In the Dead of the Night (9 page)

T
hen he would have some serious decision making to do.

She unfastened the first button on her blouse and the panic rose in his chest.
He had no right to see her naked. If she knew what an imposter he was, she wouldn’t have dared expose herself to him.

“I’ll be right back, Jenny.”

“Help me remove my shorts, will you? I feel as though my fingers are working in slow motion. I’ll never get them off before I fall asleep.”

He took a deep breath.
“Sure.”

It was just her shorts, for God’s sake.
Get a grip
. He wasn’t removing her panties, or making love to her. Yet when he grasped the button to her denim shorts, his fingers shook. He cursed himself for being so inept as he fumbled with the fastener. The sweat dribbled down the back of his neck.

He finally jerked the button through the hole.

She chuckled. “You know, you’re driving me insane, don’t you?” She touched his hand and pushed it lower.

“Sorry.
Button was stuck.” His voice was unnaturally husky, proving to himself he was losing control.

He grasped the zipper.
He had every intention of removing her shorts quickly, then covering her up and not giving it another thought. But when he attempted to slide her shorts down, she wiggled her bottom suggestively to help him, and he knew then he was in big trouble.

After removing her shorts, his gaze focused on her white satin panties.
A vee of lace pointed downward as if to direct him to the object of his desire.

She finished unbuttoning her blouse and tugged it off.
White lace embraced her full breasts lovingly, just like he wanted to do. Her rosy nipples peeked through the sensuous fabric, already hard, beckoning him to free them.

He cleared his throat.

“Are you going to join me?” she asked, patting the mattress beside her.

“Yeah.”
What the hell. He would remain dressed and lie with her quietly until she drifted off to sleep once the medicine kicked in. “Sleepy?”

She yawned and nodded.

He pulled the comforter over her. After he moved to the other side of the bed, he yanked his covers to the side.

She frowned.
“You’re not wearing all those clothes to lie down with me, are you?”

He must have seemed like a real idiot.
And damn, he hadn’t planned on stripping in front of her. He jerked his T-shirt over his head, then dropped it on the chair. Then he removed his shorts. Her eyes focused on his black satin boxers, and what she’d done to him to make them uncomfortably tight. If he stayed with her much longer, he’d have to get the next larger size.

And the way she was going, she was bound to ask for her wifely rights soon enough.
Then what would he do? No way could he make love to her, not while they lived a lie.

He slid into bed, the first time he’d been with a woman other than his wife in years.
Though even with her, their sex life had dropped to zilch. He’d come to think that part of his life was over. Now with a woman who in every way indicated she wanted him, and the response his body had to hers, showed he hadn’t lost the ability to have a healthy sexual relationship. Every bit of him wanted her, too.

Only, it was all wrong.

Damn it
to hell
. He wasn’t gay.

Pulling her against his chest, he
wrapped his arms around her. “Sleep,” he whispered to her.

Her soft body turned his even harder.
He wanted to run his hands over every inch of her silky skin, feel the firmness of her breasts, rub his thumbs over her taut nipples, and touch her where he had no business even thinking of going.

Nestling her head against his chest, she
hummed her pleasure. “This sure feels right. Thanks, honey, for being so understanding.”

He kissed the top of her head.
How could he marry her as his boss suggested when he didn’t even know her? When she didn’t know him? Even if it was a marriage of convenience of sorts. But shouldn’t she be made aware of it? He guessed he was to convince her that maybe reliving their “wedding” would trigger her memories.

Before he could even suggest marrying her, he had to do everything in his power to help her to regain her memories.
Then if she wanted to marry him—as a matter of keeping her safe—he would oblige.

“Jenny
—”

“Hmm
?” Her hand drifted from his chest to his waistband.

He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips.
After kissing it, he said, “Do you remember Wilson? I mean, Thurman Wilson?”

“Who?”
She sounded groggy, half asleep.

“Thurman?”

She shook her head slowly back and forth against his chest. Her curls tickled him. He breathed in the scent of the sweet floral shampoo she’d used on her hair.

Placing her meandering fingers on his chest, he
traced the fine bones in her fingers. “Thurman Wilson.”

She sighed deeply.
“Who’s he?”

“You were going to marry him.”
The Agency assumed Wilson had pressured her to get married. He had to marry her to get to her money.

“Oh.”

Was she too sleepy to understand?

He ran his fingers down her arm, the satiny skin a tactile delight to his sense of touch.
“Do you remember your girlfriend, Roxie Adams?”

“No,” she said, sleepily.

“Do you remember why you quit your job?”

“To have babies?”

He tightened his hold on her. There was no way he wanted to go there. “No, there was some other reason.”

“Don’t you know?”

“I’m trying to help you to remember.”

“Oh.”
She snuggled closer. “Make love to me, and it’ll all come back.”

Yeah, right.
If she had memories of lovemaking, it wouldn’t have been with him. On the other hand, if it brought back her memory…damn, memories of her time spent with Wilson.

Jeez, now that’s a sour thought
. Allan’s blood ran cold with the notion.

The Agency didn’t want her to return to her home, but he kept thinking what if she visited it?
Maybe she would remember what happened then. But he had to get headquarters’ approval. Right now, they wouldn’t allow her to leave the island. For the moment, she was safe, well, at least from Wilson and his men. But what about from Allan? Who would protect her from the feelings he had, raging out of control for her?

Her breathing had grown shallow
, and he imagined she’d fallen asleep. His own mind settled some. She felt just right against his body, too. Yet any relationship had to be based on honesty, didn’t it? Theirs certainly fell far short of that.

A noise in the living room caught his attention.
He carefully unwrapped Jenny from his arms and climbed out of bed slowly so as not to disturb her. Then he stuck his hand between the mattress and box springs and pulled a gun out.

Stalking toward the bedroom door, he readied his gun.
When he pulled the door open, Dale smiled at him from the entryway. “Just me.”

He glanced at Allan’s boxers.
“I hadn’t thought of making the bet for earlier in the evening.”

“I thought you were staying downstairs.”

“We were going to have a pizza, but this freezer was the only one that had any left. Sorry to disturb you.”

“She’s sleeping.”

“That medicine will really do it.” Dale grinned. “So what’s with the state of undress?”

“She insisted.”

Dale laughed as he headed into the kitchen. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Allan knew his partner was teasing in part, but he also figured Dale was dying to hear a further explanation.

When Dale returned to the living area with the pizza, he asked, “So have you decided about her?”

“I didn’t realize that this job would involve coercion of its agents.”

“It looks like the lady is doing a pretty good job coercing you, too.” Dale waved his hand at the kitchen. “There’s another pizza in the freezer for you and Jenny if you feel like it later.”

“Any word about Wilson?”
Allan hated that he was being kept out of the loop on this one. He had to act the loving husband on vacation while the others took all of the calls about business.

“The word is he
’s having his contacts search vigorously for her.”

“Great.
And no sign of him, I suppose?”

“Nope.
As usual, he’s gone underground. They figure he may have slipped back down to South America.” Dale headed for the door. “The guys will wonder where their pizza is if—”

Cameron opened the door and smiled as he looked at Allan dressed only in his boxers.
“Just wondered what had happened to our pizza.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll leave the
newlyweds alone.” Dale popped into the hall.

“Wedding b
ells are ringing.” Cameron joined Dale.

Allan shook his head, then returned to the bedroom and grabbed his shorts.
Jenny moaned and rolled onto her back. “No,” she groaned under her breath. “No…no.”

“Ah, hell.”
Allan threw his shorts on the chair. “Garcia, you owe me.”
Damn it to hell, boss
.

Allan hid the gun ag
ain, then drew the covers aside and climbed into bed. He pulled Jenny against his body. Mumbling something next to his chest, she slipped her arm over his waist.

He wrapped his arms securely around her.
“Shhh, sleep. You’re safe, Jenny.”

Sure she was.
He kissed her forehead and held her tightly.

An hour later, Allan woke to a knocking at the doorframe to the bedroom.
He opened his eyes and frowned at Dale, who leaned against it. Jenny still slept comfortably against Allan’s chest.

“You left the door open, dude.
You know we have an open door policy in cases like this in the event of emergencies. If you want privacy, you’ll have to shut the bedroom door.” Dale punctuated his comment by smiling broadly.

“Give me a minute, will you?”
Allan quashed the irritation churning in his gut. He had no intention of letting the others think he was going at it hot and heavy with Jenny.

“Didn’t mean to disturb you.
Just wanted to let you know Randy Steven’s flight was delayed until tomorrow morning. You won’t have to make a decision until then concerning her.”

“You didn’t disturb me.
Jenny was having nightmares.”

Dale nodded.
“It’s to be expected. Has she slept well otherwise?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“Hmm,” Jenny said, stirring.

Dale quickly shut the bedroom door without making a sound.

Allan took a ragged breath.
He now had several hours to try to help Jenny recover her memory before Randy arrived. Allan kissed her forehead, but she tilted her mouth up and expected more. He obliged.

Did he do so out of a sense of obligation as her pretend husband?
Worry that Randy might show him up and try to have his way with her? Or his desire to prove to her or even to himself that he had winning ways in the romance department? Whatever the reason, there were no holds barred.

His tongue moistened her soft full lips, and she immediately responded by touching her tongue to his.
Their lips pressed lightly then more firmly as the heat built between them. The chemistry mixed quickly into explosive proportions as she slid her leg over his and ran her hand over his buttocks still clothed in the satin boxers. He ran his hand over the bare skin of her back, then cupped her firm buttocks in his hand.

She felt so good, and her m
oves sent his hormones into a tailspin. But when she touched her temple, he immediately pulled back.

“Are you hurting, Jenny?”

“Yes, I’m so sorry, Allan.” Then she chuckled. “I guess I’m like the wife who has a splitting headache so she doesn’t have to have sex with her husband.”

Thank God for small miracles.
Though he didn’t want her to suffer, her headache saved his butt.

“Your concussion was serious, honey.”
He hadn’t meant to call her by an endearing term. It just slipped out like an email message sent across electronic waves with no way to take it back.

Her lips turned up sweetly.
“Thanks for the flowers. They’re really lovely.”

“You’re welcome.
Let me get you some more medicine for the headache, and I’ll fix something for us to eat for dinner. Maybe that’ll help.” He kissed her cheek, then reluctantly disentangled himself from her. When he climbed out of bed, her gaze shifted to his boxers. She had him worked up all over again. And the notion disturbed him. If she hadn’t complained of the headache, would he have taken it too far?