Seduction in Session (The Perfect Gentlemen 2)

He didn’t want anyone else to do it. Some of those e-mails were private. He’d been reading her e-mails to her mother where she talked about Niall and how much she liked him, how she thought she might find a soul mate in him. She’d written to a cousin congratulating her on her upcoming wedding and asking if she could bring a date. She’d told her all about Niall.

She would have to attend the wedding alone. Would she explain what had happened or just tell her happily married cousin that it hadn’t worked out? The wedding was in three weeks. Maybe she simply wouldn’t attend.

Or, Connor thought, he could take her.

“I need to get a feel for her. I’ll get through them. I don’t have much else to do. She spends a lot of time at her computer.”

Roman was staring at him. Connor had seen that look in the courtroom right before Roman tore apart opposing counsel’s argument. “You haven’t managed to do anything but download her system?”

“I can’t let her catch me.”

“Drug her.”

“I think she would notice that.”

“Fine. Fuck her and keep her in bed, and let my guys come in and go through everything with a fine-tooth comb. We can do the whole place in thirty minutes and she won’t have a clue we’ve been there.”

It was actually what he needed. He’d hesitated to do too thorough a search since after that first night she’d struggled to sleep. She’d gotten up at least once each night to sneak into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water. He would watch her through hooded eyes as she tried not to wake him. In the moonlight, her skin glowed like alabaster.

“I’m not sleeping with her.”

Roman sighed like it should be obvious. “Then start sleeping with her. Look, if you’re not into her, if you can’t get it up around her, let Dax do it. He gets a hard-on from the woman who serves him coffee every day and she’s got to be eighty-two.”

“I fucking do not.” A surly voice reminded him that he and Roman weren’t alone. Dax was watching Lara, connected to Connor by a comm system worn in each of their ears. “And she’s not eighty-two. She’s a very youthful fifty. You know fifty is the new thirty, according to one of her magazines.”

“He’s yelling at you, isn’t he?” Roman was grinning again, his friendly smile taking the place of his everyday shark expression.

“Yeah, but he also told me enough to know that he fucked her. Really, Dax? You slept with the coffee lady?”

“And her daughter. I have to say it was one of my wilder nights, and now I get half off all coffee products,” Dax admitted. “And you should make something up because if Roman finds out how deep you’re in with this girl, he’ll move heaven and earth to replace you.”

“He’s not my boss.”

Roman’s expression sharpened as though he could almost hear what was going on. “Who’s not your boss?”

“Dumbass,” Dax said in his ear.

He was a legend in the Agency for not fucking up. He was smooth and cool and always got the job done. He did not give up an operation because the woman he was investigating might be offended.

“I was talking about Gabe. He’s been bugging Dax to persuade me to call. He just wants an update, but he’s not my boss so he can wait with the rest of you.” Connor reached into his pocket. He’d made a mold of her apartment key the same day she’d given him her spare. God only knew how many other people had one. He handed it to Roman. “This is Lara’s apartment key. I’ll tell you when to come so I can leave the dead bolt undone. You’ll have to deal with the surveillance cameras.”

“Not a problem. I actually know someone in her building. I’ll set up a meeting with her and no one will question the president’s chief of staff bringing a few security guards along.” Roman looked down at his watch and his feet started moving again, jogging in place. “We’ll take her down, brother. You’ll see. It’ll be easy. And talk to Gabe. I don’t know what’s up with the two of you, but I can’t stand being the go-between. What are you going to do? Throw him a bachelor party and not talk to him the whole time?”

He hadn’t even considered it. Gabe was getting married, and they’d barely spoken since that night at the Crawford building where Connor had taken down their enemies in a blood bath. Gabe thought Connor had put his job before their friendship. He had no idea what Connor had sacrificed. Thankfully, Zack had smoothed things over with Langley, but he was still on administrative leave pending the investigation. He could still lose his job for his decisions that night. And Connor simply couldn’t forget the way one of his oldest friends had looked at him.

Like he was an animal.

“I think I’ll have to skip the bachelor party and the wedding, for that matter. I’ll be back on the job.” He hoped. He would immediately put in for a foreign assignment. Someplace dangerous and deadly. Someplace without a single fairy princess in sight.

“Come on, man. We already lost Mad. We can’t lose you, too. You’re coming and don’t think I can’t make that happen. I made a promise a long time ago that I wouldn’t let you fade off into the shadows and shit. And don’t worry about your job, though I wish you’d quit and come work for us. Zack would put you in charge of personal security in a heartbeat, and then you wouldn’t have to hide from the press or all the people who want to kill you.”

“What’s the fun in that?” It wasn’t sarcastic, exactly. He’d gotten used to the adrenaline rush, and what he’d discovered was people got lazy when they weren’t on the edge. And someone always wanted to kill him. Better to never forget and never let his guard down.

“I’ll let it go for now. Call me. Tonight or tomorrow if at all possible. I want to know what this chick has on Zack before we go into the election cycle. I can’t let the opposition sneak anything past me. So get me the intel I need, brother. Speaking of intelligence, does that dog have any?”

Lincoln was on his back, rubbing himself all over the ground, his tongue lolling around. It was what he did when desperate for someone to rub his belly.

“Nope, not a lick.” Rather like himself.

Roman laughed and jogged away.

“He’s right about Gabe. You have to talk to him sooner or later,” Dax said in his ear. “But how are you going to get Roman into her place if you’re not sleeping with her? When the hell are you going to sleep with her anyway? Don’t tell me you don’t want her. I see you. You don’t watch her back. You watch her ass. That’s got to be the world’s most protected backside.”

He wasn’t sure where Dax was, so he held up his hand and flipped him the bird, much to the chagrin of a passing group of what looked like elementary school kids on a field trip.

“Very nice, Connor. Yeah, you taught them something,” Dax laughed in his ear—then stopped. “Hey, I think I’m not the only one watching your girl.”

Connor tugged on Lincoln’s leash and the dog rolled back over. “Where?”

“I’m watching from a bench approximately a hundred yards east of the subject. A man in a ball cap, jeans, and a black T-shirt has circled three times around her. He wants me to think he’s talking on a cell, but he’s taking pictures of her. The damn rent-a-cops haven’t noticed. Should I pursue?”

“Not on your life.” Because it might mean hers. He didn’t want to leave her unprotected for a second. “But get me pictures. Anything you can while you’re still watching her back. I’m two minutes away.”

He scooped up the dog and started to jog.

* * *

Lara sighed as her dad glanced down at his cell phone. He stood up from the bench she’d been sharing with him and Kiki. She was fairly sure she knew what was coming next.

“Honey, I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” Her father gave that expression she thought of as his sad-senator, “the world needs me” look.

“Sure.” It was a good thing she’d thought to ask Kiki to come. Meeting with her dad often ended in her sitting alone while he was on the phone if her mom wasn’t around. She’d managed to get her mother to stay in Napa for the week

so Kiki had been her best bet.

“Good, now we can girl talk,” Kiki said, leaning in. She looked around at the two guards her father had brought with him. They were very professional-looking men in their dark suits and mirrored aviators. She would bet they would never allow themselves to take doggy duty. Of course, Connor wouldn’t stand around all puffed up with self-importance. Having these men screamed “Hey, look at me; I’m so important I need a bodyguard.” Connor simply sat at her side, never giving away how dangerous he could be.

She knew how quick he was in the field. Now the real question was how much damage he could do to her heart. “I don’t know if we should talk around them.”

Kiki’s nose wrinkled as she dismissed the duo. “I don’t think they care. Besides, you haven’t called or come by in days, and the one day I tried coming by your place, no one answered.”