High Stakes Seduction

by Lori Wilde

  She sank her hands on her hips. “I’m not helpless, you know.”

  “Never said you were.” He moved past her, caught a whiff of sweet scent and had to fight off his instincts again. God, how he wanted to kiss her.

  He stopped when he got to her door. She came up behind him, keys in hand. She’d taken off her wet suit at the beach and wore only her bikini top and shorts. The blue butterfly tattoo was highly visible in the sunlight. He ached to press his lips to that butterfly, taste the salty tang of her skin.

  “So,” she said.

  “So,” he echoed.

  “See you tomorrow evening?”

  He nodded.

  She gave him one last smile—how had he lived before he’d seen her smile?—and closed the door.

  Leaving Adam to make his way back to his apartment, his heart staggering around in his chest like a Mardi Gras drunk. If Commander Higgins had him hooked up to a polygraph machine and asked him about his feelings for Eva, there’s no way he could lie and get away with it. She stirred his blood, burned his brain, drove him crazy in a way no woman ever had. And crazy was not a healthy state of mind for a naval intelligence officer.

  Once inside his apartment, he made the call to Commander Higgins and told him about what had happened in the ocean.

  “So Barksdale is definitely still in San Diego.” Higgins sounded relieved. “Good work, Mancuso. This lets me know my theory is correct. St. George is the key. This was the development we needed. I’m calling the judge to see if he’ll give us permission to tap her phone lines now. Did you find out what Barksdale said to her?”

  “She didn’t want to talk about it and I couldn’t insist without looking suspicious.”

  “You’re a smart guy, Adam. Find a way to get her to open up to you.”

  “About that, sir. I’m not sure I’m the man for this job. I’m afraid I’m losing my objectivity when it comes to Eva…er…the target.”

  “You’ve already made inroads with this woman. She trusts you.”

  Yeah and I’m going to hurt her just like Barksdale did and that’ll crush her. “You could just bring her in for questioning again.”

  “Let’s save that as an option of last resort in the off chance that she is involved. We can’t afford to tip our hand. You can do this, Lieutenant. It’s why I selected you for this detail. You’ve always been able to separate your heart from your head.”

  He had. Until now. Until Eva.

  “Find out what Barksdale discussed with your target. And that’s an order, sailor.”

  DORK.

  Eva had never felt more out of her element as she stared at herself in the mirror of the pro shop dressing room at the Shady Palms Country Club.

  They’d arranged to meet the other couple at the country club, and the minute Kirsten had seen Eva in her pair of cutoff blue jeans and a tank top, she’d grabbed her by the hand and whisked her into the shop.

  “We’ll get you properly attired,” she’d said, and flashed her Mastercard. “My treat.”

  “I can’t let you pay for this,” Eva protested.

  “Sure you can. You can’t go on the course dressed like you’re going to wash a car.”

  “Why not? It’ll be dark out soon. No one will be able to see me.”

  “Shady Palms is one of the most exclusive country clubs in Southern California. This charity is a big deal. Local television stations cover this event.”

  “Why didn’t you say so?” Eva said, feeling embarrassed. “I can pay for my own clothes.”

  Kirsten looked at her. “You’re a what? Size eight?”

  “Six.”

  “Real-ly? You look like an eight.”

  “Six,” Eva said through clenched teeth.

  “Here. Try these.” Kirsten had jammed a handful of golfing outfits in her arms and sent her into the dressing room.

  Now she was standing here in a short little pink-and-white skirt and polo shirt with a matching visor, golfing shoes with cleats and pink sports socks with fuzzy pompoms, looking all the world like Lovey Howell from Gilligan’s Island.

  “Do you think the cleats are really necessary?” she asked Kirsten. “I mean most likely this is the only time I’ll be playing golf.”

  “If you’re with Adam, you’ll be playing a lot of golf,” Kirsten said. “That is if you want to spend any time with him at all. There are only two things he cares about and that’s his work and golf.”

  “He’s taking my yoga class and he came surfing with me,” Eva pointed out.

  “That was just to get you in bed. You know how men are.”

  It was probably just Kirsten being petty, but the comment hit Eva like a rock. She didn’t belong with the country club set. She was the daughter of a hairdresser from Cut and Shoot, Texas. A woman who’d learned early on that if you put a big smile on your face no one would guess how lonely you were inside. Not only that, but if you kept your attachments loosely tied, it wouldn’t hurt so much when the threads broke.

  Now here she was being stuffed into a Stepford Wife costume. This role of well-heeled hottie didn’t fit. It never would. And if that’s what Adam wanted, well then…

  No, this was dumb. Spending money on an outfit she would never, ever wear again, or even worse, letting Adam’s ex-fiancée buy it for her. If Zoey was here she’d probably tell her to let Kirsten fork over the cash, but she wasn’t as brash as Zoey. Besides, Eva had too much pride for that.

  She looked at the price tag dangling from the sleeve and almost choked. The shirt alone cost more than she made in a day.

  “You better get used to spending that kind of money if you’re going to be dating Senator Orin Mancuso’s son.”

  “What?”

  “Adam’s dad is a senator. You didn’t know?”

  Eva shook her head. “Maryland State.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “I’m not surprised he hasn’t told you. He doesn’t like flaunting his family money.”

  Eva’s knees went weak. She had no business entertaining romantic thoughts about a senator’s son. None at all. “He’s wealthy?”

  “Not Donald Trump wealthy, but yes, the Mancusos are quite well-off.”

  Eva gulped. If he had megabucks, why was Adam slumming in her modest apartment complex? “You know, maybe it’s better if I don’t play in this scramble with you guys.”

  The gleam in Kirsten’s eyes told her that’s exactly what she’d been angling for all along. Eva wondered why the woman had invited her to the scramble. Had it been too much to hope that she’d just wanted to be nice?

  There you go again, trusting people when you shouldn’t.

  Now she could see the other woman’s ulterior motive. Kirsten wanted to show Eva up as an unsophisticated surfer girl not worthy of a Mancuso. Was she trying to get Adam back? Was that really what was going on here? What about her new fiancé, Malibu boy…er…Teddy.

  “You know what?” Eva said. “Screw the cost. I’ll take the outfit.”

  WHEN KIRSTEN STEPPED FROM the pro shop with Eva, Adam snagged his ex-fiancée by the elbow. “Could I speak with you in private?”

  It had been his intention to intercept Kirsten as soon as they arrived and tell her to keep quiet about his job, but before he’d had a chance to do that, she’d commandeered Eva and hustled her into the store. He was already on edge. Higgins had called him that afternoon and told him he’d gotten the warrant for a wiretap on Eva’s phones. He was to place a listening device in her cell, while Rogers and Kilgore tapped her home phone. He hated having to violate her privacy this way.

  Kirsten’s eyes widened. “Sure, sure. Teddy, could you take Eva with you to get our carts?”

  Teddy scowled as if he didn’t much like the idea, but he held his arm out to Eva.

  Eva, who looked amazing in a short pink skirt, tossed a glance at him over her shoulder. Adam smiled reassuringly at her. “This won’t take a minute.”

  He dragged Kirsten off to one side as carts loaded with golfers headed for the
greens. Many were already on the lighted course whacking around glowing green golf balls.

  “Look,” he said. “There’s something I have to tell you about Eva.”

  “You’re crazy about her,” Kirsten said flatly.

  Adam was startled. “What? No.”

  “It’s written all over you.”

  Unwilling to deal with that comment, he shoved it aside. “Did you tell her anything about me?”

  “I told her you were rich.”

  Adam shifted nervously. “How did she react?”

  “She looked panicked. She’s out of her league with you and she knows it.”

  That pissed him off. “Eva can hold her own with anyone.”

  “What would your parents think of her? A tattoo on her shoulder? How tacky.”

  He wanted to give Kirsten’s arm a good shake and tell her to stop judging Eva, but he held his temper. “Did you tell her I was with the ONI?”

  “You haven’t told her that yet?”

  “I can’t. She’s my target.”

  Kirsten’s eyes widened. “She’s an assignment?”

  Adam blew out his breath and plastered a palm to the nape of his neck. “Yeah.”

  “Ah, that explains a lot. For a minute there I wasn’t getting the connection. Why you’d be dating someone like her.”

  “Don’t you dare denigrate Eva. She’s a wonderful person. Kind and generous and funny and—”

  “You have fallen for her.” Kirsten clicked her tongue. “You are so screwed. When she finds out you’ve been spying on her, lying to her. And what’s your C.O. going to say?”

  Adam shoved his palm over his head. “Yeah, I know.”

  “It wouldn’t have worked out anyway.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You two…” Kirsten wrinkled her nose. “I don’t see it. Not long term, anyway.”

  “Why not?” he challenged.

  “Besides the fact you’re investigating her?”

  He wasn’t really investigating Eva, more like protecting her, but he didn’t bother enlightening Kirsten to the difference. “Yeah.”

  “You’re so opposite. Night and day.”

  “Opposites attract.”

  “Up to a point. Maybe. But it will only last if your values are similar. Are your values similar?”

  Hell if he knew.

  Kirsten must have read his doubt on his face. “You haven’t even talked about the important things, have you?”

  “Not in so many words.”

  She shook her head. “You haven’t changed in that respect. You never were much of a talker. Lord knows I tried to get you to tell me what was going on in that thick skull of yours.”

  “I’m talking now.”

  “About another woman. You never wanted to talk about us.”

  “You say Eva and I are too dissimilar to make it—”

  “You two are like a peanut butter and sausage sandwich. Nothing goes together.”

  “Well, you and I were too much alike. Peanut butter and jelly gets damned boring.”

  “Now you’re just being mean.” Her tone turned frosty.

  “You were bored with me, too.” He jerked his head in Teddy’s direction. “Is he more than just a plaything?”

  “We’re engaged.”

  “Because you have similar values.”

  “Yes. We both want the same things from life. Do you and yoga girl? Oh, wait. I forgot. You haven’t talked. I’m sure you’ve been spending too much time surfing and sexing it up for that.”

  “Why yes,” Adam said, knowing he sounded malicious but not caring at this point. He wasn’t going to let Kirsten malign Eva. “She sure knows how to sex me up.”

  “You’re saying I didn’t?”

  He shrugged.

  Kirsten’s eyes flashed fire.

  “Okay,” he apologized. “That wasn’t fair. What we had was nice—”

  “Yes, just nice and for the record, Teddy is excellent in bed.”

  “Good for you.”

  “Honey,” Teddy called out. “It’s our tee time.”

  “Good luck,” Kirsten muttered to Adam. “You’re going to need it.”

  “Please don’t say anything to Eva about what I do.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll leave that shocking little surprise to you.”

  12

  FEELING A BIT DAZED, Eva followed Teddy to pick up their golf carts. They threaded their way around camera crews and celebrities who’d shown up to play in the charity event.

  As much as she hated to admit it, she was glad Kirsten had forced her to buy a golfing outfit. At least she didn’t stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. Dusk was starting to gather and Eva was delighted to notice the golf balls glowed in the dark. How fun.

  That was the way to get through this thing, just have fun and not worry too much about what anyone thought. That attitude had served her well for most of her life. Heck, this was for charity after all.

  Teddy showed her where to sign in. He wasn’t such a bad sort, once you got past the hair and the superwhite teeth and the fake tan and the sweater.

  She got out her purse to pay the—yikes—two hundred dollar entry fee only to be told her fee had already been covered by Adam Mancuso. That embarrassed her. Why was everyone trying to pay her way? Did she come across as that broke? Sure, she wasn’t rolling in dough, but she could cough up two hundred dollars for a good cause.

  On top of the new golfing outfit?

  Okay, yes, she’d have to eat ramen noodles for the rest of the month, but she’d blown money on more frivolous things. Just because Adam had money didn’t mean she was going to let him pay her way. She’d tell him that as soon as he showed up.

  Their foursome had been assigned a caddy, and Eva was surprised to discover it was a ruddy-face middle-aged woman.

  “Hi,” she said, extending her hand to Eva. “I’m Patti Carson, your caddy.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Eva. How long have you been a caddy?”

  “Oh, aren’t you the cutest thing. I’m not really a caddy. My husband manages Shady Palms, I’m just helping out with the event.”

  Eva liked Patti immediately. She wasn’t at all pretentious as she’d imagined exclusive country club types would be.

  “Where’s your clubs?” Patti asked.

  “Um…” Clubs. Why hadn’t she thought about clubs?

  “Here are our clubs,” Adam said. He was dressed in tan slacks and a sapphire-blue polo shirt, looking collegiate and moneyed, and carrying a pink golf bag in one hand with brand-new shiny clubs and a used set in a black bag.

  “You bought me golf clubs?” Eva stared at him in disbelief.

  “Did you have a set of your own?”

  She swallowed as if she had a hunk of bread caught in her throat. Who was this man? “No, but—”

  “Now you do.”

  “Adam, I can’t accept these. They must have cost hundreds of dollars.”

  “My gift to you.”

  “It’s too extravagant.”

  “You need something to play with.”

  She leaned close to him. “You know I don’t know how to play.”

  “I’m hoping that after tonight you’ll fall in love with the game.”

  Why was that? She met his gaze. A small, vulnerable smile tipped his lips. Did this mean he wanted her to learn how to play golf so they could play together? Her heart did a backflip.

  Do not get ahead of yourself.

  “Please accept,” Adam said. “Let me do something nice for you.

  “Thank you,” she said finally because she really didn’t have much of a choice. How was she going to play golf without clubs? She’d idiotically thought she would be able to rent some the way you rented shoes at the bowling alley. Yeah, boy, around this crowd she felt as sophisticated as homemade soap. “You’re welcome.”

  “It’s a very generous gift, also considering you paid for my entry fee. Especially since it’s all my fault I got us into this.”


  “Don’t sweat it.” Adam turned to load the bags in the caddy cart.

  “Your boyfriend is very sweet,” Patti whispered to Eva. “And I do appreciate him loading those bags for me. You wouldn’t believe how many men would just leave it to me.”

  “Oh, he’s not my boyfriend. We’re just friends.”

  Patti arched an eyebrow, smiled. “Does he know that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The way he looks at you.” Patti shook her head. “That man has more than just friendship in mind.”

  Was it that obvious? Eva peeked over at Adam, only to catch him studying her speculatively. She ducked her head, glanced away.

  “Ready?” Adam asked, coming over to hold out his hand to her.

  As if she needed help getting into a golf cart. She pretended she didn’t see his hand—the sexual tension was acute enough without touching him—and slid across the seat of the golf cart.

  They followed Teddy and Kirsten, who’d already struck out for the first tee. Patti followed behind them in her cart laden with everyone’s clubs. The sun was hanging on the horizon and the high-powered lamps around the greens started to come on. Fireflies flicked through the trees and the air smelled of fresh mown grass.

  “Relax,” Adam said. “You’re going to do fine.”

  “Who says I’m not relaxed.”

  “The way you’re gripping the seat. Your knuckles are white.”

  “That’s a bit of a switch,” she said. “You telling me to relax.”

  “You give good advice, I’m handing it back to you.”

  “It’s hard not to be nervous when I’m around all these rich people and celebrities. I had no idea it was going to be like this. I had no idea you were rich. How come you didn’t tell me that you were rich?”

  “My family is rich. I just make a regular salary.”

  “A salary good enough to pay for my entry fee and a set of golf clubs.”

  “You sound angry with me.”

  “I feel blindsided. Why is a guy like you living in an apartment complex like mine?”

  He shrugged. “Our apartment complex is nice.”

  “Not that nice. And you led me to believe you didn’t know anyone in San Diego. You’ve played this scramble before with Kirsten. I’m assuming that means you know someone in town.”

  “I just wanted you to take pity on me,” he admitted.