OOPS! I'M A SECRET AGENT (Romance) (3 page)

Yes…he was a looker. Just don’t touch. No one came within
his personal space. The men in the office that day had been like satellites
around him. Alexavier, as head of the department, a man in his mid thirties I
estimated, had the power, and their behaviour appeared to acknowledge it.

That didn’t stop me thinking about running my hands through
that lovely hair of his, or how his lips, such sensual lips, would feel if he
kissed me. He didn’t smile a lot. In fact, I only know for sure that his teeth
are nice and white because I was watching his mouth as he looked down and spoke
to me. I was fascinated with his lips. Very, very, kissable.

It was just as well I hadn’t seen Alexavier since our first
meeting because if he’d been telling me what to do, training me in whatever I
needed to learn, my mind would’ve drifted to naughty thoughts and that was no
use at all because I’d decided to give this job one hundred per cent. Secret
agent? Bring it on. Why the change of attitude? Why not? I’d had time to ponder
the possibilities. Maybe this was the chance I’d been needing? Perhaps I’d leave
my Jenny the Jinx persona behind and become Jenny the…I don’t know. Perhaps not
Jenny at all. Neve the secret agent. That sounded more like it.

‘…and so that’s what I’d like you to concentrate on this
morning,’ said Jenkins.

Damn! I hadn’t listened to what he’d said.

Jenkins was a distinguished gentleman in his early fifties.
He didn’t seem to resent that I was there, but I did sense that he’d sussed out
my limitations and was working around them.

‘We’re all adept at some things, Neve,’ he said. If he’d found
out what I was adept at he’d been keeping quiet about it.

I’d been given a desk in a part of the burrows off of one of
the main corridors. There were plenty of those. I’d yet to find my desk first
time. It took three different routes and a couple of pointing fingers to show
me where it was.

‘Okay,’ Jenkins said patiently. ‘You’ve got no sense of
direction, but what do you have?’

I could hear the wheels grind trying to find something
useful. Baking shortbread wouldn’t cut it here. Or being able to go for days on
a few hours stolen sleep, or my ability to read the television guide and
remember most of the programmes I wanted to watch for the next week, including
repeats. That wouldn’t impress the likes of Jenkins. Did men like him, or
Alexavier, even watch television? Did they? Or were they too busy sorting out
the world behind the secret doors of power? Probably the latter.

Jenkins waited on a response.

‘Well…’ I said. ‘I’m great at finding things, things that
are lost, things that others can’t see.’

This sounded so tame, but it was all that I could come up
with. He was lucky I hadn’t brought up about my knack for sensing when I’m
being watched.

‘Hmm…’ Jenkins said, rubbing a thoughtful finger along his
chin. ‘That could be very useful. What else?’

My bag of assets was empty, so I offered the being watched
thing.

‘How do you know when someone is watching you?’ he said.

‘It’s…like a spider sense, a shiver up my back, a sense that
someone’s eyes are on me.’

He nodded.

As if to prove that this was true, a warning stabbed right
through me, and I turned around to see Alexavier standing further along the
corridor watching us. Watching me. My office wasn’t enclosed. Instead it was
alcoved, part of the niches inset within one of the main corridors.

Jenkins laughed.

Alexavier didn’t. I’d still to see those lips of his smile.
He looked as sexy and handsome as when I’d first met him.

He disappeared back to wherever he’d come from, or been
heading.

‘I think Alexavier is pleased with you.’

‘He was grimacing.’

Jenkins laughed again. ‘He was, but I promise you, we’re
very happy that you’ve joined us.’

This was a first for me.

‘We have a proposition, a request, a…test I suppose, to put
to you.’

I steeled myself. Were they sending me off to some far away
location to find secret codes and bring them back? By myself.

‘We were wondering how you’d feel about…going away for a
little while. A month.’

Where, how, why, what?

He read each expression on my face.

‘We have a department up north, in Scotland. Hardly anyone outside of the department knows about it. It’s not on the website.’

I’d brought up about them having a website when they were
supposed to be secret. Jenkins had asked me if I had any questions at my
initiation. He’d said that the website didn’t really tell anyone anything of
particular significance. I supposed he was right.

‘Scotland?’

‘Glasgow. Our other department is in Glasgow. We’d give you
accommodation and arrange for someone to check on your house while you were
away of course. What do you think?’

There was nothing in his voice that made me think that
saying no would do me any favours. ‘Yes.’

‘Excellent. I’ll start making arrangements. Pack a few
things. We’ll pick you up tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow?’

‘Is that a problem?’

‘Eh, no, it’s just…soon.’

‘There’s no heel dragging here.’

I nodded.

‘Take a break, Neve. And remember. Don’t tell anyone where
you’re going. You have to learn to keep our secrets.’

I was good at keeping secrets. I’d lost count of the number
of times I’d gone shopping and never told Rupert that the dress, coat, shoes or
whatever had been a bargain when I’d paid full cost.

I nodded again, got up from my desk, and grabbed my coat and
bag. My heels resonated a fair clip on the wooden floor as I headed to the
lift.

Alexavier was in it.

And so was I. Up to my neck in lustful thoughts, tucked into
a tiny lift beside the most gorgeous man I’d ever met. Would my blushes give my
thoughts away? Was Alexavier as insightful as Jenkins?

Blue eyes watched me beneath long, dark lashes, sending
sensations through me that caused me to blush like a giddy teen. At twenty–six
I should’ve been better at hiding it.

He smiled at me. A sexy, white smile that hinted he had
dimples beneath those sculptured cheekbones of his when he let himself smile
without restraint.

Damn. He knew what I was thinking.

His phone beeped. He read the message.

‘So you’re coming with me?’ he said, his deep voice
resonating through my chest, my being, within the confines of the lift.

Coming with him? To lunch, dinner, his house for the
weekend, closing the doors and not coming up for air until Monday morning?

I blinked at him. I went to say — ‘Glasgow, up north’, and
then I remembered. I wasn’t to tell anyone. Perhaps this was a test of my
ability to keep a secret.

He sighed. Reading me again. Damn!

‘You can tell me, Neve. I’ll be accompanying you to Glasgow.’

‘Jenkins didn’t tell me any details.’

‘You’re Scottish, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I was brought up there, but I’ve made London my home for at least eight years.’

‘We need a woman for this assignment. Someone who sounds the
part. You’re familiar with Glasgow —’

‘Yes, but I haven’t been back for years. It’ll have
changed.’

‘You’ll be fine, and you’ve retained your lovely Scottish
accent.’

He’d paid me a compliment. My heart fluttered. An unusual
response. Usually I don’t react quite so potently to a man, needing to get to
know him. This type of instant attraction hadn’t happened to me before. I’d
certainly never felt like that about Rupert who was quite an attractive man if
you like slightly nerdish office manager types. Three years with Rupert and I’d
felt more raw lust for Alexavier in two brief meetings. The urge to fan myself
was overwhelming.

Thankfully the lift juddered to a halt and I got out at the
street level floor. I wasn’t sure how many levels the department’s burrows had,
and the lift didn’t reveal them all. The department was a labyrinth. Alexavier
was part of it. What type of man did that make him? An ambitious one. A clever
one. A man who was so much more than his handsomeness.

‘Do you have any sexy dresses?’ Alexavier called to me as I
made a big bid for freedom towards the front desk where everyone had to sign
out with security.

‘Eh…I have a few dresses, I don’t know if I’d describe them
as sexy. I tend to think that it’s the woman wearing the dress that makes it
sexy rather than the dress itself.’

He gave me a hot, smouldering look. Jeez, I wished I could
just get some fresh air. He affected me so much. I had to think how to deal
with him. How to hide my feelings and the effect he had on me.

‘I agree,’ he said, his deep voice pulling me back. ‘So any
evening dresses you wear should have the desired effect.’

He held my gaze and I didn’t know what to say. Was he
meaning that I was sexy? Two compliments from him. Lovely Scottish accent and
sexy. This was good, but it was bad. I had to maintain a professional
relationship with him. I really was going to try and make a go of this job.
Jenny the Jinx be gone!

I clawed through my wardrobe like a
woman possessed. Where the hell were those dresses I’d bought in the sale at
New Year? I’d lied to Rupert about buying them, and hid them somewhere deep
within the depths of the wardrobe.

Ah, here they were, all wrapped up, never worn, four dresses
of varying colour and sparkliness that the January sales had tempted me to
purchase when Rupert had warned me not to be a spendthrift but to keep a look
out for shirts for him. And ties. Selfish prat.

I held up one of the dresses. They were all cocktail
dresses. I’d been unable to choose between the pink sequin, royal blue, bronze
and silvery grey, so I’d succumbed to them all, and hidden them from the man
who shared my life but who never really knew me at all.

A smiled formed at the corner of my mouth. I’d bought shoes
to go with the dresses. I dug deeper into the large wardrobe that I’d refused
to share with Rupert. Yes, three pairs of high heeled evening shoes were there
where I’d left them.

I tried on the dresses. They fitted even better than before.
I’d lost around ten pounds during the year through sheer stress. Rupert and I
had argued a lot, and I can’t eat when I’m upset.

I looked at myself in the mirror. A bit pale. Where was my
blusher? The tawny pink gave a natural blush that looked okay on wintry days.
Somehow the bronze, sun–kissed look never flattered me when the weather was
cold, and there had been a distinct bite in the air tonight.

I peeked out the window. The pavements sparkled with a
dusting of frost and the sky was clear, filled with stars. I wondered what
would happen in Glasgow and if I’d like working there. I had missed Glasgow, and one of the reasons I hadn’t been back was because I wanted to avoid feeling
homesick. Now I’d have to revisit the things I’d left behind. No people though,
not any more. No one was left. A few acquaintances perhaps, but any friends I’d
had were scattered in new lives abroad and we’d drifted years ago. Having never
settled in a job in London I’d not made any real friends, just passing
acquaintances. Rupert had been my one close friend, and now that we were
finished, I felt quite alone in the world.

With that cheery thought, I made myself a mug of hot
chocolate, finished packing, threw out all the rubbish in the bin, emptied the
fridge, and tried to get some sleep. Tomorrow I’d be heading to Glasgow with the most handsome man in the department. Neve the secret agent was on her way.

I was up early, suitcases packed,
and ready when the sleek saloon drove up outside my house. I was driven to the
airport, put on a plane and arrived in Glasgow for lunch. Someone met me at the
airport and I was driven straight to the department’s Glasgow offices in the
city centre. Hidden in the main hub of the city, it wore a similar disguise to
its London counterpart.

A secretary had a message for me. Alexavier had been waylaid
and would meet up with me for dinner. A man called Montpelier was going to show
me around the Glasgow department.

I was still reading the note when a man approached me from
the corridor. The department was all polished wooden floors, beige walls with
the occasional painting of a cityscape from a bygone era. Potted plants added a
hint of greenery to the otherwise staid decor, but I liked it. It gave me the
impression of being a place where intelligence was valued over fashion. And
coming from a shopper like me that’s high praise indeed. I’d worn black
trousers, white blouse, black jumper and coat, though my coat had been hung up
on a coat stand.

‘Welcome to the department, Neve,’ the man said, extending
his hand. An elegant handshake sent a shiver of unexpected pleasure through me.
His blond handsomeness was on a par with Alexavier’s looks. Aged mid thirties.
Forget film stars. The secret halls of government intelligence hid more than
secrets and spies. It had tall, and extremely handsome looking men.