by Cat Johnson
“Increase it by how much? From like ninety percent without me to one hundred percent with me?”
Trey glanced at the commander who answered, “More like sixty percent without you and seventy-five percent with you.”
They both watched her carefully as she took a deep breath. Trey knew, or at least hoped, the commander was giving her the worse-case scenario to make sure she was aware of what she was getting herself into and exactly how dangerous it would be because those odds pretty much sucked.
“Why me, specifically?” She directed her question to the commander.
“Honestly? Mostly because you look like her and we don’t have time to find anyone more qualified.” The commander slid a print copy of the photo of the woman across his desk.
Carly walked closer, picked it up and studied it. After a moment she glanced up at Trey then back to the commander. “All right.”
The commander raised a brow. “That’s it? No more questions?”
Her short laugh sounded bitter. “Would you answer them if I asked?”
The commander smiled. “Probably not.”
“Then it would be a waste of time, now wouldn’t it?” She cocked up one brow.
The commander nodded. “You’ll do well I think, McAfee. Williams will brief you on the flight over, but here’s a quick overview. You’re playing a newlywed American wife. Williams is your husband and as his wife you are devoted, loving and obedient and will do whatever he says.”
Carly screwed up her face, mumbling, “Good thing I took that acting class in college.”
The commander acted like he didn’t hear her, but continued a bit more loudly, “More importantly, he’s your field leader on this assignment and as such you’ll do whatever he commands, no questions asked. This is imperative. Hesitation could cost lives. He’ll be in constant contact with myself and any others who might be working with us. You have to trust him implicitly and without discussion, because you must assume every minute, everywhere, you will be monitored by those who can do you harm. I mean not even a whisper, McAfee. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Trey noted she was already standing a little straighter and calling the commander sir. Military training was just like riding a bike. A person never really forgot it.
“Good. You’re quick and you’re tough, McAfee. I can see that. You must be to deal with these guys drunk every night. I wouldn’t be sending you on this assignment if I didn’t think you would succeed. One last thing—” the commander turned to Trey, “—Williams, go kiss your new bride.”
It was a test. Trey knew that. A test both for him and for Carly. Keeping his role in mind, he became the newlywed husband who was supplying arms to terrorist bastards.
Without hesitation, Trey strode to where she stood.
More petite up close than she appeared when she was wielding her larger-than-life attitude while mixing drinks behind her bar, in reality she came up only to about his chest.
He tangled one hand in her hair so she couldn’t pull her head away, not that she tried. He slipped the other beneath the hem of the shirt where it just met the jeans riding low below her waist.
Her skin felt warm and smooth. He slid his hand higher and let his thumb rest just below the lush curve of her breast.
Trey had to duck his head down to reach her. She stared up at him, her eyes liquid pools of green clearly showing her surprise as he bent and captured her mouth.
Kissing her hard and deep, he parted her lips and drove his tongue between them before he or she had too much time to think about it.
In this particular situation thinking would be bad.
She didn’t squirm or pull away. In fact, she actually tilted her head and allowed him greater access to the warm, wet recesses of her mouth.
As his tongue met and stroked hers, he felt a stirring in his pants. There was no way to kiss a woman this attractive this deeply and not have it affect him. He was a healthy, red-blooded male after all, but he didn’t need a raging hard-on in front of both Carly and the commander.
When he thought how he and Carly would be sharing a bed as they portrayed a married couple for the duration of this mission his mind went to bad places, and his erection followed.
Trey broke the kiss. Trying to ignore both his pounding heart and his rapidly expanding lower appendage, he dropped his hands from her too-tempting body and noticed her sway slightly as he turned to the commander. “Sir?”
The commander nodded and smiled. “Let’s get you two on that plane.”
He caught the brief look of shock on Carly’s face. They’d have to work on that on the flight over. She couldn’t show any surprise in front of the target. It could mean both their lives.
Trey followed the commander out of the office and into the meeting room, guiding a stunned Carly by the elbow until he saw Jack’s gaze zero in on his hand holding Carly’s arm. He dropped his hold immediately and found himself wiping his mouth and remembering that kiss.
Dammit, he would have to get a hold on himself. If he wanted to get them through this thing alive, he’d have to conquer both the chemistry he felt with Carly and the guilt he had over Jack.
The commander, unaware of the love triangle developing right beneath his nose, continued to brief the team. “Our happy couple here will be flying in a private jet courtesy of our targets’ bank account.” Trey inwardly cringed at the term happy couple and the look on Jack’s face.
The commander continued, “The jet has been swept for surveillance and is clean, but count that as the last secure place until this thing is over. The rest of the team will be in a transport just ahead of them. We’ll be connected by Williams’s earpiece. Let’s roll. The team goes wheels up at zero-nine-thirty.”
Trey leaned closer to Carly’s ear. “Walk up ahead for a moment. I need to talk to Jack alone.”
It was killing her already to follow his orders without question, he could tell, but after only a small frown as protest she did as he’d asked. He counted her compliance as another step closer to insuring they’d make their flight home and not in a body bag either.
“Jack.” Trey held him back a few paces with a hand on his friend’s arm. “I need to know you’re okay before I get on that plane.”
“No, I’m not okay, Trey. I’m pissed as hell. I’m going to be stuck on the sidelines instead of out there trying to help my brother. And to top it off, I have to watch my best friend play bridegroom to the woman I may very well be falling in love with. If he doesn’t get her killed first.”
Trey felt his eyes widen at that revelation. Jack had used the “L” word. He’d known Jack had a crush on Carly, but not that he was falling in love.
“This is just an assignment, Jack. It’s all pretend.” Yeah, right. Nothing pretend about his reaction to their kiss. It would also be very real that Carly’s warm body would be sharing a bed with him in a hotel room in Kosovo. “You can pick up wherever you left off with her when I bring her back.”
Trey hated that thought but that was something he’d have to deal with later. After this op.
“Just make sure you do bring her back.” Then Jack surprised him when he reached out and hooked an arm around Trey’s neck, pulling him into a quick hug. “Make sure to keep yourself safe and my brother too.”
Trey needed no reminding of exactly how many lives he was carrying on his shoulders at the moment, but knowing Jack was still his friend helped ease the burden a bit. He slapped him on the back and they both ran to catch up with the group.
CHAPTER 7
Carly sat in the passenger seat of a rental car as Trey drove them to some private jet at the airport.
The charade had already begun apparently. They drove in a separate car in case anyone was watching so she and Trey wouldn’t be seen piling out of the black van that carried his teammates and all their equipment.
She drew some small satisfaction that her suspicions had been dead on. There was no doubt in her mind now that they were black ops, right dow
n to the color of their vehicle.
“I’m scheduled to be off tonight, but I have to call the bar and leave a message so they don’t worry about me when I’m not there to open tomorrow.”
He handed her a cell phone. “No details.”
“I know. I’m not stupid.” She added the last part under her breath but he turned to look at her as if he’d heard.
“Do you have your story ready?” he asked.
“Yes.” Not really, but now that he’d said it she thought of an excuse for her unexplained absence pretty quickly.
After dialing the bar’s main phone number, she waited for the voicemail prompt.
“Hey, guys. Something came up and I have to be out of town for a few days. I’m going to need you to juggle the schedule a bit and cover my shifts. Also, you have to place an order for liquor and beer today or we’ll be in big trouble by the weekend. Just ask the distributor to help you put together the order and don’t let him talk you into anything you don’t think we need. I do not want that orange-flavored creamy tequila crap he keeps pushing on me and if I come home and find it there, I’m going to make whichever one of you ordered it drink every last ounce. I guess that’s it. You won’t be able to get in touch with me, but I’ll call when I’m back.”
With nothing else to say, she disconnected the call and handed the cell back to him.
Trey glanced at her. “Boy. I had no idea it was so complicated owning a bar. Then again, I had no idea you owned the bar until today or that you used to be in the service.”
Carly sniffed. “One thing the military does well is pry into people’s personal business.”
So they knew about her time in the Army. She hoped they also knew she spent the entire duration of it behind a desk stateside.
Sure, she went through basic training and yeah she could fire a weapon if she had one, which she didn’t so she wasn’t at all convinced that skill was going to help in this situation. She could file papers for Trey if the need arose though.
He laid a hand on her knee. “I know you’re pissed about being dragged into this, but get it all out now. Yell at me, curse me out if you need to but remember that once we’re off that plane you’re no longer Carly McAfee and we can’t discuss any of this, no matter what you’re feeling.”
Like she needed reminding he’d put his life into her hands. She decided as long as she had his permission to vent now and only now she might as well get it all out. “What the hell was with that kiss?”
He glanced at her and then focused on the road ahead. Did his brown eyes show guilt? Embarrassment? “You know as well as I that the commander was testing both of us.”
“Testing what? How long it took for you to get your tongue down my throat?” She was angry, but more at herself than at him. She’d reacted to his kiss. She hated that thought.
She would like to think it was because of her self-imposed sexual dry spell. Last night she’d let Jack kiss her and almost gave in to his invitation for dinner, though he probably wouldn’t remember. Today she’d been ready to crawl into Trey’s pants.
Not only was she breaking all her own rules, it seemed to be getting progressively worse. As nice and sweet as Jack’s kiss had been the night before, her body hadn’t reacted as fiercely as it had to Trey’s mind-blowing lip lock today.
Dammit. She didn’t want to be attracted to either of them. Not Jack or Trey.
No, it was more than that. She could not allow herself to be attracted. Not since the love of her life had come home from his tour of duty overseas, married and with a baby.
Surprise.
Now here she was pretending to be married to one of the few guys she’d been attracted to since then. A guy who, against all common sense, she was having trouble resisting and of course, he was eyeball deep in the military.
Trey glanced in her direction again. “I’m sorry, but the reality is you and I are either convincingly happily married or dead. Under normal circumstances, my behavior in the commander’s office would have been totally inappropriate, but there’s nothing normal about this situation. You cannot react to anything I do once we’re off that plane or—”
“I know. I know. I know.” Her voice rose each time she said it, sounding shriller with each repetition.
“No, Carly. I’m afraid you don’t know. We might be under twenty-four-hour audio and visual surveillance even in our hotel room. We have to act married, day and night. No breaks. No downtime.”
She whipped her head around to stare at his profile as he drove. “Are you saying I’m supposed to have sex with you?”
His throat worked as he swallowed. “It shouldn’t come to that. Hopefully we’ll be in and out quick . . . out of the mission I mean. One, two nights maximum.”
“What if we’re there longer?” she asked.
“We won’t be.”
“What if we are?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
Not liking the sound of that, nor the fact her insides had done a total flip at the thought of having sex with Trey, Carly crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the side window.
“Carly.”
“What?”
“We may have to get pretty intimate. I have to know you won’t react like this during the op if I have to touch you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Look at me.”
Finally, she turned away from the window to face him.
“Are you going to be okay with all of this?” he asked, his focus on her rather than the road.
“Why don’t you have any faith in me?”
“I do have faith in you or I wouldn’t have said yes when the commander asked my opinion on your coming.”
“Then stop questioning me.”
“It’s a lot to deal with. You’re not trained for this. I need to know that if things get serious you’ll be okay.”
“Yes, dammit. Once we’re off that plane, I’ll be the perfect little obedient wife. Okay? But right now, can you please stop talking about this and leave me alone?”
Trey’s raised eyebrows were his only reaction to her hissy fit as he finally turned his complete concentration to the road ahead.
She drew in a deep steadying breath. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. This is a lot to deal with all of a sudden.” His voice was kinder, gentler than it had been the entire car ride. He was probably afraid she’d totally break down and start to cry.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the well-built muscles flex in his arm as he spun the steering wheel and guided the car into the airport entrance.
Those arms could very well be wrapped around her as they pretended to be married. She pictured them together as they tried to convince the cameras and microphones they were a couple. Need coiled within her and she became very aware of the lower parts of her body.
Trey had no idea how much she was trying to deal with right now.
CHAPTER 8
Inside the airport, Trey pressed one hand against the small of Carly’s stiffened back and guided her toward the terminal where the private jet waited.
After her meltdown in the car he took it as a good sign she didn’t slap his hand away.
As they waited in line to go through security, he slid his hand up, over her shirt. Cradling the back of her head in one hand, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers, watching her reaction. Her eyes drifted closed, opening again to stare into his when he ended the all-too-brief kiss.
She didn’t slap him. That was good. Carly would have to get used to him casually touching her the way a husband would. Better to practice here than in front of the target. If she weren’t able to handle this, he would much rather find out now instead of in front of the enemy.
He tried not to think about the fact he just plain liked kissing her. Jack had been right when he said she was a really good kisser.
Trey’s stomach clenched and he pushed thoughts of Jack and Carly out of his mind.
This mission required one hundred
percent of his concentration. He’d have to deal with any ramifications when they returned, and they would return if he had anything to say about it.
Carly was quiet. Too quiet and a little stiff.
“Everything all right?” He brushed a finger down her cheek.
Her answer was a far-from-convincing nod.
Reaching down, he took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re doing great.”
She swallowed before answering. “Thanks.”
They breezed through the security check with the couple’s documents, expertly altered by Matt to include their own photos. The bastard husband had been right about airport security. Even with Carly’s nerves apparent, the agents didn’t look too hard at an all-American happily married couple traveling together on a private jet.
Trey carried their bag, or rather the single piece of luggage belonging to the real couple they were impersonating, onto the aircraft. They’d have to change into the Smiths’ clothes before landing and hope at least something fit well enough to be convincing. Otherwise they would have to wear their own clothes, but the less they deviated from the real couple’s original plans and looks the better.
Matt and his magic computer had made sure the pilot was clean. He was actually also a veteran. Trey figured he and Carly were able to feel moderately safe on the flight while they memorized their fake histories.
As they waited for takeoff, she sat in the seat next to him and read the file. She raised an eyebrow. “My name is Candi with an ‘i’ and I was a stripper before I married you? Oh, that’s just lovely.”
He laughed. “I can’t wait to see what kind of wardrobe is waiting for you in that suitcase.”
She scowled. “Just don’t expect me to dance for you or anything.”
“We’ll see.”
Carly smacked him on the leg at his little joke. He grinned, happy she was loosening up a bit. Her playful side was just as appealing as the rest of her.
Pushing her appeal out of his mind, he tried to concentrate on his own file. He was having a lot of trouble doing so.