The Cinderella Mission (Family Secrets #1)(44)
Author: Catherine Mann

Her jaw set with the same determination of years ago when she’d charged into his school to confront the headmaster for daring to use corporal punishment on her nephew. Ethan had hung up his tie for good that day.

Time to take another approach with her. No way would he win against that steely will if she was set on protecting him. “Okay, I understand why you felt the need to keep it secret then. You didn’t know who to trust. You were alone and I was a still a child. But I’m an adult now. You don’t need to protect me anymore. Whatever you know has to come out.”

Her shoulders drooped another inch. She shook her head. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Even people on the inside can’t be trusted.”

She stepped away, swiped her bags off the hood and bolted into the house, pimp fur coat sailing behind her.

Ethan pressed his thumb between his eyes against the throbbing pressure. She couldn’t mean Samuel Hatch? Ethan would trust the man with his life. Or more important, with Kelly’s. But then he never would have suspected his aunt had been some Mata Hari in her day.

Or that his parents had been assassinated.

More memories long locked away blasted through his defenses in Technicolor. Of the day his parents died. The shouts. The smell of snow, gunpowder—and blood. The unleashed memories howled through his brain.

And in the middle of the hurricane, he saw one constant. One beacon of peace to reach for.

Kelly.

Kelly stretched her legs in front of her, reached, swayed, continued the constant toning motion. Tried to recapture the soothing effects of the greenhouse atmosphere. Tried inhaling the lush, transporting scents of gardenia and orchids.

With no success.

The evening of captivating stories about Ethan had taken their toll. Once clear of the garage and Eugenie Williams, Kelly had sprinted to her room for her workout clothes and a blanket. And, please Lord, some peace.

She tweaked the volume on her Walkman, but the increased sound of rushing waves did little to drown the distractions humming in her brain. Her hand gravitated to the slim chain around her neck that now held the aquamarine Ethan had bought at the mine. Sentimental. Silly. But a beautiful reminder of an incredible man. Forty-eight hours from now, she would be in the ballroom. Seventy-two hours and she would be through working with him.

Don’t think about Ethan as a vulnerable, enchanting child.

Back to the ball. She gave up trying to escape into her exercise routine, instead closing her eyes and reviewing the upcoming mission. Their meetings with security liaisons, with the Marines and Secret Service. Updates with Carla Juarez and Robert Davidson, who would monitor surveillance from the ARIES war room. And of course Aunt Eugenie’s requisite block of time to work her Cinderella miracle.

What would Ethan think of her?

Kelly hated the vain thought, even while a part of her thrilled at knocking the man off balance, making him regret what he’d missed. She skimmed her hands along her arms to dispel the chill of loss raising goose bumps along her skin.

Come hell or high water, she wouldn’t ask him again. She might be on a quest to assert herself, but with that came a certain sense of her own worth. She deserved to be appreciated for herself. If Ethan wanted her, he would have to come begging.

What would it be like to have his hands on her and know he wouldn’t stop? Or to have his eyes caress her from across the room, no-holds-barred, no reservations? Just total and complete promise?

Her skin heated as if his gaze already skimmed her every curve, the sensation so real she couldn’t help but open her eyes to find—

Him. Ethan.

Standing just inside the closed doorway, he watched her, his gaze so hot he must have negated any blast of air from outside that might have alerted her. She’d locked the greenhouse door and engaged the security system Ethan had installed. But of course he knew the code.

Even if he hadn’t, he was that good at his job. She might be honing her skills, but his years of experience and natural talent gave him an edge. A dangerous and oh-so sexy edge. This Ethan she recognized well, even if she didn’t know what had brought the shift back.

He jammed his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and leaned against the door. “Tell me to go.”

She might not be willing to ask him to stay, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him to leave.

Snowflakes glistened in his coal-black hair. “Like last time I came in here, tell me to get out. You had the right idea then.”

She stayed silent.

“You know this is wrong.”

Damn it, she was tired of his mixed signals and tempting half seductions. “Then go if that’s what you want.”

“I don’t,” he said, each word torn from him. “I don’t want to go. But I don’t always want what’s right. I’m a selfish son-of-a-bitch, and one of us needs to do the right thing. Being honorable and cautious isn’t my strong suit. You’re the smart one. Help me out.”

She was the smart one? Somehow she knew that wouldn’t stop her from making a reckless decision tonight.

“Kelly, I want you so damned bad I’m shaking here. Please.”

The final word rasped from him, and even though she knew he was begging her to make him go, she’d received her desired pleading. No, she wouldn’t ask him to stay. But she knew what to say to guarantee he wouldn’t leave.

Kelly draped her hands on her knees and met Ethan’s gaze dead-on. “It’s a dragon.”

“What?”

“My tattoo.” Her right hand trailed up her thigh until her fingers stroked a single finger in a swirl along her hip. “It’s a dragon.”

Chapter 12

Ethan couldn’t suck in air fast enough.

He also couldn’t make himself step away from the vision of Kelly lounging on a quilt, the aquamarine he’d given her swaying on a chain between br**sts he ached to cup. Her hair flowed around her shoulders, temptation radiating from her warm brown eyes.

A dragon.

This woman of so many contradictions had chosen to brand herself with a dragon. Ethan surrendered to the inevitable, his defenses already in the negative numbers tonight.

“Tell me more,” he demanded, shrugging out of his jacket.

Kelly arched her back in a languorous, feline stretch. “It’s not very large, about two inches, and the tail curves around my hip.” She scooped up her CD player and shoved to her feet, taking too damned long to dust off her bottom. “You said you had to know and now you do. Mystery solved. You’re free to walk out that door.”