Operation London (17 page)

"I know, but....."

"No! No buts. If we're going to trust one another, than I'm going to be blunt with you. You need to look past my long hair and my boobs and my face. I'm not some bimbo who's trying to play detective here. I'm a trained government agent. That doesn't mean I'm invincible. It doesn't mean I think that I don't ever need help. It does mean that I am capable of doing my work without a man hovering over me," she finished.

Miguel ran his hands through his thick black hair and let out a long breath
. She knew that it wasn't easy for him to accept what she was saying. She knew that he wanted to protect her, that in his heart he felt he was doing the right thing. But that wasn't good enough for Ava. She needed a man who accepted her whole package or nothing.

"I kind of thought your being an agent would be hot," he finally said, his voice strained
. "But I worry about you, Ava. Not because I'm a man and you're a woman so I think you need me. I know you're a very capable person. I worry because I have feelings for you that I've never had for anyone else," he admitted.

Ava felt like someone had taken all of the air out of her lungs
. It was difficult to catch her next breath.

And maybe I hope that you do need me, dulce
. That somewhere deep down, you feel like you need me to be there," he said, his voice low and hot. He had pulled her close, his hands holding onto her hips possessively, his mouth finding hers. The kiss went right into full-blown passion, to the point where Miguel had lifted Ava off of her combat booted feet.

"I do need you, Miguel
. I need you to respect me and care for me," she said once he had put her back on solid ground.

"I will respect you
. I will always care for you," he said, looking her dead in the eye.

"Is that a vow?" she asked.

"Yes, it is Ms. London. Don't joke around about my vows. They're forever," he said, and though his adorable mouth was turned up in a full on smile, his warm chocolate eyes were completely serious.

"Do you want to come to my place for the night?" she asked.

"That would be very nice," he grinned.

The drive home tested Ava's patience
. She was hungry to have Miguel's skin close to hers, to breath in his intoxicating scent. When they got to her place, she pulled him right to her mattress, pulled him down to kiss him and yawned into his mouth.

He laughed out loud at her embarrassment.

"Am I that boring?" he asked, pretending to be offended.

"No
. I don't know what's wrong with me," she said, seeming honestly confused. "You're tired, Ava. You need sleep, just like everyone else. Come on, show me

where everything is and I'll get you ready for bed."

Ava knew that Miguel was being a nice guy, and she also knew that the way he was behaving should, in a perfect world, be the rule instead of the exception. But a tiny part of her was afraid that he would be upset with her.

"Miguel, you don't have to do this," she insisted as he unzipped her black hoodie and pushed it off of her shoulders.

"I know that, Ava. Maybe I want to do this," he smiled as he pulled her black stretchy shirt over her head and unhooked a hot pink bra. "Nice color," he grinned.

It was strange that just hours ago she had laid herself naked in the wild for him, allowing him to put his mouth all over her, but she was feeling shy undressing in her own room in front of him
. Well, having him undress her in her room.

He put a loose T-shirt over her head and knelt down to unlace her boots.

"Doc Martens?  Very tough," he said, pulling off her boots and socks and moving up to unzipper her tight black pants. He yanked them down and pushed her on the bed so he could pull them off her long legs.

"Go brush your teeth," he ordered, straightening out her sheets and putting her laundry away
. Ava followed his orders, but at the doorway she turned to look at the strange domestic scene. In a way it was ridiculous to see the muscular, manly figure tidying up, but in a way that felt much more real it looked completely right.

Ava brushed her teeth and washed her face, and even thought about dabbing some Oxi on a zit that was forming, but she decided not to kill every shred of romance that night
. Miguel came to the doorway to oversee.

"Go to bed," he said, pointing with one finger
. She pattered to her room like an obedient little girl, listening as he washed up.

She waited until he came to bed, anticipating the heat of his long, lean body against hers
. He stretched out and pulled her close with one assured movement of his arm. She squirmed to find a comfortable position, but he steadied her with his arm, forcing her to fall asleep pressed against his solid body.

Ava woke up in a panic, only one thought racing through her mind:
Someone is in my house.
Her upset state began to fade when the smell of eggs and bacon wafted into her room. What burglar was going to go through the trouble of making her breakfast?  She remembered that Miguel had spent the night, and that nothing had happened, sexually speaking. She also remembered that she was expecting Magdalene and Cormac. Groaning, she padded to the kitchen in her t-shirt and underwear.

"Miguel, thanks for breakfast, but......"

Ava ducked behind the doorway, her head the only part of her that she left visible. Cormac, Magdalene and Miguel exchanged grins.

"Morning sunshine
. Why don't you throw some pants on and join the world of the living for breakfast?" Miguel asked, reveling in her embarrassment.

Unable to even nod, she rushed into her room and grabbed a pair of pants
. She felt like a fool. Her nearly-booty-call and her two new employees had seen her pink striped underwear, and they were all giggling about it in her kitchen.

If it wasn't so ridiculous, Ava might have been able to see the humor in the situation
.

But being that she was the object of the joke, she felt a tad defensive as she made her way to the breakfast table.

Her trepidation about meeting her friends all but melted when she was handed a plate of fluffy eggs, spicy bacon and crisp toast with some very fragrant jelly.

"Thank you, Cormac," she said, noticing that he was wearing her "Kiss the Cook" apron
. Just as well. Ava hardly ever cooked herself, so it was a good thing someone was getting use out of it.

They all sat down to eat
. Once Ava clued them in to the events leading up to Miguel's appearance at her breakfast table, they all began to talk about the past evening.

"I feel like we made a hell of a headway," Cormac said, stealing another piece of bacon off of the plate in the center of the table.

"That's true. I kept a scan on the school going until this morning, when all personnel arrived. There was no disruption in the schedule, as far as I could tell. And the security company displayed no interruptions in the system functions last night," Magdalene added. Her green eyes shined as she spoke, and Ava was sure their work was saving her from the drudgery of computer analysis.

"We should take a good look at what's in these files and compare it to the personal items Josephine Conway let me take from Marie's room."  Ava left her plate half finished and hurried away to fetch the discussed items.

"Is she always like this?" Cormac asked Miguel.

"She's always operating at full speed, if that's what you're asking," Miguel said with a smile
. "It's a little sad. I can hardly catch a date with my own girlfriend."

Ava stopped in her tracks
. Had she just overheard Miguel refer to her as his girlfriend?  Her heartbeat quickened until she felt like she had a hummingbird in her chest. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the kitchen, trying not to look like she could be knocked over with a feather.

Everyone rushed to clear the table, and Miguel realized that he might not be wanted at Ava's business meeting.

Clearing his throat, he asked her to walk him to the door. Surprised, Ava went with him.

"You don't have to leave
. I trust you, Miguel," she said once they were out of earshot.

"I know you do, honey, but this is your meeting
. I have to go to see a restaurant owner later on today and I need to get some menu concepts together, anyway," he said, pulling her close to him. She had no makeup on this early in the morning, and something about it excited him. Maybe it was just the idea that he had been the only one to see her, all natural, sleeping like a baby that morning.

"How is everything going?" she asked guiltily
. She hadn't been very attentive to what was going on in his life.

"I'm doing alright
. Don't feel bad, Ava. You're trying to start your own business, giving dancing lessons, dealing with all sorts of problems. I know you have to focus on your things right now," he said, running his hands over her backside and squeezing.

"Stop," she giggled
. "Let's go on a date tonight."

"Don't you have dance lessons tonight?"
"Damn!  Can't we go after?"  She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Of course
. I'll pick you up at Piper's right after class."

"I'll be waiting."  That was what she tried to say, but before she could get it all out 

she was pinned against the door, Miguel kissing her deeply, trapping her against his hips and moving a hand to her breasts as she squirmed to move even closer to him. She kissed his neck, slid her hands up his shirt to feel the steely heat of his muscles. He had to break away from her before he took her right there in the doorway.

"Maybe we should just order in tonight," he smiled, kissing her on the forehead
. He turned and walked to his car. Ava couldn't stop staring at his tight, formed backside as he moved away from her. She also couldn't control the flush of need he had created in her. She wanted him badly, and she didn't know if she had the patience to wait an entire day before she had him.

"Ava!  I think you need to see this!" called Magdalene.

Ava rushed into the kitchen, trying to shake off any thoughts that centered in any way on Miguel and sex.

As soon as she came in Magdalene began reading from one of the spiral notebooks that Josephine had allowed her to take from Marie's room.

"'I don't know what I like about A. Everybody (especially Sam) thinks he's way too old, and just a pretend thug. But he was in a gang. He showed me a real bullet wound and everything. I think I should just go with him cause I've never been to Mexico. Everyone is always telling me to travel. But I'm afraid of his sister. That girl is a nasty bitch and she hates me. She even spit on me. I think A. will protect me from her, though. I have to give him an answer soon. I might see him tonight.'  That's the last dated entry.”

Ava's face had turned a sickly gray
. Cormac rushed to her side.

"What's wrong, love?  You look like you're about to faint," he said.

"I know who she's talking about," Ava said. "And our mysterious Mr. A. is a very dangerous man."

"Who is he?" Magdalene asked, the notebook sliding from her lap onto the floor.

Ava's eyes went down to the books now bent pages. "Angel Espino."

"The guy who raped that girl last year!" Cormac burst out.

"What rape?" Ava asked. His file hadn't said anything about a rape in Houston.

"A young girl from the middle school
. She was raped and beaten badly. The police thought it might have something to do with gang activity. He fled the country, went to Mexico to wait it all out. I know all about it because the middle school brought me in to teach special self defense seminars for the students," he said, trying hard to control his anger at the memory. It didn't quite work. He slammed his hand down on the table in frustration.

Magdalene picked up a school photo from the past September
. "She looks so young," she said softly.

"We have to find her right away," Ava said, feeling frantic
. She had been harboring a secret hope that the girl might have run off somewhere general, maybe a friend's place or even taken to the streets. The streets would at least have her exposed to people who could help. Once Angel took hold of her, there was no telling how far he would go or what he would do.

"It might be hard to keep tabs on him
. His daddy's a rotter, but he's got an amazing amount of muscle. Angel just seems to run wild with no record," Cormac said. "Basically an untraceable maniac."

The three of them sat in silence around the table
. Angel Espino seemed to have the upper hand.

"It's too bad one of us didn't look like a helpless teenage girl," muttered Magdalene.

Ava looked up with surprise. It was an obvious enough evaluation, but one Ava hadn't realized would be so helpful until that moment.

"But what if Angel was attracted to one of us?" Ava asked Magdalene
. "What if one of us was able to go undercover and attract Angel and maybe even find out about this whole Mexico thing?"