Fires of Autumn (4 page)

Casey
sighed heavily. All she could do was apologize, hope time smoothed things over,
and hope the new Agent-in-Charge didn't carry a grudge.

***

One of the
first things Casey realized was that Colt Sheridan had piercing eyes. It wasn't
so much the color; the brown was clear and normal enough.
It
was simply
the way he looked at her that made her feel self-conscious, or guilty, even if she
had no reason to feel that way. The man stared at her like he could read
everything about her just in a fleeting glance. Casey passed him several times
that morning as he milled around the West Wing and it came to the point where
she could no longer look him in the eye when they met; she just put her head
down and kept walking.

It got
worse later that afternoon when the administrative assistant from Secret
Service Washington office called to ask Casey if she could help her with the
computer set up in Sheridan’s office. Casey had been in with the President and
was preparing to go back into a meeting with the President and his National
Security Advisor, and suggested that Maggie do the job. But the young secretary
was insistent that Casey be the one, considering she knew the security
protocols and the computer programmer
already working on the situation
was having trouble with them. Begrudgingly, Casey sent Maggie into the meeting
to take minutes while she focused on Sheridan’s computer issues.

The young
I.T. guy entered her office space a short time later bearing the computer meant
for the special agent in charge, going into the small, windowless office across
from Casey’s desk. It was more of a big alcove than an actual office, but the
Special Agent in Charge of the President’s detail had a desk there.  The young
man set the computer down on the desk and hooked everything up as Casey stood
in the doorway, watching and waiting until she was needed.

“So I
heard you met the new special agent in charge.”

 The President’s
trip and conference coordinator, Chris Eckart, spoke from his desk next to
Casey’s.  An efficient machine of a man with balding blond hair, he was a bit
of a clown and anything coming out of his mouth was usually a joke or gossip. 
Casey glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Who told
you that?” she asked. “Harrios?”

Chris was
focused on whatever he was doing on the computer, grinning. “I’ve heard you get
down and dirty with a lot of people but never the Secret Service,” he said. “I
wish I had been here.”

Casey
puckered her lips irritably and refocused on the I.T. tech as he finished up.
“Stick around,” she said drolly. “I’m sure there will be other opportunities
for you to watch me make an ass out of myself.”

As Eckart
sat there and snickered, Casey entered the office and stood in front of the
desk, suspecting the need for her knowledge was close at hand. She could see
that the guy was struggling with something.

"What's
the problem?" she asked.

The
computer nerd spoke. "Actually, I’ve got it licked.
It
was some
sort of problem in the autoexec.bat file, but I corrected it." He stopped,
turning to look at her. "All that's left is for you to give the access
code for Special Agent Sheridan and we're done."

Casey
nodded as the programmer got up from the desk chair and left the office.  As
she came around the desk and took a seat in front of the computer, she noticed
a figure sitting back in the corner. Sheridan had been tucked back away from
the door, so much so that she hadn’t even noticed him when she had been
standing in the door jamb.

Like some
surreal marble statue, he sat still and silent, his dark eyes missing nothing. 
Startled, not to mention embarrassed that he had heard her entire conversation
with Chris, Casey's heart began to race.

“I didn’t
know you were in here,” she said, feeling flustered. “I never saw you come in.”

Colt sat
forward in the chair, elbows resting on his knees. “You were in with the
President when I came in earlier,” he said, his dark eyes riveted to her.
“Sorry if I startled you.”

Casey
wasn’t sure what to say, so she simply nodded and returned her focus to the
computer.  She realized that Chris must have known that Sheridan had been
seated in the office and he had set her up for a lovely little prank. Thank God
she hadn’t said more to incriminate herself in front of Sheridan. She made a
mental note to kill Chris later.

"The
package I received this morning contained my verified security clearance,"
Colt interrupted her thoughts. "You need to sign off on it and pass the
protocol codes on to me."

He stood
up from his chair, moving towards the desk.  Casey looked up from the computer,
watching the way he moved. It was like watching a panther stalk prey.  She
hoped she wasn’t the prey…or maybe she did. Her heart began to race faster.

"I'll
take a look at
it
and see exactly what you're entitled to," she said, hoping
her nervousness wasn't obvious
.
"I would imagine you're
entitled to everything your predecessor was, which isn't a whole heck of a
lot."

The corner
of his mouth twitched. "I realize that." He nodded his head in the
direction of his desk; Casey saw the white tug-of-war envelope lying on the
top. "You can sign off now while you're here."

Without
looking at
him
at him again, because those eyes were really starting to unnerve
her, she removed the contents of the envelope. It was much flatter than it had
been earlier and Casey realized that the only item left was the security memo
.
Obviously,
all of the cloak-and-dagger materials had been removed and she read the letter
carefully, noting at the bottom of the page that she had been copied. She
hadn't seen the copy yet, but she assumed it was probably in the afternoon's
run of interoffice mail.

A quick
stroke of the pen lying on Sheridan's desk cleared him for security access. But
the white, wilted envelope continued to draw her attention and she suddenly
felt the need to make some sort of apology for her actions of earlier in the
day. Maybe it would help these feelings of anxiety she experienced every time
she came near him; besides, he was staring at her again and her heart was
pounding a mile a minute.

"Look,"
she began, rising from his chair. "I've got to apologize for the way I
acted this morning. I suppose I was in a bad mood from the minute I walked in
the office and, well
,
I'm not usually that cranky. Or smart-mouthed. Sorry."

He cocked
an eyebrow. "Too bad. I thought we'd get along with you being a cranky
smart-mouth and me being a jerk."

She
cracked a grin, feeling her cheeks flush bright red. "I'm sorry about
that, too
. I
guess 'jerk' wasn't the right word. More like.... "

"Bastard?
Hard-ass?" he said helpfully. "Or maybe a motherf.... "

She put
her hand up, quickly, to silence him. "No, no, none of those things
.
" He
actually smiled, broadly, and Casey began to feel giddy all over. "What I
was going to say was demanding."

"Sure
you were."

"I
was," she insisted weakly. With
him
smiling
so
openly at
her, it was difficult to maintain her gaze so she looked away, moving out from
behind his desk and heading for the door. "Good luck with your computer,
Mr. Sheridan."

She was
almost out the door when he stopped her. "Wait a minute."

She
paused, knowing her cheeks were still red and struggling not to appear too off
balance. "What?"

He pointed
toward his computer. "You didn't input my password yet."

The red
cheeks deepened and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, right."
Please, God,
let the floor open up and swallow me
.
Right
about now would be a really good time.

Sheridan
stood back while Casey set him up for security clearance
.
Without
another word, she displayed the code to him on the screen so he could memorize
it and then she proceeded to erase it. Task complete, she headed for her own
desk one last time. There was almost a desperate need to get away from him and
regroup.

But he
stopped her. "Ms. Cleburne?"

She
paused, one foot out of the office as if it somehow made her feel safer.
"Yes?"

His brown
eyes were warm, glittering. For most of the day they had been piercing,
appraising, but now they were almost soft. Casey instinctively took another
step out of the office, away from him. She inched backward as he inched
forward.

"Since
we're going to be working in such close proximity, I'd be more comfortable if
you'd call me Colt." His tone was grumbling, rumbling, incredibly
soothing. "Special Agent Sheridan sounds so formal and Mr. Sheridan sounds
like my father."

Casey
couldn't remember feeling giddier or more uncomfortable, in her life
.
There was
something about the way he was looking at her that made her want to run like
hell.

"I
know what you mean," she said, hoping the quiver in her voice wasn't
apparent. "Ms. Cleburne is what my mother insisted on being called by her
students. She was a married woman but she couldn't stand the title 'Mrs'. She
even tried to keep her maiden name after my parents were married but my father
said he'd divorce her if she did."

Sheridan
grinned
.
"Sounds like your mother was a true feminist."

Casey
snorted softly, feeling more at ease. "To the extreme,” she agreed. “My
dad wanted to name me Gwendolyn, after his mother, but my mom wanted to name me
Morissey, which was her maiden name. They settled on Casey because my dad liked
it and my mother didn’t think it sounded too girly.”

Sheridan’s
brown eyes moved up and down her body, very quickly, and Casey noticed. She also
noticed that he was about to say something but thought better of it. He sort of
nodded his head as if at a loss for words and politely turned away, but Casey
caught the oddness of his manner. She didn't even know the guy, but for the
first time all day he seemed less than his usual confident self. The man had
something on his mind.

"What
were you going to say?" she asked, a smile on her lips.

He looked
surprised. At least, he pretended to. "Me? Nothing. Just, uh... thanks for
getting my computer set up."

Her
grin
broadened.
Odd that the quaking in her limbs had eased now that she was warming to the
conversation, and apparently in control of it by the look on Sheridan’s face.

"I
didn't do anything but give you access to certain files," she said.
"But you, on the other hand, were going to comment about my name. What was
it?"

He shook
his head. "I wasn't going to. And even if I was, a comment like that could
wrangle me a lawsuit, so
I'll
just keep my mouth shut." He grinned smugly.

Casey cast
him a long glance. "Was it insulting?"

"Hardly.
Well, at least,
I
don't think so. However, your mother might."

Her grin
was flirtatious; she couldn't help herself. "Tell me.
I
promise
I
won't tell
my mother."

He shook
his head. "Not on your life, Ms. Cleburne."

"Colt?"

Now he
paused, appearing slightly nervous. "What?"

She was
perfectly calm, poised. "Call me Casey, please. Ms. Cleburne is my mother,
the feminist.”

Sheridan
actually thought he might flush, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was the
way she was looking at him. Christ, she was beautiful.

"Thanks,"
he said.

The comers
of her mouth twitched as she turned and walked away. He watched her walk across
the dark blue carpet into her own office until she sat behind her desk and out
of his line of sight, cutting off his vision of a very beautiful woman. 

She had
long, straight hair and a heavy fringe of bangs that was sleek and sexy as
hell, but it was her face that had him captivated.  He found her almond-shaped
violet eyes and full lips incredibly stunning.  Maybe this appointment would
have unexpected perks and he realized that he wasn’t disappointed to be sharing
office space with her. It could be one of the better aspects of the job. 

With the
show over as Casey disappeared from his view, Colt took a seat in front of his
computer, aware of a hint of perfume lingering in the air. It was a sweet,
sensuous scent. He grinned as he sat back in his chair, inhaling the fragrance
of Casey's perfume and thinking on what she was trying so hard to get him to
say.  He wouldn’t tell her now, not when he didn’t know her, but maybe someday
when time and opportunity presented itself, he just might.