“I see,” Carter said, even though he didn’t. When he’d seen her making a beeline for him across the room he’d expected a stream of lies to come pouring from her lips, maybe a sob story, anything but the bald truth. But it seemed like there were limits to how much his intriguing companion was willing to share. Maybe the time had come to test those limits. “Do I get to know your name?”
“Probably not a good idea.” She took a small sip of her champagne.
“I’m guessing that I don’t get to know the story of why you’re running from the security guards either.”
Her gaze flashed up at him. The look in her eyes was easy to read.
What do you think?
“Maybe just a little clue,” he teased.
“Trust me, the less you know, the better off you are,” she said cryptically. “But I swear, I have a really good reason.”
Turned out, good reasons, weren’t good enough for him.
“Are you planning on hurting someone?” Carter asked, trying to keep his voice light.
“What?” Her face shot up. Her eyes went wide. “No. Of course not.”
Carter studied her. She was shocked, appalled at the very idea that he would ask such a thing.
So if she wasn’t here because of the threats to Congressman Fuller’s life, then why was she here?
Carter could think of half a dozen ways he could make her talk, just off the top of his head. The most efficient, of course, would be handing her over to Rhys and letting him go to work on her. Five minutes alone with the best interrogator to come out of Army Special Forces, and Carter had no doubt his mysterious little bird would sing to the rafters.
Rhys might be damned effective in getting information out of hostiles, but his methods could be…harsh. And somehow, the image of the charming woman in front of him forced down in a chair, trembling in front of Carter’s stony-faced man, wasn’t sitting well in his gut. It was obvious that she was scared enough as it was. He had a feeling that heaping even more fear on top wasn’t going to help.
No, Carter could figure out what she was up to on his own, without threats or intimidation. He was pretty sure that he knew another set of tactics that would prove far more effective.
He wasn’t above using her attraction to him to his advantage.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend,” he said, slowly offering her his hand. “I’m Carter.”
“It’s a pleasure,” she said, taking it. A rush of pink lit up her cheeks at the deliberate way he curled his fingers around her palm. Her touch was warm and surprisingly soft. He didn’t pull away and neither did she.
Maybe this was going to work better than he thought.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me your name?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
Her eyes locked with his. Her tongue flicked out to wet her full bottom lip.
“I’m—”
Her bright blue eyes darted away from his, focusing sharply on something just behind him and shattering the moment. All the color drained from her face as she ducked her head.
“There’s another twenty in it for you if you put your arm around me right now,” she blurted out.
He swiveled around to see what had spooked her, just in time to see his man, Jake, breaking through the crowd. Rhys wasn’t far behind.
Carter couldn’t blame the woman for her reaction. There probably wasn’t a more intimidating pair on the planet. Of course, that was only half the reason he kept them on the payroll. They might be damned useful, but, after everything they’d been through together, these men were his family.
“Are those the guys that are after you?” he said, tilting his head in their direction.
“Yeah.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“I thought you said they were scary.” Carter turned toward Jake and Rhys. “Is there a problem, gentlemen?”
Jake stopped short at Carter’s impersonal greeting and high-handed tone. His brows pulled down into a deep V above his eyes.
“Yeah, there is,” Jake said slowly. “That woman is—”
“Is not a problem,” Carter finished for him.
Rhys gave him a long look, his ice blue eyes narrowing. “You sure about that, because she—”
“Isn’t on the list? I know. The lady is with me, boys.”
“Boys?” Jake said. His jaw tightened as he took a step forward. Carter knew Jake wasn’t used to being talked down to and, by the looks of it, he didn’t like it one bit. Not by his boss. Maybe, especially, by his boss.
Rhys put his hand on Jake’s shoulder, stilling him. Jake turned his head. He caught Rhys’ pointed look and his stance relaxed a little…a very little.
“Sorry about the misunderstanding, sir,” Rhys said. “It looks like you have this situation under control.”
“I do,” Carter said.
“Yeah, our deepest apologies,” Jake said, giving Carter a belligerent smile as Rhys slowly pulled him back into the crowd. “Sir.”
Carter turned around to find his mystery woman staring at him with narrowed eyes. The left side of her mouth was quirked up at an angle that said that she didn’t quite believe what had just happened…and not in the good way.
“You chased them off?” she asked, her voice dripping with skepticism.
“I guess I did.”
“Just by telling them that I was with you?”
“Like you said, I’m not the kind of person people want to mess with.”
“Yeah,” she said, drawing out the word. She swept him up and down with a critical gaze, as if she was completely re-examining him.
So, maybe he’d laid it on a little too thick. But that was all right. He could recover. It couldn’t be too hard to regain her trust.
“Where were we?” Carter cocked his shoulder against the wall and gave her his best bedroom smile, the one that had slipped more than a couple of secrets from the lips of beautiful women around the globe. He lazily raised his hand to tuck a stray hair that had come loose behind her ear. “That’s right. You were about to tell me your name.”
She handed him her empty glass. “I really should be going.”
Okay. Maybe it was going to take a little more damage control than he first thought.
“Why would you want to do that?” he whispered.
She looked over his shoulder again. Her eyes went wide. “Because your friends are coming back.”
Carter spun around. He scanned the crowd for Jake and Rhys, but they weren’t there.
His shoulders fell as he heard the soft sound of the metal door that led to the back stairwell clicking closed behind him.
He turned around and looked at the empty space by the wall.
She was gone.
She’d bolted.
Correction—she’d played him and then she’d bolted. Just like she’d done to Rhys and Jake. Not a good night for Macmillan Security.
Though somehow, Carter felt a wave of admiration toward the woman who’d given him the slip. It was a rare creature that could elude one ex-Special Forces operative, let alone three. Of course, that only made him more determined to find her and figure out exactly who she was and what she was up to.
Keep Reading Carter Now!
About The Author
Adrienne Bell lives on the far edge of the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and kids. She spends her working days writing and reading and most her downtime watching comic book themed television and scrolling through Disneyland fan websites. You can follow the minutia of her life on Twitter, or see the pictures she likes to share on Facebook, or check out what’s coming out next on AdrienneBell.net. Oh, and she thanks you for reading.
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Bowie: The Sinner Saints #5 Page 20