Mission Made For Two (8 page)

After she slipped
on the stilettos that matched the dress
, she turned in front of the full length mirror.  Not even Jake would recognize her.

Which was a good thing, considering he’d probably be ready to shoot her on sight for taking his Harley
and disobeying him
.
 
She’d love
d
to have been a fly on the wall
when h
e’d found it
gone. 

Of course, she fully intended to ret
urn the motorcycle.  Even if
it was the sweetest ride she’d ever had.
  Hopefully, he wouldn’t hold a grudge
, but she wasn’t holding her breath on that
.
 

Putting
her room key into a
small
silver purse, alo
ng with a powder compact containing a chip that could pinpoint her location from USOI headquarters if activated, she left.

She used the ride down in the elevator to the casino to get into character.  Squaring her shoulders when the doors opened, she strolled toward the
desk
. 
She didn’t turn to see how many looks she received from interested male parties, though she could feel several sets of eyes on her.
She purchased some chips then headed toward her prey.

Diaz
already sat at the black jack table, just as her informant had said he would be.
  He was a good l
ooking man.  Broad-shouldered, a little over six
feet
, shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes.
  His complexion was the color of coffee and cream.
  The
information she’d gained on him had told her he was only thirty-seven.  Well into himself and the power he wielded in his world.

She settled at the table, leaving a chair
empty between them and placed
her chips on the table. 

She glanced at Diaz, only enough to let him know she saw him,
then
focused on the dealer.  With calculated precision, she crossed her legs, letting the material of her dress
fall open to show off her
legs and the hint of her garter belt.

“A card for the pretty lady,”
the dealer,
whose
name tag read
Carl, said and laid a card face down in front of her. 
“And a card for the gentleman.”
  He turned his attention to Diaz.

Then a card was dealt face up to them
both.  Sierra was dealt a nine
.  She glanced at the face down
card,
then
looked at Carl
.  “Hit me.”

Another card was laid in front of
her. 
A five.
  Sierra suppressed
a smile as the dealer waited on Diaz’s request.  He glanced at her,
one of
his black eyebrow
s
arching slightly at her move. 
“Hit me,” his words were accented, but not heavily.  He was a man used to speaking English. 

A queen appeared in front of him.  He cursed and tossed his cards.  The house dealt itself a card and stayed at eighteen.  Sierra grinned and flipped over a six for a total of twenty.

“Ah, a winner.”
  Carl pushed some chips toward her.  She glanced again at Diaz, adding a bit of flirtation in her look and made another bet.

A waitress walked up to take their drink orders. 
“A vodka tonic with a twist of lime.”
 

Sierra met Diaz’
s gaze head on this time.  A look of interest flashed across his face. 

“Scotch on the rocks,” he said, his gaze staying on her.  “And put the ladies drink on my tab.”

Sierra nodded. “
Thank you.” She reached
across the space
and held out her hand
.  “I’m Lea
h
.”

He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.
“
Very nice t
o meet you, Lea
h
.
  I am Domini
c
Diaz
.
”

“It’s a pleasure
to meet you Mr. Diaz
.”

“Please call me Dominic.” 
Diaz,
pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket along with a lighter.  He held it out to her.

Sie
rra shook her head.  “No thank you, Dominic.
”  She grinned.  “I have enough vices without smoking.”

Diaz chuckled and slid a cigarette from the pack.  Their dealer patiently waited as Diaz lit his cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke.  He looked at Carl, pushed a stack of chips forward and nodded.  Sierra followed suit. 

“
I haven’t seen you here before,” Diaz said
as he
g
lanced at his cards.

Sierra looked at
what she’d been dealt
.  Lady luck was de
finitely with her tonight.  She
had
an ace down and a queen up. 
She looked at Carl. “I’ll stay,” she said, then turned her attention to Diaz.  “
I’m on vacation
.”

“Hit me,” Diaz said.  “How long are you here for?”

Sierra arched an eyebrow. 
“As long as the money lasts.”

The dealer placed an eight in front of Diaz.  He smiled and flipped his cards.  He had a total of twenty.

Sierra turned
her ace over to reveal
twenty-one, grinned and raked
the chips
toward her
.
  Diaz la
ughed.  “With your luck, you’ll
be here a while.”

The waitress arrived with their drinks.  Diaz
looked at the dealer
. “
Hold our chips, Carl.
”  He turned his attention
to Sierra.  “Can I interest you in having dinner with me?”

Sierra smirked.  “You paying?”
she asked flirtatiously. 

“Why of course.  I wish to extend your stay on this beautiful island by saving you money.”  He held out his hand.

She chuckled.  “Then I’d love to have dinner with you.”  Accepting his hand, she allowed him to help her up. 
H
is gaze strayed to her exposed thigh
and the lingerie beneath.  When he tilted his head up, she stood her ground and met his stare.  A slight smile curled his mouth. 
No way are you getting what you think, buddy.

She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. “Shall we?”

~***~
    

“Would you like to dance?” Diaz asked.

Sierra would rather
pet
a snake and that was saying a lot.  She smiled and nodded. “I’d love to.”

She accepted his hand
and
he pulled her to her feet. 
They’d
dined, then gambled some more.
 
The band played sensual Latin music and Diaz pulled her against him.  His body was hard, yet it felt nothing like Jake’s.  He gripped her right hand, but his left hand rested just above her ass.  She’d love to reach around and remove it.  Actually, she’d love to reach around and dislocate some fingers for him.
 

Of course, the two body guards she’d noticed standing against the wall would probably shoot her in the heart.

Instead she moved against him, letting him cop a feel.  If it would get
him lathered up, it was worth it.

Diaz’s mouth moved next to her ear.  “
We fit together nicely. 
Y
ou are a very sensual woman, Lea
h
.”

“I think it’s this place,” she whispered.

Diaz
’s lips found the side of her neck.  A shiver coursed down Sierra’s spine
that had nothing to do with
sexual excitement.  What came next was part of the job
—just
like taking a bullet for Jake. 

Diaz kissed her.  Sierra focused on trying not to gag.  If she seemed cold, Diaz may lose interest.  She imagined Jake standing before her. 

A hard bu
lge pressed against her pelvis. 

Well, he
wasn’t losing interest.

Ugh.  Sierra would rather take the bullets than play this game, yet it wasn’t the first time she’d used her wiles to get what she wanted. You did what you had to sometimes.

Diaz ended the kiss, but stayed close.  His scotch-laced breath fanned her cheek
.  “Come home with me for the weekend
, Lea
h
.” 

His ac
cent thickened
, h
is
civility slipping with his arousal. 

Sierra
dropped her chin
and nibbled on her lower lip.  “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Diaz tilted her chin up with his finger.  “I promise it will be pleasurable.”

In your dreams, big boy.
  “
I…I don’t know.  Tonight has been wonderful, but we hardly know each other.”  She backed away from him.  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a tease.”

She held her breath.  This was the biggest gamble she’d made tonight.  Betting that he’d look at getting her into bed a challenge he couldn’t pass up.

A slight smile curled his mouth and he took her hand, pulling her back toward him.
“
You d
on’t get off that easily
,
quer
ido
,” he said, taking the bait
.  He rubbed his knuckles across her chee
k.  “
Spend tomorrow with me.”

“You’re not mad?”

Diaz chuckled.  “No.  How can I be mad at a woman who wishes to know her lover before she sleeps with him?”

How indeed
?  He was so cocky, he had no doubt she’
d cave
after a little schmoozing
. 

She smiled and nodded.  “Then how can I refuse?  I’d love to spend the day with you tomorrow.”

“Good.  I’ll s
end a limo to pick you up at
n
oon.  Bring a bathing suit. We’ll go snorkeling if you find that agreeable.”

She widened her eyes. “Oh, yes.  I love the water.”
  Figuring this was as good a t
ime as an
y to say
goodnight
, she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips.  “I had a wonderful night, Dominic.  I look forward to tomorrow.”

“Sleep well,
querido
.”
    

With a coy look over her shoulder
,
Sierra
headed for the elevator.  As soon as she was ensconced inside
,
she wiped
Diaz’s
taste from her lips.
   

When the elevator doors opened on her floor, she wasted no time.  She let herself
into her room and retrieved a
small secured cell phone
from a box of tampons
—
a
plac
e even brave men
feared to search
.
 
Dialing Trent’s number, she waited.
  The bedside clock
read
two a.m
.  Her boss was a workaholic.  She didn’t believe for
a minute she’d be waking him
.
 

“Trent Browning.”  He sounded slightly distracted
, but fully alert
.

“Hi, Trent, it’s me
.”

“Where the
hell
are
you, Sierra?”  He didn’t sound distracted anymore.

“I’m in Santa Domingo
. 
And
I just got
an invite
back to Diaz’s home
tomorrow
.”

“I told Jake you wouldn’t stay out of this.  You disobeyed an order from me, Sierra.”  His voice was chastising but also resigned to the fact she was involved.

“I know I did, but
there was no way Jake could have gotten close to Diaz again
.  You can do whatever you need to do to me when this was over, but for now you need to get in touch with Jake and tell him I’m in. 
We can wrap this up if we
w
ork together
.”

Trent sighed heavily.  “Exactly what are you pla
nning on doing when you get
to
Diaz’s?
  He’s not inviting you there
to play
Tiddly
Winks.”