As he settled her into his side again and his comfortable warmth surrounded her once more, Aileen’s heart gave a little tug of affection. So much for staying detached today.
To stay on track and out of trouble, she pointed toward a cordoned off area on the opposite side of the entrance. “That must be where he’s going to do his thing.”
“Looks that way,” Heath said, glancing around them. “You want some cocoa?”
She might be undercover and in disguise, but Aileen never turned down the opportunity for chocolate. “Sure.”
They walked over to a nearby vendor and got two small paper cups of the steaming liquid. After Heath paid, they strolled the area, keeping an eye out for guards and other roadblocks that might keep Aileen away from getting into the senator’s eye line and letting him know she wasn’t giving up.
As they browsed through a selection of fresh Christmas trees around the corner from Barney’s, Aileen couldn’t help eyeing Heath from beneath her lashes. He really was playing his part well, doting on her as they walked through the pines and blue spruce, holding her hand and occasionally tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. If she wasn’t careful, it would be easy for her to forget this was all pretend.
“Hey, look over there,” he said, pulling her in front of him and locking his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his solid front. “Looks like the senator’s about to arrive.”
Aileen shook off her errant daydreams about Heath being her real boyfriend, and squinted at the line of black limos and SUVs that had pulled up to the curb in front of Barney’s. Several intimidating guys got out, wearing their aviators shades even on this overcast day, and started walking the perimeter around the stage area. “Yeah. Those are his Secret Service guards.”
“They’re different from the ones in the park,” Heath said, frowning.
“I’m guessing those guys were private security.” She tried to pull away but he held her fast in place. “C’mon, let’s get over there.”
“Wait here for a minute,” he said. “Let the crowds settle, then it’ll be easier to stake the best spot for him to see you.”
“Okay.” She resisted rolling her eyes at his commanding tone, but didn’t pull away either. Truth was, she was enjoying the feel of his embrace far too much to leave just yet. Not to mention his whole alpha-military-leader vibe was kind of a turn-on. “I’ll wait. But only because I want to.”
He snorted and she felt the delicious low rumble of it through her back and straight to her core. This was getting ridiculous. They were only doing this to get closer to Senator Lawrence, but man, was it fun. Honestly, she couldn’t remember ever enjoying herself this much on an undercover assignment before—at least, she’d enjoyed it after Heath had shown up. Before him, well, things had been getting pretty lean. And there certainly hadn’t been any cozy hugs like this.
They stood there for several minutes, under the gently falling snow, surrounded by fragrant pines and white twinkle lights strung above them, Heath’s chin resting atop her head, and for a brief, shining moment, all felt right with Aileen’s little world. She felt contentment, an emotion she hadn’t felt since she’d been six years old and at a friend’s house for a party. Between Murphy and their dad, she’d always been treated like a princess. Then one kid had asked her if it bothered her not having a mom. She’d never really thought about it at that point, considering her mom had left when Aileen was still a baby. She didn’t even remember the woman. But she did remember all the stares of the other kids at that party, the way they’d looked at her like she’d grown another head. Children weren’t kind about differences.
It had been then and there that she’d started down the storytelling path, figuring it was better to embellish a bit than admit the truth. She’d improvised, made up some tall tale on the spot about her mother not being gone, but rather having some fancy, top-secret job in Washington, DC. It was all very important and hush-hush. Then those same kids had been super-impressed. She’d suddenly had more friends, gotten invited to a lot more parties. Her career as a writer was born.
Only trouble was that now she’d told so many stories, mainly about other people, but also a few about herself too. And those stories, the ones about her, were getting harder and harder to keep separate in her heart—to discern the truth from the lies. Like the one she always told about not needing anyone. Or the one about not wanting a permanent relationship.
Those ones were especially tricky right about now.
“C’mon,” Heath said, stepping away from her to take her hand. “Let’s start moving closer. From the sound checks, he’s about to start.”
Her back felt cold and unprotected now without him standing behind her, but she stumbled along at his side, trying hard to get her head back in the game. She’d always had a vivid imagination, which sometimes got her in trouble. Even her boss at the paper was always warning her to make sure she backed up the accusations in her stories with hard facts and proof. Which was exactly why she’d gone undercover on this EnKor case. When her usual sources had turned up nothing on the evidence front, more drastic measures were needed.
By the time they’d reached the outer edge of the crowd around the stage, Senator Lawrence was getting out of his limo. From this distance, he looked so benign, like a kindly old man who volunteered at church on Sundays and played bingo during the evenings. That was totally false, Aileen knew. The senator had carefully cultivated that doting old man routine to cover his shrewd, shifty business dealings behind the scenes. Now, if Aileen could just get her hands on the proof she needed, she’d be all set to run with her story. It would bust open his fraudulent green energy deals and had the potential to bring down the whole crooked EnKor enterprise. It could win Aileen a Pultizer, it was that volatile.
“See a good spot to catch his eye?” Heath whispered as they weaved through the people to get closer. “I’d think maybe off to the side there, near where the babies are, that way when he goes in for a photo op you’ll be there to ruin his day.”
“Good thinking.” She pulled him in that direction and soon they were standing shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of young moms with drooling babies in their arms while Senator Lawrence—windbag that he was—went on and on about holiday spirit and clean energy to power all the decorations and what his agenda would be for the next term in Congress when they all met again after the first of the year. Finally, he stopped talking and began shaking hands, working his way around the stage slowly until he approached where Aileen and Heath were standing.
She glanced over and spotted a Secret Service agent standing guard nearby, but thankfully no one had recognized her and Heath yet, so their disguises must be working.
As the senator approached, Aileen squared her shoulders and stepped forward, ignoring Heath’s stiff posture beside her and his warning look. At first Milford Lawrence didn’t seem to see her, engrossed as he was with the whining, fussy baby in his arms. But then, as he handed the infant back to its mother after the photo op, he glanced over and spotted her, the flash of the cameras gleaming off his wire-rimmed glasses. He froze, his polite smile faltering a bit as he stared into her amber eyes. No disguising those.
“Senator Lawrence. It’s me. Aileen Coen. Just didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten about you or your shady dealings. I’m watching. Even when you think I’m not, I am. And if you’re doing anything wrong with your deals with EnKor I will find out and I’ll take you down so fast your head will spin. Bank on it.”
Heath grabbed her arm and pulled her back into him again. “We need to get out of here now, before the Secret Service hauls our asses off to jail.”
“It’s a free country and I can voice my opinion.”
Senator Lawrence gestured at the guard closest to them and Heath took over, guiding her back into the thick of the crowd and away from the stage.
“Hey!” Aileen protested, trying to pull free once they were outside the perimeter of the crowd and away from the Secret Service’s watchful eye. “Why’d you pull me away from there? I was getting to him. I could tell.”
“Yeah.” Heath hailed another cab then opened the door for her. “And he was getting to us. Pardon me, but I’d rather not spend the night in a dirty cell when my nice clean brownstone is so much comfier. Now get in.”