by Janie Crouch
“What?” She took another step back and ended up against his refrigerator.
“You think you don’t have much to offer a man, but you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“What?” she parroted again.
He took another step closer to her. “I have been keeping away from you, for many reasons. I am on an undercover mission. I didn’t want to bring any danger your way, although it seems to have found you anyway.”
He’d stayed away for other reasons too —like her cousins pounding him into the ground if they knew what he was about to do her— but he didn’t mention that since she didn’t know they worked in law enforcement. And because it wasn’t enough to keep him away anyway.
Nothing was.
Another step. He was right in front of her now. “But none of the reasons I’ve kept my hands off you for the last two months have anything to do with me not being attracted to you.”
“It doesn’t?” Her statement was barely a whisper.
He eased himself against her body, trapping her between himself and the fridge. He reached down and trailed his fingers from her hands all the way up her arms to her shoulders until he was framing her face.
“I’m attracted to damn near everything about you.”
“But—“
He didn’t let her finish her thought. He kissed her to shut her up, but found himself pulled under by the kiss. Just like last night the heat took over. He pressed up against her, tilting her head back so he could have complete access to that full mouth.
Rachel was still for a moment before her arms worked their way around him, her fingers clutching at his back. She gave every bit as good as she got with the kiss.
The soft moan she breathed into his mouth was almost his undoing. He slid his hands into her hair and nipped at her full bottom lip before soothing the slight sting with his tongue. What was it about this sweet, quiet woman that had him so twisted in knots?
He knew he should slow down, take things more gently, more easily. But he didn’t know how. Not that it seemed Rachel would let him, even if he could find the strength to do it.
“I want you right here against this refrigerator,” he murmured against her mouth. “And we’ll get to that. But right now, I want you up in my bed where we can do this right.”
He reached down to swing her up in his arms.
“No, Seth, put me down. I’m too heavy—“
He kissed her again. She didn’t weigh enough for it to even be a factor.
“Like I said, for a smart woman, Dr. Almost, you can say some pretty dumb stuff,” he said against her mouth. “Everything about you is attractive to me. Your gorgeous body, your stunning mind, your beautiful face.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed her way down his chin and over to his ear as he walked her back to his bedroom and lowered her to the bed. When he felt her untuck his shirt and slide her nails up over his abs and chest he groaned.
“I can’t believe I stayed away from you this long,” he said.
“Then you better make up for it.”
He kissed down the side of her face to her neck and bit gently, feeling her sigh as she pulled him closer. “Oh, I plan to.”
#
Seth couldn’t keep his hands off her the rest of the evening. When her stomach eventually growled —loudly— at nearly ten o’clock he finally let her out of bed and led them both back to the kitchen.
Even then he could barely stop staring at how darn sexy she looked wearing just his shirt, sitting at his table, clutching a glass of iced tea.
“I am really only good at making breakfast food. Is an omelet okay?” he asked, barely able to keep his eyes from sliding down to look at her form in the shirt again.
“Sure, sounds great. Want me to help?”
He got out what he needed for the omelets. “No, you just sit there looking all gorgeous and keep distracting me.”
He reached over for a kiss, but soon realized his mistake. Every time he kissed her he wanted to take her back up to bed. Fortunately, her stomach growled again.
“Food. Right.” He turned back to the stove.
“So you moved here from San Francisco. That’s a long way.”
“Yeah, I was with the FBI for eight years.” That part wasn’t a secret, but the covert operations division of Omega was more clandestine than the Bureau. Most people didn’t even know it existed. “I’m now with another federal law enforcement agency, but I’m not really at liberty to talk about that.”
“I understand. But in the FBI you didn’t work undercover much?” Her voice was soft, sweet. Like the woman. “You mentioned that you thought your undercover instincts might be rusty. That’s why I asked.”
“No, not much undercover work there. I was an agent — did whatever was necessary. Profiling, investigating, examining intelligence.” He put the egg mixture he’d blended into the pan.
“Did you leave for a promotion?”
Being recruited by Omega would definitely be considered a promotion. An honor that the organization would want him given their reputation for only bringing the best into their folds.
“Yeah, it was a promotion.”
“But it was more than that.”
Seth turned and glanced at Rachel. Mind-blowing sex and a woman who really listened to not only what he did say, but to what he didn’t.
He might really be in trouble.
“My long-term partner at the Bureau —Conner Perigo— recently got a… new partner.”
How did you explain that your partner had fallen in love and married someone who had an uncanny ability to read a criminal’s intents and feelings? Adrienne’s gift was almost impossible to believe and Seth had seen it up close. Explaining it to someone else made it sound like hocus-pocus.
“A woman?”
“Yes, they’re married now. Adrienne has a gift, it’s difficult to explain. The best way is just to say that she is an incredibly skillful profiler. It became obvious in the last year that she and Conner made a perfect team within the Bureau.” He flipped the omelet with a spatula. “So when this new job came along in D.C., I took it.”
“So no family here or anything?”
He set a plate in front of her and sat down with his own. “No, none. How about you?”
“Both my parents died a few years ago when I was in undergrad. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. I do have four cousins I’m pretty close with.”
Seth forced himself to keep chewing his food as if she wasn’t talking about people he knew, people he worked with, and had asked him specifically to keep an eye out for her. He was pretty sure eating with her nearly naked at his kitchen table after spending most of the afternoon and evening making love was not what they had in mind.
“Three of the four live in the D.C. area,” Rachel continued between bites. “You’d like them. As a matter of fact…”
When she didn’t continue, Seth prodded, even knowing he was in dangerous territory. “What?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “You just kind of remind me of them. I don’t know, in how you act, carry yourself.”
Seth almost spewed his tea. “Oh. Are they in law enforcement?”
“No. They’re in regular jobs… sales, accounting.”
Seth was struck with how much he liked just being here with her. For the last two months he’d enjoyed getting to know her at the university, her wry humor and kindness.
But with her words he realized that this relationship, orpotential relationship really had nowhere to go. It wasn’t just a matter of his cover and identity in Omega Sector being blown if things got serious with Rachel. It was that he would blow the cover of three other agents if he had a serious relationship with Rachel: the Bransons.
The first time Rachel brought him to a family event would they all just pretend not to know each other?
Seth realized he didn’t want to lie to Rachel. Didn’t want to have untruths between them —even for the best purposes— if they were going to move forwa
rd. But that wasn’t a decision he could just make on his own. Rachel would have to be given clearance before she could be told about Omega. Clearance Seth couldn’t give her.
But he would have to worry about that later. Right now he had to worry about keeping Rachel safe and figuring out who was behind the microchip issues.
His phone buzzed on the table. Speak of the devil. It was Cameron Branson.
Seth very definitely could not let Rachel overhear this conversation with her cousin.
“I’m going to take this out in the hall, okay?”
She nodded, albeit wearily.
“This is Seth.”
“Hey man, this is Cameron.”
“Hi. How are you?” Seth knew he couldn’t say Cameron’s name. Not right after he had just been talking to Rachel about her cousins.
“Everything okay? You in trouble?”
“No trouble, just an unsecured line.”
Cameron was smart. All the Bransons were. “Ah. Is Rachel there?”
“Yes.”
“We heard about what happened at the office and her house.”
“Yes, Rachel Branson was held at gunpoint at the university and then her house was broken into. Although I think her house was ransacked before the incident at the college, to be honest.”
“Is she okay?”
“She was shaken up, and I decided to bring her home with me, since I wasn’t sure who I could trust.”
There was a long silence on the other end. “Is she staying there tonight?”
“She’s welcome here. That way I know she’s safe.”
He didn’t want to tell Cameron there was no way he was letting Rachel go anywhere right now if he had any other choice. Fortunately Cameron didn’t push the issue.
“The man who grabbed her, he was after the microchip?”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure it was a case of mistaken identity, considering her office is on the same floor as the rest of the computer engineering division.”
“But she’s secure there with you?”
More than. “Yes, it’s no problem.”
“Harrington, I don’t have to tell you that she’s my cousin and you better not be putting any moves—“
“I’ll report in tomorrow.” Seth didn’t want to let Cameron get any further in his warning, given this afternoon’s actions.
And the actions he planned to continue tonight.
“Until then, you can just report that Ms. Branson is safe with me,” he continued. “If there’s any update in what they find on campus or her townhouse, please let me know.”
“Damn it, Seth—“
Seth disconnected the call. Although Cameron Branson had been at Omega longer than Seth he wasn’t Seth’s boss. And despite what any of the Branson siblings thought, Rachel did not need a keeper. She was an adult, capable of doing whatever she wanted.
She walked out of the kitchen. “Done with your call?”
Seth nodded, transfixed as she began to unbutton the shirt of his she was wearing. In just a few moments it dropped to the floor.
Yes, Rachel was capable of doing whatever she wanted. And right now evidently what she wanted was him.
He was more than happy to oblige.
CHAPTER NINE
A text from Cameron woke Seth the next morning.
Ryan Powell is awake. Juliet, Sawyer and I will meet you at the hospital in one hour for questioning.
At least it wasn’t a message about Rachel, although Seth couldn’t help but wonder if some of the questioning would be directed at him. Rachel turned to him with sleepy eyes as he got out of bed.
“Everything okay?”
He smiled at her. “Yes, but I have to go into work for a while.”
“Janitor work or other work?”
“Other work. Actually, I’m going to the hospital to question Ryan Powell. He woke up this morning.”
He expected concern or even distress. What he didn’t expect was for Rachel to flush and turn away. “Oh.”
It was none of his business. Sethknew it was none of his business, even after last night. But he still sat back down on the bed so he could look at her and figure out what was behind that little statement.
“Oh?”
She shrugged, pulling the sheet up to her chin. “It’s nothing.”
“Is there something between you two?”
“No.” She pulled the sheet up even further, past her mouth. “Really, no. It’s just, before you got to the restaurant on Thursday, Ryan kissed me.”
Now it was Seth’s turn. “Oh.”
She dropped the sheet and scooted closer to him. “But he didn’t kiss me because I wanted him to. He was acting all weird.”
She wasn’t telling him all of it, Seth could tell. “And? Did you like it? Is that what you’re all flushed about?”
“No!” She got that out quickly. “I just…”
“Yes?”
“I hadn’t been kissed in years and then was kissed by two men in the same night. Not my normal Thursday evening.”
Seth chuckled, something relaxing in him. She wasn’t interested in Powell, just a little overwhelmed by the attention. He leaned over and stole her lips for himself.
“I’m amazed complete strangers aren’t coming up to kiss you, as appealing as this mouth is.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You try to hide behind glasses and books, but it doesn’t take much to see how sexy you are. I think most men are just intimidated.”
She sat straight up in bed. “Byme?”
He grinned. “By the fact that you can sometimes be so caught up in your books, or research, or whatever you’re doing that you don’t even really see men who might be interested in you. You’re focused on other things. Competing with that concentration can be intimidating.”
“I sawyou.”
“Thank goodness.” He slid her under him and kissed her again. Hot. Wet. Anybody who didn’t want to kiss her was definitely an idiot.
But right now he needed to get up or he was never going to make it to the hospital on time. Cameron, Juliet and Sawyer were going to have enough questions for Seth without him running late and an I-just-had-mindblowing-sex-with-your-family-member look on his face.
“We will continue this later, okay? I’ve got to deal with Powell first. And I’m glad you don’t like him. Because it looks like he’s probably one of the bad guys.”
“Really?”
“Unfortunately. Someone is setting up a sale of the microchip. Powell would be a good candidate.” Seth didn’t want to mention Lydia or Dr. Hudson as suspects in case he was wrong.
“But someone attacked him.”
“The concept of honor among thieves is usually a lie, I’ve found. More like everyone take whatever they can from each other.”
She nodded. “I guess I should go home.”
“No, I think you should stay here. Nobody knows where I live. You’ll be safe here. We’ll deal with your house soon.”
He smiled as she settled back into the pillow. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Be careful and hurry back.”
“I will.”
#
Three of the four Branson siblings were lined up like a firing squad at the entrance of the hospital. Dylan, their oldest brother wasn’t there since he wasn’t an Omega agent any more and didn’t live in D.C., but Seth imagined he would be here if he could.
“So, Powell is awake?” He said to them by way of greeting, hoping to side-step the conversation he knew was coming.
He didn’t even make it through the door.
“Are you sleeping with Rachel, Harrington?”
He would’ve expected it more from Sawyer or especially Cameron, but it was actually Juliet who asked the question.
“You guys. Rachel is a grown woman.” He took a step back as they all took a step forward.
“She’s the baby of the family,” Cameron said.
“She’s in her mid-twenties. That’s not much younger than any of us.” Seth tried to ke
ep his eyes on all three of them at the same time. Cameron was the biggest, but Sawyer -for all his easygoingness in most situations— could also throw a punch that would take a man down.
Juliet scared him most of all. He’d seen her close-quarters combat skills on the training floor at Omega. She could probably take all three of them down before any of them could get a hit in. Taking out just Seth would be no problem at all.
“She lost her parents,” Sawyer pointed out.
Seth tried to restrain from rolling his eyes. “She lost them while she was incollege. And while it’s still sad, that’s hardly a little orphan Annie tragedy.”
“We care about her. We respect her.” Juliet again.
“Hey, watch it.” This time Seth took a step forward. Enough. “So do I. Don’t insinuate otherwise.” It was one thing for them to be protective. Quite another to automatically suggest he didn’t respect Rachel. He did.
That got their attention. They glanced at each other briefly. Evidently Seth had passed some kind of test. All three of them relaxed their posture.
“Is she safe?” Sawyer asked. “Okay after the incidents at her house and office?”
They loved Rachel, obviously. She was family.
“Shaken up, for sure,” he told them. “The guy at the office scared her and then I had to break cover to intervene. Of course, she swears she could tell I wasn’t just a janitor, even before yesterday.”
Juliet nodded. “Rachel’s smart. Very intuitive. I’m almost certain she’s on to us being law enforcement.”
“It’s only the fact that she thinks it couldn’t possibly be all three of us that keeps her from asking outright.” Sawyer chuckled.
Cameron grinned too. “That won’t hold her off forever. Eventually we’re going to have to get clearance to tell her.”
Seth felt tension release inside him. If her family also wanted Omega to provide her clearance for knowledge about the covert operations division, that would make things so much easier. Better.
No more lies. It opened up the possibility for a relationship.