Special Ops Exclusive (2 page)

He quickly threw himself into the fray. Within seconds he was surrounded by hundreds of people. The scent of sweat and body odor and fury filled his nostrils, the heat of all those bodies making his T-shirt cling to his chest. He kept his gaze locked on the redheaded reporter, focusing on his target like a heat-seeking missile.

The uneasy flicker in Rebecca Parker’s green eyes was evident, but it wasn’t the flash of panic he expected to see. The woman was holding her own, throwing elbows like a street fighter. For a moment, he even questioned the decision to come to her rescue, because she seemed to be doing just fine on her own.

Or at least she was until a beer bottle flew through the air and collided with the side of her head.

Nick’s gut went rigid as he watched her stumble. A second later, the redhead went down like a light and her body crumpled to the pavement.

In perfect position to be trampled by the mob.

Chapter 2

R
ebecca felt like someone had pulled the carpet out from under her feet. One second she was totally vertical, the next she was flat on her back, pain shooting through the side of her head and black dots marring her vision. She sucked in a deep breath, blinking wildly, trying to get her bearings. The pain in her temple didn’t abate, but her vision cleared to reveal just how precarious a situation she’d found herself in.

Angry faces and moving bodies whizzed above her. She braced both palms on the hot pavement and tried to stand up, only to fall backward when someone bumped into her. Someone else stepped on her foot, bringing a jolt of pain. Uh-oh. This was bad. Each time she succeeded in unsteadily climbing to her feet, she got knocked right back down, and now she was seeing stars again. Her eyes couldn’t seem to focus and shapes were beginning to look blurry.

The fear finally hit her, clogging her throat and making her heart pound.

Agony burned up her arm as she got stomped on again.

God.

She was going to get crushed in a stampede.

With a burst of adrenaline, she made another attempt to hurl herself to her feet—and this time it worked. She was off the ground and hovering over the crowd—wait, hovering
over
it? Blinking a few times, Rebecca realized the reason she felt like she was floating was because she
was
floating. She was tucked tightly in a man’s arms, a man who’d taken it upon himself to carry her away to safety, Kevin Costner–style.

“Who are you?” she murmured, but the inquiry got lost in the rioters’ shouts and the rapid popping noises of rubber bullets being fired into the crowd.

Jesse. Where was Jesse? Her out-of-focus gaze roamed the area but she couldn’t spot that bald head of his anywhere. She prayed he was okay, that he’d found his own savior to whisk him to safety.

She suddenly became aware of the most intoxicating scent, and she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with that spicy aroma. It was
him,
she realized. God, he smelled good.

She glanced up to study the face of her rescuer, catching glimpses of a strong, clean-shaven jaw. Sensual lips. A straight nose. She wanted to see his eyes, but the angle was all wrong, so she focused on his incredible chest instead. Jeez, the guy must work out. His torso was hard as a rock, rippled with muscles that flexed at each purposeful step he took.

As much as she wanted to question this man, Rebecca decided to exercise some patience and wait until they cleared the mob. Shoot. She was going to receive a big fat
I told you so
when she reunited with her cameraman. He’d warned her not to venture too deep into the crowd, but at this point, she wasn’t sure why he bothered with the warnings anymore. After five years of working together, Jesse ought to know that Rebecca did what she wanted, when she wanted.

She hadn’t gotten to where she was by standing meekly on the sidelines; her reputation had been forged by her ability to throw herself in the middle of the action. She was only twenty-seven years old and she’d reported from countless war zones, covered everything from political scandals to genocide, and once she sank her teeth into a story, she refused to let go until she got to the heart of the matter.

She was Rebecca Parker, darn it. She didn’t cower from danger or allow something like a measly riot to slow her down.

Says the woman who nearly got trampled to death.

Rebecca ignored the mocking internal voice and clung tighter to her rescuer’s shoulders. Man, he had big shoulders. And he was
tall.
At least six-one, and she felt downright tiny in his arms.

Fine, so maybe she’d required a little assistance to get out of this latest jam, she amended, but for the most part, she usually managed to get in and out of tight spots with her own quick thinking and determination.

“You okay?”

The concerned male voice broke through her thoughts. She looked up at her rescuer, finally getting a good look at those elusive eyes.

Boy, were they worth the wait. At first glance they were brown—until you looked closer and realized they were the color of warm honey with flecks of amber around the pupils. And they were so magnetic that she felt hypnotized as she gazed into them.

“Ms. Parker?”

She blinked, forcing herself back to reality. “Oh. I’m fine,” she answered. “A little bruised, but I’ll live. And you can call me Rebecca. I think it’s only fitting I be on a first-name basis with the man who saved my life.”

His lips curved. “If you say so.”

It didn’t escape her that he hadn’t introduced himself in return, but before she could press him for a name, foghorns started blasting and a male voice blared out of a megaphone. A member of the police force, urging the demonstrators to disperse or else extreme measures would be taken. The crowd only got noisier, booing and yelling in response.

Rebecca stifled a sigh. She’d borne witness to enough riots to know that these people weren’t going anywhere. Now that the mob had gotten a taste of blood and violence, things would only escalate.

And she wouldn’t be there to cover it.

“Crap,” she muttered. “You have to put me down.”

Her rescuer didn’t miss a step. He kept bearing ahead at full speed.

“I’m serious.” She wiggled in his arms, trying to get free, but his grip tightened, making her realize just how strong this man was.

Struggling didn’t make a lick of difference. In the end, she gritted her teeth and clutched those broad shoulders. There wasn’t a darn thing she could do until he put her down.

A few minutes later, when they were well away from the screaming protesters, her personal bodyguard finally set her on her feet. Before she could say a word, he captured her chin with one hand and angled her head while his other hand lightly touched her left temple.

Pain jolted through her.

“The wound stopped bleeding,” her rescuer murmured in that deep, sexy voice of his. “But you’ve got a hell of a bump. How’s your vision? Any nausea? Follow my finger.”

As he moved his finger back and forth in front of her face, Rebecca’s lips tightened. “I’m fine,” she insisted.

“Follow my damn finger.”

Ah, he was one of
those
men, huh? Mr. Alpha.

Deciding to humor him, she tracked the movement of his finger with her eyes. She knew she didn’t have a concussion. She’d had several of those in the past, and although she’d taken a good knock to the side of the head, she was already feeling better, more oriented. Her surroundings were in perfect focus now, and aside from a slight throbbing in her temple, she felt alert.

Her savior must have reached the same conclusion, because he let those big hands drop from her face.

“You could’ve been killed,” he said flatly. “That was damn reckless of you, strolling right into the middle of that mob.”

A note of disapproval rang in his voice, making her roll her eyes. “Danger comes with the job,” she said with a shrug. “Although if I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting this assignment to be so exciting. Election coverage tends to be boring.”

There was a screech of tires as several police cars skidded to a stop ten feet away from them. Her rescuer planted a hand on her upper arm and led her farther away from the street, dragging her along the cobblestone sidewalk toward the end of the block. Only a handful of curious bystanders loitered here, peering at the violent spectacle down the road while a few uniformed officers stood nearby, making sure the riot didn’t spread outward.

Rebecca allowed him to drag her to the corner, then shrugged his hand off and spun around. She squinted, searched the handful of news vans in the distance, and hitched a happy breath when she spotted Jesse. Smart-ass was actually standing on top of the red-and-white ABN van, just like he’d encouraged her to do earlier.

Chuckling, she dug her cell phone from the back pocket of her jeans and pressed a button on speed dial.

“I have to let my colleague know I’m all right,” she explained to her rescuer, who was watching her with those sharp amber eyes.

For a moment, she faltered, a sense of familiarity washing over her, but before she could examine that strange do-I-know-you-from-somewhere? feeling, Jesse’s voice came over the line.

“Becks! Where the
hell
are you?”

“I’m at the end of the block, just east of you. And don’t worry, I’m fine. I made it out alive.”

“Barely,” she heard her rescuer say.

Ignoring the angry mumble, she raised her arm and waved a few times. “You see me?”

“I see you.” Jesse sighed. “Don’t move. Dave ’n’ I will make our way over to you.”

“No, stay there,” she said, shoving a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Get some footage of the riot. I’ll head back in a minute and do a live report.”

“Are you frickin’
kidding—
”

“From the van,” she quickly cut in. “Promise.”

“Fine. Get back here, Becks. This crowd is nuts.”

They hung up, and Rebecca glanced at the man who’d saved her life. “So...” She tilted her head. “You still haven’t told me your name.”

“I’m Nick. Nick Prescott.” He ran a hand through his hair, which was dark and thick, with a slight wave to it.

Again, that appealing scent floated in her direction. Subtle aftershave, soap, pure masculinity. She studied him, taking in the dark blue T-shirt that clung to every ridge and contour of his defined chest. The long legs encased in olive-green cargo pants. That classically handsome face.

It was odd—the man moved and behaved like a soldier, yet he gave off an aristocratic air. He came from wealth. She’d wager anything on it, even her most prized possession: the certificate listing her as a Pulitzer prize finalist, which was pinned to her bulletin board back home. Because she’d worked the White House beat when she’d first started out, she’d grown skilled at figuring out who was rich and who wasn’t, sometimes from just one quick look.

And this man was definitely rich.

Nick.

The name suddenly registered in her head. Wait a minute...

“What?” he muttered, seemingly uncomfortable by her scrutiny.

“Nick Prescott,” she echoed, fighting a rush of suspicion. “And what exactly do you do, Nick?”

He shrugged. “I’m a journalist, same as you.”

Bullcrap.

She narrowed her eyes. “Print or television?”

“Print. Freelance.” He answered smoothly, his previous discomfort having vanished. “Most of my pieces are featured in smaller publications. Nothing quite as impressive as your résumé.”

He flashed her a boyish grin, but Rebecca saw right through it. Ha. Did he honestly think he could distract her by stroking her ego? She was a shark, for Pete’s sake. And sharks never got distracted from their course, not after they’d caught a whiff of blood.

That feeling of familiarity grew stronger, teased her, nudged the back of her mind. Darn it. Where the heck did she
know
him from?

She swiftly scanned her mental databases, recalling the sources she’d relied on over the years, the conflicts she’d covered, the political figures she’d interviewed, the—

Back it up, Becks.

She frowned. Political figures. All right. Was this man a politician? A member of an influential family with fingers in the White House pie?

As far as she knew, there weren’t any powerful Prescotts in D.C. She worked the name over in her head a few times. Nick Prescott. Prescott. Nick. Nick Pres— Recognition slammed into her like a tidal wave.

No, she wasn’t familiar with a Nick Prescott.

She did, however, know of a Nick
Barrett
.

Holy crap!

Rebecca nearly gasped, but managed to curb the reaction at the last second. She couldn’t let him know she’d figured it out. If he was using a fake name, then that meant he didn’t want to alert anybody to his presence, and if he was going out of his way to hide his presence, then that meant...

Oh yeah, there was a story here, all right. No doubt about it.

And there was also no doubt in her mind that she was, at this very moment, in the company of Nick Barrett.

The son of America’s secretary of defense.

Chapter 3

D
amn, this woman was appealing. Her mouth fascinated him entirely too much. Sexy and pouty and rosy-red, with a plump bottom lip that made Nick’s own mouth tingle with the urge to kiss her. And his fingers itched to explore those delectable curves. Her jeans and T-shirt weren’t skintight, but they hugged a set of round, high breasts and a pair of shapely legs that would probably feel incredible wrapped around his waist while he thrust into her and—

Whoa.

The wicked images had come out of left field, flooding his mind and making his mouth water. He’d been celibate for so long that the force of his lust didn’t surprise him, but his lusty urges didn’t normally catch him off guard like this. He quickly forced his libido in check, hoping Rebecca hadn’t noticed that flare of heat in his eyes.

Her tiny smirk revealed that she’d noticed all right.

“So...Nick,” she said, his name rolling off her tongue like a sensual melody. “How can I thank you for what you did back there?”

Half a dozen naughty responses came to mind, but he was nothing if not a gentleman. He all but tipped his imaginary hat and smiled graciously. “No thanks necessary. Saving you from that stampede was my pleasure.”

Her lips twitched as if she were fighting a laugh. “Uh-huh. Well, even so, my daddy taught me that every debt must be repaid. So how about I buy you a drink tonight?”

When her voice took on a Southern drawl, a smile tugged at his lips. “Do I hear Georgia in your voice or is that just a damn good fake accent?”

“Atlanta born and raised,” she confirmed.

“I didn’t know that. I always assumed you were from D.C.”

“The network forced voice lessons on me when I got hired. They wanted me to tone down the accent because it was too
low-brow.
” A twinkle lit her green eyes. “And I can guarantee that there are many other interesting things you don’t know about me.”

He didn’t doubt it one bit. This woman was intriguing as hell, and he was swiftly realizing she was much more than the fearless correspondent he’d seen on the TV screen countless times before. In person, it was hard to miss the laughter in her eyes, or the subtle sexuality radiating from her petite frame. And even though he hated stereotyping people, he was fairly confident that Rebecca Parker’s flaming red hair was a surefire sign that the woman was stubborn as a mule.

“We’ll get to know each other over drinks,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. “I won’t take no for an answer, so don’t bother turning me down.”

Yup, stubborn.

Nick couldn’t help but chuckle. “Should I be insulted that you immediately assume I don’t have other plans?”

She arched her brow. “Do you?”

He grinned. “No.”

“You also aren’t wearing a wedding ring,” she pointed out, “which leads me to believe you’re not married.” She cocked her head. “Unless you’re that breed of a-hole that hides the ring in his suitcase when he travels?”

“I assure you, I’m not that kind of a-hole.”

Her answering laughter was a sweet song that made his pulse speed up. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you, Nick Prescott?” Now her expression went shrewd.

Heat rippled through him, pulsing in his blood and stirring his groin. If she could read his dirty mind at the moment, she might be inclined to alter that opinion, but he decided not to voice that thought out loud.

“Something wrong with good guys?” he said lightly.

Her eyes grew pensive. “I don’t know. I’ve only ever gone out with bad boys.” She shrugged. “But I guess I’ll find out tonight. What hotel are you staying at?”

“The Liberty.”

Those sexy lips quirked. “What do you know? That’s where I’m staying, too. We’ll meet downstairs at the bar, then. I’d ask you to dinner but I eat with my crew—it’s sort of a tradition. How’s nine o’clock for drinks?”

Nick knew he ought to say no. He was here to track down that snake Waverly, not to go out with a beautiful redhead he suspected might be nothing but trouble.

Yet as he met Rebecca Parker’s expectant green eyes, he couldn’t find the willpower to turn her down.

“Nine o’clock,” he agreed.

Pleasure washed over her pretty face. “Good. I’ll see you tonight.” She took a step back, then met his eyes and grinned. “And thanks again for helping me out of that little jam back there.”

She dashed off while he stared after her with a combination of disbelief and amusement.

Little jam? She’d nearly been trampled to death, for Chrissake. He didn’t think he’d ever met a woman as blasé about danger as this one. That recklessness was definitely a turnoff—if he was planning on
marrying
the woman.

But if he planned on taking her to
bed
...well, then he could totally see the advantages of having a wildcat like Rebecca Parker between the sheets.

* * *

Nine o’clock didn’t come soon enough. Nick had been holed up in his hotel room for the past two hours, watching the clock and mentally urging it to tick faster.

The rest of his afternoon and most of his evening had been a total wash. None of the forgers he’d questioned had recognized Paul Waverly’s photo or admitted to procuring any documents for him, but Nick wasn’t discouraged. The men he’d spoken to were small players in Cortega’s shady underworld. There was really only one person Waverly would’ve gone to, a criminal kingpin known only as El Nuevo Diablo.

The New Devil.

The moniker made Nick roll his eyes. Damn melodramatic. According to the grapevine, though, El Nuevo Diablo was the man to talk to if you wanted to get something done. Enrique Salazar had been supposed to arrange the meeting between Nick and the crime boss, but the corrupt government guard had rescheduled their rendezvous for tomorrow, so Nick had no choice but to wait around for Salazar’s phone call.

But at least he could amuse himself while he waited.

Anticipation gathered in his groin as he left the room and crossed the carpeted hallway toward the elevator. Fine, so he might be getting ahead of himself here. Chances were, his date with Rebecca Parker would begin and end with drinks and not a foray into the bedroom, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to complain if they somehow wound up naked.

Which was shocking in and of itself, because he wasn’t the kind of man to indulge in casual flings. The other guys in his former unit used to rag him mercilessly about his self-proclaimed gentleman status. Whenever they were stateside, Diaz and Berkowski would attempt to drag him out on the town in search of a hot piece of ass, but although Nick often tagged along, he usually went home alone.

He was twenty-eight-years old, but he’d never sown any wild oats. Never had the urge to either. Hell, if he found a woman who made him
half
as happy as his mother had made his father, then he’d consider himself the luckiest man on earth.

Tonight, though...he could totally be satisfied with a casual lay. It had been
that
long.

Swallowing a rush of frustration, he rode the elevator down to the lobby and headed for the hotel bar.

The Liberty was one of the nicer hotels in Cortega, boasting clean marble floors, expensive furnishings and extremely professional staff. Nick hadn’t visited the bar yet, and when he strode in, he was surprised to discover how cozy it was. The large room offered plush sofas, big armchairs and low tables situated in a way that provided patrons with the illusion of privacy. Huge ceramic planters containing green leafy ferns added to that feeling of seclusion.

Nick spotted her immediately—it was hard to miss all that gorgeous red hair tumbling down her shoulders. She was sitting with her back turned to him, but her head shifted as he began walking in her direction.

Their eyes locked, and he went hard so swiftly that he was actually taken aback. He’d never been turned on from
eye contact
before and he might’ve laughed at his own pathetic eagerness if he weren’t so entranced by the woman across the room.

She wore a dress, an emerald-green number that swirled around her bare knees as she stood up to greet him. The bodice wasn’t low cut, revealing only a modest amount of cleavage, yet the sight hit him with a punch of lust.

Rebecca looked amused. “You okay there, Nick?”

His mouth had gone dry, so he was forced to gulp a few times before he could make his voice work. “I’m fine.” He swept his gaze over her once more. “You look amazing.”

Pleasure colored her cheeks. “Thank you. You clean up well yourself.”

His gaze lowered to his khaki cargo pants and plain white T-shirt, the nicest items of clothing he’d packed in his go bag. “If you say so,” he said wryly.

“Oh, I say so.”

Their eyes met and held again. Awareness crackled in the air between them.

Nick cleared his throat. “Let’s sit down.”

They settled in the armchairs, which were positioned side by side but angled in a way that allowed them to sit face-to-face. When Rebecca demurely crossed her legs, the bottom of her dress rode up her thighs, drawing Nick’s attention to her creamy white flesh. Her skin looked so soft he had to press his palms on his thighs to stop himself from putting his hands all over her.

Fortunately, a waiter approached the table before Nick committed a major faux pas on the first date he’d had in nearly a year.

Nick ordered whiskey, and he wasn’t at all surprised when Rebecca ordered the same. The woman was bold and fiery—of course she’d order a drink that matched that personality of hers.

“No appletinis for you, huh?” he said with a wry smile.

“Do I look like a sorority girl to you?”

He laughed. “Not in the slightest.”

“Good, because I’m not.” A gleam of challenge crept into her eyes. “How did the rest of your day go, by the way? Did you stick around to report on the riot?”

“Nah, I came back to the hotel to write. But I caught the tail end of your segment on ABN. That was a great interview with the leader of the tactical team.”

“Thanks.” She twined a strand of hair around her fingers, tilting her head pensively. “What angle are you using for your piece? Big bad government or ungrateful out-of-line citizens?”

He lifted his brows. “Uh-uh, Parker, you know we’re not supposed to show bias. Journalism 101.”

She snorted. “That’s bullcrap and you effing know it.”

A laugh flew out of his mouth. “Okay, before we debate this, you’ve got to explain the weird nonexpletives. I don’t think I’ve heard you utter a single curse word since we’ve met.”

“That’s because I don’t curse.” She gave a self-deprecating sigh. “I used to swear like a sailor, but I had to rid myself of the habit after I accidentally dropped an F-bomb on air. I almost got fired for it, and I knew I couldn’t let it happen again, so I quickly learned to clean up my language. But I still swear creatively. Shoot, fudge, eff, crap, gee-dee—” When he looked at her questioningly, she lowered her voice to a whisper and clarified, “Goddamn. But don’t tell anyone I just said that.”

Nick laughed again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this entertained. Rebecca Parker was not at all what he’d expected her to be. On camera she came off as assertive and serious, though she did reveal a sassy, seductive side on occasion. Still, she was clearly sassier and more seductive than her audience knew, not to mention playful, funny, intelligent, outrageously sexy....

“Anyway, let’s skip the bias debate,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Because we both know every reporter’s got one. Where are you from, Nick?”

To his relief, the waiter returned before he could answer. With a quick thanks, Nick slipped a twenty into the man’s hand, all the while going over his cover story in his head. Tate’s fiancée, Eva, had used her hacking skills to create an entire fake career for Nick Prescott the journalist, and his “work” was all over the internet. He’d read most of the articles on the plane ride here, but he sincerely hoped that Rebecca wouldn’t ask any specific questions.

He had a sinking suspicion that she would. The woman was a lot sharper than he’d given her credit for.

“I’m from Vermont,” he replied before taking a sip of his drink. The alcohol heated his gut and fueled his confidence. “But my family moved around a lot when I was a kid. I was a military brat.” He paused. “What about you?”

Rebecca brought her glass to her lips and downed half her whiskey, then proceeded to chat about herself for a few minutes. She told him a few stories about growing up in Atlanta, explained how she’d wanted to go into journalism ever since she was a little girl, and then she promptly steered the conversation back to him, much to his discomfort.

If it were any other woman, he would’ve felt better about his responses, confident that she was buying his bogus backstory, but this was
Rebecca Parker.
Each time he answered a question, those green eyes narrowed slightly, as if she were analyzing every single word that left his mouth.

“What about you?” he asked after he’d told her he’d studied journalism at Columbia. “Where did you go to school?”

“Northwestern.” She lobbed another query his way. “How did you like living in New York?”

Nick stifled a groan. The back and forth went on in the same fashion for the next twenty minutes. It was like a game of ping-pong. Question, answer. Question, answer.

By the time they’d finished a second round of drinks, it became glaringly obvious that Rebecca had an agenda.

She’s fishing.

Crap. She was absolutely, indisputably fishing.

Nick’s shoulders stiffened, his guard shooting up as he studied Rebecca’s knowing expression.

“Everything okay, Nick?” she drawled.

His hackles rose. The little minx knew he’d figured her out.

“Everything’s great,” he responded.

He polished off the rest of his drink, but didn’t signal the waiter for another. Nope, because it had become imperative that he keep a clear head.

So much for getting laid tonight.

What started out as a promising evening had turned into an aggravating battle of wits. Did Rebecca know who he was? Was she somehow connected to the people who’d killed his unit, the people trying to kill
him?
Or did she think he was simply a rival journalist and was trying to unnerve him for some reason?