Covert Agent’s Virgin Affair

by Linda Conrad

  He’d already started the car, but now he put it into neutral and stepped on the brake. “Mary…Ariel…” He reached over, captured her hand and tried a sincere smile. “I want to meet your friends and family. I want us to learn everything there is to know about each other. Give me a chance?”

  Mary’s flip-flopping heart had landed back in her chest by the time they’d driven the three blocks to Kelley’s. The rain was easing up, but her fascination with Jake grew greater with every passing moment.

  Of course, she would give them a chance to get better acquainted. He didn’t even need to ask. Otherwise, how would she ever know for sure if he was the one or not?

  After he was introduced to all her crazy family and friends, she would find out if he still wanted to stick around. Or…if by then he was ready to run away—either laughing himself sick or screaming in terror. It would be a good test.

  Unbuckling her seat belt, she watched him closely. She was having some trouble believing he was for real. The moment she’d spotted him outside the library, she’d begun pinching herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. He was almost too good to be true.

  After they climbed out of his SUV and headed toward the restaurant’s front door, Mary’s sister Lucy appeared on her way out. Lucy’s arms were loaded down with take-out food packages.

  Mary gave Lucy a peck on the cheek. “Jake Pierson, I want you to meet my sister Lucy Walsh.”

  “Hey, good to meet Mary’s sister. Need some help carrying those things?” Jake opened his arms and grinned like a Boy Scout.

  “I guess so…Jake, was it?” Lucy gave her sister a raised-eyebrow look, as if to say, Where’d you hook this one?

  Jake took the packages and then waited for Lucy to show the way to her car. Lucy didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave now that her arms were free, and Mary couldn’t figure out how to give her sister the hint.

  “I was sorry to hear about your father,” Jake told her. “It must be hard having to wonder where he’d been all those years.”

  Lucy nodded sharply at Jake but turned to Mary without making a reply. “You’re not coming to quilting club tonight? We haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “That group is a bunch of gossips,” Mary complained—before she realized that Jake was listening closely. “I’m in the process of changing my life, Lucy. Quilting doesn’t fit the image in my head of the new me.”

  Mary turned to Jake and nearly batted her eyelashes at him before she could catch herself. “My sister owns the knitting store in town.” And Mary had been a little jealous of her pretty older sister ever since they’d been in their teens.

  She held her breath and waited for Lucy or Jake to make a comment. If Jake liked Lucy more, it might kill her.

  Immediately Mary felt guilty. Lucy’s life had been no better than Mary’s, despite the fact that Lucy looked like every man’s fantasy of the girl next door.

  Mary understood what her sister had been through. What they’d both been through. No one else on earth had any idea but the two of them. At one time Mary had thought that would keep them close, but now she knew better. Lucy wasn’t too crazy about hanging around the one person who shared all her secrets.

  In addition to that, Lucy was already engaged to be married. Mary was truly happy for her sister. Truly.

  Lucy turned to Jake. “Are you visiting someone in Honey Creek?”

  Jake’s bright eyes blazed at Lucy as he shifted to the other foot. “I’m in the process of moving to town for business. Just leased a house, in fact. Big old place out in the country.”

  Mary perked up at the idea of him settling into Honey Creek. “Which house?”

  Turning to gaze at her with a look that made her itchy, Jake said, “It’s south of town, where Main Street runs under the highway. The agent told me it’s known as the old Jenkins place.”

  “Oh, I’ve always loved that house,” Mary told him. And meant it. “But it’s huge. Do you need all that space?”

  Jake took his sweet time in giving her an answer and it made her wonder what he had in mind. “Maybe.” He twisted back to talk to Lucy. “I’m in commercial real estate and I need an office at home. And I have a…uh…hobby or two. Plus, that place was the only available property anywhere nearby.”

  Lucy threw him a look, using her patented saccharin grin and all those sparkling white teeth. Mary felt her sister’s grin in the pit of her stomach. “We won’t keep you, Lucy.”

  “Mary, can I speak to you…um…in private for a minute?”

  “I’ll just put these bags in your car if you’ll point me in the right direction and give me the key.” Jake was smiling like a blue-eyed, broad-shouldered Boy Scout again.

  And making Mary wish they could be somewhere—anywhere else—alone.

  “Sure. Thanks.” Lucy handed him her key and indicated her ancient truck parked at the far end of the lot. “Put them in the front, please.”

  When Jake was out of earshot, Lucy dragged her sister away from the restaurant’s door and off to the side. “Where did you ever find him?”

  “We ran into each other in Bozeman. Stunning, isn’t he?”

  Lucy looked as though she would like to say something else, but checked over her shoulder instead. “Mom tells me you’re thinking of taking time off from work this week. Is that true?”

  “Uh…yeah.” This wasn’t what Mary thought her sister wanted to talk about. Confused, she went along. “Why?”

  Lucy lowered her voice. “Would you do me a huge favor, sis? I can’t do it myself. I can’t leave the shop during the day. And besides…if I did this, everyone in town would start gossiping about me again.”

  “Tell me what you need. I’ll try.”

  “Go see Damien Colton.” Lucy twisted her head, looking behind them. “See if he’s okay and if he needs anything. Please?”

  “All the way over to Montana State Prison?” The idea of entering a place with hundreds of male prisoners made Mary sweat with apprehension. “That’s a hundred miles away. Why can’t you simply wait until he gets out and comes home? That shouldn’t take too much longer, should it?”

  Lucy took her hand and Mary felt her sister trembling. “I can’t speak to Damien directly. You know people will talk. As it is, they either think I hate Damien or secretly still love him. I wouldn’t want Steve finding out.”

  “Your fiancé has to know what happened back then. Why would it…?”

  “Mary, please. I don’t want to talk to Damien in person. I don’t want to plant any ideas in his head about me still caring for him.”

  “But you want me to ride all the way over there by myself to check on him?” Mary shook her head. “Don’t you think he might get the wrong idea about that?”

  Tears leaked from the corners of Lucy’s eyes. “Can’t you just do this one thing for me without making a big deal? I feel terribly guilty about him being in that prison all these years. If it hadn’t been for me…”

  “Okay, okay, take it easy.” Mary felt cornered, as she always did around Lucy. “I’ll go.”

  Lucy threw her arms around Mary and hugged her as though she might not ever have another chance. “Thanks, sis. You’re the best.”

  Jake walked back to the two of them. “You’re all set, Lucy.”

  Thanking him and thanking Mary again, Lucy took back her keys and finally left.

  Jake slid his arm around Mary’s waist. “What was that all about?”

  “Nothing much.” But Mary couldn’t help thinking of her sister.

  Mark Walsh had wreaked havoc on both his daughter’s lives, but Mary was determined to take control of her own life. What about Lucy? Could her sister have taken things into her own hands—and killed their father for revenge?

  Jake took her hand and walked them toward the front door. “You sure she wasn’t concerned about you and me?”

  “We didn’t talk about you.” Not much. But that gave Mary an idea. “I agreed to do Lucy a favor and I’m hoping you’ll be willing to help out, too.�
�

  “Maybe. What did Lucy need?”

  Sighing, Mary would’ve liked some way to get out of telling him the whole truth, but now she had no choice. “It’s a long story. Can we talk about it over supper?”

  “Sure.” Jake bent to kiss her cheek as he pulled on the front-door handle. “I’m starving.”

  The touch of his lips sent an immediate and staggering jolt down Mary’s spine. She was hungry, too. But not for food.

  Chapter 5

  Jake leaned back in his chair after the waitress took their orders. He looked around at the many empty tables. He’d eaten here a time or two before as there weren’t many restaurants located in the town of Honey Creek. Tonight he’d hoped Kelley’s would be packed with locals.

  At the moment, though, only a few patrons were at the bar and just two other tables had customers seated for dinner. Something didn’t feel right here. The hair on his arms stood straight up. Was someone watching? Who? When he casually glanced up again, pretending to look for their waitress, he couldn’t spot anyone or any reason for this odd feeling.

  He shook it off as another tangible sign of his guilt. Paranoia. Typical of covert agents. In this case, apparently he and Mary had arrived early for the dinner hour. Disappointed about not having access to lots of Mary’s friends, but not ready to give up, Jake decided to take his time and see what information he could obtain while they ate.

  “Your sister’s a beautiful woman,” he began casually. “I’m not sure I would’ve pegged you two as related though.”

  Mary’s eyes narrowed at him. “Yes, she’s always been the pretty one.” That was not what he’d meant. “If anyone ever said such a thing, they were wrong.” He found himself reaching across the table for her hands. “You are infinitely better-looking than Lucy.”

  On top of that, Lucy was still someone he suspected in the murder of her father. If Mark Walsh’s murder was a crime of passion instead of being connected to an international money-laundering scheme, Lucy could well have done the crime. Something in her eyes screamed secrets.

  Mary was still staring at him but her gaze had softened. Amber points of light in her eyes danced in the low illumination coming from a wall sconce above her head. In his opinion, she was most definitely the prettier of the two sisters.

  Gorgeous. With long, silky red hair lying seductively against her back. With her lush full breasts tempting him as they pushed against the material of her dress. And with her perfectly rounded hips and those erotic thighs—hiding now from his view.

  Jake closed his eyes for a second and wished to hell he had never seen her naked.

  “I have to explain what took place fifteen years ago so you’ll understand why Lucy wants my help.” Mary took a sip of water and looked around the room before she continued. “You need to know Lucy’s story. And the truth about my father.” She made a face with that remark as if she’d suddenly remembered that what had happened fifteen years ago was all her father’s fault.

  “But mostly it’s the story of a man named Damien Colton, who was very young at that time. Barely twenty.”

  Jake nodded. “Is he related to the sheriff, Wes Colton?”

  “Yes. His brother.” Mary lowered her voice to a whisper and he had to lean in to hear her words.

  “If this is too hard for you…” Jake reached over and touched her arm. He needed to keep her talking. Making her believe that he didn’t care one way or the other whether she continued was one excellent method of manipulating her into doing the opposite.

  Part of the covert agent’s training manual.

  Mary shook her head. “You have to hear this. If not from me, then someone else will tell you. You see, my father was a difficult man to live with.” Hesitating, she put her fingers to her mouth. “Sorry, I guess I already mentioned that. But back to my sister. She was sixteen then and thought she was madly in love with Damien, a kid whose family still today owns a huge ranch with lots of acreage near Honey Creek.”

  Mary’s eyes took on a hazy cast as she seemed lost in the past. “My father threatened to run Damien out of town if he didn’t leave my sister alone.”

  “He didn’t want her dating a rich kid?”

  Mary’s eyes came back to focus on him. “My family is fairly well off, about as rich as the Coltons. But that isn’t the point. I think my father didn’t like the idea of Lucy dating someone four years older. Damien was a good kid, but I guess he looked a little too rough around the edges.”

  Jake knew Mary and Lucy came from first-generation family wealth. It was one of the things that had put him off about pretending a relationship with Mary before they’d met. And he had already read this whole story while digging into the FBI files on Mark Walsh. But he needed to encourage Mary to get it all out. Maybe he would learn something new.

  “What happened?” he asked casually, taking a sip of water.

  “My father’s body was found…or at least everyone thought it was his body. And Damien was accused of killing him because my father had threatened him.”

  “Pretty slim motive.”

  “I agree.” Mary picked up her water glass, too, but only stared at it as though she could see back to that time long ago. “They tried and convicted Damien despite the lack of evidence. Sentenced him to a life prison term for a murder he obviously didn’t commit.”

  “At the time you didn’t believe he’d done it?”

  Mary shook her head and set the water glass down without drinking. “But most people did.”

  “Including Lucy?”

  “She seemed bitter and angry back then. I thought it was over Damien. But now, I’m not so sure.” Mary absently began rubbing her hands together. A sure sign of distress.

  “What’s the favor Lucy wants?” Jake wanted her to come fully back to the present. To stay with him.

  Mary’s nose turned up and her mouth twisted as if she’d just tasted something sour. “She wants me to drive over to the Montana State Prison and see Damien. So far no release date has been set and she wants to find out if he needs anything.”

  Jake could easily guess the truth. “She wants you to tell him she’s sorry for what happened?”

  Mary looked toward him and took a deep breath. “I suppose that’s what she wants, yes.”

  “And you don’t want to go?”

  “Not alone. That’s quite a drive. And…and…”

  “I’ll go with you.” He took her hand again and gazed into her troubled eyes. “If you’re planning to do this favor for your sister, just tell me when and I’ll make time to go with you.”

  A meeting with the prisoner might mean a breakthrough in his case. Talking to Damien Colton could bring fresh leads.

  “Thank you. Oh, thank you, Jake. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” Mary released a big breath, as though she’d been holding it awaiting his decision.

  Jake would never let her make the trip to the prison alone. He couldn’t. She seemed to be dreading it, and he couldn’t stand seeing her in anguish.

  It wasn’t that he thought of her as fragile. He didn’t. And she wasn’t one of those needy, clingy women who annoyed him. Mary was definitely one of a kind: strong and soft at the same time.

  Sensual? Oh, yeah. Intelligent? Definitely. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on why he thought she was special. As he considered all her good qualities, his conscience broke in and kicked him in the butt once more for using her the way he had. The way he continued to do.

  Then the waitress arrived with armloads of food, giving Jake the perfect excuse to bury his guilt—yet again.

  Mary finished her grilled chicken salad slowly. She even left some of it untouched on the plate. Both those actions, eating slowly and leaving part of the food behind, were things she had never done in her previous life. But she now knew both would help keep the weight off.

  Being with Jake was apparently going a long way toward turning her life around. She still had a craving for the gooey chocolate cake that was a favorite at Kelley’s Coo
khouse, but she ordered coffee along with Jake instead of dessert.

  Proud of herself, she relaxed back in her chair and watched him. The man had no idea how sensual, passionate and exciting he was. Something deep inside her yearned for him. It was more than the sex—though she thought that part had been great. Better than great—for a first time. And she suspected it would only become more intense with practice.

  She’d always had a knack for picking up nuances and hints from people, and Jake gave off terrific vibes. Well, okay, he obviously had a few secrets that he hadn’t shared. Didn’t everyone?

  But he was clearly a good man. An honest man. Her heart fluttered, actually fluttered, when he caught her watching him and grinned.

  “You’ve always lived in Honey Creek?” he asked.

  “My whole life except for a couple of years at college. It’s my home.”

  “That must be nice. I don’t have any place I can really call a home.”

  She wanted to tell him that he could make a home right here—with her. But she knew it was too early in their relationship to talk about a future. They still didn’t know enough about each other, despite the fact that they’d seen each other naked.

  The idea of them naked made her blush. She dropped her gaze to the tabletop, letting her hair cover her face so he couldn’t see her embarrassment. Why had she insisted on them making love on the very first night they’d met? It had been risky, but she didn’t regret it for one second. Even if it meant they could never get past that one night and form a real relationship.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked gently. “You’re too quiet.”

  “I was just wondering if you had any brothers or sisters. Is your mother still alive? Where is your father?”

  “Whoa. Lots of questions there.” He took a last sip of coffee and studied her from across the table for a moment. “My mother died when I was about ten. No brothers or sisters—that I know of. And I have no idea whether my father is alive or dead. When I finally broke free of his influence, I never looked back.”