Man of the Hour (12 page)

Daphne heard the buzzer and went to answer it, leaving Ahmed to rejoin Steve.

Steve put the Arab on a plane—a chartered plane owned by Ahmed’s government—later that morning, with Daphne and two taciturn American agents at his side.

“Have a safe trip,” Steve said.

“How can I help it?” Ahmed muttered, glancing at the number of armed guards in his country’s uniform gathered at the walkway to the plane. “Many thanks for your help,” he added to the agents, and Daphne, who was standing close to the tall blond agent.

“It was our pleasure. Anytime,” Wayne replied.

Lang grinned at him. “Just give us a day’s notice and we’ll cover you like tar paper, sir,” he replied.

Steve glared at him. “And watch your every move on hidden cameras,” he added icily.

“What can I tell you?” Lang sighed, lifting his hands and letting them fall. “I
am
a spy, after all. I get paid to spy on people. It’s what I do.” He looked somber as he faced Ahmed. “You’d just be amazed at the things you see on a hidden camera, sir. Like last night, for instance…”

Steve moved toward him threateningly.

Lang grinned. “Actually,” he clarified, “I meant this rich guy we were watching who likes to play video games and when he wins, he takes off all his clothes and pours Jell-O over himself.”

“So help me!” Steve began.

Lang threw up both hands. “I’ll reform. I really will. I’m going to ask that little brunette out and see if she’d like to take me on,” he added. “She’s dishy, isn’t she? I hear she likes to throw things at foreign men. Good thing I’m domestic.”

Ahmed looked at Lang with kindling anger, and Steve saw problems ahead. “Better get aboard,” Steve told the Arab. “Keep in touch.”

Ahmed seemed to realize where he was and to whom he was speaking. He shrugged, as if he’d experienced a minor temporary aberration. “Of course.
Au revoir
, my friend.”

He waved and turned to go into the plane, with his entourage at a respectful distance, watching his back.

“Regal, isn’t he?” Lang said with reluctant admiration. “I’m sorry to see him go.” He grinned at Steve. “Now that this is all over, are you sure you’re going to marry that girl of yours? I do like her temper.”

“So do I,” Steve replied. “Yes, I’m going to marry her. And the next time you point a camera in my general direction, it had better have a lens cap on.”

“Yes, sir,” Lang said, chuckling. “You’ll be glad to know that as of now you are officially unobserved. But if you’d like the results of our straw poll last night, we think you’d give Valentino a run for his money.” He threw up a hand and walked away.
Wayne followed him a minute later, leaving a sighing Daphne behind with Steve.

“Are you really going to marry Wayne?” Steve asked as they walked back toward the airport entrance.

“The minute we can arrange a ceremony. How about you and Meg?”

“I’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” he replied dryly. “But I think she’ll understand. I hope she will, at least.”

“She’s a sweet woman, Steve. You’re very lucky.”

“Don’t I know it,” he mused.

He left Daphne at the office and gave himself the rest of the day off. First on the agenda was to tell Meg the truth.

She was sprawled on the couch going over projection figures the bank had given her when she went to inquire about starting up her own business. Steve came in the old way, through the back door without knocking, and stood over her with relief written all over him.

“It’s over,” he told her. “Ahmed’s on a plane home and the secret agents have gone to root out enemy spies somewhere else. We’re free.”

She put down her figures and smiled up at him. “So?”

“So,” he replied, dropping down beside her, “now that it’s over and we’re unbugged, I can tell you that Daphne is engaged to that blond agent who hangs out with Lang.”

“What?”

“She was the unofficial liaison between us. She had to go where we did.”

“But you said…!”

“I wasn’t allowed to tell you what was going on,” he told her. “Now that Ahmed’s out of danger, there’s no more risk.”

She frowned. “I thought they were after you.”

“Only as a way to get to Ahmed.” He got up and poured brandy into a snifter and handed it to her.

“Do I need a drink?” she asked.

“You may.”

“Why?”

He smiled down at her. “Ahmed isn’t a cabinet minister. He’s the sovereign of his country. To put it more succinctly…he’s a king.”

M
eg took a good swallow of the brandy and coughed a little. “That explains a lot,” she told him finally. “He did have a more regal bearing than you’d expect in a political flunky. He’s out of danger, then?”

“Yes. The overthrow attempt didn’t go down. The agency thought he was safer here until it was dealt with. Ahmed’s government is friendly to ours and we’re fortunate to have access to his strategic location when there are problems in the Middle East. The government is anxious to accommodate him. That’s why they supported the company when we decided to sell him our newest jet fighter. It’s also why he got top priority protection here when his life was in danger.”

“I still can’t quite believe it.”

“You have to keep his identity to yourself, however,” he told her warningly. “Because he’ll be back to have another look at his purchase when we’ve got it closer to completion. His life may
depend on secrecy. Even in this country, there are nationals from his kingdom with grudges.”

“Poor Ahmed.” She frowned. “He must not enjoy being guarded all the time.” Another thought came to her. “He’s a king, which means that he has to marry a princess or something, doesn’t it? He can’t just marry for love, can he?”

“I don’t know,” he said. His silver eyes searched hers. “I’m glad that I got to choose my own wife,” he added huskily. “Now that I’ve waited four years for her, I don’t intend waiting any longer.”

“You sound very impulsive.”

“I’ll show you impulsive.” He pulled her to her feet and bundled her out the door. Several hours later, the blood tests were complete, the paperwork was underway and the wedding was scheduled for the end of the week.

“You aren’t slipping through my fingers again,” he chuckled when they walked arm in arm into his own house. “My mother will be delighted. We’ll have to phone her tonight. By the way,” he added, “I’ve found three possibilities for your studio. I thought you might like to go and look them over tomorrow.”

“I’d love to!” She reached up and hugged him warmly, feeling as if she’d just come home. She closed her eyes with a sigh as they stood together in the deserted house. Steve’s housekeeper had long since left a note about cold cuts and gone home. “Am I staying for supper?” Meg murmured.

He turned her to him. “You’re staying for good,” he said quietly. “Tonight and every night for the rest of your life.”

She hesitated. “But, David will expect me…”

He bent and began to kiss her, softly at first, and then with building intensity so that, after a few minutes, she didn’t remember her brother’s name. But they agreed that one lapse before marriage was enough. And while Meg slept in his arms that night, sleeping was all they did together. They had the rest of their lives for intimacy, he reminded her.

Early the next morning, Steve took Meg around to the studio prospects he’d found for her. She settled on one in a good location with ample parking, not too many blocks from his office.

“Now,” she said, smiling as she looked around, “all I have to do is convince the bank that I’m a good credit risk.”

He glowered at her. “I’ve already told you that I’ll stake you.”

“I know, and I appreciate it,” she said, reaching up to kiss him as they stood in the spacious emptiness of the former warehouse. “But this is something I need to do on my own.” She hesitated. “Do you understand?”

“Oh, yes,” he said with a slow smile. “You sound just like me at your age.”

She laughed. “Do I, really?”

He stuck his hands into his pockets and looked around. “You’ll need a lot of paint.”

“That, and a little equipment, and some employees who’ll be willing to work for nothing until I establish a clientele,” she added. “Not to mention an advertising budget.” She clenched her teeth. Was she biting off more than she could chew?”

“Start with just yourself,” he advised. “Less overhead. See if you can time-share with someone who needs a studio at night. Perhaps a karate master. Put up some posters around town in key business windows, such as day-care centers.” He grinned at her astonishment. “Didn’t I ever tell you that I’m more an idea man than an executive? Who do you think calls the shots on our advertising campaign and trims off fat from work stations?”

“You’re amazing!” she exclaimed.

“I’m cheap,” he corrected. “I know how to do a lot for a little.”

“How about printing?”

“We use a large concern a block away from here. Since they deal in big jobs, they don’t cost as much as a small printer would.”

She was grinning from ear to ear. She could see it all taking shape. “The only thing is, how will I teach when I can barely walk?” she asked, hesitating.

“Listen, honey, by the time you get your financing, your carpentry done and your advertising out, that ankle will be up to a lot more than you think.”

“Truly?”

He smiled at her worried expression. “Really and truly. Now let’s get to it. We’ve got a wedding to go to.”

She wondered if she could hold any more happiness. It seemed impossible.

They were married at a small justice of the peace’s office, with David and Daphne and Wayne for witnesses. Brianna waited outside with a camera to take pictures.

“I forgot to hire a photographer!” Steve groaned when they exited the office. He was wearing a blue business suit, and a beaming Meg was in a street-length white suit with a hat and veil, carrying a bouquet of lily of the valley.

“That’s all right,” Brianna told him. “I used to help our dad in the darkroom. He said I was a natural.” She said it a little sadly, because she missed her parents, but not in any self-pitying way. “Stand together and smile, now.”

They started to, just as a huge black limousine roared up and a tall, dark man leaped from the back seat.

“Am I in time?” Lang asked hurriedly, righting his tie and smoothing back his unruly hair. “I just flew in from Langley, Virginia, for the occasion!”

“Lang!” Meg exclaimed, breaking into a smile.

“The very same, partner,” he chuckled. “How about a big kiss?”

Steve stepped closer to his new wife, with a protective arm around her. “Try it,” he said.

Lang lifted both eyebrows. “You want me to kiss you, too?
Yeeech!
”

“I do not!” Steve roared.

“That’s a fine way to treat a man who flew hundreds of miles to be at your wedding. My gosh, I even brought a present!”

Steve cocked his head and stared at Lang. “A present? What kind of a present?”

“Something you’ll both treasure.”

He reached into his coat pocket and took out a packet of photographs.

Steve took the photographs and held them as gingerly as if they’d been live snakes. He opened the envelope and peeked in. But the risqué photos he expected weren’t there. Instead, they were photos of Meg, from all sorts of camera angles; Meg smiling, Meg laughing, Meg looking reflective.

“Well, what are they?” Meg asked. “Let me see!”

Steve closed up the package and glanced at Lang with a wry smile. “Thanks.”

Lang shrugged. “It was the least I could do.” He hesitated. “Uh, there’s this, too.”

He handed Steve a videotape and followed it with a wicked grin. “From the hall camera…?”

Steve eyed him with growing suspicion. “Just how many copies of this did you make?”

“Only one,” Lang swore, hand on his heart. “That one. And there are no negatives.”

“Lang, you’re a good man,” Meg told him with conviction.

“Of course I am.” He turned to Brianna, still grinning. “Well, hello, hello. How about lunch? I’ll take you to this great little seafood joint down the street and buy you a shrimp!”

“A shrimp?” Brianna asked, hesitating.

Lang pulled out the change in his pocket and counted it. “Two shrimps!” he announced.

Brianna smiled, her blue eyes twinkling. “I’d love to,” she said. “I really would. But there’s someone I have to go and see. Perhaps some other time.”

Lang managed to look fatally wounded. “I see. It’s because I can only afford two shrimps, isn’t it? Suppose,” he added, leaning
down toward her with a twinkle in his eyes, “I offered to wash plates after and bought you a whole platter of shrimp?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed. “It wouldn’t do any good. But I do appreciate the sentiment.” He was very nice, she thought, a little sad under that clownish exterior, too. But she had so many problems, and her stubborn mind would keep winging back to a tall man with a mustache…. It wouldn’t be fair to lead Lang on when she had nothing to offer him.

“Ah, well,” Lang murmured. “Just my luck to be so handsome and debonair that I intimidate women.”

“That’s true,” Meg told him. “You’re just devastating, Lang. But someday, some nice girl will carry you off to her castle and feed you rum cakes and ice cream.”

“Sadist,” he grumbled. “Go ahead, torment me!”

“We have to go,” Steve said. “Thank you all for coming. We both appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” David chuckled, bending to kiss his sister. “Where are you going on your honeymoon?”

“Nowhere,” Meg said. “We’re going to wall ourselves up in Steven’s house and stay there until the food all goes moldy in the refrigerator. And after that,” she said smugly, “I’ve got a business to get underway!”

“Now see what you’ve done,” David groaned. “My own sister, a career woman!”

“I always say,” Steve mused, smiling down at his wife, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

“That’s just what I say,” Meg replied. She took his hand in hers, feeling very newly married and adoringly glancing at the wedding ring on her left hand.

When they got home, Steve lifted her gently in his arms and started up the staircase to the master bedroom. She was a little nervous, and so was he. But when he kissed her, the faint embarrassment was gone forever.

His open mouth probed hers, the intimacy of the kiss making her weak with desire. He was moving, walking, and all the time, his mouth was on hers, gentling her, seducing her.

She didn’t come out of the fog of pleasure until he laid her gently on the bed and undressed her. Then he started taking off his own clothes. The sight of that big, hair-roughened body coming slowly into view froze her in a half-reclining position on the bed. He was the most incredibly sexy man she’d ever seen. Their first time, she hadn’t been able to look at him because there had been such urgency. But now there was all the time in the world, and her eyes fed on him.

He smiled gently as he sat down beside her, his eyes turbulent and full of desire as he leaned over her. “I know,” he said softly. “It wasn’t like this before. But we have plenty of time to learn about each other now, Meg. A lifetime.”

He bent slowly and put his mouth gently to hers. In the long, lazy moments that followed, he taught her how, watching the expressions chase across her shocked face as he made her touch him. He smiled with taut indulgence until she’d completed the
task he set for her, and then he held her hands to him and talked to her, coaxed her into relaxing, into accepting the reality of him.

“It isn’t so frightening now that you know what to expect, is it?” he asked, his voice deep and tender as he began to gently ease her out of the last flimsy garments that separated skin from skin.

When he had, he rose and looked at her, his body visibly trembling as he studied the rounded, exquisite flush of her perfect body, her silky skin.

His hand went out and tenderly traced her firm breasts, enjoying their immediate response to his touch, her trembling, her audible pleasure.

“You’re beautiful, Meg,” he whispered when his exploring hand trespassed in a new way. Despite their former intimacy, the touch shocked her. She caught his wrist and gasped. “No, little one,” he coaxed, bending to kiss her wide eyes shut. “Don’t be embarrassed or afraid of this. It’s part of the way we’re going to make love to each other. Relax, Meg. Try to put away all those inhibitions, will you? You’re my wife. We’re married. And believe me, this is perfectly permissible now.”

“I know,” she whispered back. “I’ll try.”

His mouth brushed over her eyes, her cheeks, down her face to her throat, her collarbone, onto the silken softness of her breasts while he discovered her.

His mouth on her breasts made her shiver. The faint suction he made was as exciting as the way he began to touch her, making little waves of pleasure ripple up her spine. She forgot
to be nervous and her body responded to him, lifting to meet his touch. Her eyes opened, because she wanted to see if it was affecting him, too.

It was. His face was taut. His eyes were narrow and glittery as he looked down at her, and she could feel the tension in his powerful body as it curved against hers on the cool sheets.

He nodded. His eyes searched hers and his touch became softer, slower, more thorough. She made a quick, shocked sound, and his hand snaked under her neck to grasp a handful of hair at her nape and arch her face up so that he could see every soft, flushed inch of it.

“You…mustn’t…watch!” she gasped as a hot, red mist wavered her surprised eyes.

“I’m going to,” he replied. “Oh, yes, Meg, I’m going to watch you. I’m going to take you right up to the moon. This is going to be our first real night of love. Here and now, Meg. Now, now, now…”

The deep, slow chant was like waves breaking, the same waves that were slamming with pleasure into her body. She held on for dear life and her voice sobbed, caught, as the pleasure grew with each touch, each hot whisper.

He was moving. He was over her, against her. The pleasure was like an avalanche, gaining, gaining, rolling down, pressing down on her, pressing against her, pressing…into…her!

She felt the fierce throb of it, felt the slow invasion, felt the tension suddenly snap into a stinging, white-hot pleasure so unbearably sweet that it made her cry out.

His hands were on her wrists, pinning her, his body above her, demanding, pushing, invading. She heard his harsh breath, his sudden exclamation, the hoarse cry of pleasure that knotted him above her. As he shouted his fulfillment, she fell helplessly from the height to which he’d taken her, fell into a thousand diamond-splintered fragments, each more incredibly hot and sweet than the one before…