Undercover in Copper Lake
Page 24
“Yes. It’s quiet and remote.”
Agents like him probably preferred their solitude. Or was there a different reason he preferred quiet and remote?
“You?” he asked.
“Dallas, Texas. And sometimes Colorado. I just bought a new place in Denver.” She scanned the room of the suite. “But I travel a lot.” And that’s the way she liked it.
“You must be doing well in your career. Two houses.” Since he was keeping secrets from her, she’d keep one of her own. “Yes, I am.” He didn’t need to know who her father was. The great Jackson Ivy, famous movie producer. He was the reason many of her relationships didn’t last. Either the men she met already knew who her father was, or as soon as they found out, the game changed and she became desirable for that rather than her charming personality and good looks.
“Do you have family in Wyoming?” she asked.
“No.” He didn’t say more, taking his glass and walking over to the sofa.
Autumn found that curious. Following him, she asked, “Not a big family?”
Bending for the remote, he held the glass in the other as he turned on the television. “I have a dad in Phoenix and a brother in San Diego. He has a family of his own. I don’t see them much.”
Watching him surf channels, she wondered if he needed the distraction. She moved closer, a warm part of her drawing her to do so. “Because of your work?”
Finding a sports channel, he put the remote down and straightened to face her, taking in her close proximity before he finally answered. “I haven’t spoken to my dad since I was seventeen.” She caught a brief flash of emotion in his eyes before he continued. “My brother left the house when I was fourteen. He’s four years older than me. My mother died a few months before he left.”
“Oh.” She almost regretted asking. Although he explained his family so matter-of-factly, he had to have some negative baggage over losing his mother at the age of fourteen. “I’m sorry...about your mother.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“How old are you now?”
“Forty. Your turn.” He took a big sip, clearly finished discussing his family.
Okaaay...
“I have a big family.” She felt the megawatt smile spreading on her face as she thought of them all. “Seven brothers and sisters. Parents are still married. We’re spread all over the States. I’m second oldest, and I’m thirty-nine.” They were so close in age.
He lifted his gaze from her smiling mouth. “And not married.”
Sparks showered through her. “No. Are you?”
He laughed once. “No.”
“You say that as though it was a joke.”
Now he sobered. “I’ve never met anyone independent enough to put up with me.”
She was independent. Fiercely so. She had the reputation to prove it. Taming the wild attraction racing through her, Autumn stepped around him and sat on the sofa. He put his glass down on a side table and sat beside her.
“Is adventure what made you decide to become an FBI agent?” she asked, needing to keep the topic casual.
“That was part of it.”
“What was the other part?” He intrigued her so much. She couldn’t pinpoint why. His mystery. His masculinity. Both...
“It seemed better than going into politics.”
He didn’t strike her as the political type, not the conventional kind anyway. “You were going to get into politics?”
“I studied international relations in college.”
Mmm...a college man...rugged and educated. “Did you aspire to be president?”
“Of course. Political issues interested me.”
In his youth, he’d thought anything was possible, but as he grew older, something had changed his mind. “So, why didn’t you follow that path?”
“I realized politicians only care about their own special interests. Nothing moves where it should in the time that it should. They have their perks and holidays and no one really takes any real risks to make a true difference. They get in the way of progress rather than move it forward.”
He felt strongly on the matter. She liked a man with an opinion.
“Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” she asked in a flirtatious tone.
“I’m a nonconformist,” he answered in kind.
“Rebel?”
He grinned, really sexy. “All the way.”
She leaned toward him, loving his candor. “I bet you’re a really good agent.”
Leaning closer to her, he murmured, “Among other things.”
When he kissed her, she closed her eyes, surrendering to sweet sensation while a faint inner voice cautioned, Don’t do it.
Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Morey
ISBN-13: 9781460339039
Undercover in Copper Lake
Copyright © 2014 by Marilyn Pappano
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