The Agent

by Ellen Lane

  She tasted like sake, sweet and mellow, and barely an instant passed before his arms wound around her waist. She might have intended for the gesture to be short and chaste, but the moment her mouth touched his, Russell couldn’t let her go. A soft moan escaped her as he pulled her flush against him. Even if she had initiated the kiss, he was the one who deepened it. He was the one who nibbled hungrily at her lower lip before their tongues tangled leisurely.

  With her body sliding against him, he was instantly, painfully hard. So much so that he briefly contemplated taking the taxi with her back to her hotel room. He tugged at her lower lip with his teeth, reveling at the shudder that passed through her.

  Though he might have contentedly kept her on that curb all evening, eventually, Russell had to let her go.

  He released her only reluctantly, his hand whispering almost possessively across the small of her back. When he drew back, her dazed expression made him swallow thickly – and it took everything he had not to kiss her again.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alice.”

  Nodding slowly, she took a step back from him, reaching blindly for the handle of the taxi. When her hand slipped, he opened the door for her, brushing past her curvaceous form as he admitted her inside. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Russell.”

  The taxi was gone inside a minute, but Alice’s taste still lingered on his lips. He touched his mouth briefly before a low curse escaped him.

  He was going to have to take care of his little problem. If he didn’t, there was no way he’d be able to face her tomorrow.

  **

  When Alice awoke, she was damp between her legs, her head spinning with the intensity of the dreams she had.

  Dammit.

  She had intended to keep control when she was the one who kissed Russell. Instead, he ended up completely overwhelming her. Alice couldn’t remember ever being so devastated by a single kiss. The man’s mouth must hold some sort of modern age sorcery.

  “Are you alright, Miss Tate?”

  Alice bolted upright in bed guiltily to find Tom standing dutifully at her bedside. She couldn’t very well do without him for months and months, if that was what this job required. America hadn’t a single proper English butler.

  “Fine, Tom. Just a bad dream.” She pushed mussed tendrils of dark hair from her face with a yawn. “What time is it?”

  “Nine, miss.” Tom inclined his head deferentially. “Shall I run your bath?”

  “Please. And make some tea. For yourself as well.” Alice tossed off the coverlet, hurrying to the bathroom before she could embarrass herself. She didn’t leave the toilet until Tom had begun to run her bathwater. After he went to make the tea, she settled herself on the side of the bathtub, doing her best to clear her head.

  This was what she got chasing a man halfway around the world. Her first night in LA and she dreamed so vividly she probably needed to change her sheets.

  Sighing, the young woman ran her fingertips through the bathwater, testing the temperature. It was perfect, as always.

  She had about an hour to get ready before Russell arrived – and in that time, she needed to get her thoughts together. What did she want from him? And just how far was she willing to take things?

  Had she come to Cali for another extended tryst…or had Michael finally gotten into her head the way he’d always intended.

  Frowning, Alice stood to stalk to the mirror, taking in her reflection. She wouldn’t give her brother the satisfaction. Her plans were what they always were – it made no difference how much she liked Russell.

  She wasn’t ready for a commitment.

  As she considered her reflection, she remembered the information Lemmy had given her last night. Despite being a born and bred lady, Alice hadn’t offered to see the man out from politeness.

  She’d been gathering intel.

  Alice asked everyone she knew what Russell was like. It was her way of getting to know the man she’d chosen to pursue.

  Unfortunately, nothing that anyone told her was terribly encouraging.

  As she helped Lemmy to his taxi, she’d asked the affable director how it was to work with Russell, citing that she’d never done so before.

  And Lemmy hadn’t hesitated to spill the beans.

  Russell, he revealed to her, had changed dramatically over the years. When he first broke into the business, he’d always worn his heart on his sleeve. He never hesitated to let anyone, client or coworker, know how he felt – for the sake of honesty. He’d been an earnest, enthusiastic man who always, Lemmy stressed, always got hurt. There had been more than a few instances in which he fell for his clients, the stars he worked with on sets, or even a fellow agent, and Russell being the softie he was, it had always blown up in his face.

  So much so that one day, he stopped letting people in.

  And that was when he started seeing real success. Ultimately, Russell got ahead when he stopped trusting people and sealed his heart behind an impenetrable wall. These days, he completely trusted no one and nothing.

  Which was why, despite the good-guy aura that emanated from him, he always seemed a little distant.

  Off.

  It made sense, really.

  Alice frowned as she thought about what woman could have been devious enough to hurt an open-hearted Russell. She could all but imagine him bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, twelve years younger with a fresh outlook on the world.

  Not that he was anything but politeness and smiles these days. But, thanks to Lemmy, Alice now saw what had been bothering her abut Russell’s smile.

  It wasn’t genuine.

  He smiled because people expected him to smile. Not because he was truly happy. Funnily enough, this realization filled Alice with a distinct desire to garner a real smile from the man.

  To see him really enjoy his time with her. If she wasn’t going to commit, she could at least give him that, couldn’t she?

  She took her bath leisurely, shaving her legs and washing her hair before picking a more casual outfit – something suitable for strolling around LA. Jeans and heels would do, and she tossed a pair of Chanel flats into her bag in case she needed them.

  She barely got a moment to sit down and have tea with Tom before her phone was ringing.

  Alice hadn’t gotten such immediate butterflies over a boy since she was sixteen-years-old. Russell barely told her he was in the lobby before she was hurrying from the room, her heart in her throat.

  It was silly, really.

  Silly and exhilarating.

  Every time she saw him, Russell looked better. She didn’t know how he did it. Somehow, he managed to look both elegant and casual in his khaki’s and loafers, his hair still damp from the shower. At the sight of him, she remembered the way he’d completely usurped their kiss the previous night and her cheeks flushed slightly.

  Perhaps today she’d kiss him again.

  “I don’t know if I can take you out like that, Miss Tate.” When she drew up short about two feet from him, Russell reached out to take her hand, leading her into a little three sixty. His suddenly flirtatious nature lifted her spirits even further.

  Today was going to be a good day. “I dare say I’ll be beating men off.”

  “Maybe I should wear jeans more often.” Alice teased, beaming up at him. How was it that this man could make her feel so giddy? He barely knew her, and for all intents and purposes, his heart was under lock and key.

  Perhaps it was because that made him safe. Alice didn’t have to worry about him getting attached. Or…maybe it was something else.

  She was too excited about seeing apartments to let her mind linger on her hang ups for long. “So, where are we going?”

  Russell smiled winningly. “Calabasas Hills. I own a property there with a few empty units. I figure we look at those first, then we can branch out.”

  “Branch out?” She arched an eyebrow in inquiry and Russell chuckled. “Meaning look at properties I don’t own.”

  “If
I didn’t know any better, Russell,” Alice gazed up at him knowingly. “I might think you’re trying to entrap me.”

  “I would never.” Taking her hand, he winked at her cheekily before leading her from the ornate lobby of the hotel and into the California sunshine.

  As lovely as it was to think she might soon have a California apartment to call her own, Alice was just glad of an excuse to finally spend some time alone with the man. The drive to Calabasas took about twenty minutes from downtown, and as they traveled through the suburbs of the city, Russell pointed out the different neighborhoods to her.

  LA really was a melting pot. In reality, there were just as many slums as there were upper-class neighborhoods, all jumbled together in a clash of cultures that was both refreshing and mind-boggling.

  Calabasas itself was up in the hills of LA – an isolated community marked with villas and luxury apartments. At the very end of a long street lined with maple and elm trees was the building Russell owned.

  Alice supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that it was anything less than picturesque. A sprawling three-story palace with seven apartments, each individual unit over one thousand square feet. While she was enchanted with the elegantly manicured gardens outside, inside, the gorgeous décor took her breath away.

  The floors were marble, and Grecian columns marked the rooms. High, vaulted ceilings and wide windows offered lovely views of the valley below and the city within it.

  Alice knew better than to run blindly into a real estate deal where she’d be buying from Russell, but she was absolutely enchanted with the place. So much so that she almost felt the need to try and hide it.

  “So, what do you think?” With his hands in his pockets, Russell stood in the middle of the apartment, all serene smiles. This place suited him, really. It was a reflection of the man who owned it.

  Perhaps that was why Alice was so drawn to it.

  “It’s lovely.” She answered truthfully, running a hand over the hearth of a handsome fireplace in the living room. “The question is: how much would it run me?”

  Russell chuckled. Obviously, he’d been anticipating her question. “Well, are you renting or buying?”

  “I suppose I could be persuaded to rent, if the price was right.” Alice had really intended on buying, but if Russell was going to be her landlord, well, she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see more of him.

  “Well, usually I would rent something like this for about seven thousand a month.” Alice made a great show of being affronted at his asking price, though she knew from her own research that seven thousand was the median price range in a higher-class neighborhood.

  “Russell, surely you can make allowances for a close friend.”

  The man arched a brow, his blue eyes gleaming in mirth. “Well, perhaps I could think about five-five…but I’d need a day to consider.”

  The dog. He had always planned on offering her five-five.

  But playing his game was half the fun.

  “Well then, I wouldn’t want to rob you of your contemplation period. Perhaps I could look at some other properties?”

  “By all means.”

  Alice couldn’t remember the last time she’d flirted with a man so flagrantly. She was used to tempting men into her bed. When she met a man she found attractive, she usually knew how the night was going to end.

  But with Russell, she knew next to nothing.

  And it was terribly exciting.

  Though she knew she was going to end up renting from him, Alice took the entire afternoon with her host. They got in contact with two other realtors and saw a number of properties that literally took her breath away. Of course, they all had astronomical price tags - such was the price of being ostentatiously rich and famous. While none of them were exactly to her liking – far too grandiose and opulent – she certainly enjoyed seeing Russell’s reactions to them.

  Not to mention the way both female realtors tried to flirt with him unabashedly. While, under normal circumstances, she might have been upset that women were making eyes with her date, it was obvious that Russell was about as far from interested as it as possible to be. He barely glanced at them, despite the way they pressed their filler-enhanced breasts up at him and batted their extended eyelashes.

  It was funny really – and it gave Alice a little swell of pride knowing that Russell preferred her unquestionably to manufactured bimbos of that particular caliber.

  In fact, the whole day went by like a dream.

  Apart from having to watch the realtors all but undress Russell with their eyes, Alice enjoyed herself immensely. Russell showed her around the city without the slightest complaint, pointing out the best shopping and restaurants. But in addition to showing her the Hollywood highlights, he didn’t hesitate to take her into ethnic neighborhoods with amazing restaurants and colorful street markets.

  While Alice was used to men taking her out to some of the most exclusive places in a city to flaunt their wealth, Russell’s approach was decidedly different. It was obvious that the man was affluent – she knew that he had money. And he knew that she had money. That wasn’t what this was about.

  It was just about having a good time. Alice found that, for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care about what pumps the women around her were wearing, and she forgot how amazing her Hermes handbag felt on her arm. None of that mattered. What did matter was the barbecued chicken shish kabob they got in China town. The numerous little gift shops that were just as tacky as they were interesting, and the lovely blooming orchid she bought from a tiny florist in little Havana.

  She reveled in the sea breeze at the pier and had the most delicious lemonade of her life – and she didn’t even care when she spilled it on her Versace blouse.

  But the best part of the whole day, perhaps, was that she got to learn more about Russell. Or, at least, as much as he would allow her to learn. He told her that he was one of several siblings – that his mother had remarried and that he liked to return to England as often as he could to see his family.

  As he wasn’t working that day, Russell didn’t want to talk about work, and instead redirected her attention to the various fall events that went on in LA. There were beer festivals, concerts, art exhibits and fairs that went on seemingly year-round – and with a little bit of wheedling, Alice managed to get Russell to offer to take her to some of them if they ever had any free time.

  Of course, she would make sure she had free time. Russell was an enigma – and she’d have to deal with him on a case by case basis.

  All in all, if they could have just a few more days like today, Alice decided that she would be quite content.

  Their evening ended with a quiet dinner in a lovely little restaurant off the beaten trail. When Alice said she wanted Italian, Russell had known immediately where to go.

  For someone who attested they could never live in LA, he seemed to know the city quite well.

  “I have to know it well,” he explained to her over an exquisite bottle of cabernet. “I’m here a lot for work, and my clients consider LA the center of the universe.”

  “Not surprising. The world at large considers LA to be the center of the entertainment universe.” Alice smiled at him, taking another sip of her wine. It was refreshing to be the one given the tour rather than the one giving it, for once.

  “I personally prefer Hong Kong. Chinese action movies are very well made.”

  At his reply, the young woman chuckled. As fantastic as LA was, she too, as more partial to international cities. Over the course of the day, she found that she and Russell had more in common than she might have imagined.

  They were both professionals who worked more than they vacationed, and both people were tethered to their jobs from love rather than obligation.

  “I’m also partial to Hong Kong. I’ve done Chinese fashion week a few times there and it was an absolute joy.”

  Russell’s returning smile was slow and indulgent. “I can only imagine how much they loved
you. The ‘perfect western beauty’ out to conquer the eastern hemisphere.”

  Alice made a face, inwardly glowing with pride. “Asian designers are much more the rage there. I hardly made a handful of sales. I like to keep going for the scenery.”

  Russell arched a brow in intrigue a moment before he filled her wine glass once more. “I must say, Alice, you’ve been impressing me all day.”

  “Have I?” She shot back coyly, “I thought that was what you were doing.’

  “If I have, I suppose I can’t complain.” His lips quirked. “But I would much rather listen than be the one talking.”

  “Well,” Alice rested her chin on her hands primly, looking across the table at him. “What is it that you’re looking to hear, Mr. Darwell?” Since they’d begun dinner, Alice became more and more convinced that their little outing was actually a proper date. While Russell showing her the sites and a number of apartments might be considered a friendly interlude, there was no mistaking the way he looked at her now.

  What had changed, and why had it changed so starkly? From everything she’d heard about the man, he wasn’t one to put his heart on the line. He had girlfriends and dated, but he liked to keep his distance.

  When it came to her, he was always sending a plethora of mixed signals. First, he turned her down firmly but politely, then it seemed like he was actually seeking her out with the same fervor that she was him. Then, when he offered her the job, she hadn’t known what to think.

  But here, now, it was pretty obvious to Alice that he was interested in her. Interested enough to spend a whole day with her without complaint, and curry her favor by offering her a lower price on a rental property. One might almost think he’d set his mind to courting her properly.

  But that would make things far too easy.

  “I suppose I’d like to hear that you plan on seeing me at least once or twice while you’re in LA.” He said the words to her completely and totally unabashedly – as if he’d been after her approval from the very beginning.

  The man confused the bloody hell out of her.

  “Only once or twice?” She inquired innocently. “I expect I’ll be here almost a year or more. Is your schedule so busy it only allows you to entertain once or twice?”