want to talk about?”
“You, Kelly. And Shereen Alsop.”
Even though she’d expected this, at least somewhat, she flinched—but didn’t stop walking.
“Who’s that?” she asked. Part of her training when provided with a new identity was to admit nothing, so she wasn’t about to tell Alan she recognized that name. Her real name.
“That’s good,” he said. “You’re at least complying with some of the instructions you were given. But you shouldn’t have come here. That was completely against what you were told.”
“Oh, really?” She kept her tone light. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The hand holding hers moved enough to swing her around, and suddenly Alan was looking down at her. Despite the lack of streetlight, Kelly could still see the anger on her companion’s face.
“I... I...” Before she could figure out how to finish, his mouth came down on hers.
His kiss was startlingly sexy, and so was the way his body soon molded to hers.
Get away from him! something inside her screamed. They might be in public, where they could be observed, but nobody was near them now. She could be in danger.
And yet she didn’t believe that. She threw herself even more into the amazing kiss.
When he finally pulled away, he said perhaps the last thing she’d have expected from him then. “Go home, Kelly. To your real home now, the one you were given.”
She hesitated before answering. “I understand what you’re saying and why.” She ignored the absurd hurt she felt over him kissing her like that, then tossing her away as if it had meant nothing to him.
It should have meant nothing to her, too—just a means for them to continue pretending to stay in character here.
“Then—” Alan said.
But Kelly continued, her voice very soft and trembling. “I gather you’re from the ID Division.” She looked up into his face once more and saw him give a brief, curt nod. “And you clearly know who I am. You must know why I ran away in the first place.”
Another nod.
“I came back here because I learned that my nephew, Eli—you’ve met him—he’s in danger here, being abused by his father.”
“If you’re familiar with how the ID Division works, you know that I’m here to find the hard evidence against Stan that you weren’t able to gather. I’ll work on protecting Eli, too. But you need to leave.”
“Not until I’m certain that Eli’s okay.” No matter who Alan was and what discipline he might be able to get the ID Division to rain down on her, she had to do this.
She had to save her beloved nephew, notwithstanding any consequences to herself.
“That’s your final answer?” he demanded, still staring down at her.
“It has to be. I—”
He leaned down and stopped what she was going to say with another hot, incredibly wonderful kiss. This was ridiculous. This was wonderful.
Did he really think she’d start obeying him because she was turned on by him?
“Here’s what we’re going to do, then,” he said, holding her close and whispering into her ear. “We’re going to work together to find that evidence and bring Stan down. But if you’re here, you’re going to have to listen to me so I can both train you and protect you. Got it?”
He punctuated it with another kiss that took her breath away.
On one level, she wanted to shout “No!” and run away.
But on another level, she realized that two of them working directly together might be more effective than either of them working alone.
“Got it,” she said and reached up to pull his head down to hers for another kiss.
* * *
This was merely adding to their cover, Alan assured himself as he finally pulled his head slowly back, away from Kelly’s mouth. Her kiss. And then he took a step backward, too, to distance his body from her soft, enticing curves.
He had to think. To make himself remember a similar situation between a CIU operative and the person the ID Division was protecting that had worked out, even though the result of that case would be quite different from this one.
“As enjoyable as this is,” he said, “and as helpful as it may be to ensure that anyone paying attention to us believes we’re together now and thinks they know why, it isn’t helping us accomplish what we need to.”
“You’re right.” Kelly sounded breathless, but as he regarded her in the low light between street lamps, he saw that her smile was wry. “I agree that, since I’m staying here, we need to work together. Your main goal is to get proof against Stan, and I’m all for that. But my real focus now is to make sure Eli’s okay, then I’ll go after Stan.”
“I get that.” He reached out for her hand once more and started walking slowly down the wide sidewalk again, away from the bar since a few patrons had just come out. “And you’re right. Young Eli needs a guardian angel.”
She stopped, pulled herself in front of him. Her lovely face twisted into an expression of concern and fear. “What do you mean?”
Maybe he shouldn’t reveal this to her here. Maybe he shouldn’t reveal it to her anywhere.
But she had a right to know.
“There’s actually a good reason for you to be here,” he said in a tone that was more compassionate than the one he usually used. “Let’s walk some more and I’ll explain.”
“No,” she said. “Explain now.”
He’d suspected it wouldn’t be easy to work with this woman. For one thing, he had been affiliated with the military, and now government agencies, long enough to believe that orders were orders, and disobeying them only brought trouble. You could discuss them, maybe, depending on the circumstances and factors like time, in case there were better alternatives or ways to comply. But disobey them completely—never.
And here he was, about to risk his career to work with a woman who disobeyed a direct order that she’d had to expressly agree to in order to get the benefits and protections offered to her by the ID Division.
Yet as much as he disliked the concept, he could understand, under these circumstances, why she did it.
She needed to know that, and why he was actually considering making an exception in her case.
“This isn’t the right time or place to get into detail,” he said. “If necessary, I’ll do so later, when we’re truly in private and can talk.”
“What?” she demanded, but at least she continued walking with him.
“Well...since
