The Wedding Trap (Second Service #1)(25)
Author: Adrienne Bell

"That he is." Beth gave a pained smile. "Hey, where’s Jordan? I haven’t seen him all night."

Isobel’s eyes lit up. "Jordan! I should go find him."

"You should." Beth watched as Isobel disappeared into the crowd.

She looked at Alex. His expression was unreadable. "She’s got nothing to do with this," she said.

Alex didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. At that moment his eyes flashed with the same hardness that she had seen in the alley. Beth looked toward the door of the lounge just in time to see Salvatore Munoz walk through.

He didn’t look happy.

Chapter 8

Alex’s arm tensed around her. Beth wasn’t sure if it was meant to be reassuring or if he was just trying to keep her upright. Either way, it worked. She didn’t crumble to the floor. She didn’t bolt for the nearest exit sign. Her pants even stayed dry.

"Everything is all right," Alex whispered in her ear.

Like hell it was. In fact, this was the furthest from all right that she could imagine. She was in a room with a man who wanted to kill her. Not metaphorically. Not socially. But actually, physically, no-pulse, corpse-on-a-slab dead.

But all that she could manage to say to Alex was, "Really?"

"Everything is going to be all right,” he amended. “There are three other agents besides me in this room right now. Two in the lobby and two at the back exit. No one is going to let anything happen to you. Do you understand?"

Beth nodded slowly. She wondered if he was lying, but why would he? So far as she knew, everything he’d told her had been truth.

But it didn’t matter whether he told the truth. What mattered was the effect of his words. Her heartbeat slowed to the rate of a hummingbird’s, and some of the feeling came back to her toes.

She wished that they’d never left the room. That this was all some big joke. That it really was as simple as him being a gigolo.

"So sip your champagne, and smile some more. Our only hope now is to keep him guessing."

Beth tried to smile. She really did. But it seemed like her whole body was shaking. Salvatore had found her and was openly staring at her. He wanted her dead, plain and simple.

She tried to take another sip of her champagne, but her hand shook so hard that little droplets flew, misting the front of her dress.

She wasn’t doing a very good job of playing it cool. She was no good under pressure. She was going to blow this whole thing. They would find her body floating in the bay tomorrow morning.

Oh, God.

Alex wrapped his fingers around her wrist. They felt warm and strong. "Just look at me.”

He propped a shoulder against the wall, and she mirrored his pose.

"Don’t worry about out there," he said. His voice was low and gravelly again. She wanted to lean in and let the sound wrap around her. "Just be here with me."

Some of the shaking left her body.

He took the glass from her hand and put it on the table behind him. Then he lifted his fingers to her face, stroking down the curve of her cheek, and for a brief moment, her shaking turned to shivers, the kind that made her want to burrow deep inside his arms.

“He’s not coming over here, Beth. He’s staying on the other side of the room, just looking at us," he whispered, his sexy tone rumbling through her like a physical force, but the words weren’t ones that she was hoping to hear.

Well…they were. There was no way in hell that she wanted Salvatore Munoz coming toward her. Still, the topic was far from sexy.

"Now smile at me, Beth. Just a little. Like I just told you that I wish I could get you away from all of these people.”

The heat of a blush began to burn her cheeks. She looked down at the floor to try to hide the smile that pulled at her lips.

"That’s good," he said. "Now say something back to me. It doesn’t matter what. Just act like you’re a little nervous about it."

She looked up from the floor and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I don’t know what to say."

"That will work just fine." He inched closer, and Beth felt her blood start to heat. His lips were just inches away. His eyes locked with hers. He wrapped his arm around the curve of her waist and drew her closer.

For a second, all other thoughts were blocked out. Who the hell cared if people thought she was a slut, or if foreign agents were trying to murder her? Alex Tanner, the hottest guy she’d ever laid eyes on, was looking at her like she was on the dessert menu.

"Now, look at me like I just told you that I want to get you alone. And that once I’ve gotten you there, I’m going kiss you, and I’m not going to stop until I’ve tasted every part of you."

Her breath hitched. She nervously licked her lips.

"That I’m going to take my time stripping off your clothes, so that I can savor every inch of your skin."

She tilted her head closer. His breath washed over her cheek, warm and soft.

"That I’m going to spend the whole night doing things to your body that you never even knew were possible."

She closed the gap between them, crushing her lips against his. He tightened his hold around her waist, his tongue teasing her bottom lip, coaxing her mouth open. She drank him in. The hypnotic swirl of his tongue against hers was too much. Her blood began to heat. Want took over. Damn, she was nearly drunk on it.

Alex broke the kiss suddenly, and glanced across the room. He grasped her wrist and started pulling her toward a door marked exit. Heaven help her, Beth didn’t care anymore what people whispered tomorrow as long as she got to taste even a sliver of what Alex was promising.

He opened the side exit door and slid them through. The door led into a service hallway. A man in a suit talked on a cell phone just outside.

Alex’s demeanor changed instantly. All of the languid passion that had drawn her in was gone in a heartbeat. He was all business.

"Munoz has arrived," he said to the stranger.

The other man nodded.

Embarrassment flooded her. Of course. It was an act.

Alex’s business was keeping her safe, and he’d gotten her away from Salvatore without anyone knowing the real reason why they’d fled. She should be grateful. He’d coaxed her into putting on one hell of a convincing show. Every person in that room believed that she was running off to a night of hedonistic debauchery, not fleeing for her life. The wedding guests had bought it. Salvatore Munoz had bought it. Hell, even she had bought it.

Alex didn’t look back as he pulled her down the hall, walking so fast that Beth struggled to keep up in her heels. She didn’t trust herself to talk. She was still recovering from that blistering kiss.

All that she could think about on their way back to the room was that if that was the way the man kissed when he was acting, what was it like to be the focus of his passion for real?