Only for You (One Night of Passion 3)

“You trusted Jim. He never gave you any reason not to until now. Jim would have picked you up at the airport in Los Angeles. There would have been no reason for you to think it would be any different to have him drive you in St. Louis. And there’s no way you—or any of us—could ever imagine McClarin could twist that relatively innocent bit of information about us being in the woods together into this story. Not even Jim could have ever suspected that. He’s one of many strands in McClarin’s web. As for my supposed nightmare, I’ll survive it all. As you can see, I haven’t wilted. And I’m standing right here, Gia.” She glanced up and met his stare doubtfully. Hopefully. “It’s like I said before,” he rasped, his fingers massaging her temple in a soothing, circular motion. “There’s never going to be a time that I don’t want to see you. There’s never going to be a time that I don’t want to touch you. Nothing is going to change that. Not Tomoriv, not McClarin, not the press or anyone else trying to spin a story to trap us.” He touched his mouth to her lips. “Your job isn’t going to change my mind about that. Neither is my history,” he added steadfastly before his mouth covered hers.

A moment later, they came up for air. Gia realized dazedly she was pressing so close to him, it was like she wanted to crawl inside. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She loosened his tie, squeezing at his hard biceps, desperate to feel the real Seth.

“I hate this damn disguise,” she said.

“Then why don’t I get out of it?”

“But what about the others?” she asked with a mixture of wariness and hope.

“What I said earlier is true. They’re all gone,” he said. “Including your mother. Only the guard is left, and he’s outside in the hallway.”

A smile pulled at her lips as she continued loosening his silk tie. “You thought of everything, didn’t you? Spymaster to the last. Do we really have privacy for the next few hours?”

“No,” he said, his hands moving in a delicious rhythm over the sides of her rib cage, brushing against her breasts. “I’ve given Madeline and Charles my promise that we won’t risk seeing each other after this one time until they agree it’s safe or the trial is over.”

“No,” she whispered heatedly.

“I think it would be best, Gia, and only fair to Madeline. Most of all for Jeannie,” he said, referring to McClarin’s victim. “We all want to put McClarin away, right? But there is good news.”

“What?”

“They agreed to give us until tomorrow morning together. No interruptions. So we have more than a few hours of privacy.”

Her heart leapt with excitement, but a thought occurred. “What about my mom?”

“Don’t worry. I spoke to Joshua. Turns out United Studios owns several units in this building for business visitors. There was an empty one on this very floor. Your mom is staying there tonight. She seemed very glad to accommodate us.”

“I can’t believe you planned all this,” Gia said.

“We’ve been at it almost nonstop since I saw that damn story on TV yesterday. My disguise must have been the worst of my planning. I fooled Charles and Madeline, but you recognized me right away.”

She smiled full-out for the first time in nearly a week, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him hungrily. “I recognized you because it’s you. The disguise is brilliant, as usual. Now get the hell out of it,” she insisted as she jerked his suit jacket off his shoulders.

* * *

Seth laughingly restrained her from ripping the disguise off him, explaining he needed to be careful about the prosthetic removal because he had to don it again to leave in the morning. He’d gone to the living room, where he retrieved a soft leather briefcase. He’d retreated to the bathroom to become Seth again.

Now Gia waited for him in the empty living room, her anxiety mounting by the second. She tried to drink her coffee, but it cooled as she obsessed over everything he’d said since he had arrived. He’d said that he was here because of that malicious story. He’d known she’d be worried . . . frantic. It had become his mission to convince Charles and Madeline to let him see her, and they’d allowed it, because they thought her anxiety over Seth might preoccupy her to the point that her testimony was affected.

But Charles, and Madeline, and that damned trial aside, what did his being here really mean for Seth and Gia?

She was startled from her ruminations when she heard the bathroom door open in the distance. She stood shakily from where she sat on the couch, her anticipation razor sharp. He came down the hallway and into the living room.

Christ, he was beautiful. He might be the expert on transforming other people, but it was a sin, as far as she was concerned, for Seth ever to be the one disguised. He wore jeans and a simple dark red T-shirt that highlighted his lean, muscular torso and the rich color of his skin. His hair was still slightly damp from his shower. He was barefoot, she realized breathlessly. As if he didn’t want to be bothered with putting on socks and shoes when he’d be removing them again so quickly?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked quietly as he approached her.

“You look so beautiful.”

One eyebrow went up in a wry expression. He came to a halt with the coffee table between them. His gaze lowered over her. A rush of warmth followed.

“I’m not the one who is beautiful around here.” He twitched his hand. “Come here.”

She walked around the coffee table, holding her breath the whole time. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. She pressed her cheek to his solid chest, exhaling and then inhaling again choppily. The smell of soap and Seth’s clean skin filled her nose. Delicious. She felt his fingers beneath her chin, urging her to look up at him. Emotion flooded her at the vision of his unshielded amber eyes.

“I hated those contacts,” she said through a constricted throat.

His gaze narrowed on her mouth, and she knew what he was about to do. She wanted it too. Almost as much as her next breath.