License to Love (An Agent Ex Novel)

  “And just so you’re clear, betraying us, giving out our national defense secrets, is treason and punishable by death. The highest offices of government are aware of this operation.

  “If you have any doubts, any hesitation, now is the time to walk away, Rock Powers. After this, there’s no going back.”

  Rock took a deep breath. Espionage, that had to be an adrenaline rush, a new frontier for magic. And Lani. Damn his weak soul, he had to see her. Plus there was that little matter Nelson had mentioned about someone killing Rock within the week.

  “We’re in a bit of a time crunch,” Nelson said. “But if you need a day to think it over—”

  “Hobson’s choice, but I’m in.”

  Nelson extended his hand.

  Rock didn’t take it. “With one condition—I get my wife back. I get a chance to work things out with Lani.” Rock stared him in the eye.

  Nelson dropped his hand and studied Rock. “I can give you the opportunity to see her, the rest is up to you. No guarantees. The decision to remain your wife is ultimately Lani’s.”

  Rock nodded. “Fair enough. What do we do now? How does this work?”

  “We shake on it. I’ll get you the details later.” He grinned. “And so you know, we’ll pay you handsomely. This deal will be worth your while.”

  Rock didn’t give a damn about payment. He shook Nelson’s hand without hesitating when Nelson extended it.

  “When do I get to see Lani?” Rock’s heart raced as he asked the question.”

  “I’m going to have to train this impatience out of you.” Nelson shrugged and snapped his fingers. “My girl, reveal yourself.”

  Then, right before Rock’s eyes, a woman dressed in skintight black and carrying a pistol stepped out of the shadows from behind the Dumpster. She raised her gaze to look him in the eye.

  Rock’s heart caught in his throat. “Lani?”

  Even in the twilight, her beauty took his breath away. She’d played up her Hispanic side, so much so that she looked like he imagined a hot Havana night felt—balmy, lusty, sexy with heat.

  “Classic misdirection.” Nelson laughed. “She was there all along, watching my backside.”

  She may have had Nelson’s back, but knowing she was going to see Rock, she’d dressed for him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lani stared at Rock, trying desperately not to let her emotions run away with her as she watched surprise, relief, desire, and hurt light his eyes in rapid succession. Rock still turned her insides to mush and vaporized her common sense. She’d hoped she’d gotten past that. Apparently not.

  He grabbed her and pulled her into him, tipping her face up for a kiss before she could utter any of the ridiculous canned phrases she’d rehearsed as her opening lines. How did she apologize for disappearing on her husband and leaving him to dangle in the mist of mystery and suspicion for two years? How did she keep her most important secret from him and not let her heart rule her head again while she was around him? And yet encourage him to help her on a mission fraught with intrigue, double-crossing, and secrets of his magic revealed? Rock might not realize it yet, but their reunion was doomed to be short-lived.

  Emmett had used the worst kind of deception to entice Rock into this mission—false hope. Damn him.

  Lani simply stared into Rock’s eyes, willing him to forgive her for what she’d done and what she was about to do to him.

  “Lani,” he whispered and crushed her against him so tightly she felt the hard contours of his body as her body reacted to his.

  He stared back at her with his heart in his eyes, almost daring her to crush it again. And then he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her with so much intensity, he took her breath away.

  He tasted the same—like Rock, the man she’d loved. The man who’d tricked her into marriage and nearly ruined her career.

  Despite all that, she kissed him back. At least, she was almost sure she did. As his tongue probed her mouth, she lost her senses. Would she behave so civilly if she’d been in his position? More likely she’d spit on him and call him names. Shove him away. Demand answers.

  She hoped he didn’t make the same realization and suddenly bite her tongue. As it was, he was bruising her lips. And she had no intention of stopping him.

  She wondered how long it would take for the shock and joy to wear off and the accusations and questions to start flying.

  Emmett cleared his throat, and not subtly. If throat clearings can have tones, his was reprimanding and hinted that they should get a room. Lani wasn’t getting a room with Rock. Not anytime soon. Not ever, if she could help it. Emmett had duped Rock into believing this was going to be a happily ever after type of reunion rather than just business.

  “It isn’t wise to lurk in dark alleys,” Emmett said. “The walls have eyes.”

  Breathless, Lani pulled out of Rock’s kiss, rather too reluctantly for her own good. Her heart wasn’t behaving the way she’d trained it to, traitorous thing.

  Down the alley a tomcat screeched and hissed. Lani nearly jumped as she cocked her ear, listening for what had provoked the cat.

  She turned and surveyed the area, feeling Rock’s gaze on her as she did.

  A second later, another cat hissed back and a fight broke out between the two toms. Boys! Lani relaxed.

  The commotion, and Rock’s nearness, dulled Lani’s senses. She almost didn’t hear the scuttle of a pebble as it bounced against the wall behind them.

  We aren’t alone.

  Almost didn’t catch the motion of an arm raising a gun in the shadows at the end of the alley in time. Fortunately, Emmett was on his game and totally undistracted by her charming husband’s animal magnetism. He shoved Rock to the ground just as a bullet ricocheted over his head. Lani dropped to the ground with them. She saw the flash of gunpowder from the barrel, pinpointing the shooter’s position.

  Another shot bounced off the wall to their right. It was only a matter of time before the gunman honed in on them. She didn’t dare to hope he was as bad a shot as movie gunmen.

  She glanced around wildly, looking for cover as she spun around on her knees and aimed her pistol at the shadow. Beside her, Emmett had his gun trained in the same direction as she did. Both of them waiting for a kill shot in the dark. On her other side, Rock was totally unarmed. Or so she thought.

  With a movement so small and subtle Lani almost didn’t notice it, Rock pulled something from his pocket and tossed it into the alley. An instant later, they were surrounded by thick, black smoke.

  Flash powder. Genius. Just the magic we need.

  “This way,” Emmett whispered. He grabbed Rock’s arm. Rock grabbed her.

  The three of them tumbled out of the alley under the cover of smoke into the neon light that overwhelmed the streetlight on the Strip. Emmett led them to a waiting car, unlocked it, and waved at them to get in.

  The trio jumped in. Emmett in the driver’s seat, Rock and Lani in the back. So not a good idea. She had a sudden hero worship thing going on with Rock. She was utterly amazed. He’d saved them. Good thing her boss was in the front seat or she might have let go and acted out her fantasies of showing Rock just how much she appreciated what he’d done.

  Then again, that would probably give him the wrong idea about things.

  Emmett peeled out, burning rubber and doing some high-speed evasive action down the Strip, dodging drunks as he went.

  “That was impressive back there,” Lani said to Rock. “Do you always carry flash powder on you?”

  “Never leave home without it.” He grinned and squeezed her hand, holding it in a grip so tight it was clear he didn’t intend to let go. “You never know when you’re going to need to make a stealthy escape. I learned that from Houdini and from confronting all the nutcases and greedy bastards who’ve been trying to collect the reward I’ve had out for your return.”

  His grin turned into a modest smile and he became self-deprecating. “And that was nothing. That was just standard flash powder. Me
dium noise, plenty of long-lasting smoke. You should see what I can do with Pyromaniac X14 sparkle flash powder. Now that’s impressive.”

  “Sparkles remind me of unicorns. Not exactly your thing, Rock. Doesn’t fit your image.” She was hoping to distract him from talking about her absence.

  He laughed heartily, squeezed her hand again, and looked her fully in the eye. “The way I use it, baby, no one’s going to think of unicorns. Trust me.”

  Unable to hide the tide of desire and longing rising inside her, Lani looked away. She couldn’t afford to unleash her heart and let Rock back in. Love made her weak and foolish. There were too many opportunities for this mission to stop RIOT from stealing top-secret technology from Area 51, or Dreamland as some called it, to fail as it was.

  Rock swiveled around and peered out the back window. “Think we lost them?”

  “If we hadn’t, there’d be gunplay.” She laid a hand on his arm. “You’d better turn around and keep your eyes on the road. Emmett’s driving tends to have a negative effect on even the stoutest stomach.”

  “I heard that,” Emmett said from the front seat. “I’ll have you know I’m certified to teach high-performance driving.”

  “You know what they say about teachers,” Lani shot back. “People who can’t do, teach.”

  “I’ll remember you said that when your next job performance review rolls around.”

  “Who was shooting at us in the alley?” Rock asked, interrupting their banter.

  “One of the enemies I warned you about earlier.” Emmett took a turn without signaling. First rule of evasive action—never signal your intentions.

  “Damn opportunists,” Emmett muttered. “He followed you from the casino, sneaky bastard. Probably thought taking you out in a dark alley and making it look like robbery was a good cover. And he’d get fifteen grand for his trouble. Not a bad payoff.” Emmett looked in the rearview mirror and scowled so Lani could see him.

  “How did we miss him, Lani? How?” He sounded pissed. Which wasn’t particularly unusual for him, but still made Lani cringe.

  She didn’t like being reprimanded by the boss in front of her husband, even if she planned on their marriage being short-lived. “No idea, Chief.”

  Rock put his arm around her to comfort her, nuzzling her ear with his nose. “Baby, I’ve missed you.”

  His words and his breath in her ear conjured that magical, involuntary ripple of desire inside her.

  “You’d better get an idea and soon.” Emmett glanced back at the road.

  She could always count on the boss to put a damper on passion.

  Rock grabbed Lani’s chin, and tipped her face to look into her eyes. “Why did you run from me? Was it because of a mission?” His voice broke with emotion and he looked too damn hopeful.

  “To avoid being killed by this same group of terrorists. Lani was a hero. She saved Hoover Dam.” Emmett was not helping matters.

  “They had their sights trained on her in the middle of your act. If she hadn’t popped out when she did, she’d be dead. Probably along with your career.

  “Death tends to kill an act. The audience likes to feel safe while they watch people get sawed in half. Go figure.”

  “He wasn’t sawing anyone in half,” Lani interjected.

  “Then again,” Emmett continued, ignoring her, “you may have gotten lucky and merely been known as that magician whose assistant was murdered on stage. Still, not real good for business or your image, whether it was your fault or not. ‘Other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln’ is not how you want the reviews to read.

  “The enemies of the U.S., the terrorists I mentioned in the alley, want you permanently silenced. You have information they want contained. Stick with us and we’ll protect you.”

  Rock frowned, obviously puzzled. “I have information?”

  “You’ll tell him later, won’t you, sweetheart,” Emmett said to Lani.

  Rock scowled at Emmett’s use of the endearment. Rock didn’t know there was no such thing as sexual harassment at the Agency, not in NCS, anyway. Hard to claim sexual harassment when sometimes your orders were to sleep with the enemy. Or your husband. This was just Emmett’s way of reminding her who was in charge.

  “Why do you think they were aiming at you?” Emmett said to Rock. “I’m a much more valuable target.” Emmett laughed. “Wipe that frown off your face, Lani, dear. You are, too.”

  Distracted by Rock and the “happy” banter of conversation, Lani hadn’t been paying attention to Emmett’s circuitous escape route to Rock’s mansion. Her heart sank when he turned another corner and she realized what street they were on. She thought she’d have more time to get control of her emotions and fortify herself against Rock’s charms.

  Emmett pulled into the driveway of Rock’s multimillion-dollar estate, paused at the security gate, punched in a code, put his thumb on the touch screen, and watched the gates swing open.

  “You should change your code more often,” he said, conversationally. “Don’t worry. We’ve taken care of it. Starting now, you’ll need to use a thumbprint to get in along with the password. I’ll give you the password when we get inside.”

  “Wait a minute!” Rock said. “If I’m the target of a group of terrorists, why are we going to my house? Wouldn’t I be safer someplace else? Like deep in hiding?”

  Emmett shrugged. “If you go into hiding that tips our hand that we’ve either turned you or someone’s clued you in to the real danger you’re in. And that runs contrary to our plan—”

  “Your plan?” Rock nearly came off the seat. “What about my plan to live for another fifty years or so?”

  Emmett ignored Rock’s outburst. “For now we don’t want RIOT to know we’re on to their latest plan. Don’t worry. You’re a valuable asset. We’ll protect you with our lives.”

  “You keep mentioning RIOT. Who are they?” Rock asked.

  “The Revolutionary International Organization of Terrorists, the boys who want you dead,” Emmett said. “For now, what could be safer, and more comfortable, than home sweet home?”

  Lani could think of about a million places. Almost anywhere, maybe even that stupid dark alley, was safer for her than here, with all the memories of the time she’d spent here with Rock. She’d never officially lived with him. She’d kept her own place. But for all intents and purposes, she’d moved in with him just weeks after starting in his show.

  “Seventy-seven percent of all accident-related injuries happen at home, Chief,” she said, just to tease him and show him she had spunk and wasn’t easily cowed. “And that doesn’t even count the nonaccident-related ones, the intentional ones, like those initiated by RIOT agents.”

  Emmett chuckled. “Not to worry. We’ve installed security measures.”

  “Did I give you permission for that?” Rock sounded mildly peeved, much less indignant than Lani expected.

  She kept wondering when the shock of seeing her again and the shooting in the alley would wear off and Rock would begin to question the validity of their relationship. When the time came, she wondered whether she’d actually have the strength to lie and tell him it had all been an act.

  “We’re NCS, since when do we ask permission?” Emmett pulled to a stop in the middle of the circular drive, in front of the main entrance.

  “What kind of security measures are we talking about?” Lani had her suspicions and discussing security diverted her thoughts from how good it felt to be sitting next to Rock again and how hard it would be to keep her distance. “Invisible walls, switch-activated nets, fireplace smoke screen?”

  Beside her, Rock smiled, probably at the apparent absurdity of her suggestions. What in the world did he think they were bringing him on board for? They were looking for magic.

  “Don’t laugh,” she said. “Emmett is capable of anything.”

  “I didn’t bother with the fireplace smoke screen,” Emmett said as he got out of the car. “As he so ably demonstrated, Rock seems perfectly
capable of creating a smoke screen on his own.”

  Lani rolled her eyes as Rock stepped out of the car, pulling her along with him. Apparently afraid she’d vanish into thin air again, he refused to let go of her hand. And she had to admit, she’d given him reason to be leery.

  Rock pulled his keys from his pocket and held them up. “How do we get in? Do these still work?”

  “Unlock away,” Emmett said. “I’ll take it from there.”

  Rock unlocked the door. Emmett showed him how to get past security. And they were in.

  As always, the sight of the grand entryway of Rock’s seventy-five-hundred-square-foot villa-style mansion took Lani’s breath away. And for good reason. She remembered all too well Rock carrying her up the carpeted curving staircase with its dark, hand-carved cherry railing to the master suite. And the ravishing that followed.

  Memories I really should forget, she thought as she stared up at the sparkling crystal chandelier above. In case the mission goes wrong.

  She glanced over at Rock. He was eyeing the staircase, too. She’d have to disabuse him of the notion that things were going back to the way they were before she disappeared. Her entire relationship with Rock had been a mistake. She’d inadvertently given RIOT the weapon they’d been looking for for years to use against both Rock and the Agency.

  Emotional attachments were hell on spies. She’d been warned to avoid them. She’d been trained how to avoid them. The spying life was filled with deceit and trickery, things that usually killed relationships. You had to be able to fool all kinds of people, the innocent ones along with the bad ones. Sometimes, you even had to fool yourself, tell yourself that what you felt wasn’t real. And that even if it had been, it had been a dangerous mistake.

  Hers had been an even worse mistake—she’d made a baby on that drunken wedding night. She had the faint scar left from a tummy tuck by one of the world’s top plastic surgeons to prove it. The tummy tuck she’d had to get her pre-baby body back. Rock’s baby. Which he knew nothing about. Nor could he unless …