Naughty Godmother (7 page)

“What are you doing?”

His voice was frosty, but even that seemed warm compared to the icy gleam in his eye.

Whatever.
She was the one who’d been lied to.

“What have
you
been doing, is the question.”

“Don’t deflect. This is about you. What, the guys didn’t pay you enough to cover all that overtime so you thought you’d just help yourself?”

What the hell was he talking about? “You sound like a crazy person right now. I was looking through your stuff because I wanted to find out who you really are. So if we’re trading secrets or something, why don’t we start with you, Mr.
Nichlaus
.”

He had the good grace to look ashamed, but only for a second. “What tipped you off? No, don’t answer, it doesn’t matter. None of it does anymore, the job is over. I was coming out to tell you anyway.”

She tried to swallow past the stone lodged in her throat, but couldn’t. “What job?”

“I’m not Alex Nelson, lab assistant. I’m Alex Nichlaus, securities specialist. I’ve been undercover for the last four months working for a pharmaceutical company gathering evidence on some key players in a large-scale narcotics smuggling operation.”

“So you lied? This has all been a lie? The geeky persona, the inexperienced lover, all fake?” She cursed herself as emotion clogged her throat. She turned and stalked to the door.

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Naughty Godmother

“Wait a second. Where are you going? Don’t you have something to tell me too? We have a lot to talk about here, Holly. This was all really complicated and neither one of us is innocent here.”

“Every second I stand here, the more horrible it feels. I can’t believe you lied to me this whole time. How could you let me—” She blanched, her body seeming to curl into itself.

The guilt that had begun to surface gave way to outrage. “That’s rich, coming from you,” he retorted.

“Wha—what is that supposed to mean?”

“The jig is up. It’s
always
been up. You may talk like an innocent, but I know you’re a stripper or an escort and I know about Saunders and Leeland.”

She looked at him as if he were insane as her mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

“The guys who hired you for the practical joke,” he pressed. She paled, but there was still no recognition in those stricken green eyes. Only hurt.

And tears. Fucking tears.
Dammit
.

The white-hot anger that had flared only moments before dimmed to a burning coal and he ran a hand over his face. What was he hoping to accomplish here? Finding somewhere to lay blame? They’d both been wrong.

He started again. “I don’t even care what you do for a living. I really liked being with you. And unless you’re an Oscar-winnng actress and had me completely hoodwinked, you liked being with me too. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But my job—”

She cut in, eyes flashing, her tone sharp enough to draw blood. “Your job has nothing to do with this. I understand confidentiality,
believe
me. But you pretended…”

She paused and swallowed hard. “You pretended that you didn’t know…things. You let me humiliate myself by showing you.”

53

Chloe Cole

She covered her mouth with a trembling hand and squeezed her eyes shut. A few seconds ticked by before she opened them again, pinning him with her gaze. “You could have stopped me and sent me home. You could have said
no
if you didn’t believe in me; if you didn’t
need
me.”

Alex’s stomach lurched. He opened his mouth to interject, but she held up a hand.

“No! No, don’t you talk. Every word out of your mouth has been a lie. I opened myself to you in a way I never thought possible. I broke all the rules for you because I thought you were worth it. I thought
this
was worth it. But you’re not. And it’s not.”

“How is this on me?” he shouted. “You were
paid
to trick me. And God only knows what else. I was willing to look past it because I thought we had a real connection. But even now, you won’t come clean, and you’re going to judge
me
? I’m the good guy here.”

The words sounded hollow, even to himself.

She gave him one last look, shook her head and walked out the door.

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Naughty Godmother

By the time Alex finished all the damn paperwork and got to leave the station it was well after midnight. He opened the door to the apartment and started in but the scent of pecan pie stopped him short.

“Holly?” For a split second hope sparked in his chest. It faded quickly as he looked around.

He rewound the mental reel of their goodbye and flinched as he recalled the look on her face. Disgust, despair, disappointment. She wouldn’t have come back. Her scent lingered behind, a poignant affirmation of what a tool he was.

He shut the door behind him and went into the kitchen. Taking out a bottle of scotch, he poured himself a neat double and took a long pull. The amber liquid slid a warm path down his throat but did nothing to melt the block of ice lodged in his chest.

Looking around the apartment, he waited for the feeling of accomplishment and elation to wash over him the way it always did after a job well done; for the excitement of being able to resume his real life to creep in and give him the energy, despite his exhaustion, to pack up and get the hell out. Instead, he found himself wondering what he’d been so anxious to get back to in the first place. His house was no great shakes, he had no wife or kids to welcome him home. Shit, he didn’t even have a dog.

Before yesterday, this place had been nothing but a prison. But in twenty hours, Holly Tucket had permeated every corner. Not only did it smell like her, he couldn’t even
look
at the table without seeing her glorious hair—and even more glorious thighs—spread across it.

The bedroom would be even worse. Alex considered sleeping on the couch, but then realized he wanted to think about her, wanted to picture her. Because once he left here that would be it. Even on the off chance she did want to see him again, he didn’t 55

Chloe Cole

live in the city and she wouldn’t be able to find him. And he’d never see, smell or taste her again.

His stomach clenched at that. God, he was an asshole. She’d been nothing but giving and amazing. Sure, she’d told some fibs, but she’d had a job to do just like him.

And what had he done? Thrown it in her face. And there wasn’t a thing he could do but regret it.

Maybe he’d stay one more night, then clear out in the morning and be back to his own place, in his own life by lunchtime.
Yippee.

Alex rubbed his eyes and took another swallow of scotch as he headed into the living room. Maybe he’d watch a movie until he fell asleep so he wouldn’t have to think.

A beige piece of cloth sticking out from under the couch caught his eye. He put down his drink and bent to see what it was.

Trench coat.

He took a steadying breath then slid a hand into one deep pocket. He felt something. Holly’s notecards. Pulling them out, he rifled through them quickly, looking for a phone number or some piece of information that might give him a clue. One of the cards stood out from the rest, in bold red print.

NO MATTER WHAT, DO
NOT
ALLOW YOURSELF TO GET EMOTIONALLY

ATTACHED TO YOUR CHARGE.

He put the cards back in the one pocket then dug his hand into the other. His heart sank as he fished around, but just as he was about to give up, his hand brushed something warm. What he pulled out was puzzling. An intricate, gold writing utensil that looked like it was worth a fortune. But there was something strange about it. While it appeared to be antique, it had a glow, the pristine sheen of something that had never been touched before. And the heat of it—not hot exactly, but far too warm to the touch for a metal object that had been sitting in a pocket under his couch—made it feel almost alive.

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Naughty Godmother

A buzzing filled his head as he stared at the pen, his stomach bottoming out as he lifted his thumb to depress the button on the back.

He held his breath. Time seemed suspended as he waited for…something magical

to happen.

Nothing did.

He let out his breath in a rush.

What an idiot. After one night you’re so whipped, the girl has you believing she’s a flipping
fairy, for fuck’s sake.

“Sorry I took so long, I was in the middle of— What the hell are you doing?”

The pen fell from Alex’s hand as he stared, blinked, then stared some more. A beautiful woman with sleek black hair stood before him, her cold dark eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Where is she? If you’ve harmed her, it will not go well for you, Charge.” She kept her voice low and even, but the frank sincerity with which she delivered the threat was positively chilling.

“No, of course not. How did you get in here? And who the fuck are you?” This was surreal.
Déjà vu.
Hadn’t he said almost the very same thing to Holly?

Alex moved a hand to his arm and gave it a surreptitious pinch. Not dreaming.

“I’m Mila. And I’m here because you called me, you imbecile. Now answer the question. Where is she?” She uttered the last through clenched teeth and Alex had the distinct feeling he was walking on thin ice.

“I don’t know. I was looking for a way to find her so I went through her coat and found the pen. Do you work for the agency? You need to help me.”

She raised an imperious brow at him. “What agency?”

“The agency that books the strippers.”

Her hand flashed quick as a striking snake and a white bolt of light shot forward, nailing him square in the chest, knocking him on his ass.

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Chloe Cole

Holy. Shit.

He sat, stunned, as he tried to get his breath back from his second apparent fairy attack in twenty-four hours.

Part of him was in shock. But then the other part had always known, somewhere deep down, that Holly was exactly what she said she was. She didn’t have it in her to lie like that. How he could know that about someone after only one day didn’t concern him. It was a fact. One he realized just a few hours too late.

”Watch what you say and mind your tone. I don’t know what happened here, but I’m certainly not going to be listening to insults or taking orders from a charge. And if Holly wanted to be found, you’d be able to find her.” She held out a hand. “Now give me the pen.”

“No can do.”

Her dark eyes turned almost black as her pupils dilated. “You can and you will.”

Alex almost blanched at her palpable fury. She clearly didn’t appreciate being toyed with. But if he let her take the pen and go, he knew without a doubt there was no chance of ever finding Holly again.

He steeled himself, for what, he didn’t know. “Just hear me out. I lied about who and what I was. But I want to make it up to her. I have feelings for her, strong feelings. I know that seems crazy after only one night, but it’s the truth. I need to tell her how sorry I am. Please.”

He wasn’t the begging type, but at that moment, he would have done anything for a chance to talk to Holly one more time.

Bowing his head, he waited for this woman, this
fairy
, to turn him into a frog or something.
Couldn’t hurt worse than getting shot
, he reasoned.

Instead, she let out a sigh. “She can’t make you into a magical being, you know.

And if you’re thinking of turning her into some kind of money-making sideshow, you 58

Naughty Godmother

can forget it. The second you tell another human about her powers your memory will be wiped clean of her existence.”

A kernel of hope started to take shape within him. No point in giving him all these warnings if she was going to refuse to help him outright. “The thought never even occurred to me.”

“And she isn’t immortal. In fact, she’s doesn’t even have much magic. Parlor tricks mostly. Coming, going, maybe whipping up a soufflé, but that’s the extent of it.”

“All right.”

She tipped her regal head, studying him with the intensity one would give a detailed map. “And still, you wish to find her?”

He met her gaze and answered without hesitation. “Yes.”

“I’m not going to do it for you. It’s not my place. But I’ll tell you how it could be done, theoretically. It’s up to you to pull it off.”

Even the warning note in her voice didn’t diminish the relief that coursed through him. He was going to get one more chance with Holly Tucket. Who was, indeed, a fairy.

And this time, he wasn’t going to blow it.

* * * * *

Holly had been back on the job for five days and wondered when it was going to get awesome again. She loved it so much, and the kids were wonderful. But since her disastrous run as a Naughty Godmother, it seemed like everything had gone to heck in a handbasket.

After she’d left Alex’s apartment, she went home to cry it out until Mila had summoned her. Holly had tearfully explained the whole story and Mila had been reserved but sympathetic. However, because the rules hadn’t been adhered to, Holly would not be able to graduate to a NGM. She would, however, be permitted to return to her old job.

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Chloe Cole

As miserable as Holly been after what had happened with Alex, she’d jumped up and hugged Mila at the news.

“I told Lucienne you weren’t cut out for Naughty Godmother in the first place, but she insisted you try,” Mila said, carefully extracting herself from Holly’s exuberant grasp.

“Do you think she’s going to be disappointed?”

Mila’s dark eyes flashed. “She’ll be…as you would expect. I’m sorry, Holly, I know your mother isn’t an easy person to deal with.”

Holly tried to ignore the crushing disappointment. Why had she ever thought it might be different this time? That her mother might be proud of her for trying? “I wouldn’t know,” she said quietly.

Mila sighed. “She has a lot on her plate. And she does love you, in her way. She just wants to see you be as successful as she has been.”

“Well her way sucks, and she may be a success as a fairy, but she’s a failure as a mother.”