Twice the Temptation

“Let me see it,” Cody said.

Swallowing again, Brie pulled it out of her pocket and placed it in Cody’s outstretched hand.

It took him less than half a minute to locate the device.

“I’d say that’s how our mystery woman tracked you,” Nate said.

“I should have thought of it,” Cody said. “Maxine should have thought of it. She knows she has a leak in her office. This gadget is probably how they tracked us to Times Square.”

“If you’ve got a plan B, I could get you off the island,” Nate offered.

“I may take you up on that, but not yet,” Cody said. “First, I need to think. Then, we need to make sure we don’t have anything else planted on us. I figure mystery woman’s untimely death buys us some time. Most pros only report in when a job has been completed.”

Nate shifted his gaze to Brie. “I’ll try and persuade him to get you away from here if you’d like. Your call.”

Brie didn’t hesitate for a moment. “I’m fine here with Cody. He hasn’t failed me so far. And I intend to take a more proactive role in keeping myself safe.”

Nate nodded at her, then shifted his attention back to Cody. “If I were you, I’d fill Avery Cooper in, and I think you can trust Mac Davies, too.” He glanced down at his watch. “I’ll be back up at the hotel in a couple of hours.”

“Thanks, Nate. I appreciate the backup,” Cody said as the sheriff headed for his car.

“No problem. I have a room booked. Most everyone in Belle Bay is going to be at that Singles Mixer tonight.” He glanced back at them when he reached the door of his car. “One word of advice. I wouldn’t go near that fantasy box if I were you. You’ve got enough trouble on your plate.”

5

Mid-afternoon Friday—Singles Weekend, Day 1

“NICE DIGS,” BRIE MURMURED more to herself than Cody as they walked into the lobby of Haworth House.

Cody said nothing, but she could tell by the scowl on his face that he wasn’t pleased with the lines in front of the registration desk.She, on the other hand, was. It bought her some time.

They’d had a disagreement on the ride up to the hotel. It had all started when he’d told her his plan was to tuck her safely away in their room while he talked to Avery and did some research.

She’d voiced her vehement objection to that plan, pointing out that a moving target was harder to hit than a stationary one.

“We’ll discuss it further once we get checked in.”

She’d bitten her tongue.

Oh, there was a lot she could have said. Like she was through with being a good sport and following orders. Where had that gotten her? If that GPS thingy had been planted on her the whole six months she’d spent in Kansas, she’d given up her passion of singing and waited tables for nothing. Dicky Ferrante could have gotten rid of her at any time.

And something—perhaps her survival instinct—told her that if Dicky didn’t know where she was right now, he would soon.

But basically, Cody knew all of that. And she’d learned a long time ago that rants, while they were emotionally rewarding, weren’t her best persuasive tool. She needed to come up with a logical argument. So the longer she could avoid being carted off to the room and dumped, the better.

She risked a sideways glance at him, and her heart did a little flutter thing. Even with a scowl on his handsome face, he made her blood heat and her mouth water. Just looking at him was all it took to rekindle the memory of being pressed against that long, lean body, with that clever mouth covering hers.

She’d forgotten to breathe. Thinking had been off the table, too. Both had been banished by the intensity of the feelings he’d aroused in her.

Her world had narrowed down to those lips moving on hers, whispering against hers. To those hands molding her hips and the back of her head. All she’d been able to think of was having more.

And if he turned to her right now and took her hand, she’d follow him anywhere.

This time her heart did more than flutter. She was pretty sure it actually skipped a beat.

Panic bubbled up and warred with bafflement. What was wrong with her? And who was Cody that he could stir her up like this?

She had serious issues on her plate. And in spite of her be-sensible-and-adult strategy, she was outrageously tempted to shove everything else aside to make room for Cody Marsh.

Wrong place. Wrong time. She tried repeating the words in her head like a mantra.

He turned and met her eyes. When his immediately darkened to the color of smoke rising from a raging fire, it was suddenly the right place. An image flashed brightly into her mind. She was wrapped around him, a door at her back, and he was touching her the way he hadn’t yet.

The way she wanted him to.

And she was touching him. The way she hungered to.

A giddy mix of shock, anticipation and inevitability rushed through her.

Though she hadn’t thought it possible, his eyes grew even hotter. He was thinking about it, too. Of what it would be like when they made love.

The certainty of that made her lose all feeling in her legs. For just an instant, her whole world closed in. She was only certain of one thing. She could lose herself in him.

As fear and her instinct for survival kicked in, she struggled to replace the image in her mind with a bucket of ice water pouring over her head.

“Look.” Cody’s voice was low. Hoarse. But at least he could talk. She wasn’t sure she could.

“I know you don’t want to go to the room. But I need to think. There’s something nagging at me. Something that’s important and I can’t quite bring it into focus. You’re distracting me.”

The problem was mutual, she thought. What had happened to her be-adult-and-sensible strategy?

“As soon as we register, I’m going to have Avery take you up to the room. If I take you, we won’t even make it to the bed.”

Bed…

Brie pulled up the image of yet another bucket of ice water—this one bigger and colder than the first. Finally, she was able to drag her gaze away from Cody and focus on her surroundings. Lucky for her, the airy lobby of Haworth House had a lot to look at.

She stared first at the intricately carved ceiling, then shifted to the honey-colored parquet floors. A wide staircase swept upward to a landing before splitting at right angles to ascend to the second floor. Through an open archway, she spotted a sunny courtyard where people sat and ate at tables.

“Is it always this busy?” Good. She could talk, and her voice sounded almost normal. Not only were there three lines in front of the registration desk, but all of the seats in the spacious lobby were filled.

“No.”

His tone was flat. And tense.

She swept her gaze around the room again. Had he sensed something? Or someone? But everyone she saw looked like…tourists simply enjoying the ambience of the hotel.

Even the people lined up at the registration desk looked perfectly normal.

Brie gave the room another quick scan. None of the hairs on the back of her neck had snapped to attention—not the way they usually did just before her fight or flight response kicked in.

She shifted her gaze back to a tall, ridiculously handsome man behind the registration desk. He had dark skin, the build of a linebacker and he seemed to be in charge of checking guests in.

She glanced at her watch. Clearly, they weren’t getting into their room any time soon, so she’d best take advantage of the time. If she could just show Cody that he needed her. She knew how to handle men, she reminded herself. A woman who made her living singing in night clubs and bars didn’t last long if she didn’t learn how to handle the male of the species.

She pitched her voice low so that only Cody could hear. “I understand you need to think, but I can help you. Two heads are better than one. And I can read people fairly well. For example, from the look on your face, I can tell what you’re thinking right now.”

He flicked her a glance. “Enlighten me.”

“You’d like to bully your way to the front of the line. But that would cause a scene and get us noticed. So you’re not going to do it.”

“Correct.”

“And it might seriously annoy the guy with the megawatt smile who looks like he just posed for GQ. I’m assuming that’s Avery Cooper, the manager.”

Relief rippled through her when the corners of his mouth twitched. “Correct, again.”

“Well. I can see why Sheriff Kirby told you to talk to him. He looks as though he could provide some seriously helpful backup if we encounter another problem.”

“That’s just it.” The tension was back in his voice. “We weren’t supposed to run into any problems. I was hoping by bringing you here, I wouldn’t need backup.”

She gave a little laugh. “Except from a ghost.”

“I’m still counting on her.” He glanced around. “I need a quiet place to think and to use my laptop.”

“I think we have to find out who in the marshal’s office is on Dicky’s payroll.”

He met her eyes. “You’re right. But you don’t have to worry about any of that. Once I get you to our room, you’re staying put until I come up with a plan B. It shouldn’t take me long.”

Brie opened her mouth to argue but clamped it closed again when another voice spoke.