Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (16 page)

“Wake up, beautiful.”

Carlie rolled over but didn’t open her eyes,
stubbornly clinging to the dream she’d been having about Nick.

Suddenly, his hot lips were on hers, and
Carlie snapped alert when his hand slid across her hip and down her
leg. The heat of his touch ignited her senses through the light
fabric of the yoga pants she changed into before napping. His
tongue teased the corner of her mouth and she parted her lips,
happy tremors shivering through her body when his tongue flicked
against hers. He pressed a few soft kisses into her mouth and
pulled away.

She sighed and opened her eyes, meeting his
dark ones. “A girl could get used to waking up like that.”

Fire lit behind his gaze. “And then there’s
this guy, who can hardly wait for bedtime.”

Laughing, she stroked his face, running her
thumb across his lower lip. “Sorry about Shelley interrupting
earlier. Are you still suffering?”

“I will be if we don’t stop touching each
other.” He rolled to the side and stood, staring down at her.
“Shelley went to pick up dinner, but she said you made good
progress today. I thought you could show me what she taught
you.”

“Dinner?” Carlie glanced over at the clock
on her nightstand, surprised to see it was already past 5:00. “Why
did you let me sleep so long? We need to do more training.”

Nick shook his head. “You needed the rest. I
know you feel pretty good, considering how bad your bruises are,
but that was traumatic on your body.”

“But I have so much to learn.” She crawled
out of bed, standing next to Nick. As much as she wanted to train,
she couldn’t help but wonder how long Shelley would be gone. Maybe
they had time to explore each other again before dinner.

She stepped into him and wrapped her arms
around his waist, pressing her cheek against his chest. Her body
gave slight grumblings of pain, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t
handle. Besides, being so close to Nick certainly put her mind on
things other than aching muscles.

Taking in a deep breath, Carlie delighted in
his scent. His light aftershave brought to mind the musky scents of
nature. She wanted to lose herself in him again, even if only for a
few minutes. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man,
and Nick seemed too perfect to be true. She didn’t dare question
this gift. She just wanted to enjoy him.

“How long until Shelley gets back?” she
asked, lifting her face for another kiss.

Nick brought his mouth to hers, kissing her
passionately enough to set her heart racing. He pulled away, though
it appeared to take a lot of effort. “Not long enough. I don’t want
to rush things.” He framed her face in his hands. “What I want to
do with you will take hours. Maybe longer.”

Carlie licked her lips. “That
sounds...nice.”

He chuckled. “It won’t all be nice. I like
it a little dirty.”

His calloused fingers slid down her face and
over her neck, and goose bumps broke out on her skin. She loved the
way he touched her and couldn’t wait for more.

Nick’s fingers tightened around her neck,
brushing painfully against her bruises.

“Ouch, Nick. You’re hurting me,” she
protested, wondering what had gotten into him.

A glance at his face revealed it had
hardened into an impassive mask. Instead of relaxing his hands,
Nick tightened his hold. She tried to pull away, but he took a step
forward, increasing his grip and cutting off her airway.

Struggling for breath, panic clutched at her
gut.
Why is he doing this? Was he lying about caring for
me?

Without thinking further, she plucked at his
thumb, ripping his hand from her neck. At the same time, she
twisted and punched him in the jaw as hard as she could. She ran to
the closed bedroom door and fumbled with the knob, realizing Nick
had locked it. Her fingers shook too hard to turn it to the
unlocked position.

“Carlie, wait.”

His authoritative command stopped her
frantic scramble and she turned around, pressing her back against
the wood. A brown belt karate student against a fifth-degree black
belt was doomed to lose, but Carlie wouldn’t beg him not to hurt
her.

Nick clutched his chin. “Shelley’s methods
are more effective than I gave her credit for.” He shook his head
and dark hair fell across his brow. “Good, hard punch on your part,
too.”

“What?” Carlie’s hands flew to cover her
mouth as the fear drained out of her. “You were practicing? Oh,
Nick.” She took a step forward, torn between embarrassment and
anger. “I thought you decided to attack me for some reason.”

“I should have known better than doing it
without warning.” He shrugged. “I do understand why you have trust
issues, after all. I wanted it to seem real to you, to see if you
could actually keep your head and defend yourself.”

She folded her arms, still not sure which
emotion to feel. “And I can.”

“Very effectively,” he agreed. “Let’s get me
an ice pack and wait for dinner.”

I can’t stay angry. He’s trying to help
me.

She took the remaining steps to his side and
pulled his hand from his chin. A red mark marred his skin. Rising
to her tiptoes, she kissed it softly. “Sorry. I should have
realized and not punched so hard.”

Wrapping her in his arms, he hugged her
tight. Carlie felt safer than she remembered feeling in a while. It
had been silly to think he’d do anything bad to her. As much as
she’d told herself the past six years she couldn’t afford to fall
for anyone, Nick made that a hard conviction to hold onto.

“You stunned me for a moment, Carlie. No one
will be able to choke you like that again.” He ran his hand up her
back and massaged her shoulder. “We have a lot of other defenses to
work on before I’ll feel comfortable about you being alone,
though.”

She nodded and pulled away, catching his
hand in hers and leading him to the door. “Let’s get some ice.
After dinner, Shelley said you’d teach me how to defend against an
attack from behind.”

He sucked in a breath that ended in a short
laugh.

“What?” She glanced over her shoulder.

“I was just thinking how much fun it will be
to attack you from behind.” He winked.

Carlie turned to open the door, hiding her
smile. Whether this was the start of something real—as she’d like
to think of it—or lust, like Shelley said, Carlie intended to enjoy
every precious second spent with Nick.

***

Sweat rolled down her face and Carlie
plopped onto the couch. “I’m too tired to do more.”

Shelley collapsed next to her, fanning
herself. “I agree.”

After eating takeout hamburgers, Nick and
Shelley took turns teaching Carlie every defensive move they could
think of. She learned eyes were one of the most sensitive things on
an attacker, and a stiff poke in them could give her a chance to
get away. Elbows were very effective at taking out an attacker from
behind. Knees were vulnerable to well-placed kicks. The list went
on and on.

Carlie couldn’t believe she skipped out on
so much with her karate training. Apparently moving frequently had
hurt her in that regard.

Nick and Shelley spent the last hour
attacking her simultaneously. Carlie was pretty sure she’d defend
against phantom attackers in her sleep.

Nick sat in the armchair adjacent to the
couch and crossed his ankle on the opposite knee, clasping his
hands over his stomach and leaning back with a satisfied air. He
and Shelley now had several bruises to match Carlie’s, but he
seemed happy. “I don’t think you’ll ever panic again. The next
person to attack you will be sorry.”

Shelley nodded her agreement. “Even at
partial power, you gave me a few good whacks.”

Carlie grinned. “Sorry about that. I did try
not to hurt you.”

Her friend shrugged. “What with Stephen
sniffing around here again today, I’m happy to know he can’t hurt
you.”

“Stephen? What do you mean? He hasn’t been
here.”

Shelley’s eyes widened and she glanced at
Nick. “I thought you told her.”

“Told me what?” Carlie turned her attention
to him.

Heaving a sigh, he pressed his lips firmly
together and shook his head at Shelley. “I thought it might be
better to skip that information.”

Although Carlie liked feeling safe and
protected by her new friends, she didn’t like being kept in the
dark—especially not if it concerned her attacker. “You’re keeping
secrets from me already, Nick? We’re barely even dating. Might not
be the best time to prove yourself to be a liar.”

“Carlie!” The shock in Shelley’s voice was
apparent, but Carlie couldn’t let herself be tricked by anyone.

She so badly wanted Nick and Shelley to be
the friends they seemed to be, but a part of her feared this was a
clever ruse by her enemies to gain her trust. Her feelings for Nick
were wildly inconsistent. She swung between wanting to believe the
promises his sexy eyes made and fearing she was foolish to trust a
man again.

Nick uncrossed his leg and sat up straighter
in the chair, gripping the armrests in either hand. He stared her
down for several moments before whispering, “I thought we were a
little more than
barely dating
earlier in this very
room.”

Though heat crept up her face, Carlie stared
at him impassively. “What happened with Stephen?”

“Fine. Pretend nothing happened.” Nick’s
eyes flicked to Shelley briefly, but honed back in on Carlie. “He
showed up while you slept, claiming he wanted to apologize. He
still wanted to be friends while at our dojo. I advised him against
that. When he argued and wouldn’t leave Shelley came outside to
offer a bit more...encouragement.”

Carlie glanced at her friend. “What did you
do?”

She shrugged negligently. “Offered to put a
bullet in him if he stayed. He ended up making another threat
toward you, and Nick punched him before I had a chance to do it. He
left after that.”

They were protecting her, but she didn’t
understand why Nick wanted to keep that a secret. In some ways, if
Stephen came after her again, she’d be better off knowing he’d
tried to get at her today. Why did Nick think he should lie about
it?

Unease tickled at the back of Carlie’s mind.
She didn’t really know anything about Nick. Where he came from,
what his past held. She’d been so overwhelmed by the fact that he
protected her, and his devastating good looks, she’d never
questioned anything. Last time she went along blithely with a
male’s plans, she ended up pregnant and miserable and, later, on
the run.

She turned to Shelley. “Thanks for all the
training today. I’m sure you’re ready to go home. We’ll take
tomorrow off, but open the restaurant Wednesday, okay?”

Shelley blinked a few times, clearly
nonplussed. “You don’t want to talk about Stephen?”

Carlie shook her head. “I’m sweaty and
tired. I’m going to take a shower.” She turned to Nick. “You can
shower when I’m done. Then, we have some things to clear up.”

Nick shut and locked the door behind
Shelley, pulling out his phone to check the text message that came
through earlier in the evening.

Meeting with committee tomorrow. Don’t trust
the target. I think she’s lying to cover her tracks.

Well, damn. That wasn’t the message Nick had
hoped to receive. His boss obviously clung to the belief Carlie was
guilty. Carlie, herself, was pissed off at him over Stephen. Plus,
Nick got the distinct impression she questioned her wisdom at
allowing things to progress between them. He probably wouldn’t get
that wild night of sex he’d planned on.

Regardless, he still believed she was
innocent. His urge to keep her safe was overwhelming. The water in
the bathroom finally turned on, the sound reverberating through the
walls of the house.

Now that he had some privacy, it was time to
call his friend. Nick knew he had to prepare for everything. The
need to get Carlie out of the country in a hurry had to factor into
his contingency plan.

Since S.A.T.O. monitored all calls placed
with his cell phone, Nick pulled out Carlie’s and dialed. He hoped
if they traced her activity, they wouldn’t connect this number to
him or think anything of the call.

“Hello?” a woman answered, sounding a bit
harried as a baby cried.

Nick smiled, wondering how his friend was
handling married life. “Hey, Madeline. Is Donovan around?”

“Who is this?” She sounded suspicious,
protective. Nick understood, since the couple had been through a
lot in the past year.

“We’ve never met, but I’m a good friend of
your husband’s.” He sifted through his various identities, trying
to remember what name Donovan last knew him by and might have told
Madeline. “Edward Chambers.”

“Oh!” So much conveyed in that single
syllable. She definitely knew who he was. “I’ve heard about you,
Edward. Nice to finally talk to you. Hang on and I’ll get him.” The
baby wailed again, and Madeline made shushing sounds. “It’s okay,
Jo Jo. Be a big girl for mama.”

Sounds of young boys laughing in the
background twisted a twinge of pain in Nick’s gut. He never
expected Donovan to settle down. They were bachelor men, living the
bachelor life and claiming to enjoy it. It surprised Nick how
jealous he felt of Donovan’s good fortune.

Madeline must have covered the mouthpiece,
because Nick heard muffled voices and then Donovan came on the
line. “Edward, you old dog. How’s life treating you?”

Nick laughed. “Well, not as good as it’s
treating you, apparently. Sounds chaotic at your place.”

“Yeah. The baby’s teething and my son has a
friend over playing X-Box. It’s a good life, except I never get my
beautiful wife alone anymore.”

“Did you get the gifts I sent?”

“Sure did. I know how you spy types are
constantly on the move, so I didn’t know where to send a thank you
card.” Donovan chuckled. “But enough small talk. If you’re calling
me, you have a reason. What’s up?”