Her Undercover Defender

by Debra Webb

  She followed him into the office and closed the door at his request. “I don’t want anyone else to hear this,” he explained.

  She waited, her fingertips fiddling with the plastic bag in her pocket. Hopefully, Trey hadn’t lied about breaking the devices.

  “One of the nurses on the team was attacked last night.”

  “Again?” Terri sat down hard in the nearest chair. “Is she okay? What happened?”

  “Her car was set on fire in her driveway.”

  Terri shook her head. “That’s terrible.”

  “My security staff had her under surveillance as a safety precaution. They report hearing a motorcycle in the neighborhood shortly before the attack.”

  “Are you suggesting Trey had something to do with it?” She wanted to be outraged by the accusation; instead, she worried Franklin was onto something.

  “I’m just asking if your brother was home with you last night.”

  “No.” She swallowed around the lump of fear in her throat. “We had an argument, and he said he’d stay over with a friend.”

  Franklin pushed a pad of paper across the desk. “Can you give me the friend’s name and a phone number?”

  “I only have his name and the address of where he grew up,” she said, writing it down quickly. “He might be out on his own now.”

  “Any information you have is fine,” Franklin assured her. “The security team isn’t taking any chances.”

  “That’s good.” She thought of the bugs in her pocket and wondered if it was protocol to eavesdrop on the people on the project. That possibility made more sense than David being a spy. Except if Trey was telling the truth, the bugs were planted before Franklin had asked her to fill in up here.

  “Terri,” Franklin continued with a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For not explaining the full extent of the risks of being on this project. I didn’t expect outright attacks on the staff. After the blackout I had no choice. I needed someone I could trust implicitly. There aren’t many.” He stacked his hands on the desk. “Maybe I should have expected that our success would leak, that there might be serious efforts to stop my progress. Regardless, I think you should leave. For your own safety.”

  She thought of everything Matt and Franklin had endured. “No, thank you.”

  Franklin’s eyes widened, his thick eyebrows reaching for his hairline. “But I—”

  “Life is risk, Franklin. I’d rather stay and make a stand against the violence.”

  “That’s very brave,” he said quietly. “But I don’t want to lose another daughter.”

  Her heart swelled with love for the man who truly had been like a second father. “I’ll manage,” she promised. “Together, we’ll get your research safely to the next stage.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  “I am.”

  He didn’t look thrilled with her determination, but she chalked that up to fear of more loss. She knew from experience it was a result of losing loved ones early and suddenly.

  He pushed back from the desk. “All right.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Let’s go see how our patient is doing.”

  She followed him out, a strange mix of curiosity and concern brewing in her belly. At least it kept her mind off the broken bugs in her pocket. It seemed she didn’t know anyone as well as she thought she did. Not her brother, her friend or her new lover. It would be silly to talk to David about the bugs and yet she knew she had to. Not for Trey, but for her own peace of mind.

  Chapter Twelve

  At his weight bench, David adjusted the key in the stack, upping the resistance, and then he leaned back for another set of chest presses. The equipment had been a splurge, but he’d justified it. Better to have easy access at home than deal with gym hours, and training helped him think.

  The new bugs in Terri’s place had been disabled. For a newbie in the terrorist game, Trey was doing a decent job of thwarting law enforcement efforts. Finishing his reps, David eased the stack down and sat up, stretching his arms overhead.

  Hearing the doorbell, he glanced at the clock and wiped the sweat from his face with the towel. He’d been at it for nearly an hour and wasn’t any closer to feeling better about the situation. The bell rang again. “Coming!” he called out, picking up the pace.

  He peered through the sidelight window and grinned at the sight of Terri on his doorstep. A tough day was looking much better. Still in her scrubs, she must’ve come straight from her shift. He opened the door, pleased that she’d accepted his invitation to stop by on her way home.

  “Hey,” he said, bending to kiss her, but she gave him her cheek instead. His instincts leaped into high gear. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing I hope.” Her soft green gaze drifted over his body. “Did...did I catch you at a bad time?”

  God help him, he was helpless against that curious gaze. He stepped back and motioned her in, checking the driveway and street behind her.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Give me five minutes and I won’t smell like a gym rat.”

  “You smell fine. I mean...” Her voice trailed off as her cheeks turned pink. “This doesn’t have to take long.”

  “Okay. I’m all yours.” He led her to the kitchen and poured them each a glass of water.

  “Thanks.”

  “Hey.” He brushed her long bangs away from her face. “Talk to me.”

  She closed her eyes, shaking her head before her eyes popped open once more. “I’m just going to say it and if...if I’ve been an idiot, well...”

  An idiot? His mind raced through the possible ways she would finish that sentence. “You need something stronger than water?” He thought he might if this conversation took a wrong turn.

  “No.” She gulped the water, then set the glass down and met his gaze. “My brother thinks you’re some kind of spy.”

  David hid his reaction by taking a big pull on his water, wishing it was a shot of bourbon. So what if Keller had read his background and made a few educated guesses? He’d been expecting as much. “And you think he’s right because...?”

  “I don’t know what to think,” she admitted. “Aren’t you going to deny it?”

  He cleared his throat. “What you believe matters more to me.”

  “He gave me these.” She rooted through her purse and pulled out a small plastic bag, thrusting it at him.

  He arched an eyebrow as he took it from her and examined the contents. It looked as though Trey had found all three of the bugs he’d planted yesterday. “Where did you get these?”

  “Trey told me you planted them in my house.”

  David tossed the plastic bag on the countertop. “Your brother isn’t my biggest fan.”

  “Well, no. He said you caused the blackout at the hospital.”

  That pissed him off. “What evidence did he use to make that case?” He ran his fingers over the knuckles he’d scraped up while fighting her brother. Terri’s eyes followed the movement.

  “You told me you fought a wall in the blackout,” she said. “What really happened?”

  He wanted to tell her that he’d followed Trey into the basement and been knocked around for daring to interfere with her brother’s schemes.

  “I’m the new guy in the department, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Every department has an emergency protocol.”

  “I know,” she snapped.

  “They put me on morgue duty,” he said with a shrug. “In case of an emergency, I make sure the docs down there get out.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  She wanted to believe him; he could see it in her eyes. It was tempting to take her in his arms and distract her, but he was sweaty and as a point of pride, he wanted to win her over with logic. Even if it was logic based on untruths.

  Hell, they were both lying to her. Like a little kid grasping for approval, he wanted her to believe his story over her brother’s. “It wasn’t a wall,�
�� he began. “I went downstairs and some guy in a dark jacket and mask attacked me. I tried to stop him, but he got away. It was too dark to make any sort of identification.”

  “You were in a fight?”

  With her brother, but he left that out. “Barely qualifies, since I was so ineffective. Security knows about it, but I’d rather tell the wall story than admit I let the man responsible for the chaos that day get away. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

  Her expression edged closer to sympathy, until her eyes landed on the bag of bugs. “And what about those?”

  “I can’t explain those at all.” It was the truth.

  “Then how did they get into my house?”

  “Did you see them in your house?”

  Her eyebrows drew together into a quizzical frown. “What do you mean?”

  “You can pick up these things anywhere online or in some specialty electronic stores.” He opened his arms wide, held his hands up. “I have no reason to invade your privacy with something like that.” No, he just needed to invade her home to listen for news of her brother as a terrorist threat. He put a muzzle on the guilt gnawing at his conscience. “You want to know what I think?”

  “Tell me.”

  “I think your brother’s feeling possessive and out of sorts.”

  “You’re suggesting he’s making up this spy thing.”

  David nodded and reached for his water, resisting the urge to cross his arms over his chest. He didn’t want to show anything she could interpret as defensive body language. “I’m an HR guy,” he said. “They make us take some psych classes, you know.”

  That got a smile out of her. “And you’ve analyzed my brother.”

  He hitched a shoulder, kept his voice light. “I’m speculating, that’s all. I think he came home feeling guilty for making you worry. I think he wants things to be the way they were before your lives fell apart. He can’t win back the athletic scholarships, but he can try to win over his sister.”

  “He never lost me,” she muttered, raising her eyes to the ceiling and blinking away tears. “Why can’t he understand that?”

  “Boys can be dumb,” he said, pleased when she agreed with a snort. “He doesn’t know me and he doesn’t want me around. He sees me as a threat to your relationship.”

  “I suppose that makes sense.”

  “It’s a fair assessment.”

  “You must think I’m an idiot.”

  “No.” Never. She was too smart for him to easily keep his secrets for much longer. “You love your brother. That’s obvious. I get it.”

  “It sounded ridiculous, but I had to ask.” She snatched the plastic bag from the countertop and walked over to throw it in the trash can. “I just... I don’t know you.” She blushed. “I mean, we haven’t known each other long, I—” She cut herself off. “I’ll just get going.”

  “Stay,” he said, pleased when she stopped short. “I’ll make dinner and we’ll work on that knowing-each-other thing.”

  “You’re too nice to me,” she said. “I can’t horn in on your evening.”

  “There’s no other way I’d rather spend my evening.” He realized the words, his intentions, went far beyond this conversation or even this case. He wanted to be with her for as long as she wanted him around. Which, if Rediscover used Trey as everyone expected, wouldn’t be much longer. “Let me grab a shower and I’ll put shark steaks on.”

  “You have shark steaks?”

  “If you’d rather have something else or go out—”

  “Shark steaks are fine.” When she smiled, her eyes sparkled again.

  “Great.” He tugged at his damp T-shirt. “Make yourself at home.” He headed for the hallway. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. Unless...”

  “Unless?” she echoed.

  “You want to join me?”

  Her eyebrows shot toward her hairline, and her lips tilted in a sexy half smile. He knew in that moment she was ready to say yes. “Next time,” she managed in a husky whisper.

  “Can I get that in writing in ten minutes?”

  She nodded. “Sure.”

  David rushed through a cold shower and pulled on clean jeans and a fresh shirt. He didn’t want to give her a minute longer than necessary to change her mind. It wasn’t all about damage control, though his mind spun various theories about the motive behind Trey’s accusations. After dinner, he would need to send an update to Casey. If Trey was pushing this hard for Terri to give him the boot, the real attack had to be coming soon.

  As he walked back to the kitchen, he spotted Terri on a bar stool, flipping through one of his dive magazines. His heart banged hard against his rib cage. Who knew falling in love would feel so normal and significant all at once?

  In his mind, he saw the pictures of the nurses who’d been hurt during the blackout attack. David would not let Terri become another statistic. Trey and Keller might consider him a spy, but they had no understanding of his tenacity. Not only for protecting Dr. Palmer’s research, but for protecting Terri from them.

  She caught him staring and turned, smiling.

  “You stayed,” he said. He loved her. Good grief, he realized it was true. He loved her. It had to be too soon to tell her.

  “Well, shark steak is hard to resist.”

  “Yeah.” He walked over and leaned in close, giving her a chance to turn her cheek again.

  * * *

  TERRI’S PULSE SIZZLED under the tender assault of David’s lips, and she gently pushed her fingers into his damp hair, holding him close. He made her feel special. Beautiful and treasured. Engulfed by his heat and strength, the brisk scent of his body wash surrounding her, she could almost forget dinner—and the rest of the world. If she could be sure it wouldn’t make him run, she’d warn him that she was falling in love.

  Her stomach growled, embarrassing her, and their kiss ended on a bubble of laughter. “It was a long shift,” she explained. “I missed most of my lunch break.”

  “Can you talk about it?”

  “In vague terms, I suppose. The patient is doing really well.”

  “That’s good.” He kissed her nose, then walked around her to the refrigerator.

  She watched him gather ingredients and start a marinade. “What can I do to help?”

  “Not a thing. Just relax.”

  “Hmm. Okay.” It wasn’t a hardship to sit and rest while he fixed dinner. Still, she felt bad for barging in, making an outrageous accusation and then letting him manage the meal. “I should go get a bottle of wine or something.”

  “Check the dining room. My sisters dumped a crate of housewarming supplies on me at Thanksgiving. I’m sure there’s wine.”

  “You told me you were a beer guy.” His laughter followed her into the dining room.

  “The meddling matchmakers remain ever hopeful that I’ll be inspired to buy a wine rack and impress the ladies.”

  “Ah.” She didn’t care for his use of the plural. After last night, in her mind and with everything in her heart, she’d moved their relationship to exclusive. That didn’t mean he had to do the same, but she supposed they should talk about it. Just not now.

  He hadn’t been kidding about the crate. A large box made of wood slats was definitely intended as a decor piece once it was empty. It was currently stuffed with packing straw and a variety of items, including three bottles of wine. She pulled out a cabernet sauvignon and headed back to the kitchen. “How’s this?”

  He glanced up from chopping greens. “Whatever suits you.” He winked at her. “I’m having a beer.”

  “I don’t want to open this just for me.”

  “My sisters would be sad to hear that.”

  “But I can’t drink it all with one dinner.”

  He walked over and leaned across the counter. “Then you’ll have to come back tomorrow.” He kissed one corner of her mouth. “And the day after that.” He kissed the other corner. “And maybe the next night to finish it off.” He met her lips once more.

 
“Oh.” It was the best she could manage when he leaned back and looked at her that way. The passion building inside her was reflected in his gray eyes. “That’s a plan.”

  He handed her the corkscrew and, as she opened the wine, she wished she’d stopped at the house first to change clothes. She couldn’t even remember if her bra and panties matched. Probably not, since she’d dressed in a hurry in the dark, hoping to let David sleep in.

  She let herself admire the view of his worn jeans hugging his backside as he turned away to finish dinner. “Is my brother a deal breaker for us?” Where had that come from? She glared at the unopened bottle of wine, unable to blame anything but her own stupidity for that question. She held up a hand when he turned to face her. “Don’t answer that. It’s too soon.”

  “Not for me,” he said.

  She waited, but he didn’t clarify if he meant it wasn’t too soon for him or if Trey wasn’t a deal breaker. She didn’t have the nerve to ask. “Please give me something to do,” she begged. “It will shut me up.”

  “Your questions don’t bother me,” he said, laughing. “Come over here and toss the salad.”

  “Thank you.” Hurrying around the counter, she kept her mouth shut and her hands busy with the salad while he finished cooking the steaks.

  They ate at the table, the conversation limited to minimal comments and safe topics as they devoured the food.

  “That was amazing.” She blotted her lips with the napkin. “Thank you so much. I’m stuffed.” She started to get up, intending to take care of the dishes.

  “Hang on.” He caught her hand. “We haven’t had dessert.”

  “I couldn’t possibly...” Her voice trailed off when she realized he wasn’t talking about food. He had that gleam in his eyes, the one she didn’t want to resist. Last night in his arms, her world had spun off its axis. As much as she wanted to repeat that experience, this wasn’t the right night. “David...” She cleared her throat. “I should get home. Franklin wants me in first thing tomorrow.”

  “Another shift?”

  She nodded. “He already worked it out with my boss. After the blackout, security is tighter than ever. There are only a few of us approved by the research security team.”