Secured Undercover (4 page)

She nodded. “We could make a trip out of it. We could stop halfway in some small town and stay a day or two, then drive the other half of the trip.”

She stared into his eyes silently pleading with him to agree with her madcap idea. She didn’t know why it was so important; she just felt the need to get away. Shannon sneaking out on her was the final straw in a long line of things that made her feel like her life was slipping away from her.

Bradley tilted his head as if thinking. He stayed quiet for so long, she started to tell him to forget it, but he surprised her. “Okay, let’s do it. I’ll have to make a few phone calls so I can move some stuff around, but if you’ll get us checked out and cancel our flight, I’ll do everything else.”

“Woo-hoo. We’re going on a road trip!” she crowed, leaping off his lap and jogging into the bedroom to get her stuff together.

Bradley waited until Flower was out of earshot before snagging his cell phone from the table. His call was answered on the second ring. “This is Genie.”

“Hey, Genie. It’s Brad. Is Mr. Sparks still in custody?”

“Yes sir, but you know as well as I do that I can’t hold him forever. The charges will never stick.”

“That’s fine. I don’t need him there forever. Just drag it out for a little while longer will you?”

“No problem, sir.”

“Awesome,” he said to himself as he hung up the phone. Now all that was left was to get Flower out of there before Shannon got back.

***

Shannon spent a grueling fourteen hours at the police station trying to get Bob sprung before he was able to make his way back to the hotel. Since Bob was supposed to be overseeing the loading of The Queen of Diamonds equipment and goods, everyone else was forced to scramble to cover being shorthanded for the day. He tried calling Flower several times during the day when he realized that he was going to be a while at the police station, but neither she nor Bradley answered. The police officer in charge of releasing Bob was a woman by the name of Genie Cook, and her tough-as-nails attitude not only grated on his nerves, but also forced him to lose his temper. He very much feared that was the real reason it took so long to get the matter cleared up. When he commented, in passing, that she reminded him of his mother, which by the way was the highest of compliments, she snapped Bob’s file closed, storming off, and it took an additional eight hours to clear Bob’s paperwork after that. Now, standing outside of Flower’s room he knocked several times without any luck. He stood with his hands buried in his pockets, unsure of what to do next, when he spotted the silverware-stealing Queen coming down the hall. He pasted on his friendliest smile. “Excuse me miss.”

He preened under Shannon’s obvious flattery. “Can I help you?”

“Do you know where I can find Flower Calloway?”

His smile faltered at Shannon’s question, and a tiny frown formed between his brows as if wondering whether or not he should answer. Shannon rushed to reassure him. “She and Bradley are friends of mine.”

At the mention of Bradley’s name, the man’s frown cleared away. “Oh, they left earlier today.”

“Left?” Shannon repeated dumbfounded.

“Mm-hmm they’re on their way back to Texas.”

“Oh,” Shannon said, even though it seemed inadequate even to him. Flower said she was staying for another day, hadn’t she? Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn’t sure she actually said when she was leaving. He’d been awake for so many hours straight that he couldn’t even remember what day it was. The man, Candy, he thought it was, cleared his throat bringing Shannon’s attention back to him. “Is there something wrong?”

“No nothing,” he answered absently. “Do you know the name of Flower’s boutique in Texas?”

At Shannon’s question, Candy’s suspicious frown snapped back into place, and Shannon knew he’d made a mistake. “Anyone who is
anybody
would already know the answer to that one.” Spinning on his heels Candy left him, once again, standing alone in the hall with no idea how to find Flower.

Bradley’s phone vibrated in his chest pocket, and he glanced over to where Flower was sleeping in the passenger seat before answering. “This is Brad.”

“He was in the hall not five minutes ago. He asked what the name of Flower’s shop is, but I evaded.”

“Thanks for that.”

“It won’t be hard for him to find out though, if he’s determined.”

“I know, but I appreciate the effort.”

“Do you want me to follow him?”

“No. He’s unimportant. Just stick with the original plan, but thanks again.”

“Hey, it’s no problem man. The quicker this is over the quicker I can get out of these heels.”

Bradley chuckled but he felt the need to confess. “The thing with Shannon Smith was personal.”

Steven didn’t miss a beat. “That’s cool too man.”

Bradley hit end, slipping the phone back into his pocket. He glanced over to find Flower still sleeping soundly. While cell phones were on his brain, he snagged hers from the console between them. Opening up the back, he removed the SIM card, disabling the phone, before setting it gently back where he found it. He needed to find a spot to stop for the night. This road trip was not part of the original plan, but the longer he drew it out the better chance he held of keeping Shannon chasing his tail. He needed to keep the top dogs of Smith Security Services busy long enough to keep his own men in place. When the security team was hired, they weren’t expecting Shannon Smith, Bob and Weave Sparks to be a part of the package. Since at least one of the three personally hired each member of their team, it made it more difficult to replace them with his members. The last thing he needed to be doing tonight was driving half way across the country with Flower, but how was he supposed to say no? She stirred in her sleep, waking up only halfway. “Do you need me to drive for a while?”

“No baby I’m fine,” She fell back to sleep before he even finished answering, and he couldn’t help but smile.

CHAPTER FIVE

Sunlight streamed across her face, pulling Flower from a dreamless sleep. She vaguely remembered Bradley carrying her through the door of their hotel room and tucking her into bed before she fell back asleep. Now she looked around the room finding it empty. The cup of coffee and donuts waiting at the table were the only proof Bradley was still around somewhere. Flower wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, pulling it off the bed and across the room with her to the table. As soon as she bit into the gooey, custard-filled donut the door opened, revealing Bradley who was sweat covered from his morning run. He flashed a quick grin before pulling his nasty shirt over his head. “Did you sleep okay?” he asked, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek before snagging a donut out of the bag.

“I slept great, thanks. You know, I find it hilarious that you’ll torture yourself by going out to jog every morning, but then you’ll come back and eat half a dozen donuts.”

“I can hardly eat half a dozen donuts if I don’t go out and jog. I’d be big as a house within a week.”

Flower shrugged at that. “It hasn’t stopped me,” to add weight to her words she took another huge bite out of her own donut, puffing out her cheeks in an exaggerated motion while she chewed, making him laugh. The sound of his laughter always did something funny to her insides.

“Not all of us can have your good genes. Some of us actually have to work at it. You know as well as I do that I have a little fat kid living inside of me.”

For some reason his words made her want to laugh, and pissed her off a little at the same time. “I know no such thing. You’ve always been perfect to me.”

Bradley snorted but he let it drop. “Do you need the shower, or do you mind if I take it first?”

Flower pinched her nose. “By all means, you take it.”

He shook his head at her antics but dutifully took himself off to the shower, leaving her alone to enjoy her breakfast. Flower heard the shower come on, and a few minutes later a phone began to ring. She knew from the ringtone that it wasn’t hers, and she began searching the room until she found Bradley’s. She hesitated only a moment before answering it. “Bradley’s phone.”

There was a pregnant pause before a man’s voice asked, “Flower?”

“Yep,” she chirped cheerfully.

“Hey, this is Candy. Is Bradley around?”

“Mm-hmm, can you hold on for a minute?”

Flower debated over what she should do. She knew he was probably in there long enough to finish but she didn’t want to catch him mid-shower. In the end she decided she would stick her head in real quick and find out if this was a call he needed to take or not. She knocked lightly, but when no response came, she opened the door peeking in, relieved to find the shower curtain still closed and blocking him from her view. She stepped the rest of the way inside the bathroom.

“Hey, Bradley. Candy is on the phone.”

Bradley jerked open the curtain, flicking his eyes to her briefly before reaching behind her, snagging a towel from the hook. She might have stepped back had there been room, but the inside of the bathroom was so small there wasn’t anywhere for her to go, and she wasn’t so sure she could’ve made her feet move even if she there was a place to go. She had seen naked men before, obviously, and she saw Bradley shirtless all the time, but never completely nude. She suffered the uncomfortable realization that it was an experience she desperately wanted to repeat. Bradley Henderson, in all his glory, was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. He pried his cell phone out of her numb fingers, and she followed him with her eyes as he left the bathroom. She wondered briefly what would happen if she stole the towel from his waist. A sound must have escaped her lips because he turned back to look at her, smiling evilly, and she realized his flashing was intentional.

“Well two can play at that game,”
she thought. Reaching behind her head, she pulled her shirt up and over her head, dropping it to the floor and leaving her exposed from the waist up. She made sure he got an eyeful before firmly closing the door in his face. Behind the closed door, she ruthlessly turned the water to cold, stepping underneath its stream, if only to hide her scalding cheeks. What was going on with her lately? First Shannon and now Bradley. She needed to find a man real soon, before she ended up doing something she would regret.

Bradley stared at the closed door unable to believe what just happened. He could hear Steven talking, but not a word of what he said penetrated his brain. It was just a wild impulse that brought him out of the shower, but never in a million years did he dream she’d react the way she did. When she dropped her shirt on the floor, he nearly swallowed his tongue. When he heard the shower come on he dearly wished he were in the shower with her right now.

Flower stood holding the handle for at least fifteen minutes before she convinced herself to open the bathroom door and rejoin Bradley. When she finally came out she found him still shirtless, slumped over his cell phone searching the net. Without looking up he said, “Alright, I’ve been looking at the map while you were in the shower, and here is my thought. I think we should stop in Baton Rouge. It looks like there is a zoo, a theme park of some sort, and some outlet malls. Have you ever been there?”

She shook her head absently when he glanced up. He returned his gaze to the map app on his phone. “I haven’t either.”

She stared mutely at the top of his head. She didn’t know what to expect when she finally worked up enough nerve to leave the bathroom, but it wasn’t this. But if he was willing to forget anything happened, then so was she. She did have to admit there was a small part of her that was hurt over his reaction. Sometimes she thought Bradley didn’t find her attractive at all. There were times in her life she was uncomfortably aware that he was a very gorgeous man, but every time that happened, she shoved it aside in favor of keeping their friendship intact.

“How far away are we from there?”

“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully, clicking on a couple of things. “We have to drive about another four hours. Is that okay?” He finally looked up, meeting her eyes again, and she nodded. She pulled a chair close to his and looked over his shoulder at the phone. He pointed out the route they would take.

“Do you want to get started today? When we get there, we could find a room, or we could call ahead. Then in the morning we’d have the whole day to do whatever.”

“That sounds good to me,” she agreed. Together they moved around the room readying to leave as if the morning never happened.

Flower’s scent teased him all day, and by the time they arrived at their hotel he was so hard he thought he might explode with the lightest touch. She was wearing a low cut shirt that flashed a lot of cleavage every time she moved, and she seemed to take every opportunity to lean over him as she took in the sights. Therefore, when she asked what he wanted to do after checking in, he wasted no time rushing her back out to have a drink. Alcohol was the only thing that would numb the sharp edge of his lust enough to be able to tolerate sharing a room with her for another night.

They found a small blues club that catered mostly to tourist, and they sat at a table near the edge of the stage. Tiny tables, only large enough for two people to sit at while enjoying a drink, surrounded the dance floor, which comprised a tiny square cut into the middle of the club. It was dark, lit only by a few candles on the tables and neon lights hanging on the walls, but the liquor wasn’t watered down, and the music was good. Unfortunately, the opposite proved to be true about the level of his lust, and the more he drank the more he didn’t care. Instead of watching Flower out of the corner of his eye, as he tended to do, he watched her openly. Her dark hair spilled over one shoulder, and her eyes sparkled as she tried to look everywhere at once. She was the most beautiful woman in the world to him, and he wanted to touch her. He thought it was amazing how often people took for granted another’s touch until the time came that no one ever touched you for any reason. It was worse when you were someone like him; someone everybody else was ashamed to be seen with.

“Do you want to dance?” She startled at his question, but then smiled brightly.