Straightening, he put her back on her feet and grinned. “Keira, sweetie. Sorry I wasn’t there to meet you at the airport. Forgive me?” He hoped she’d take the hint he’d just offered on how she was to play this. Slade had put her in charge—this was supposed to be an easy job. But new information had surfaced, and Slade had sent in Brock to be Keira’s back up. Would she blow it for them both now?
Her eyes narrowed, her mouth pulled down. He held his breath. She smiled and brushed his shoulder as if dusting him off. “You’re always neglecting me! And this was supposed to be a girl’s vacation. What are you doing here, honey?”
She put enough spite into the words that he had no worries about her acting like a bitch—a spoilt one. That would work. He kept an arm around her and reached into his pocket. “Now, sweetie, don’t you even think about sending me away. I was missing you too much, and I brought my work with me. I also got you this.” He pulled out the watch. Diamonds glittered around the face, but the most important part was the GPS tracker hidden inside.
Keira gave a small squeal. “Oh, honey. It’s so pretty. But couldn’t you have gotten some bigger diamonds? And you know I like the yellow ones best.”
Brock let go of her so he could fasten the watch on her wrist. She leaned up. In heels she was tall enough that she didn’t have to stretch very far to kiss his cheek. She also whispered, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Later, sweetheart.” He patted her ass.
She leaned into him, brushing her breasts over his chest. He swallowed a groan. She was getting him back for being a little too touchy-feely.
He’d always been attracted to her—but this was work, and their cover of being a couple was work, too. He was supposed to act like a guy who was crazy enough to follow her anywhere. She was supposed to be the gold-digging model who was using him for his money. Only, holy hell, this was going to be more than hard. He was more than hard.
Keeping his arm around her, he led her inside, asking about her flight, telling her how he was here to do some financial consulting, which would cue her in on his cover. He wasn’t going to be able to talk to her until he was sure they were alone and in a place where there was no chance anyone or anything could be listening. Drones had made the world a much less private place.
He kept talking, dropping hints so she’d realize Slade had sent him here to review security. He didn’t have a chance to tell her they’d discovered there was a hole in the palace security—something that was going to require both of them working this operation.
The tip had come in that someone within the El-Jawhara family was pissed off about
the sheikh marrying an American. What worried Brock the most was that the tip had even come in at all. He was damn sure someone was trying to manipulate events. Those kinds of situations could always blow up in your face.
He glanced at Keira. She was keeping up her cover—which might already be compromised, but he had no way of telling that. So he kept her hand and told her, “You almost missed the big event. We’ll catch up on missed time later, sweetheart. Right now, we have a wedding to attend.”
Chapter 4
Keira froze. Only for an instant. Brock stood tall enough that she had to look up at him to meet his eyes—and she stood six foot tall in heels. He looked a touch red from the Jawhara sun, but he had the fair skin and red hair of his Celtic ancestors. She also figured there had to be some Viking blood in him, too, with the way he tended to come on strongly.
She blinked and started moving again. It was bad enough that Slade hadn’t told her Brock would be here, now she had a wedding to attend? Right now? Was it Erin’s? It would make sense to move up the date, shift it around to prevent anyone from being able to cause a problem. But was Slade going back on his promise that she could run this op?
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t dream of complaining, honey-bear.” Brock winced, and Keira wondered just how sappy she could get with the names she could think up. She pressed up close against him. “I just love how you couldn’t stay away from me.”
Glancing at her, Brock gave her a look that just about stripped the short dress off of her skin. His green eyes darkened.
Heat rushed over her and through her. She pulled back a step. “A wedding?” she asked. She glanced down at her outfit. “I’m not attending a wedding dressed like this. I’ll have to change.”
“Sweetheart, there isn’t time for that.” Brock crossed his arms over his chest. His muscles bunched nicely, so she squeezed a bicep.
“Make time,” she told him. “Now where’s my room? And see that the nice driver gets a good tip and my luggage gets up to my room.”
Brock skimmed a hand over her hip. He pulled her to him. He nodded to a side door. “There’s a small room you can use, but only if you can change in under two minutes.”
“Two minutes? What, you think I’m a magician? Art takes time.”
“Okay, one minute fifty seconds now.”
She put on a pout, but grabbed a bag. “Fine. Want to come watch?” She stepped into the small side room.
***
Brock followed her, watching the way that tiny dress of hers clung to her backside. She put sass into her hips, and he was having a hard time trying to think about anything except how she’d felt in his arms. Skinny, hell. She was all soft curves and molten fire underneath. He shut the door behind them and watched as she zipped open a bag and started to pull out clothes.
She pulled off her dress, leaving herself in a skimpy bra and panties. He licked his lips and tried to think about anything except that kiss that had left him with the taste of her on his lips.
Handing him a hair dryer, she said, “Honey-bear, plug that in, will you? My hair’s a mess.”
He grinned and did as she asked. When the hair dryer was humming, he said, “Not bad for white noise.”