KissedByASEAL (13 page)

She tried to remember all the names, but they seemed to fly from her mind the moment he said them. “Wait, go over all that again.”

He stopped walking and turned to face her. “No, I’m not going to. It’s okay. You’re not supposed to know the family. Neither am I. You were invited at the last minute just like I was after my boss, their friend, found out he couldn’t make it. The only name you have to remember is Dean Construction.”

“Dean Construction.” She repeated it, hoping it would stick in her addled brain.

“Yup. That’s where I work in Virginia for my boss, Richard Dean.”

“Okay.”

Chris put his drink on the nearest table and wrapped one big hand around each of her arms. “Darci, you’re doing great.”

“Liar.” She rolled her lips in, not liking the feeling of being out of control of the situation.

“And you look beautiful. Even when you’re scowling at me. And that’s not a lie.” He grinned.
 

She would have liked to enjoy his compliment, even if it was delivered in his usual joking manner, but the current situation made it impossible to be amused or happy.

Any moment now someone from the wedding party was going to come over and talk to them, and she was sure she’d mess everything up. Then Jon, and Zane, and Chris, and Rick, and probably Ali too would all be mad at her for blowing their assignment.

A waiter stopped in front of them with a tray laden with hors d’oeuvres.

“Yes, thank you.” Chris took it upon himself to pluck two items from the tray.

He ate one himself and then held the other one up to her lips. She opened her mouth and he popped it inside before she could protest. She didn’t know what it was, but it tasted good. He smiled, probably because he knew when her mouth was full she wouldn’t be able to complain any more to him about this assignment she was ill prepared for.

She washed the food down with a sip of her drink. It tasted like much more juice than alcohol, so she didn’t worry about getting drunk.

He leaned down to say, “See. Nobody has looked twice at us. No one is even talking to us. We’re good.”

The area around the pool was starting to fill up as more guests arrived. A few new arrivals made a beeline for the Collins family, leading Darci to assume they were wedding guests, which automatically put them on her list of people to be nervous around.

Other people just grabbed a drink and a seat and didn’t look twice at her and Chris or the bride and her family. Those people she figured she could discount as being with their party, but it did raise a concern in her mind. “We’re going to look rude if we don’t go over and say hello.”

“Yup. Most like.” Chris nodded.

Her eyes widened at his answer. “Then why aren’t we going over?”

“Because you’re not ready.”

“I am too ready.”

He dipped his head in another nod. “A’ight, then let’s go over.”

“Chris Cassidy, you are so infuriating.”
 

“And why is that?” He smiled, while reaching out to push back a piece of her hair the breeze had blown into her face.

“Don’t make exceptions for me. You need to do what is best for the job. If you think we have to go over and say hello, then that’s what we should do. Whether I’m ready or not.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Nah, no need.”

“You just agreed it would look rude. Now you say there’s no need? Why not?” Darci resisted the urge to stamp her foot over his contrary behavior.

Laying an arm around her shoulder, he leaned low and spoke close to her ear. “Because they’re coming over to us.”

“Oh my God.” Her heart pounded so fast it felt like it might explode.

“Smile, darlin’. Remember, you’re on vacation in paradise with the man of your dreams.” He dropped his arm from around her shoulders, straightened and extended his right hand toward the approaching older couple. “Mr. Collins, Mrs. Collins, congratulations on your daughter’s upcoming marriage.”

“Thank you.” Mr. Collins shook Chris’s hand and then gestured to his wife. “Laura, this is Richard’s right hand man, Chris Cassidy.”

Laura Collins, an attractive older woman, smiled at Chris. “Very nice to meet you, Chris.”

“You as well, and thank you for having us.” Chris took one step back to include Darci in the conversation. “This is my girlfriend, Darci.”

“Nice to meet you.” With slightly less enthusiasm than she’d had for Chris and his southern charm, Laura Collins nodded to Darci.

Darci prayed the tightness in her throat would allow her speak. “Nice to meet you both. Thank you for having us.”

“Our pleasure.” Mr. Collins smiled wide at her and a little bit of her fear seeped away. Apparently, he didn’t care one of his GAPS operatives was a woman with no experience whatsoever.

That might have something to do with the low neckline of her dress, which Mr. Collins seemed to have noticed, judging by the way his gaze kept dropping.

Self conscious, both from the attention from the Mr. and the displeasure radiating off the Mrs., Darci wrapped both arms around Chris’s bicep and held him close. It worked to both hide her cleavage from Mr. Collins and show Mrs. Collins that she wasn’t interested in any man except for her pretend boyfriend, Chris.

“Howard, there are the Jordans. We should go say hello.”

“Of course.” At Mrs. Collins’s prodding, Howard shook Chris’s hand one more time. “We’ll see you both tomorrow. If not before, then for the boat trip, correct?”

Chris nodded. “Yes, sir. I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world.”

“Good. Have a good night.” He skittered off to follow his wife, who had moved on to the other guests.

When they were alone again, Chris glanced down at Darci. “I told you. Piece of cake.”

Maybe for him. Her heart had yet to recover from the stress. But if she wanted him to not jeopardize this job because he was trying to accommodate her, she needed to pretend everything was all right.

“Yup. Piece of cake.” She drew in another swallow of the drink. “So what’s next?”

“I would like to hang around while the family is still here. See who they talk to. Who the other guests are. Get familiar with the staff. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”

He raised his brows high, before he pressed his lips together and nodded. “Okay. I’ll remember that.”

“I just hope nobody else comes to talk to us. The Collinses were easy, but somebody else might be more curious.” She tried to take a look around at the other people by the pool without looking like she was doing so.

It wasn’t as easy to do as Chris made it look. Did they teach them to do that stealthy eye sweep thing in the SEALs?

“I doubt anyone will bother us.”

Darci wasn’t sure she agreed with him. “Why do you think that?”

He shrugged. “Who would disturb a couple so obviously in love while they’re having a private moment on the dance floor?”

“But we’re not—” Even as she started to say it, the first strains of music cut through the air. She turned and saw a band had taken position on the other side of the pool. She really wasn’t very good at being observant. Good thing Chris had that part covered.

“Shall we?” he asked.

“Yes, I think we’d better.” She didn’t trust herself to be able to withstand questions or scrutiny at the moment. She put the remains of her cocktail down on the table and let Chris lead her to an empty spot in front of the band.

He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. She wasn’t short for a woman, but her sandals were flat, and Chris was tall. In this position, she realized exactly how tall he was . . . and big, and warm, and solid beneath her cheek as she rested against his chest.

“You dance well.” Though they were swaying so slowly, she wasn’t sure what they were doing could really be considered dancing.

“For a redneck, you mean?”

“No. I was thinking more for a muscle-bound brute.”

A low chuckle rumbled through him. “Thank you. That’s quite a compliment.”

“If you say so.” It was easier to joke and tease than admit the strange new feelings ricocheting through her when Chris held her close.

After all these years of dismissing him, discounting his attention, tolerating his jokes, she was seeing a different side of him. He could be sweet and he could be serious. Deadly serious. The gun she felt at the small of his back hidden beneath his sports jacket was evidence of that.

But more than all that, he made her body feel things she wasn’t sure she wanted to feel with him. She wanted him. Wanted his big, hard body pressed against hers, and not on a public dance floor.

He wanted to stay until the last of the family and guests left, but after that there was a good chance they’d be alone in the privacy of their room. Then what the hell was she going to do?

Chris dropped a kiss on the top of her head, probably just to reinforce their cover story that they were a couple for anyone watching. Just two people sharing an incredible room at a gorgeous resort.

The longer she spent wrapped in his arms, the more she felt like that was exactly what they were. She lifted her head and looked up at him.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

She swallowed before answering. “Yes.”

Rising onto her tiptoes, she pressed a kiss to his lips. When she pulled back, she saw his surprise.

“Darci, how strong was that drink you had?” If he was afraid she was drunk, he didn’t have to worry.

She shook her head. “Not strong at all.”

“Good.” He lowered his head and took her lips in a kiss that was probably too intense considering where they were. Then he pulled away and blew out a breath. “I’m supposed to be working.”

“You are.”

He cocked one brow. “Yeah, like I’m really paying attention to anything besides you.”

“Sorry. Do you want to go sit down?”

Chris let out a laugh. “Don’t you dare be sorry, and no, I’m not walking around the pool like this. Give me a minute, then we’ll sit.”

The truth was, she wasn’t at all sorry. She felt evidence of the truth of his words as his hard length pressed against her stomach and had to hide her smile. “Okay.”

CHAPTER 12

Chris managed to wrestle his attention off the fact Darci had kissed him, and somehow get his mind back on the job, but that lasted only as long as the Collinses remained by the pool.

The moment the family left, headed for he didn’t know where, he grabbed Darci’s hand. Leading the way, he strode fast down the path and toward their room.

He’d picked locks faster than it took him to get the damn keycard to work in the door. He was cussing and breathing hard by the time the light turned green and he heard the lock disengage.

Shoving the door wide, he got them both inside before he slammed the door closed. His haste was crazy. He didn’t know what she was thinking or if the moment on the dance floor had passed. All he knew was that he wanted her alone and in private just in case lightning struck a second time.

Darci tossed her purse onto the table and turned back to face him. He stood as still as his racing pulse would allow.

She took the few steps forward to close the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning in, she pressed her mouth to his.

He drew in a sharp breath as he tried to wrap his head around this sudden change in her. Once he overcame the disbelief that this was really happening, Chris went with it. He’d wanted her for too long to put a stop to it now.

He cupped one hand at the base of her head, angled his mouth over hers and kissed her back. Her soft whimper as she responded to his kiss ratcheted his need higher.

He pulled back. “What is this? What’s going on with you, Darci?”

“You can figure that out.” With her eyes heavily lidded, she moved in for another kiss.

Fool that he was, Chris leaned back, just out of her reach. “Maybe, but I think I’d like you to spell it out for me.”

Things that seemed too good to be true usually were. He wanted to know what this was before he let himself get any deeper.
 

She took long enough to answer he was afraid she wouldn’t. Finally she said, “I’m just feeling. . .”