Secret Agent Seduction (A Completed Novella)

CHAPTER 5

"Whoever you work for doesn't skimp on accommodations." Evie walked around the spacious suite at the hotel where they were staying. There was a fabulous view of downtown Kansas City.

When he didn't respond, she turned from the big window to see him checking out the room-service menu.

He sat on a green-and-maroon sofa, knees open the way men sat sometimes.

She moved away from the window, going to stand beside one of two chairs that matched the sofa. "Your company must be very successful."

Again, he didn't respond. He didn't say anything about the company where he worked, but it must be well-connected. He said the FBI had sent him to look into Chad Nichols's involvement in a leftist group. Jude wasn't FBI. He belonged to some kind of mysterious organization. She thought agencies like that only existed in fiction.

"Is Jude your real name?"

His cell phone began ringing from the island counter that separated the sitting area from a kitchenette.

"Yes." Standing, he handed her the menu and went to answer the call. "Curran."

He listened for a while and then found a notepad and pen the hotel had left out. "He's from Kansas?"

He began writing as he listened to the caller. "I'll get on it." And then he ended the call.

Evie put the menu on the coffee table. "Who was that?"

"Someone who can help us." He moved back toward her.

She was getting tired of his vague answers. "What did you write down?" She went over to the desk where he'd left the notepad. He'd written down a name. Josh Payne. "Who is this?"

"Someone your date knew."

He had someone helping him investigate Chad. Someone resourceful. Jude worked in secret, not for any law enforcement agency. The FBI had called upon his company for that reason. Why? Why the need for so much secrecy, and why did Jude work that way? What had led him to this?

"Why do you do what you do, anyway?" Whatever that was.

"Why do you work as an HR director?"

That dropped her jaw. He knew everything about her already. "Did you know I was going out on a date tonight, too?"

"No. I followed Nichols to the restaurant, not you."

"Did you know Dallas Benson was going to be there?" She'd met him when the police arrived and began questioning everyone. Like her, Mr. Benson had had to stay until they finished.

"Not until I got back to my rental and talked to…"

"The person on the phone?" she finished.

Picking up the menu, he moved away from the sitting area and looked askance at her. She could see that it annoyed him that she kept questioning him about his job. But there was something more, too. He came close to telling her the truth about whatever she asked, and had to stop himself from doing so. Did he wish he could tell her? Was that how it was with anyone he met, or was it only her? Was it because of this attraction that wouldn't abate between them?