High Stakes Seduction

by Lori Wilde

  He knew then that he had to tell who he was. What he’d done. Then he would beg and plead for her understanding. He wasn’t going to tell Commander Higgins his plan. He’d already learned it was easier to get forgiveness than permission. His gut was telling him what he had to do and he was going to follow it. Orders or no orders.

  After Eva ended her phone call with her friend, Adam got out his cell phone and texted her. Dinner2nite? Then he wrote in the name of the nicest restaurant on this side of town.

  A minute later, she texted back. Luv2.

  16

  THE MAÎTRE D’ AT MAISON d’Océan showed them to a romantic table on the back deck overlooking the ocean. White twinkle lights lit up the palm trees and a gentle breeze had Eva pulling her silk wrap up on her shoulders.

  After she’d looked up the restaurant on Google and saw how exclusive and expensive it was, she’d gone through her closet in search of something chic enough for the place. She’d come up with a blue silk dress and matching pashmina she’d worn to a wedding a few years back and added a pair of strappy matching sandals. In the jewelry department, the only expensive piece she owned was the platinum locket that Keith had given her. She’d called her hairdresser for an emergency appointment and she’d even splurged on a facial and manicure. Between the golfing outfit and her pampering, she was definitely eating ramen noodles for the rest of the summer.

  But damn if it wasn’t worth it.

  Adam held out her chair for her and she sat, smiling inwardly to herself. The man was chivalrous. She had to give him that.

  He settled in across from her. His lips were angular and firm, very masculine. He caught her stare and one corner of his mouth lifted up in a surprisingly rakish grin that changed his face from determined hard-ass to charming rebel without a care. She caught her breath. What had caused the shift? Was it her?

  She noticed his gaze tracked the locket that lay nestled perfectly in the V of her cleavage. A smile lit his eyes.

  “Pretty locket,” he said.

  “Thanks.” She reached up to finger it. The locket was gorgeous and she wasn’t about to tell him that another man had given it to her.

  “It looks beautiful on you. You’re beautiful,” he said.

  “I’m not, but it’s nice to hear you say it.”

  “You are freaking gorgeous. The way you move…” He hissed in a breath as if he had just been burned.

  “You are the best-looking man I’ve ever dated,” she confessed. “Not that we’re dating or anything.”

  “Aren’t we?” He let go of the napkin, reached across the table and laid his hand over hers.

  His touch was electric. A red-hot jolt that stole her breath and caused a crazy montage of images to flash through her head. She saw them as they must have looked last night, naked in her bed, rolling across the sheets, having a fine old time.

  “Are we?”

  They stared at each other.

  “We’re eating out together, talking. Isn’t that what people do when they date?”

  “I should shut up.”

  “Don’t shut up.”

  “Why? The more I tell you, the more you’re getting pulled into my life.”

  “So?”

  “You don’t mind getting pulled into my drama?” She felt a heated glow of emotion light her from the inside out. He made her feel so much, so many different things. Hope and joy, fear and concern.

  “Whenever I think about you, I smile. I don’t smile a lot, Eva.”

  “I noticed.”

  “You make me smile.”

  “You make me smile, too.”

  “We better stop smiling or everyone in here is going to think we took Ecstasy or something.”

  “What I’m feeling has nothing to do with drugs and everything to do with you.”

  “Adam…” She ducked her head, feeling suddenly inexplicably shy.

  “Eva,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

  She lifted her chin.

  Adam snagged her gaze, stared deeply into her eyes. He should tell her the truth now, but she looked so pretty and they were having a nice time and they hadn’t even ordered their meal yet. She’d gotten dressed up, taken care with her appearance and he was going to ruin everything.

  “Yes?”

  He ran his hands over her knuckles. “There’s something I need to—”

  “Would you like to hear about our specials of the day?” asked the chirpy waiter who’d appeared at their table.

  The waiter rattled off the items, but Adam didn’t hear a word of it. He kept looking at Eva, thinking how he was about to wreck everything.

  “I’ll have the red snapper,” Eva said when the waiter had finished his spiel.

  “And you, sir?”

  “That sounds good.”

  “Can we get wine with that?” Eva asked. “I’d love a glass of wine.”

  “Bring a bottle,” Adam said. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but maybe a glass of wine or two would help him find the words he needed to say. I think I’m falling for you, and oh, by the way, I’ve been spying on you for the ONI. “Of your best Chardonnay.”

  The waiter nodded and departed, leaving them alone in the darkened corner, the soothing sound of the ocean rolling over the shore, the moonlight reflecting off the water.

  “This is so romantic,” she breathed. “Too romantic.”

  “What? You don’t deserve a little romance?”

  “This isn’t a little romance, Adam. This is the grand seduction.”

  “And you don’t deserve that, either?”

  “I do deserve it,” she said, straightening her spine. “But I deserve it with strings attached. I never asked for that before, probably because I never wanted those strings before, but that’s what I want now, at this point in my life. Is that going to be a problem, Adam? You can tell me the truth and it will be okay.”

  Will it? Will it really?

  “Because if having strings attached is going to be an issue, we need to stop this thing before one or both of us get hurts.”

  Too late, he thought. Too late.

  “I want someone to do the crossword puzzle with on Sunday mornings and someone who’ll make me chicken soup when I have a cold. I want someone I can tell my darkest fears to in the middle of the night and someone to surf with and who’ll do yoga with me. Someone whose interests I can share and who’ll go with me to my parents’ house on the holidays.”

  I want all those things, too. “After dinner,” he said, “let’s take a walk on the beach and talk about this.”

  “Okay,” she whispered, her eyes shining with hope. “All right.”

  Their meal came and they made small talk. He would have thoroughly enjoyed it if his mind hadn’t been toying with the scenario ahead of them, worrying how this was all going to play out. Would he lose her just as he’d found her?

  He paid the check, then helped Eva from her chair. He drew her close to him and escorted her down off the wooden deck to the beach below.

  She leaned into his side and he wrapped his arm across her shoulder, savoring the tender connection he feared would soon be severed.

  The locket at her neck glittered in the moonlight while the lanterns from the restaurant above cast shadows over the pylons underneath. It was a perfect spot to steal a stealthy kiss.

  The same thought must have crossed her mind, because she stopped, reaching up to wrap her hands around his neck. Adam lowered his head, his mouth already watering to taste her.

  Then one of the shadowy pylons moved. Came at them, a blur in the darkness.

  Before Adam could react, a form barreled into him, knocking Adam to the ground, and grabbed for the locket around Eva’s neck. It took a second for him to realize they were being mugged and it was too dark for him to see the attacker’s face clearly.

  Eva screamed and clutched her hands around the guy’s wrist, while Adam stuck out his leg and tripped him.

  The attacker fell in the sand beside Adam, his face turned away.

&
nbsp; “Run!” he shouted to Eva.

  But his brave woman did not run. She reached down to pick up a piece of driftwood and started smacking the guy in the back of the head.

  The guy raised an arm to shield himself against Eva’s blows, then the soft driftwood shattered in her hands. The guy leaped up at the same time Adam did and he shoved Eva backward into the water.

  “Ooh!” Eva gasped.

  The assailant sprinted away as Adam turned to help Eva to her feet. He hadn’t been able to catch a clear glimpse of the man’s features.

  “Run, coward, run!” she yelled as his pounding footsteps echoed into the night.

  It was only then that Adam realized she was shaking all over. “Sunshine,” he murmured, pulling her to him, not caring that she was wet. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, I’m fine, but this dress is silk.”

  “It’s okay. It’s just clothing.”

  “Well, ha! He didn’t get my necklace, the slimy thief. This is why I don’t wear expensive jewelry. How do you rich people deal with this?”

  He had to laugh. “We wear good quality fakes unless we’re around security. Do you want to call the cops?”

  “No point in that. I couldn’t even describe him—could you?”

  Adam shook his head.

  “He didn’t get anything and we’d just be tied up at the police station all night. Take me home instead.”

  When they got back to their apartment complex, Eva stopped in the courtyard. “I’ve got an early yoga class in the morning, maybe it’s best if we say good night here.”

  “You’re not going to invite me in?”

  She shook her head. “We both know what will happen if you come up with me. Neither one of us would get any sleep.”

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” she reassured him. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  He kissed her good-night in the courtyard, then watched her walk up to her apartment with longing in his heart. But it was only after his door closed behind him that Adam remembered he’d never told her his secret.

  WHEN EVA GOT HOME FROM teaching her yoga class the following morning she was disappointed to see Adam’s car was not in his parking space. She’d grown accustomed to him always being around. She’d planned on asking him to have lunch with her at the sandwich shop across the street to apologize for not inviting him up last night. The truth was, things had been moving too fast for her and after they’d been accosted underneath the restaurant, she’d just felt the need to withdraw. She hoped he would understand.

  Disappointed, she went on up to her apartment and decided to pop a Lean Cuisine into the microwave for lunch instead.

  She’d just pierced the plastic cover of her frozen dinner with a fork when her cell phone beeped, letting her know she had a text message.

  Meet me at the beach just after sunset, pier 16 and wear that locket that makes your cleavage look so tempting. I have a big surprise.

  The message had been sent from Adam’s iPhone. Eva grinned. Another date. He wasn’t mad at her for blowing him off last night. Euphoria ran through her. This time, maybe just maybe, she’d found what she hadn’t even known she’d been searching for.

  “SOMETHING’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN,” Commander Higgins told Adam. “Kilgore and Rogers verified that Barksdale’s contact has booked a one-way ticket back to his country of origin. He’s leaving tomorrow afternoon. Either Barksdale has already made the deal, or something’s happened to him. Either way, I want you off Miss St. George and with Kilgore and Rogers on the buyer.”

  “We’re closing up shop?” Adam asked, stunned.

  “I’ve already sent in the cleaners to remove the surveillance equipment from the apartment.”

  “Just like that? It’s over?”

  “No, it’s not over at all. You’ll be apprehending the contact at the airport.”

  “I mean with Miss St. George.”

  “We’ve been monitoring her phone calls and there’s nothing of consequence. Barksdale hasn’t approached her again since that day in the ocean. Clearly, she’s a dead end.”

  “That might not be true, sir.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He told his commanding officer about the man who’d attacked them under the pier the previous evening.

  “Sounds like a simple mugging to me, Mancuso. You’re grasping at straws.”

  “I think it’s a mistake to pull the surveillance off her.”

  The commander gave him a dark look that told Adam he wasn’t a fool. He knew what had been going on between Adam and Eva. “The detail is over, Lieutenant. Report to Kilgore immediately.”

  17

  THE GATHERING DARKNESS had Eva pulling her blouse more tightly around her. After what had happened on the beach last night, she was feeling a bit apprehensive and wondered why Adam had asked her to meet him here.

  Part of her wanted to just turn around and head back to her Jeep, call Adam and tell him to meet her in the parking lot. But her adventuresome side, the part of her that liked surprises, forged on.

  Nervously, she fingered the locket at her throat. The surprise better be a damned good one.

  Maybe, whispered an excited voice in the back of her mind, he’s going to tell you that he loves you.

  Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s much too soon for thoughts like that.

  It might be too soon for thoughts like that, but she couldn’t help feeling it. Whether she liked it or not, she’d fallen head over heels for Adam Mancuso. For the first time in her life, Eva St. George was in love and she fully realized what she’d been missing.

  She felt it to the very depths of her soul, like a solid vibration, like a humming mantra echoing through her every cell.

  Adam.

  During the day the beach was thronged with families and surfers, everyone out for a good time. But at night things changed. People staggered on the sand, laughing too loud, drinking too much. In the wrong spots, the atmosphere grew more ominous.

  The beach in moonlight could be romantic, but a damp mist was rolling in, decreasing visibility, and adding to the brooding mood. Anyone could be out here with nefarious thoughts on their minds.

  She wasn’t a woman who scared easily. She was tough and resilient and confident in her ability to talk her way out of most predicaments, but tonight, she was spooked. Something just didn’t feel right.

  A couple of times she thought she felt as if she were being followed. She cast a few glances over her shoulder, but saw no one out of the ordinary.

  The most difficult part was walking down the stairway that led to the lower pier. After last night’s incident, she was leery. It smelled underneath here, too. Like dead fish and the ripe stench of urine.

  She was still several yards from the rendezvous spot where Adam had said to meet him. The people on the beach behind her sounded very far away. It was almost as if she were on another planet. Isolated and alone.

  A strong sense of dread washed over her and she fumbled for her phone. No reason to be afraid, she’d just call him, ask him to come to her, even if it ruined his surprise.

  She stopped walking to dig in the pocket of her sun-dress for her cell phone. The hairs on her neck lifted.

  Turn, go, run, urged a warning voice in the back of her head.

  But she didn’t want to give in to panic. That wasn’t the smart thing to do. Neither was coming down here alone. Why would Adam ask her to do it?

  She took a deep breath, wishing she’d thought to bring a flashlight. The clouds had moved, obscuring the moon, bathing the beach in almost total darkness. She started to punch in Adam’s number, but before she could do so, a hand wrapped around her mouth, while another hand snaked around her waist and pulled her away toward the water.

  ADAM DIDN’T CARE THAT Commander Higgins had ordered him away from the apartment complex. He had to see Eva. He had to finish what he’d started last night. He had to tell her two things. One, he’d lied to her and two,
that he was in love with her.

  But when he got to her apartment, her Jeep wasn’t in the parking lot, and she didn’t answer her door. He retuned to his car and just as he reached for his cell phone to call her, the phone rang.

  Rogers’s number was on the caller ID.

  “Hello?”

  “We’ve got trouble.”

  “What is it?”

  “Barksdale hacked you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s cloned your phone. He texted Eva St. George pretending to be you. It would show up on her caller ID as your number.”

  “What?”

  “She’s meeting him. Right now. Pier 16. Kilgore and I are across town, but we’re on our way.”

  “Right.” Adam hung up. He made a U-turn and headed for the beach.

  Sure enough, Eva’s yellow Jeep was parked in the lot.

  He parked beside the Jeep and jumped out. To his left was a group sitting around a bonfire. There were several couples canoodling together in other spots scattered about. And then far off to his right, he saw a woman walking alone in the dark, a wooden pier looming in the darkness.

  Eva.

  He couldn’t tell for sure if it was her or not, but he took off after her, following his gut.

  She went down the cement staircase leading to underneath the pier. His pulse revved. After last night, he was instantly on alert. He quickened his pace. He would have called out her name, but the wind would have just snatched it and flung it out to sea.

  Instead, he concentrated all his energy on running full out after her. It seemed like it took an hour, but was probably only a couple of minutes. His foot was on the last step of the cement staircase when he heard a soft feminine gasp, saw furtive movement in the shadows.

  He drew his gun. He wasn’t being caught unarmed tonight.

  There were sounds of a struggle, as if someone was being dragged and he started running in the direction of the altercation.

  “Eva!” he shouted, panic seizing him.

  A muffled scream rent the air. The clouds parted like a curtain unveiling the moon and he could see everything in the brief splash of yellow light. A man was yanking Eva into the water.

  Barksdale!

  Even though he couldn’t really see the man’s face, he knew it was Barksdale as surely as he knew his own name. Was the bastard intent on drowning her?