“That’s not it either ,” I huffed. “Come on, Ted, you’re a smart guy…”
He looked equal parts flattered and pissed off. Then his expression brightened. “Zimbabwe? But seriously, who fucking cares, Michelle? I thought we were going to fuck, but if you’re just going to talk the whole time—”
Goddamn it, I really didn’t want to go through with that. But there were usually four words on voice access scanners, and I had to keep Edward interested and distracted until Leon could clone his computer.
Leon confirmed the voice match in my earpiece as I bit my lower lip and rubbed Edward’s dick through his pants. “I’m just shy, Ted. I’ve never cheated on my husband before…”
Edward groaned, pushing his hips into my hand and grinding a little. “That’s okay, baby. I won’t tell him if you don’t. You never need to see me again. Let’s just have a good time.”
Gross. Somehow, I got the feeling Edward Gates was the kind of guy who didn’t much care whether his bed partner was having a good time or not, so long as he shot his own load off.
“Fucking hell,” Leon muttered in my ear. “Let’s get on with this. Next word is purple .”
Oh, easy. Thank fuck for that.
“Ted,” I moaned, gripping his erection harder through his pants. “What color underwear do you think I’m wearing?”
He gasped as I flicked his tip with my thumb. “Um, who cares? I just want them around your ankles, Michelle. Show me your pussy.”
I gave a small giggle. “No, I want you to guess… but I’ll give you a hint, okay? It starts with p .” I winked like it was a fucking great game.
He just looked annoyed. “Purple?”
I beamed. “Yes!”
He smirked back. “Now take them off.”
Acting shy, I ducked my head and took my time as I reached under my dress to slide my panties down. It was dark enough in the courtyard that he’d never notice they were blue.
“Pineapple,” Leon said in my ear.
Edward eagerly pushed my dress up, his face descending back down to kiss me again, but I halted him with my finger over his lips.
“Wait,” I exclaimed. “We need a safe word.”
“A safe word?” he replied, perplexed. “Baby, I don’t think that’s necessary. This is just a quick—”
“Pineapple,” I announced, nodding firmly. “That’s the word, okay?”
He scowled. “Sure, whatever.” Shaking his head, he unbuckled his pants and pushed them down just far enough to pull out his underwhelming dick. From his jacket pocket, he produced a condom. At least he was wrapping his tool when he fucked drunk, depressed married women in random hotel lobbies.
“Pineapple,” I repeated. “Okay?”
Ted wasn’t even listening, busy rolling his condom on. For fuck’s sake.
“Five seconds, DeLuna. Hurry up,” Leon snapped.
“You’ve gotta say it, Ted, so I know we’re on the same page.” I tugged my dress back down to give him some incentive.
His eyes snapped back up to me with a flash of anger, like he wanted to hurt me.
“Fine,” he growled. “Pineapple. Happy? Now, stop being such a fucking cock tease.”
“I’m in,” Leon confirmed. “You can probably kill him now if you want.”
I laughed out loud before I could stop myself, and Edward’s eyes narrowed.
“You think it’s funny ?” he hissed, thinking I was laughing at him calling me a tease. Or maybe he thought I was laughing at his four-inch cock? I bet that’d happened before.
“Um, no…” I searched for an escape. Leon was already cloning Edward’s laptop, there was no need for me to actually screw this creep. Which was new for me, because a month ago I would have just seen it through to make my ploy that much more believable.
I couldn’t do it, though. Not with Leon in my ear, listening to everything and probably tapped into security cameras for a visual.
“Actually, this was a bad idea,” I announced, pushing him away just enough to lower my dress. I bent to swipe my panties from the ground, and instantly knew I’d misread Mr. Edward Gates.
I saw the backhand coming from a mile away and could have more than easily avoided it. But not without jeopardizing my Michelle Smith identity. If Edward suspected he’d been played, all those files on his laptop would be wiped. Permanently. And our objective was to secure certain information intact . So I braced myself and took the hit when it landed, letting the force knock me to the ground.
I cried out like I was shocked and scared, scrambling away from Edward as he leaned over me. The raw, potent desire to snap his neck with my hands was almost overwhelming, but I was a goddamn professional. Until we had the data we came for, I couldn’t break character. Michelle Smith was a victim, and tonight would be no different.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t make it too easy for him. So I fought back like a wet kitten, scuttling away on hands and knees until he jerked me back with a handful of my hair. Motherfucker, that felt entirely different when Leon had pulled my hair.
“Ted, stop!” I protested. “My husband—”
With shockingly perfect timing, Edward Gates was wrenched off me. Leon’s green eyes flashed with pure murder behind his glasses as he slammed Ted into the wall that we’d just been kissing against.
“Hey man, whoa, I wasn’t—” Ted’s bullshit cut off short when Leon’s fist cracked across his face, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.
Instead, I scrambled to my feet and rushed forward to grab Leon’s arm before the next punch landed. “Toby, baby,” I whined in a voice that annoyed me . “Baby, leave it, he’s not worth the assault charges. You only just got off the last manslaughter case.”
That was only slightly embellished from our cover stories. Tobias Smith had been charged with assault and battery two years ago after a drunken bar fight with a business competitor.
“Toby, please,” I whimpered.
Leon flashed me a look that was so intense and possessive I damn near believed him myself. I clearly hadn’t given my hacker partner enough credit in the undercover arts.
“Fine,” he snarled, giving Ted another shove before releasing his shirt. “You so much as look at my wife again, and I’ll slit your throat. You hear me?”
Ted gave a pained laugh. “Yeah, I hear you.”
Leon grabbed my arm in a bruising grip and started dragging me out of the courtyard, but Edward just had to have the last jab.
“Your wife’s a fucking whore, though. Just so you know, she’s the one who came onto me. I bet she’s been spreading those legs for men all over town while you’re on those conference calls.”
Leon paused, his back tight with tension. He shot me a glance like he was asking if we could kill Edward. Or that’s how I read it, anyway, so I gave a small shake of my head. We needed him alive and well until our mission was cleared as a success.
“Let’s go,” I said in a firm voice.
He hesitated only a second longer, then continued out of the courtyard with his hand still wrapped around my wrist like an iron manacle. I definitely shouldn’t have liked it as much as I did.