CRIMINAL CHRISTMAS: A Set of 8 Holiday Suspense Stories, page 35
“Look,” he said, “it’s never going to happen. And I don’t want you to think it might. I was a total jackass to come on to you that night.” He hadn’t come on to Amy; she had been all over him when he went in to get an iced tea after moving the surveillance equipment into the house. She even offered to give him a blow job in the bathroom. But as frustrated as Maddy had him, he couldn’t accept Amy’s offer for quick relief.
Amy moved closer and touched his chest where his shirt opened. “I get it, but if you ever change your mind…”
As if Maddy had eyes in the back of her head, she turned right as Amy’s fingers wandered down his shirt. Maddy turned her back again.
He took Amy’s wandering hands from his chest. “Sorry, Amy. You deserve someone who cares about you.”
“Tell me about it.” She gave a self-deprecating, throaty laugh and then dropped her hand. “Next time, Henry. I’ve got to get back to work.” She strutted past Abu and the women and kept on walking…and then she turned and did a little finger wave for Maddy and the women’s benefit. “See you around.”
With Amy gone, the women all turned to stare at him. Their admiration and shy looks were gone. He knew he was scowling, but he didn’t care. He felt like a ridiculous adolescent caught in a bad high school scene.
Maddy hadn’t moved. The women moved closer to Maddy in a protective cluster. He was the bad guy in this scenario, and there was no other way to play it. Except he and Maddy weren’t married, and he hadn’t done anything wrong…except be a horny guy who got offered dirty sex.
Maddy said her goodbyes to the women, smiling and gently touching the baby’s head as one last gesture. His stomach twisted in knots with the urgent desire to explain everything.
Why should he care that much about Maddy’s reaction? Because he would never dream of hurting or embarrassing her. She deserved only the best from her pretend husband.
Chapter Nine
Maddy excused herself, ignoring the women’s sympathetic looks. Like many women betrayed before her, she reached deep into the primitive well of pride to prevent anyone from seeing her pain. She plastered a smile across her face while hurt coiled around her heart. She tried to remind herself this was a pretend relationship and shouldn’t matter. But she couldn’t feel betrayed unless she actually cared for the callous brute.
She put her hand on his arm. “Honey, we should get our shopping done.” She didn’t make eye contact with Abu, since it was not her place to approach a man.
Hunter flinched at her touch. What was he expecting…a jealous lover scene? They were undercover, and Abu would expect a wife to ignore a husband’s mistress. If she were a real wife and not undercover, her reaction would be a totally different kettle of sharks.
Hunter took her arm and linked it under his. “Mr. Hamman. May I introduce my wife?”
Abu bowed his head. “Mrs. Grady.”
Maddy nodded in acknowledgment.
“Your husband has been telling me how much you love our country and miss the food. I hope you both will come to my restaurant, Afghan Kebab. It is on the corner of Graham and Rainier.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hamman. Your restaurant is very close to where we live.”
“Yes, that is what my sister informed me. You must come and have my gosh-e-feel—like American elephant ear pastries.”
“If my husband has time, it would be an honor.” Her face and throat hurt from the fake sweet tone and fake sweet smile.
Abu’s black eyes lightened. He hadn’t missed the little wifely jab, which Maddy thought he might expect from a jealous wife.
Everyone bowed.
Hunter led her toward the fruit stand. “Shall we get some cherries? They look fabulous.”
“I’d like some blueberries.”
Although the group had dispersed, she was very aware that her students were observing her and Hunter. They walked arm in arm down the long aisle of organic farmers. She played the part of a doting wife. She even went on tiptoe and whispered in her husband’s ear as a sweet romantic gesture. “Abu and his mother and sister have left. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“I thought you wanted to try La…something, the Italian place, for dinner tonight.”
“No, I’m going to get cheese and a baguette for dinner. It’s all I need.” No more romantic meals where you charm me with great food, wine, jokes, intense gazes, and make me believe.
They walked along Rainier Avenue in silence until they got past the crowds. Hunter carried the bags loaded with fruit, cheese, fresh pasta, bread, and a bouquet of sunflowers. Hunter had insisted on buying her flowers. This farce was getting ridiculous. As if a betrayed wife would forget and forgive adultery with flowers. She had to remind herself this wasn’t a marriage.
Maddy hated women who pouted, and she wasn’t one of them. Hunter had been very clear after he’d kissed her voraciously. Men had needs, and since she wasn’t available, he looked elsewhere. “Did you get any helpful information from Abu? He was pleasant enough. No dark looks of censure for a mere woman.”
“I agree. Abu is very charming. And very polite. But during my time in Afghanistan and Iraq, I learned that politeness is a public behavior and unrelated to how people actually feel about you.”
“Yes, it’s the same with the women.”
“He asked where we live.”
“In class, Rasa, the woman with the cute baby, asked where we live. I shared how we just moved to the neighborhood, making it natural for us to innocently bump into Abu and his family.”
“He was very interested in our work with ICRC. Did you tell the women anything different than we discussed? I didn’t want to contradict what you had said.”
“I was very sketchy. Keep the lies close to the truth, right? I emphasized how I fell in love with my husband in their country. Women always want to hear love stories, how the couple met, how the man proposed.”
Hunter stopped on the sidewalk, amusement and something else in his voice. “You’re a romantic?”
Maddy kept walking. I’m a Marine on assignment. She repeated the mantra in her head to match the rhythm of her dogged walk. As Hunter had said from the beginning, this pretend marriage was messed up. Nothing to do with real feelings; an assignment, that’s all. Once this was finished, she’d hope to never see Hunter again. With her resolve restored, she lifted her chin and marched down Rainier Avenue to their house, where she would stay in her room with no more intimate dinners or moments with Hunter.
“Maddy, wait up.” Hunter took two big steps toward her. His hands were full with the bags, so he couldn’t touch her with his bogus PDA.
He had his usual scowl back in place. She should remember her first impression of him—a tighty-whities dude—before he started all the nice, husbandly gestures. She twisted the ring on her finger, wanting to take it off and throw it at him, but something held her back.
“Maddy, we need to talk about that woman, but not here.”
With her brisk pace and her combusting emotions, perspiration beaded up on her face, and her long-sleeve blouse stuck to her skin. All she wanted was a shower and to get away from Hunter. Surprisingly, the giant man showed no signs of the heat or the stress of a public meeting with his sweetie.
Relieved to be at the house and out of the sun, she hurried down the brick walkway to the front porch. How quickly perspectives could change. This morning she had found the little farmhouse enchanting, and now? A brief stopover in her history of endless wandering.
Hunter dropped the bags on one of the Adirondack chairs and unlocked the front door. He held the door so Maddy could enter first. Maddy felt his stare on her back as she walked into the living room. The overstuffed chintz couch and wicker furniture now seemed sickeningly saccharine. “I’m going to jump in the shower. I need to get into something cooler.” And I need time away from you and your bullshit ways.
“Go ahead and shower. But you can’t run away. We have to talk about what happened.”
Did he see her as someone who ran away from her problems? Maybe when she was sixteen and had no other choice, but not anymore. She turned quickly and stepped back into the living room. “Okay, let’s talk.”
“You sure you don’t want that shower? You look pretty hot.”
She was hot—hot under the collar and ready to take down a certain womanizing jerk.
“I can wait. Let’s hear what you think I’m avoiding.”
He rubbed his massive hand back and forth over the stubble on his chin. She was starting to like the less polished Hunter. He was such a dark man that by afternoon he needed to shave again. It was funny how she was starting to notice all the little things that came with living together.
“I almost blew our cover back there. This isn’t like me. I never depart from my assignment. Your safety and this mission are more important than my personal feelings. I need us to get back on track.”
Maddy picked up one of the bags of groceries and walked to the kitchen to avoid Hunter’s careful scrutiny. “What you do during this assignment is your business.” She dug into the bag for the creamy goat’ cheese. “Your girlfriend helped my relationship with the women. The colonel was right—a husband, even an unfaithful husband—really does strengthen my cover.”
Hunter followed her into the kitchen and stood close behind her. Heat radiated off his massive frame. “Girlfriend?” She felt his hot breath on her neck. “Have I been acting like I have a girlfriend?”
She swirled around. “How would I know how you act when you have a girlfriend? But don’t sweat it.” She turned back to the groceries and spoke over her shoulder. “Your affair is helpful—for the women to see an American woman being taken for granted builds camaraderie.”
He grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. His voice was raw. “You think I’d be the kind of husband who would cheat on his wife?”
His angular face was stark with emotion. She hadn’t meant to bring up the old pain of his mother’s abandonment. She understood wounds that scarred but never healed. “Sorry, I know you’d be faithful.” Her stomach got a funny, quirky feeling at the idea of Hunter as a devoted husband and father.
His wide chest expanded deeply. He leaned closer, as if to kiss her, then reached around and grabbed the cherries out of the grocery bag. The only sound was his harsh breathing. “I’m here to protect you. I could have ruined our cover because of my need…” He dumped the bag of cherries into a colander.
Not wanting him to see how his words affected her, she bent down to throw the pasta and veggies into the frig. “I do not need to hear about your sex with that woman.”
He turned away from the sink to glare at her. “You find it hard to believe that women are attracted to me?”
Oh, she believed it. She saw the way the woman had drooled over him.
He took a deep breath and shook his head. “I didn’t have sex with that woman. Because of you.”
She stood up suddenly and bumped her head on the freezer door which had swung open. “Ow! What?”
He turned and opened the cupboard. With his back to her, he growled. “My greedy, crazy, over-the-top need for you drove me… Forget it.” He took a vase off the top shelf and turned toward her. “We need to get this job done. Everything else has to wait. My gut is telling me there is more to the Hamman family.”
Maddy’s heart beat harder, faster replaying Hunter’s words.
“You can’t leave me hanging like this. You’re greedy? Crazy? That doesn’t sound like the man who said women don’t matter when it came to men’s sex drive.”
“Right.” He used a large Japanese chopping knife to hack off the end of the sunflowers, his head bent forward, accentuating the taut muscles in his back and neck. His words were clipped, matching his precise whacks. “Doesn’t matter.”
Was the man clueless? Maddy’s voice came out squeaky. “You barely know me.”
Hunter dropped the knife and took three steps, backing her up against the refrigerator. He leaned close, so close she inhaled the smell of aroused male mixed with his woodsy pine aftershave.
“I’ve been following your career since I found out you were Angie’s best friend.”
The stainless steel door was cool and hard, just like the look Hunter shot at her. “But…but you hardly have any contact with Angie.”
“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t looking out for her. She’s my sister.”
Maddy lowered her eyes, avoiding his probing scrutiny. One assumption about Hunter after another was crumbling. She gave a half-hearted laugh. “Marines take care of their own.”
His full lower lip curved into a little smile as he toyed with one of her curls. “I think you’d take care of your own even if they weren’t Marines.”
His face was inches from hers, and she could see little flecks of amber in his nearly black eyes. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I assumed you knew from our last assignment that I’d find out everything about you. I have access to all your files.”
Maddy gulped around the panic rising in her throat. She was chosen to go undercover with the ecoterrorism group because she had lived on the streets after running away from her last foster family. She hadn’t really considered that Hunter could, or would, read all her files, know about her whacked adolescence, her disastrous foster families, and her drug-dealing boyfriend.
He raised her chin with his finger. “There is nothing to be ashamed of. You pulled yourself out of a bad situation. I admired your grit even before I met you, and more ever since I met you.” He traced his finger along her chin. His voice roughened. “I knew I was in trouble.”
She couldn’t breathe. The air had been sucked out of the kitchen.
“I’ve been in trouble since the day you came bouncing into my life. Nothing is the same. You’re a hot woman with incredible integrity and honesty.”
Maddy stared at this giant alpha male—muscles bunched, raven-black hair messy from running his fingers through it, strong jaw covered in black stubble. This was the complicated, difficult man who barely spoke and only gave her disapproving looks. Now he stared at her with burning need.
With his rough fingers, he traced her cheek and down her throat, sending shivers skittering along her damp skin. “Having you in the next bedroom was pushing me over the edge. I went into Starbucks after moving a lot of our stuff into the house, and Amy came on to me. I wanted to get my head screwed back on so I could do my job. I thought… Well, you get the gist.”
Maddy searched his face. “You really didn’t do anything with her?”
He smoothed her hair away from her face. “I couldn’t. She wasn’t you.”
She felt trembly all over, behind her knees and in her stomach. But she couldn’t make herself look away from his burning gaze. “This is way too much for me.”
“Hell, I was punting. I didn’t want you to know.”
She touched his hot skin in the vee of his blue oxford shirt. “Didn’t want me to know what?”
His breath hitched and quickened. Hunter’s dizzying reaction to her touch set off a storm of sensations shooting through her.
“It’s hard for a man to admit.” He shook his head and his lower lip curled. “I want you. Only you.”
Maddy could barely hear above her heart thwacking against her chest and in her ears.
His voice got rough and gravelly. “I see the way men look at you, how they harass you. I didn’t want you to think of me as yet another horny guy. I wanted to be different for you. Crazy, huh?”
“No, I think it’s sweet.” She went up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his full, hot mouth.
“No one has ever called me sweet.” He held her face gently between his large hands while his thumbs rubbed over her eyebrows and down her cheeks to her lips. “You’re sweet and delicious.” He kissed her lips tentatively. “I want to make up for everything you’ve missed.”
Maddy leaned in to his touch. Ice and heat danced along her skin as her mind absorbed Hunter’s words. He wanted to take care of her, make up for her… Her stomach churned and her brain raced, trying to fathom Hunter’s promises. Men made loads of pledges when they wanted sex, but apparently not Hunter. He was honest and honorable. And she wanted him. Only Hunter.
With his hard thighs pressing against her, she was having trouble concentrating on the words. Hunter sprinkled small kisses along her neck, making her melt against his rock-hard body. “You deserve to be treated like the very special woman you are. And I plan to shower you with attention and gifts.”
The only gift she had wanted, he had already given her. The opal ring. And then, like a flash of summer lightning, she knew.
She pulled away from him. She needed to see his face. “My wedding ring?”
Hunter immediately stopped his crazy sensual assault. “You like it, don’t you?”
She grasped Hunter’s face and forced him to look at her. “Did you know?”
Hunter, the master of direct stares, had trouble looking her in the eye. “Yes, I read the report from your case worker.”
In a split second, her lonely world was suddenly transformed into the dazzling aura of the profoundly new. He had understood how devastated she was when her only connection to her mother had been taken from her.
Maddy lifted her hand and touched the ring. Tears gathered behind her eyes. She swallowed hard and tried to find the words. “I can’t believe it.”
Hunter’s face colored, and he cleared his throat.
“No one has ever cared.” The tears started, not of sadness, but of joy and hopefulness.
Hunter kissed each tear on her face. “Oh, Maddy, don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you upset.”
She laughed and giggled at the same time, delight bubbling up inside—so many emotions and so few words. Hunter had cared enough. “I’m never giving it back, Hunter.”
He pulled her against him. “I never want you to give it back. I want the ring to be yours.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “My mother would’ve liked you.”
“I’m sorry I never met your parents. They’d be so proud of the woman you’ve become.”
