The Cinderella Mission (Family Secrets #1)(23)
Author: Catherine Mann

The future.

Ethan hadn’t thought beyond finishing a mission in years and yet, he found himself imagining how much Kelly would enjoy outings on Jake’s yacht. Or how she and Samantha would discuss European politics and brush up on foreign languages together.

The future. With Kelly in it outside their roles at ARIES.

As much as an operative tried to distance himself from his cover, the lines blurred. He’d been around long enough to accept that. Except right now the lines seemed a hell of a lot more than fuzzy.

For the first time in over ten adrenaline-packed years with the CIA, Ethan Williams was in serious trouble.

“Thank you for going to the trouble to come over.” Kelly walked Ethan’s guests toward the sunroom door, tension twisting within her until she felt ready to snap.

She’d made it through with no social gaffes, rounding out their dinner party with after-meal drinks by the pool. So why the unrelenting tension?

Because that kiss had knocked her off-kilter for the whole evening. The heat of his lips, his breath, his words lingered.

Why did Ethan stir her when both of these other men left her cold? All three tall, dark and studly men could have stood in front of a camera—Matt for a GQ cover spread, Jake for a cowboy calendar pin-up, and Ethan for Biker’s Monthly.

Kelly definitely favored the Harley.

Matt helped Samantha into her beige suede coat and winked over her shoulder at Kelly. “I wouldn’t have missed this.”

Jake’s pampered fiancée Tara smiled her farewell. Kelly suspected if they’d met without the endorsement of Ethan’s arm and hefty bank account, the woman wouldn’t have considered Kelly any more important than Aunt Eugenie’s brass bull doorstopper.

Jake clasped her hand. “Nice to meet you. Have Ethan fly you out to the ranch for the weekend sometime soon.”

Matt thumped Jake’s back. “Yeah, looks like these two may beat you to the altar if you change the date again.”

Tara’s smile turned brittle. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

Apparently Matt’s White House position bought him courtesy points since she let him off the hook with only one comeback.

After the couples left, Kelly sagged onto a poolside lounger. She stretched out, wiggling her toes inside her shoes and staring up at the stars.

Their kiss had left her too restless to call it a night. They would have to debrief the evening anyway. She would just keep a safe distance on her lounger.

Ethan dimmed the overhead lights until only the moonlight above and lamps inside the pool illuminated the glass room. He cruised to a stop beside her. “What did you think of them?”

He snagged a deck chair and flipped it to face her before he dropped to sit. Close. Too close.

So much for distance.

His elbows rested on his knees, a drink clasped in his hand. Muscled forearms flexed, a dusting of dark hair along tanned skin showing beneath his rolled and cuffed shirt.

The heater purred to life in the already too-warm room.

“I liked Samantha.” Air swirled around her, saturated with the scent of chlorine and Ethan’s musky soap. “She had some fascinating insights on the current political unrest on the Delmonico-Rebelian border. Delmonico should kiss her feet in gratitude if she gets that economic treaty hammered out with the US.”

Ethan tapped her chair with the toe of his wingtip shoe. “What were the two of you saying about us when you swapped languages?”

“Nothing much.” Except for Samantha’s friendly warning about Ethan’s commitment-shy ways and a confusing reference to a woman named Celia. Somehow the mere mention of that name carried more weight than a pack of Brittanys.

“And what do you think of the others?”

She turned her head to look at him, to enjoy the play of the starlight along his coal-black hair. “Jake’s a good guy. I’d trust him.”

“You’re right on with that. Solid intuition will serve you well in the field.” He rolled his glass between both broad palms. “What about Tara? You didn’t seem to say much to her.”

“I’ve learned that quiet can be good, too.” She toyed with the edge of her ponytail. “I discover more about people that way. You’d be surprised what I pick up around the agency because people don’t notice me.”

“Kelly—”

She didn’t want to hear his protest. “Or if they do notice me, they’re so convinced I must want detailed descriptions of their exciting lives since mine must be so boring.” Kelly smiled. “Listening to Tara go on, I got such a kick out of knowing that ‘astute’ corporate attorney didn’t have any clue who she was talking to.”

“You’re ten times the woman she is.”

“Thanks.” The draw of the admiration glimmering in his eyes proved as heady as his touch.

“I apologize for any awkwardness, all the same.”

“It’s not your fault she and I didn’t have much in common to discuss. Makes me glad you and I aren’t really a couple so I don’t have to put up with her for the rest of my life.”

Their eyes met, held, heated, until his gaze dropped somewhere around her ponytail dangling over the side of the lounger.

Ethan rattled the ice in his glass and knocked back the last swallow. “It took a determined woman to rope Jake.”

“Some don’t fall easy, I guess.”

“Guess not.” He scooped a melting ice cube from his glass and pitched it in the pool. “What about Matt?”

“He says you cheat at poker.”

“He’s just pissed because I beat him last time.” Ethan angled his head to the side. “So what did you think of him?” he asked again.

Kelly smiled at the memories of Matt ribbing Ethan throughout the night. “He’s fun.”

Ethan’s face blanked.

What? Did Ethan actually think she was stupid enough to chase after the guy, even if she was attracted to Matt, which she wasn’t. “You can quit the jealous boyfriend act since no one’s around. Mighty dog-in-the-manger of you anyhow since you only want me for the job.”

“Who says I don’t want you?” He lifted a strand of her hair and caressed it between two fingers.

Kelly held herself still, willing away the shiver of awareness at his touch.

He twisted the lock of hair around two fingers. “That doesn’t mean it’s right. Knowing I’m the wrong kind of man for you won’t turn off the attraction. Men’s minds and, uh, libidos aren’t necessarily in synch with each other.”