Armed And Dangerous (The McKinnon Legends - The McKinnon American Men Book 2) (8 page)

“It especially extends to family, and whether you like it or not, Barbara, that is what you are. You are my sister as much as Dark Man, Reese, Tango, and Sundown are my brothers. We are a band, tied together with a common rope called justice and honor.”

Then in her mind she corrected him. She could never look at him as a brother. Once they got their souvenir safely home, she would shed the excess family baggage. Robert had already offered to buy her out. She wondered more often lately if perhaps it was time she moved on. Maybe she would take him up on it.

Barbara hated to fly and her nerves were beginning to surface. It was not the take off or in-flight that killed her. It was the thought of having the ground coming up at her at more than one hundred and fifty miles an hour while landing. She intertwined her fingers with his and placed her other hand over their locked hands.

He discreetly pulled away.

“It is our job, Barbie Doll. Don’t make it personal.”

“Screw you, playboy. This one is very personal,” she whispered into his ear just before running her fingers lovingly through his hair.

He managed not to pull back, and then covered his head with the ball cap. It matched the one Jesse had just placed onto her window three thousand miles away.

Five hours later their flight touched down at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, and a long black stretch limo was waiting to take them to their hotel. They passed through the city with little fanfare.

Mason noted the car following at the prerequisite discreet distance. Barbara only noticed the brightly colored painted homes with the beautiful balconies full of tropical flowers contrasting the ultra-modern skyscrapers. She had Mason to be the sentinel. If there were anything amiss, he would let her know. He never could turn the watchdog off, so why not enjoy herself as best as she could. Too soon things would be all business.

They were greeted warmly at the resort and casino. It took them forty minutes to get checked in because of a mix-up with the reservation. It had ceased to be fun for either of them as the bell hop finally agreed to take their luggage up to their suite.

At the moment, Barbara was hot, tired, and on edge from lack of food, and she prayed the suite had a hot tub, and mini snack and drink bar, and could care less if the room even had a bed. Opening the door to the suite, her attitude changed in the blink of an eye. The single queen sized bed screamed trouble. Robert assured them the room booked was a suite with two rooms and two double beds.

Mason paid the porter and shut the door. Seconds later she was at him.

“Not acceptable.” She reached for a piece of fruit left for them as a welcome gift. Barbara’s casual argument stemmed from knowing Robert probably did ask for a suite, but there was just some oversight. This certainly was not Mason's fault either. She took a bite of the apple. The crisp crunch could be heard above the silence Mason was giving her.

Mason turned after he threw the security lock. The last six hours had almost killed him. He had no idea her closeness would have such an effect on him. They had talked about small things, but not much as she quickly turned her attention to the book she was reading, and he did not want to intrude. Halfway through the flight they watched the in-flight movie having to share a single head set. It placed their heads almost touching and her soft laughter at the comedy touched him. He could not get off the flight fast enough, finding he was having issues keeping his eyes off her.

He reasoned he needed to find a willing woman and fast.

Even now, he watched the pulse softly beating at the base of her neck and wanted to take his lips and sample that flesh.

Damn Eve along with her apple, he thought. This is Barbara, he kept saying to himself, and he could barely control his urges. What the hell was wrong with that picture, he kept asking. As a result he was edgy.

“Let me guess. You currently sleep alone and are not about to change that here?”

His sarcasm did not phase her, having had years of practice ignoring him.

“Don’t be an ass, Mason. Please, call the manager.” Her demand was very clear and polite.

“No. Get over it, Doll.” His tone was condescending. “We are lucky to even have a room. I’m not going to argue with the front desk clerk, not over this. We are supposed to be on our honeymoon, which for normal people means sleeping together,” he popped off.

Now, she seethed hot. How he could be so indifferent of her physical discomfort of sleeping with a man she really did not wish to even touch with clothes on much less in her pajamas?

“Fine then.” She tossed her bag onto the bed angrily unzipping it with emphasis. “Sleep on the couch, the floor, the balcony, the first woman you find, I don’t care. You’re just not sleeping with me.”

“Oh, hell no! Not doing it.” Mason was very quick with commentary on the situation they found themselves. “I’ll be damned if you push me to the couch. You were the one who insisted on authenticity, Barbara. Well, guess what? You got it.” He dropped his bags on the floor for emphasis matching her emotional outburst. He was damned if he was going to lose sleep over this and because of her. “I sleep on the right hand side,” he said flopping down staking his claim. Leaning up against the headboard, he laced his fingers behind his head. It was a total act of defiance, begging her to buck him.

He was not a small man and took up more than his fair share of the bed, she saw.

“Good then I don’t have to face you. And not that it is any of your business, but for your information I have not slept alone in years.”

“Poor bastard,” his eyes were cold, meeting her boldly, and for a brief moment he felt jealousy ooze past his heart.

“Don't assume male, Mason.” Barbara was thinking about her little female maltese-poodle mix, Lula.

He could not have missed the intent if she had spelled it out in sparklers.

“Oh, Jeeez,” he said, then dropping his head back against the headboard, he closed his eyes against this new piece of information about Barbara’s private life. Now, how was he supposed to treat her in public? He wondered if Robert knew this little juicy personal tid-bit. “Well, just screw me twice,” he said softly.

“Not even once. Hate to disappoint you. I’m untouchable to you, Mason.” She was not going to correct him about his presumption of her sexual preference.

Damn shame, too, he admitted as he watched her pull the band out of her ponytail. She bent over at the waist and fluffed her fingers through her hair before flipping back upright. Then she pulled her top t-shirt off revealing a lacy, strappy, next-to-nothing undershirt underneath. She was beautiful, he admitted begrudgingly. Had Robert seen past her plain and ordinary disguise? Robert had said that before he met his wife Katherine, he had briefly wondered where it might go with them. Robert was not known for having ugly girlfriends. Neither was he for that matter. He was more discerning than Barbara gave him credit, but he did like his women young and attractive. He was a good looking man seeing no reason not to enjoy the finer pieces of feminine flesh. And Barbara was very alluring. He could appreciate the work she had expended to keep herself looking nice. Not overly thin, she was healthy and toned for a woman out of her twenties.

He saw nothing wrong with the age difference. He had dated older women in the past. He loved women and age was really not relevant until a woman passed a certain point. She was definitely not to that point, not yet. But this was Barbara, he reminded himself.

Damn, he thought again.

He was never one to hold his temper for long and was much calmer seeing the good outweighing the bad.

“So... I guess sleeping with me is out of the question because you find men repulsive and not because you think you will sully my reputation?” He smiled.

“Yeah, that’s it, choir boy. Your reputation is so in need of protection.” She rolled her eyes. Smiling, she took her toiletries out from her suitcase.

Why stay mad? After all, this was Mason. He could be charming when he chose to be. She witnessed it on more than one occasion through the years. He had just chosen to ignore rather than to use that charm on her, which had been fine with her. She did not want or need his attention. A man like Mason was trouble for any girl, but especially a woman like her. They came from very different places in life.

“I guess I should thank you for keeping me pure and unsullied. So what do you say, Barbara, to letting me buy you dinner? I’ll look for dessert elsewhere.” He laughed again catching her almost off guard.

“Oh, Mase.” She shook her head dramatically, teasing with him. “I hate to tell you, but you are
so
going to owe me more than dinner before this is over. Dessert elsewhere… I swear you are such a hound.” She shook her head and smiled.

“Not going to deny it.” He shrugged.

He liked the fact she was comfortable enough to use his nickname. Only his family called him Mase, and she had never used it before. However, they had never been in each other's presence this long without backing the other into a sparring match. He wondered why it had taken him this long to get the chance to know her.

Okay, so this was going to work after all, she thought while taking in a calming breath. He would leave her alone. Not that she felt it would ever be an issue. She was not his type and grateful for it. However, it was good she now had a barrier and a buffer zone. At least with most men it would be a barrier. Mason was a wild card, so who really could say. In public they had no choice other then to have some display of affections, after all, they were on their honeymoon. In theory, this would keep it totally out of the private part of their mission. She disappeared into the bathroom to put away her toiletries.

Mason watched her go. Robert was a genius for pairing him with Barbara. This could work, he thought. Now, more than ever, he was going to have his cake and eat it, too. There could never be any jealousy of anything he did and he was sure she would not care as long as he was covert and discreet, not usually his forte, but he could punt in this instance. Maybe, he could find her a friend and he could get a little girl-on-girl action going before they needed to get down to serious business.

“Hey, Barbie Doll, how committed is this relationship you have with….“ He stopped short realizing he did not know who to ask about. “By the way what is her name, anyway?” He hollered loud enough for her to hear him in the bathroom over the running water.

“Lula and very committed. She has been with me for several years.” She called back, careful not to arouse suspicions.

“Ever think of straying,” he asked, tossing back the room darkening curtain over the sliding door to get a better look at the lovely ladies at the poolside bar. “Woo, nice,” he commented as a particularly hot morsel passed into his line of vision. Later, he thought, dropping the curtain back.

“Me or Lula?” she asked placing her toiletries in the shower stall and waiting on her bathwater to run. She was grinning in the bathroom mirror. He had walked right into this.

“Either way.”

“Nope. I’m pretty monogamous once I commit. Why?” she yelled from the bathroom. Giggling under her breath and hoping the water hid her laughter.

“No girl-on-girl action for me then I suppose?” He was very quick to see he had crossed a line when she poked her head out of the bathroom with her side arm drawn, but not pointed at him, thank goodness.

She was joking, but he did not need to know.

He immediately put up his hands. “Holy shit, Barbara, I’m just kidding. Put that away. A Central American jail for women is not a place for you.” Then he paused. “Or may be it is in your case,” he said wiggling his eyebrows and flipping out his garment bag across the bed wondering what torturous devices Robert packed for him to wear, probably a tux.

Yep, the sadistic bastard, he mused, looking at the expensively tailored garment.

“You are such a pig, Mason. Grow up.” She rolled her eyes again at his behavior.

He laughed at her just before she disappeared from the doorway only seconds before it closed a little more firmly than was necessary.

“This is a problem.” Barbara pointed out after she finished her shower. She needed to dress and having a communal room complicated things. Mason did not see it as an issue as she stood clutching the front her robe closed.

They were meeting with the resort concierge, and their point of contact, just before dinner to go over their excursion plans for the morning. They were both very anxious in this go-no-go status while awaiting Robert’s final word. That decision would be made come sunlight. However, once they left the resort the mission was truly a go and there would be no turning back without serious repercussions. It left them with several hours to fill, so until daybreak they were just killing time, shifting attention away from the extraction team, who, as they spoke, were inserting themselves via less legal means.

Via aerial photos, Mason had found a good spot for Robert to insert the team consisting of Reese, Josh, Chase, Fly Boy, Tango, Dark Man, and Sundown. They were coming in along the western coastline just past a very dangerous point seldom patrolled by the Panamanian coast patrol. It was seldom patrolled for a good reason. If they managed to get in safely past the surf then half of the danger of the mission was past in Mason’s opinion. However, it was the best he could do on such short notice.

Tonight placed the two of them into a holding pattern allowing them to set and cement their cover. Their reservations for dinner were black tie, and after dinner they were expected to attend a reception in their honor, complete with a band and dancing.

Damn Robert, Mason cursed his brother, again for the one-hundredth time since walking into his office earlier that day.

Barbara totally agreed.

Why did he have to make this look so real? There was
authentic
and then there was ridiculously authentic. Now, she would have to dance with him. But before she could dance, she had to get dressed.

“You’re not into men, Barbie Doll. Dressing in front of me should not be any different than if I were stripping in the locker room in front of the guys. See, not hard at all.” He pulled his pants off tossing them carelessly into the corner. He was sans his briefs.