topped with clay-colored tiles, mirrors framed in tooled leather.
He turned his attention back to his guests. They weren’t discussing the mission at this point. Someone had made a reference to his wife. Was it Aaron Black? Sheikh Ben Rassad? Dr. Justin Webb? It wasn’t Matthew Walker because Matt wasn’t married.
No, but he was engaged. Happily engaged.
Hell, Dakota thought. What was wrong with him? The other men in the room were his friends, his peers. He had no right to envy them. They were all members of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, the most exclusive gentlemen’s club in the state. They were all wealthy—filthy rich, some might say. And they were all either happily married or happily engaged.
All except himself.
Dakota’s estranged wife was due to arrive at his ranch any minute. Kathy had left three years before, a choice she hadn’t even bothered to explain. Dakota had come home from an assignment to find her gone—her side of the closet empty, the scented lotions she favored no longer lined up on the bathroom counter. Two years of marriage shot to hell, and Dakota didn’t know why. He had loved his wife, was certain she had loved him, too. Yet she’d walked out on him, saddling him with an emotional wound festering deep in his gut.
A wound that had become exceptionally active today. The top-secret mission the Cattleman’s Club’s members had come to discuss involved Kathy. She was the Foreign Service consular being teamed with Dakota. Together they would fly to Asterland, a small European country on the brink of a revolution.
The doorbell rang. Dakota excused himself from the other men and strode toward the entryway. Checking his watch, he tightened his jaw. Thirteen hundred hours. She was right on time.
Kathy stood on the other side of the door, slim and elegant, her thick, hard-to-hold hair coiled in a neat chignon. She wore a beige pantsuit and an emerald blouse that intensified the color of her eyes. Cat’s eyes, he’d always called them. Exotic eyes and fire-tinted hair, features that belied Kathy’s proper nature.
Neither spoke. Instead their gazes locked, and they stared at each other for what seemed like the longest moment of Dakota’s life.
“It’s good to see you,” she said finally, extending her hand.
Polite pleasantries, he thought. What else could he do? This was business, and Dakota viewed his work as the number-one priority in his life. He wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of an assignment, not even the pain shooting from his gut to his heart.
“It’s good to see you, too,” he responded, clasping her hand as though her touch wouldn’t affect him. It did, of course. Her hand felt small and feminine, her skin soft and warm against his own.
He invited her in, cursing the memories threatening to surface. Her fragrance drifted to his nostrils like fresh strawberries smothered in cream. Kathy preferred scented lotions to heavy perfumes, aromas that never failed to make Dakota hungry.
Suddenly he fought the temptation to uncoil her hair, let it fall across her shoulders. He hadn’t forgotten the woman he loved, hadn’t forgotten how she looked soaking in the tub, her fiery tendrils slipping free from the pins that secured them, her long, sleek body creamy and smooth.
How many times had he watched her slide a washcloth down her arms and over her breasts? And how many times had he carried her, soaking wet, to their bed?
“Dakota? Are the others here?”
Kathy’s question jarred him back to reality. Damn it. He stood in the tiled entryway, his hormones battling for control. How in the hell had he let that happen?
“Yes, they’re here.” He escorted his estranged wife to the living room, hating himself for the moment of weakness.
Like the Texas gentlemen they were, the other men rose as Kathy entered the room. Aaron Black came forward to hug her. How easily Kathy embraced Aaron, Dakota thought, wondering why a fist of rivalry gripped him hard and quick. Not only was Aaron blissfully married with a baby on the way, he was also a good friend, the American diplomat who had introduced Dakota to Kathy nearly six years before.
Kathy shook hands with the others, and soon they settled into their seats.
As Kathy crossed her legs, Dakota poured her a ginger ale from the wet bar. He didn’t stop to ask her preference. He knew what Kathy’s favorite soft drink was, and he still stocked the bar with it.
She thanked him quietly, the ice in her glass crackling. He poured himself a cola, opting to keep his hands busy. The urge to loosen her hair had returned.
How different they were, he thought, how opposite. Kathy was renowned for her grace and diplomacy, whereas Dakota was as rough-hewn as his taste in furniture, often solving matters with force.
Lifting his cola from the bar, Dakota took a swig, wondering if he should have spiked it with rum—something, anything to take the edge off. How could a woman skilled in conversation walk out on her husband without the slightest explanation? How could she ignore what they had meant to each other? The love? The passion?
Dakota didn’t need to ask Kathy where she had been for the past three years. He already knew. She had gone to Washington, D.C., to serve in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, leasing a spacious apartment in an exclusive suburb and furnishing it with antiques. Prior to that, she had been on an extended leave of absence, debating whether to end her career. For Kathy, living abroad in the Foreign Service had become stressful. She wanted to remain in Texas. Or so she’d said.
Regardless, locating her in Washington had been easy. Keeping his distance had been the tough part. But Dakota figured Kathy didn’t want to be confronted, didn’t want him standing on her doorstep, demanding to know why she had left. So consequently, Dakota’s pride—his hard-baked masculine ego—had managed to keep him at bay.
Sheikh Rassad drew Kathy into the meeting, pulling Dakota in as well.
“Are you familiar with the events leading up to this mission?” Ben asked her. “Are there any details that are not clear?”
“Aaron briefed me,” she responded. “I know the Lone Star jewels were stolen. And I’m also aware that they’ve been recovered.” She sat with her usual graceful posture, giving the sheikh her undivided attention. “Albert Payune, the Grand Minister of Asterland, masterminded the robbery, intending to use the jewels to fund a revolution. Which is where Dakota and I come in. It’s our job to make sure that revolution doesn’t happen.”
The sheikh leaned forward. “Aaron informed us that you are well acquainted with the king and queen.”
“That’s true. I’m very fond of the royal family, and I don’t intend to see them lose their country.” She placed her glass on a coaster, sending the sheikh a reassuring smile. “I’ve already made arrangements for Dakota to accompany me to Asterland for the queen’s birthday ball. And since he will be visiting as my guest, his presence won’t arouse suspicion.”
Dakota listened, although he had already been briefed by Aaron. The plan had been carefully orchestrated. Dakota’s initial arrival in Asterland must appear to be of a personal nature. And what could be more personal than traveling with his wife? They wouldn’t need to fake their cover, at least not on paper. They would be playing themselves.
Almost.
They would have to pretend to be in
