Covert Attraction (7 page)

“It’s
our
job,” she corrected. “And there’s something else, too. Have you met Milt Ranich or heard anything about him? He’s my former immediate boss, and he’s apparently not here any longer. I can’t ask questions about him but I have looked around and put out some feelers about his position. Someone else has it now. He’s the one who told me about the fraud being committed here and probably could have proven it. He also tried to protect me. But he disappeared, and I’ve still not learned what happened to him.”

* * *

The name was familiar to Daniel. Judge Treena had passed it along to him along with other matters he was to investigate. But—

“No. I’ve heard of him but not since I arrived here. I’ll follow up on it even more, since it’s definitely important to find him. Was he trying to get the word out, too?” He hadn’t testified against the company, so he wasn’t in WitSec—the Witness Security Program administered by the U.S. Marshals Service—any more than Andrea Martinez was.

“Maybe, but I doubt it. He was ambivalent about spilling everything, even though he wanted to protect me.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can find out.” Daniel felt oddly gratified to see a huge smile appear on Beth’s face. And she obviously wasn’t going to back off, no matter what he said. So he’d go along with her, at least temporarily. “And it won’t hurt for us to work together on this for now.”

But unless she started coming up with evidence soon or in some manner otherwise helped him, he would side with Judge Treena and encourage Beth to leave before she got hurt.

For the first time that evening, though, Beth seemed unguarded. Happy. Hopeful.

And she was definitely one hot and sexy lady. But as much as he wanted to do something about that, he recalled her description of how Preston Corcoris had tried to seduce her—or worse.

He wouldn’t give her that impression, no matter what he felt. How stirred his body felt by her curves, her newly relaxed demeanor.

Her unintentionally seductive moves.

Sexy? Yes. But he knew what a bad idea it was to give in to those urges—even if she started to encourage him.

“Thank you so much, Daniel,” she said. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “What do you really think of Moravo Beach? I can’t do as much around here as I’d like, despite my disguise, since I don’t want to run into my family or anyone I know, but I loved growing up here.”

For the next few minutes, they talked about nothing, just having a friendly conversation. Daniel let it continue. The other information he wanted from her could wait for another time.

But it was getting late. “Why don’t we clean up the dishes?” he asked. “I should be going soon.”

“I’ll take care of them,” she said, but he insisted.

It didn’t take long to bus the few items they’d taken out to the table. They had to engage in minor choreography so they could both work in the kitchen together, but in a short while all the plates and cooking containers had been rinsed and placed into the dishwasher.

“Thanks,” Beth said when they were done. Her face looked radiant, as if he had solved all her problems and given her her life back.

Hell, that was his ultimate goal.

His current goal?

To leave and ponder how he might be able to use her to accomplish his task.

But she was looking up at him expectantly. And it wouldn’t hurt just to give her an encouraging goodbye kiss.

He took the lovely, sexy Beth into his arms and, bending down, placed his lips on hers.

* * *

He was kissing her. Gently.

Beth found herself kissing him back. And enjoying it.

She pressed closer. It had been forever since she had even considered making love. Never at all, not even once, since becoming Beth. She had never wanted—dared—to get close to anyone, not even just physically.

And while she was still Andrea, Preston Corcoris’s horrible power-assertion attempts over her—his attempted seduction coupled with threats—had turned her off completely from getting close to any man.

But now, with Daniel...

Her conscious thoughts seemed to evaporate as she found herself even more engulfed by his intensifying kiss. His mouth was hot, demanding, as he thrust his tongue against hers as if daring it to play sexy games. His scent so close was tangy. All masculine.

Control. She needed to keep control. Of herself. Of her surroundings. Wasn’t that what had been drummed into her with her instructions on how to change her identity, her personality?

But at the moment, all she could do was concentrate on that kiss. And Daniel, his body against hers, hot and strong and hard, so hard, in all the right places.

She felt utterly aware of his erection pressing against her middle, and she felt herself strain against him even more.

Even as her arms held him even closer, her mouth teasing, kissing him as lustfully as he did her.

“Beth,” he muttered against her. “This isn’t—”

“No,” she responded. “It isn’t.” But as he started to pull back, she felt his hands go between them. To push her away? But she found herself leaning her upper body toward him even more.

His hands were suddenly beneath her T-shirt, touching her bare skin, creating a path of heat that moved upward, beneath the strap of her bra. She realized a moment later that he had unhooked it.

Now was the time to stop...if she was going to. But she didn’t stop him. Didn’t want to. Hadn’t she already encouraged him? It wasn’t past the point of no return, but...

He knew who she was. She knew who he was. Even so, they barely knew each other at all, and yet she somehow wanted to know everything about him.

Including his body and how it reacted with hers.

Her knees suddenly felt like buckling—or was it her libido telling her to lead him to the sofa behind them? The couch that pulled out into a bed...

Foolish. Foolish. This was no way to react simply to feeling relieved that she was no longer completely alone.

Assuming he’d told her the truth about who he was and why he was here.

But she knew her moment of mistrust was disappearing into the hot insistence of his touch. Her open bra was now pushed up above her breasts, and his hand had come between their bodies to caress her gently, teasingly, as her nipples reacted by tensing at his touch.

She heard her own soft moan, even as she thrust her hips forward against him. It wasn’t fair that his skin, his hands, were playing so magically on her while she wasn’t touching him that way. She lowered her hands, realizing that she would have a more difficult time than he had. His shirt was tucked in. Hers hadn’t been.

It was a hurdle she could easily conquer. In moments, she had pulled the tail of his shirt from the back of his pants, then ran her fingers up the heated, smooth skin of his back.

This time it was his turn to moan. The sound was low and sexy and motivated her to inch slowly backward, one step, another, until her calf touched the sofa.

Bad move. She knew that, even as she let herself go limp enough to sink onto it.

Daniel bent forward toward her, and in moments they were both stretched out on the couch. It was narrow, so her body remained close against his. Both were still mostly clothed.

What a shame.

He must have had the same thought, for her T-shirt was suddenly being pulled up over her face, and immediately after that her bra was fully removed.

His head bent, and his mouth closed gently over one of her breasts, even as his hand reached downward to unfasten the button on the front of her jeans.

No fair that this be so one-sided. Even as she arched her back so his tongue, now playing with her nipple, could continue its games, she unbuttoned his shirt. But the angle was too difficult for her to do much more.

“Take your clothes off,” she murmured against him.

“I will if you will.”

Even as she laughed gently, she carefully moved back and stood, tearing off what was left of her clothing. He remained on the sofa, and she watched lustfully, all of her need suddenly billowing to a crescendo, as he removed what was left of his own attire, baring his toned, muscular chest with its skiff of light brown hair and his long hard erection.

He reached up toward her. “Come here,” he said.

She quickly, delightedly, obeyed.

Chapter 7

D
aniel was a government agent, a professional. With a conscience. And experience that taught him what a bad idea physicality could be.

But he cast those thoughts aside even as he looked at the slim, gorgeous figure of Beth Jones.

And that was exactly who she was to him—every tantalizing inch of her. Her breasts were taut and full and enticing. And below she was so damned sexy that he didn’t want to wait to have her.

He held out his arms, noting that she was taking in every inch of him, as well. Looking longingly toward his stiff arousal, and that only made him grow all the more.

“Come here,” he said gruffly, and suddenly she was back on the couch beside him. Against him.

Making him nuts with his need for her.

He moved. Touched her where it mattered. She was wet, and her legs opened as he caressed her.

She, at the same time, began gently pumping his shaft with her hand. Making him even harder, readier to thrust inside her.

But despite his disinclination to stop, his lust didn’t make him completely a lunatic. “Wait,” he growled, then moved again to grab the trousers he’d tossed on the floor near his feet. He managed somehow to get into his wallet, where he kept condoms in case of emergencies—like this one.

He ripped one open, then looked at her, right into those glazed, lustful violet eyes.

“Care to help?” he asked.

She took the condom from him. He bent over her, and she rose slightly and attempted to slip it on his aching penis. But whether it was the angle or her lack of experience or her shakiness because of need...who cared? She didn’t fit it on immediately.

He took it from her, slipped it on and without waiting another moment laid her down and plunged inside her.

* * *

Beth gasped with need and delight. Thank heavens he, at least, was maintaining some degree of sanity.

She felt herself rock upward with his every thrust, gasping and moving and concentrating completely on what his body was doing to hers.

His pace quickened, and so did hers.

In moments, she felt herself flying over the precipice into her orgasm, even as she quietly screamed, “Daniel!”

* * *

Foolish. She knew how foolish she had been as she remained on the soft plush upholstery of the sofa, lying there facing Daniel, his body warm against hers as it flexed from his heavy breathing.

But it had been so long since she had felt a shred of trust in anyone she had been in contact with—except those she had met as a result of Judge Treena’s coaching. Her instructors in changing her identity had been tools, nice enough people she’d believed she could rely on, but she hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything at all for any of them, male or female, except gratitude.

Even at that, she realized they were just doing their jobs. Giving her orders and advice based on their prior experience with other people—people who weren’t her, who hadn’t been in her situation, at least not exactly.

Now, though, she had made love with the one person here who might actually be able to help her reach her goal.

Had she blown that by her indiscretion this night?

Or...was it possible that she had increased her chances by giving him a reason beyond his job to help her?

“You okay?” His voice, rough from his still-heavy breathing, startled her.

“More than okay,” she heard herself admit. So much for protecting her feelings. Although maybe complimenting him on his lovemaking prowess might encourage him to work with her.

Especially when her enjoyment had been so real...

“Yeah,” he said, drawing the word out. “Me, too.” He paused, and she felt his whole body grow rigid, as if he’d tried to pull away from her on the narrow surface. “But—”

“Yes, I know,” she interrupted, anticipating what he was going to say. “This wasn’t a good idea.”

His brief laugh brought him up close to her again, and his arms went around her. “You could say that. But, hell, I’m glad we did it. Just this once.”

“Just this once,” she echoed, even as she felt a deep pang of sorrow pulse through her. They’d gotten any sexual attraction out of their system.

Now they had to figure out how they could work together to achieve the goals they both were here to accomplish.

“So,” she said brightly. “How about if I get dressed and make us some coffee?”

“Good idea,” he said. “We still need to talk.”

* * *

Daniel watched with appreciation as Beth slid off the couch in front of him, still gloriously naked as she knelt to retrieve her clothes from where they’d ended up on the floor.

As she rose again, her eyes scanned him before locking on to his. Her smile appeared both happily aware of him and his continued nudity, too—as well as rueful.

She pulled her clothes up to block her breasts and lower points of interest from his view, but only momentarily. With a tiny snort of laughter, she moved her garments again and began donning them as he watched.

When she was fully dressed once more, she said, “Your turn.” But as he got up and retrieved his own clothing, she, too, looked him over first, nodded with what appeared to be an appreciative grin, then turned her back and headed into the kitchen.

He heard the sounds of the refrigerator door opening and something being moved on the counter as well as water running in the sink and figured she was well on her way to brewing their coffee.

That gave him time to think. No regrets. That was fruitless. And besides, he’d enjoyed it. A lot. The bigger regret was that they couldn’t do it again.

Too many things—like his job and, of paramount importance, too, her safety—stood in their way.

He had watched the death of a lovely, scared confidential informant when he had worked for the FBI, after allowing their mutual attraction to distract him.

Edie.

That would not happen again. No more sex. And definitely no deeper feelings.

What he needed to figure out now was how he should approach his upcoming conversation with Beth that also had to be a strategy session.

Especially when wherever they sat to talk he would be aware, really aware, of the delights that lay below the surface of what she wore—and how those enticing parts of her body were once again way off-limits to him, as they should have been before.

When Beth popped her head through the doorway again, he was fully dressed. “It’s brewing,” she said. “Let’s sit down and wait for it, okay?”

“Sure,” he agreed. He resumed his spot at the same place at her small table where he’d sat before. “So,” he began—all business, making certain not to add even a hint of what they’d done in his tone, “the background description you gave me before was really helpful, but I want to dig into it more, okay?” If it wasn’t okay, he’d have to figure out a way to make her talk, or he’d waste a lot of time trying to extract information she had that he needed.

“Sure,” she said in a soft tone that was a lot more friendly than his. “What do you want to know?”

“Why don’t you just tell me what you heard back then that made you worry and who you heard it from. And why it was that you didn’t have enough information to be considered a legitimate witness who’d be able to testify and get into WitSec.”

The satiated glow he’d seen on her face suddenly morphed into sorrow—and pain. He regretted that, but this was a conversation they had to have, the sooner the better. They had to move on, immediately.

And as much as he wanted to take her back into his arms to soothe her, he wouldn’t do that. Instead, he forced himself to sit still. And wait.

She looked down at the table as if it were covered in chocolate or some delectable food so exciting that she couldn’t take her eyes off it. But he understood that was both to hide the moistness that now threatened to spill down her cheeks and to allow herself to focus on what was now filling her mind.

“I’m not sure where it started,” she said in a low, husky whisper. “I was so excited to be part of Corcoris, to be able to give back to the company that had saved my mother’s life—and to be paid for it, too. It felt amazing. Of course, the medications she’s still on were developed when Preston Corcoris’s father was in charge, not now. But I didn’t realize things had changed when I began working there.”

“That’s what I was told when I started this assignment,” Daniel said. “The quality of the medications apparently hasn’t been fully maintained since Preston took over—only the profitability. Right?”

“Exactly.” Beth shook her head. “But I didn’t know that, not then. I was just so pleased to be working here. I started by helping more senior members of the marketing staff write and edit television spots and magazine ads. We could say lots of good stuff about the products, but we also had to add the applicable warnings so people who were interested in asking their doctors to prescribe certain medications would also be aware of possible side effects.”

“Right.” Daniel, like everyone else who watched TV these days, was aware of the minute-long ads where thirty seconds were taken up with telling people why they shouldn’t take the medications being promoted. He always found that odd. So was telling people what they supposedly needed but that they had to convince their physicians to prescribe it for them. He mentioned that to Beth.

“Most doctors are happy to prescribe the pharmaceuticals that are being advertised as long as they fit a patient’s diagnosed conditions,” she said. “Companies like Corcoris make sure of that by giving out lots of free samples as well as swag to the doctors, even tickets to shows or ball games or whatever. They expect the doctors to act ethically, of course. Or that’s what my new bosses at Corcoris always told me. Until...”

“Until what?” Daniel prompted.

“Just a minute.” She rose and headed into the kitchen, for the coffee, Daniel figured. He followed her, and they spent a few minutes pouring their java into brown pottery mugs. She took a dash of milk in hers. He again took his black.

She offered him some cookies from a package in her narrow pantry, but he declined, leading her back into the other room and the table where they’d been sitting.

“You were saying?” he prompted.

She shut her eyes for a moment, once more indicating pain. But then she said, “I don’t know how much you know about pharmaceuticals.” She regarded him quizzically.

“I did a lot of research and worked with some experts before coming here undercover,” he said. “But am I an expert? No.”

She nodded. “Well, you probably learned that the patents on medications last for a certain number of years, and then generics pop up all over for the good, effective ones.”

He nodded. “That’s why the companies are always busy developing more. Or trying to. Not all their attempts are successful.”

“Right.” She took a sip of coffee, her lovely full lips touching her cup in a way that made him want to kiss her again.

Heck, it had been long enough that the idea of making love with her passed through his mind once more. But that couldn’t happen, not tonight or ever again.

“When I started working at Corcoris, the medication that had saved my mother was then available as a generic. It was cheaper and just as effective. I was fascinated by the number of other drugs they were working on then, all in different stages of development. Being a public relations assistant, I helped to promote the company and its products that had recently gone through the FDA’s approval process and were then on the market. I reported to Milt Ranich.”

Daniel was aware of that—and had known even before Beth mentioned it that the man had disappeared. Where was he? And was he still alive?

“I still don’t know exactly what happened.” Beth was still talking, as if she needed to get everything on the table in front of him. Maybe it was cathartic to her to disclose it to him. She’d undoubtedly told Judge Treena everything before, too. “But Milt—well, one day we were best buddies, even though he was my boss. And then he seemed to withdraw into himself. Just started telling me what to do, without any friendliness between us. I kept pressing him gently, but I felt hurt. And worried. I didn’t know what was going on.”

“But he eventually told you?” Daniel asked.

“Well...yes. And no.” Beth sighed. “If only he had really let me in on it. It might have been better for both of us.”

* * *

The coffee was bitter at the back of Beth’s throat as she took her next sip. It was cooler, too. She quickly rose and took her mug and Daniel’s back into the kitchen to pour in a little more to heat it up.

That gave her a minute to think about what to say next.

Daniel hadn’t moved. When she placed his mug back on the table in front of him, he regarded her with what appeared to be sympathy with those handsome blue eyes of his—much more apparent and expressive now that he wasn’t wearing those geeky glasses that were part of his undercover garb.
Remote
sympathy, from one stranger aimed toward another with issues.

It was as if their lovemaking had never happened. They were instead all business.

She was fine with that. She had to be.

“Better now?” he asked gently.

“Nothing’s better now.” Her focus was all on their discussion now, not on him. She knew she sounded upset and bitter, but he was forcing her to delve into memories she had purposely tried to suppress—before. But since she was again working here, in her own form of being undercover at Corcoris, they were back in her conscious mind anyway.

Better to share them with someone who might be able to use those memories to achieve what she wanted: justice at Corcoris and a way to bring Preston Corcoris down before he had her family harmed.

“Okay,” she finally said with a sigh. “Here it all is in a nutshell. I acted completely friendly with Milt—well, it wasn’t an act, he
was
my friend—until he finally broke down. He was so upset...and what he told me involved some of the newest designer drugs that Corcoris was getting ready to put on the market. He said that he’d learned that the formulations weren’t exactly as being disclosed to the FDA—a little more of this ingredient, a little less of another. The quality of those ingredients depended a lot on where they’d originated, and what was being used in the actual medications wasn’t always what was used for the tests that were reported to the FDA. And then there were also questions about how the clinical trials were conducted. Supposedly all the information was being doctored, so to speak. The drugs themselves were being altered for testing, using better quality ingredients—maybe. Maybe there were payoffs to certain employees or to outside labs conducting the trials...but Milt wasn’t specific.”