chris’s truck again.”

  Colton hesitated as he glanced around the apartment. “Thanks, I hate shopping, so I’d appreciate the help.”

  “No problem. We just have to be back here by 5:00 so I have time to get ready for my date.” She looked at the clock on the microwave. “We’d better hurry. We have a lot of ground to cover and not very much time to do it in. I hope you have high limits on your credit cards.”

  Colton shut his eyes and groaned. “It’s going to be a long afternoon.”

  * * *

  As Penelope flung her body onto the huge bed, she looked over at him entreatingly. “Come on. You need to lay on the bed to get a feel if it’s the one for you.”

  The cascade of her honey-colored hair flung across the pillow sent his pulse pounding and his fingers itched to run through the soft locks. Honestly, if she’d lie in his bed all the time, it wouldn’t matter what it felt like. Regardless, he wasn’t sure that he could trust himself enough to join her on a bed in a public place without developing an embarrassing erection.

  He scowled down at her. She had a date tonight. Maybe he should go out and find himself a distraction. Obviously his lack of a sex life was starting to affect him.

  She rolled over and sat up on her hands and knees. Obviously, she had no issues making herself right at home on the furniture displays. “Look, Colt,” she grabbed hold of the slats of the headboard and the thick bedpost beside it, “this would work really well for those Dom/sub games you’re into. Just imagine tying someone up to the corners of this baby.” She smirked up at him and he decided a good spanking might do her some good.

  A wave of lust flowed through his entire body at the idea of her tied to those four bedposts, but was distracted by the sound the salesman made, which sounded way too much like a groan. From the look on his face, he was thinking the same licentious thoughts about Penelope that Colton was having. Colton reached over and plucked her off the bed as he turned to the salesman and scowled. “I’ll take it and will pay whatever you need so that it’s delivered today.”

  “No problem, sir. Let me get the paperwork started.”

  * * *

  Three hours later, they were back at the loft. Colton was kicked-back in the living room sucking down a well-earned beer while Penelope got ready for her date. Thanks to her, they’d actually gotten a lot bought and he was well on his way to having a furnished room again.

  “Hey, Colton, can you come help me?” Penelope was leaning out the door of her bedroom.

  “Sure.” He walked into her room and was greeted with the glorious expanse of her back. He sucked in a breath at the view. God, she was beautiful.

  She looked at him over her shoulder. “Can you zip me up? I can’t reach it to do it myself. This is a new dress and I never realized how hard it was to get into.”

  “No problem,” he said. Even to him, his voice sounded several octaves deeper than normal. He reached to grab the zipper tab and as he started to pull it up, he caught the glimpse of something which surprised him on her right side. She had birds tattooed up her back. He could just see the full body of one and the wings of two others. He gently rubbed his fingertips over them, feeling the silky warmth of her skin. Penelope shivered at his touch.

  “These are amazing.”

  “Thanks.”

  He continued to pull the zipper up her back, but was now intrigued about
exactly how far those birds traversed the side of her body. As the zipper closed at the top, he could see the edge of another bird up high on her right shoulder and the word ‘free’ tattooed into its trail.

  He traced that final bird as he said, “I have a feeling there’s a story here.”

  She turned to him and his breath caught in his throat. She was stunning. The plum-colored dress fit her like a glove. While it completely covered her, it clung to her curves and enhanced every single one of them. Colton’s mouth went dry.

  “There is.”

  “What?” He’d lost track of what they were talking about.

  “The tattoo. There’s a story. I’ll share it with you one night, but now I have to finish getting ready.” There was a knock on the front door. “Do you mind getting that? I just have to load up my purse and grab my sweater and then I’ll be out.”

  At his silent nod, she murmured, “Thanks, Colton.”

  He gave her one last lingering look before leaving to answer the door. Damn, she looked incredible.

  Colton opened the door with his thoughts still lingering back in the bedroom with Penelope and the currents zinging through his system. The man standing before him was tall, although not quite as tall a Colton. His hair was dark and styled in one of those pretty-boy casual styles, meant to look easy, but took as many products to achieve as any girl’s hairstyle. His warm brown eyes crinkled at the corners like he smiled a lot or spent a lot of time outdoors. Looking at the guy, it was probably a combination of the two. He was fit, but not muscular.

  The guy offered an easy, but confused smile. He looked up and down the hall, then back at the door.

  “I’m sorry. I’m looking for Penelope Pruitt. This is the apartment number I have for her.”

  “Yeah,” Colton offered out his hand, “Penelope’s here. She’s still getting ready. I’m her roommate, Colton. Come on in. Dr. Lopez, right?”

  The man took his hand and nodded. “Yup, that’s me, but please call me Damon. Doctor makes me sound older than shit.” He offered a friendly smile as he entered the loft. He gave a low whistle as he looked around. “Whoa, this is nice.”

  “Thanks.” Colton nodded. “Can I offer you something to drink? I just moved in today, so I’m not sure what we have, but I’m sure we have something.”

  Damon chuckled. “No, I’m fine.” He looked speculatively at Colton. “You said you just moved in, so are you and Penelope an item?”

  Colton shook his head. “No, we’re just roommates.”

  “So, she’s single?”

  “As far as I know she is.”

  He gave a friendly grin. “That’s good to hear. I don’t want to horn in on some other guy’s territory and I don’t get to the States very often…” He let the sentence trail off as Penelope walked into the room and said under his breath, “Oh yeah, that’s really good to hear.”

  Colton glared at the guy. Pretty boy was not the man Penelope needed in her life. Colton froze as that inexplicable surge of possessiveness tore through him and he worked to tamp down the sudden anger. Where the hell had that thought come from?

  * * *

  As Penelope walked into the living room, her heart gave a little stutter of shock. Talk about testosterone overload. Just look at the beefcake she had in her living room tonight. Her nerves were already strumming after looking at beds all day with the incredibly built Colton. Now he stood there with another seriously hot guy. Tall, dark, and beautifully fit times two.

  The difference between the two guys was marked, but they were both very nice in their own way. Where Colton was intimidating in his pure bulk and height, Dr. Lopez was long and lean. Colton was casual in his t-shirt, jeans, and those oh-so-sexy bare feet, while Dr. Lopez wore a suit that fitted his lean physique perfectly. They both had dark hair. Colton’s was military short, while Dr. Lopez’s style was a little longer and more careless. Dr. Lopez had a face which was completely open and friendly, while Colton was more guarded with his expressions. Right now he looked downright pissed. Had she missed something? She glanced between the two of them, but didn’t see any other signs of trouble. Curious. Dr. Lopez eyed her as she approached and his eyes showed his approval. She smiled at him and offered her hand. “Hi, you must be Dr. Lopez.”

  He flashed a bright smile at her, but instead of shaking her hand, he lifted it slowly to his lips. He murmured, “Please call me Damon. You’re even more beautiful than your mother described, Penelope.” Then he brushed his lips lightly over the back of her hand. She got caught up in the depths of his chocolate eyes before Colton cleared his throat.

  He frowned at her as he said, “So you two are headed to the campus?”

  Damon grimaced. “Unfortunately. This is not my idea of an ideal first date when I want to impress a beauty like this.” He looked over at Penelope. “It’s a University function where a lot of stuffed shirts are going to schmooze me so they can intrude upon my archeological dig.”

  “Hey, those stuffed shirts are my parents.” She appeared contemplative for a moment. “Oh never mind, you’re completely correct. Maybe we can hit a jazz bar afterwards for some real fun.” She looked at him speculatively.

  He gave her another easy smile. “I think that sounds like a plan, but we probably should be off so that we can get the boring part of the evening out of the way.”

  “No worries. They can’t schmooze without you there, so they can’t possibly complain about you being late.” She looked over at Colton. “Don’t have too much fun unpacking.”

  Colton groaned. “Don’t remind me. Although I’m not sure which is worse…the unpacking I need to deal with or the stuffed shirts you’ll have to deal with. Maybe I’ll just settle into the couch with one of your books.” He looked speculatively toward her erotica shelf and a shiver of awareness skated through her body. Yep, way too much testosterone in this room.

  “Goodnight Colton.” She dragged Damon out the front door. She needed to get away from her way-too-sexy new roommate.

  Chapter 7

  Penelope watched Damon as they rode in the luxurious chauffeured town car. He really was very good looking. He had a casual sense about him and an easy smile which was especially appealing. “The University must think really highly of you to offer this kind of service.” She gestured toward their driver.

  He shrugged. “I have something they want, so they plan to keep me happy however they can. I have to admit I’m surprised by you, though. This is the first time I’ve had such an interesting and beautiful date provided.”

  She gave a self-deprecating little laugh. “That sounds like flattery, but unfortunately I know what the typical anthropologist looks like.” She paused to examine him. He was so different from Colton, but she wasn’t going to start comparing her dates to her new roommate. He was a roommate. Only a roommate. “I’m the one who should be surprised. You’re neither old nor crusty.” She winked at him. “How did you get into archaeology and anthropology?”

  “Through my uncle, who does happen to be old and crusty. I grew up going on digs with him and fell in love with the life and mystery of it all. I was fortunate to make some good contacts early in life. That and a little bit of luck thrown in and now I find myself working for National Explorer on one of the most prestigious digs happening this decade.”

  “What’s so special about this dig?”

  “El Regalo.”

  “The Gift?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “You speak Spanish?”

  “I’ve picked up a little over the years, but I’m nowhere close to fluent. And that still doesn’t explain what makes this dig so important.”

  “First, let me tell you a story. There’s a legend in the Mayan culture about the God of Rain, Chac. It’s said he was a benevolent God who fell in love with a human woman. She didn’t return his love and instead she fell in love with a farmer. She bore that farmer two sons. When Chac found out, he was enraged and sent a flood which killed her sons while they were working in the fields. Immediately, Ch
ac regretted his actions and sent the woman a gift to try to make up for her sons’ deaths. The gift was a golden garden… full of flowers and plants made from pure gold, but it was too late. The woman committed suicide because her grief over the loss of her sons was so great. When the farmer saw the gift Chac sent, he spent the next twenty years burying the golden garden under layer upon layer of dirt.”

  “But it’s just a legend, right?”

  “Correct, but as we study archaeology and anthropology more and more, we’ve come to realize that all legends are based loosely upon some grain of truth. We’re seeing signs this new site could very well be El Regalo, the Golden Garden from the legend. The site is a building which was obviously buried on purpose. The first artifacts out of it have been golden flowers.” She could see his passion about his work glimmering in his eyes.

  “Oh wow. That sounds amazing.”

  “It is and I’m hoping, as we dig, we’ll be able to figure out the true story behind the legend.” His chocolate brown eyes sparkled with excitement. “It’s all about figuring out the mystery and finding the treasure.”

  “So you’re just an adult treasure hunter,” she teased him.

  “You got it, darling. The hard part is finding the ‘X’ and I’ve got it this time.” He gave her a cocky smile and grabbed her hand. “I think we’ve arrived.” He nodded toward the building where they’d parked. “Are you ready to go accept the schmoozing?”

  “They want to schmooze you, not me.”

  “Aw, but that’s the perk of being my date. You get schmoozed purely by happenstance. That and you’re on the arm of the best-looking guy in the place.”

  “Modest, too, aren’t you?” She smiled at him as he pulled her out of the car.

  “Modesty has nothing to do with it, darling. I’m simply stating fact.” He winked at her as he smiled, flashing his very sexy dimples.

  Guys with dimples were her favorite type, so why did her thoughts keep straying to the roommate she’d left at home who hadn’t flashed a dimple yet? She worried at her lip with her teeth. She may just have a problem here.