Tell Me No Spies (11 page)

“Oh, yeah? Well, news
flash. I wasn’t. But I am now. Because
as you told me
, I
can’t afford to get close to anybody in my line of work. Tom’s off
limits, Arnie’s taken a powder, and I wouldn’t touch you with
rubber gloves… or rubber anything for that matter,” I amended,
ignoring the flash of fake pain on his face. When would the man
give it up already?

I smothered a hiccup
and went on, “So, yeah, I’m going to go and have a very, very nice
evening with Dante, and you’re going to let me. Because you know
damn well I deserve it.”

“Aydan, I think you’ve
had a little too much to drink…”

“Fuckin’ A.”

“Think this through,”
he urged. “Please.”

“I have. We’re done
here.” I got up and went back to Dante.

When I cuddled up to
him, he shot a glance over to where Kane stood smouldering in the
corner. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

Nichele disengaged
herself from James to lean across the table. “Hey, girl, isn’t that
Hot John? I thought you said it was over between you.”

“It is. Apparently
he’s having some difficulty letting go. Ignore him.”

Dante eyed Kane
worriedly. “Is he dangerous?”

I swallowed a sigh.
I’d gotten so used to being surrounded by brave men. But I could
scarcely blame Dante for not wanting to get his head kicked in. His
face was his meal ticket.

“No,” I lied. “He
won’t cause any trouble. Just ignore him.”

“Okay.” His dazzling
smile came back. “I’m sure he’ll get tired of watching soon
enough.”

Ha. I wish.

I shrugged and let
Dante’s lips drift down my neck. “I’m sure he will.”

Some time later,
Nichele tottered to her feet. “Aydan, come with me.”

I got up and followed
as she wove her way to the washroom. Inside, she leaned against the
wall and giggled. “What do you think of Dante?”

“The man is pure dark
chocolate. Looks good, smells good, comes on sweet and strong…”

“And makes you want to
eat him all night long,” she finished, grinning.

“That wasn’t what I
was going to say.”

She smirked up at me.
“Here’s the part where you thank me.”

“Yeah, thanks,
Nichele.”

“No, I mean, here’s
the part where you thank me, because…” She paused dramatically.

“What?” I shot her a
suspicious look.

Could anything else go
wrong tonight? I had no idea how I could give Kane the slip, pick
up my things from Nichele’s, and sneak away. Kane had stayed,
watching me from across the room, and he was undoubtedly ready to
drag me to his SUV the instant I stepped outside. Shit, shit,
shit!

“Because…” Nichele
hiccupped and one eyelid drooped in a conspiratorial wink. “I
sneaked your backpack into my car before we left my place. And when
James went out for a smoke, I went with him and put your backpack
into Dante’s car. So you can have your night of dark chocolate sin
with all the comforts of home.”

“You did what?” My jaw
sagged as I stared at her impish expression. Any other time, I
would’ve been ready to kill her. As much as I was enjoying the
flirtation, I had no intention of taking it any further with Dante.
But this time…

I flung my arms around
her. “Nichele, you’re the best friend that ever was!”

“How drunk are
you?”

“Stone cold
sober.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, sober
enough.”

She eyed me
uncertainly. “Why aren’t you mad?”

I made an effort to
tone down the shit-eating grin that kept tugging at the corners of
my mouth. “Because at least once in her life, every woman should
get a chance to do a guy who looks like Dante.”

She relaxed, mirroring
my grin. “Finally, you’re starting to live a little. About
time.”

“You can say that
again.”

My mind worked
furiously while we made our way back to the table, arm in arm. Half
the problem solved. I had my backpack. Now if Kane would just leave
me alone for a few minutes…

James and Dante rose
as we arrived at the table, and we headed for the door. I spotted
Kane vectoring toward us and sighed. “You guys go ahead. I’m just
going to deal with Mr. Creepy Stalker here.”

James straightened,
his hard eyes measuring Kane. “Do you want help?”

I didn’t want to
consider the kind of help he might offer. Cement overshoes, maybe.
“No, thanks, it’s no big deal. I’ll just be a minute.”

They drifted away as
Kane confronted me. “We need to go now, Aydan.”

My heart rate
ratcheted up a notch as I rubbed the frown lines out of my
forehead. Now or never. I summoned up all my acting skills and gave
him the imploring big brown eyes.

“John, I…” I broke off
and cast my eyes down for a second before meeting his gaze again.
“I said some harsh things earlier, and I’m sorry. But I’m just so…
you can’t imagine what this has been like for me.”

That part was true,
anyway. Careful, now, don’t overdo it…

His face softened.
Good.

“I know it’s asking a
lot, and I know it puts you in an awkward position with Stemp,
but…” I gazed up at him and let my voice tremble a little. “Could
you… please, just this one time. I just need a bit of time to get
over this. Could you just let me go?”

Kane sighed. “Aydan,
you know I can’t let you out of my sight.”

Dammit.

I knew duty came first
for him. It always had. I had hoped he hadn’t been completely
faking his attraction to me, but no such luck. It had all been a
lie.

“Fine.” I turned
away.

Now what the hell was
I going to do? I made my way toward the door with Kane trailing me
through the crush of bodies. Maybe I could run for it…

His hand closed around
my arm. Shit, was the man a mind reader?

“Aydan.” He let go and
leaned close, his grey eyes searching my face. “I don’t want you to
go home with that…” He stopped at the sight of my expression and
took a breath. “All right. You know how much trouble I’ll be in for
this. But you’re right, Sirius owes you.” He blew out a breath. “I
owe you. I’ll give you the night.”

I stared up at him,
shocked.

“I’ll have to follow
you and keep you under surveillance,” he continued. “But I’ll stay
back. We’ll leave in the morning.”

I clutched his hand.
“Thank you.”

He sighed. “You’re
welcome. Just…” His hand tightened on mine for an instant before he
released me. “Never mind.”

I stepped out onto the
sidewalk alone, elation warring with sickening guilt. This was
going to work. But I was about to screw Kane royally.

My alcohol-fuelled
inner child stamped her foot. I owed him a metric shit-ton of
absolutely nothing. He’d murdered my husband, he’d pretended to be
my friend, and he’d used and manipulated me. Oh, and he’d screwed
me under false pretences.

Bend over, buddy.
Payback’s a bitch.

Dante’s arm slipped
around my shoulders, and I smiled at him as he ushered me to his
car.

I tried to conceal my
nervousness when we pulled up in front of a well-kept bungalow in
one of the older neighbourhoods. When we got out of the car I
glimpsed Kane’s black Expedition pulling up to the curb in the next
block. Damn, he was a good spy. If I hadn’t known what he drove,
I’d never have spotted him.

I retrieved my
backpack and let Dante guide me up the walk with his arm around my
waist. At the front door, we shared a lingering kiss while he
fumbled for his keys. Despite my apprehension, I couldn’t help
noting how good his body felt against mine. And he knew what to do
with those luscious lips.

Inside, I subtly
manoeuvred him in front of the picture window for our next kiss,
making sure we’d be visible from outside. This needed to be totally
convincing.

My God, speaking of
convincing…

Maybe Hellhound had
some competition in the kissing department after all. I spared a
quick downward glance to make sure I hadn’t accidentally stepped
into a small bonfire.

Nope.

And anyway, I wasn’t
feeling the heat in my feet…

I sucked in a breath
when he pulled me closer, the sculpted muscles of his arms rippling
under my hands. His hot lips traced down my neck, and I twined my
fingers in his thick, glossy hair while his kisses burned their way
across the top of my cleavage.

God damn, maybe I
should stay for a little while. After all, how many opportunities
like this do you get in a lifetime?

I refocused with a
tremendous effort of will. I only had one chance to give Kane the
slip, and this was it. Maybe I could call Dante later…

I ran my fingers down
his perfect chest and took hold of the front of his shirt to pull
him gently away from the window and further into the house, my
small backpack dangling from the fingers of my other hand. From my
previous life as a draftsperson, I knew these older bungalows had a
predictable floor plan. I had expected a bathroom and bedrooms down
the hallway, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Scratch that. I was
disappointed as hell that I wasn’t going to get any dark chocolate
tonight. But at least the floor plan was doing it for me.

“Hold that thought,” I
whispered as I pulled away from Dante’s kiss and slipped into the
bathroom.

I closed the door
behind me, and heard him move further down the hallway. A few
moments later, soft music began to play. Perfect. That would cover
the sounds of my escape.

As I’d expected, the
house had been built before exhaust fans were common, so the
bathroom had a generously sized window. I wasted no time opening it
and removing the screen.

I hesitated, swaying
slightly in the bathtub while the cool night breeze blew around me.
The distant, garbled voice of better judgement suggested I should
probably sober up before making decisions like this. A much more
powerful and convincing voice suggested that Dark Chocolate Dante
would make a scrumptious dessert.

But this would be my
only chance to contact my aunt.

And I had to know.

I placed my cell phone
on the vanity and sighed. If I didn’t leave it behind, it would
give away my movements as soon as Kane started tracking it again.
If he wasn’t already tracking it.

I tossed my backpack
out the window and scrambled up, hoping the thump of my knees
against the wall would be concealed by the music. Teetering on the
sill, I paused. The music was all sensuous horns and throbbing
beat. Goddamn.

I jumped out into the
dark back yard.

My ankle twisted on
the soft ground and I bit my lip until the urge to swear subsided
along with the pain. Then I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulder
and faded into the back alley.

Zigzagging through the
pitch-dark silence of the alleys, I scuttled across the lighted
streets until the sound of traffic led me to a main thoroughfare. I
fervently wished I’d thought to bring my hoodie for warmth and to
conceal my hair. The evening air was damn chilly, especially with
half my boobs hanging out. I pulled on a baggy sweatshirt from my
backpack and made my cautious way out into the lights.

An all-night
convenience store beckoned, and I approached its bright lights
cautiously. Sure enough, it had an ATM. I hesitated, then shrugged.
Whatever. As soon as Kane realized I’d bolted he’d check my bank
accounts, but this withdrawal would only tell him what he already
knew: I’d run from Dante’s and withdrawn as much cash as the ATM
would allow. He wouldn’t know where I’d gone from here.

Cash safely stowed in
my wallet, I dove back into the safe darkness of the alleys. I was
exhausted, but I had to get clear of the city before the alarm was
raised. I’d spend the rest of my life locked down if Kane caught me
now.

The last of the
alcohol burned out of my system while I hiked along, and I realized
I hadn’t planned this well at all. Hell, never mind ‘well’. I
hadn’t planned it, period.

I didn’t know any of
the local transit routes, and I doubted if they ran in the middle
of the night anyway. I briefly considered getting to the bus
station and taking a Greyhound out of town, but they required ID,
and that would give away my destination.

“Dammit!” I leaned
against somebody’s back fence, trying to pull my thoughts together.
How the hell was I going to get from here to Victoria, BC without
leaving a trail? I couldn’t take any kind of public transportation.
I had no idea how to steal a car, and that would attract too much
attention anyway. Hitchhiking was untraceable, but it was too
dangerous for a woman alone.

I straightened slowly,
triumph sending a slow grin to my face. Hitchhiking might be
dangerous for a woman alone, but I wasn’t alone. I had the best
companion a girl could want.

My grin widened as I
reached for my Glock in its ankle holster. Hitchhiking wasn’t going
to be dangerous for me at all.

I hauled my waist
holster out of the backpack and transferred the Glock to it,
arranging my sweatshirt over top. Ready to roll.

My smile faded when I
realized I still needed to get to the TransCanada Highway, and I
had no idea how to do that at three o’clock in the morning. A taxi
would be easiest for me, but I was afraid to try. I knew exactly
how dedicated a hunter Kane was. Sooner or later, he’d check the
taxi companies. If it was sooner, I’d be out of luck.

I wandered aimlessly
down the alley, racking my brain. At last I drifted to a halt,
struck by an idea. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work. I headed
down the alley with renewed purpose, peeking into each back yard as
I went.

Fortunately, October
had been unseasonably warm. I had only covered a couple of blocks
before I found what I was searching for: a bicycle leaning against
a back deck.

I hovered outside the
yard, my heart in my mouth. I’d never stolen anything in my life.
What if I got caught? I peered around the dark yard, searching for
signs of a dog and making sure the bike wasn’t chained up. With a
last glance around the alley, I let myself quietly in the back
gate, hands shaking.