Free Her Secret Agent Man by Cindy Dees

squinting at the bright light. She’d never looked more beautiful.
    “Hi,” she mumbled shyly.
    “Good morning. Sleep all right?”
    “Mmm, wonderfully. Sorry about…uh…interrupting your rest last night.”
    He smiled briefly. “No harm done. Just so long as we’re clear that you’re staying with me.” He got up and headed for the kitchen. “Do you like coffee?” he called.
    “Manna from heaven,” she called back.
    He grinned. “Cream or sugar?”
    “Both.”
    “How much?”
    She laughed. “Think coffee-flavored ice cream and you’ll have it about right.”
    He handed her a steaming mug and sat down across from her at the table. He pushed the Wall Street Journal toward her and she leaped upon it like a starving dog.
    He watched her silently as she devoured the newspaper front to back. Okay, so maybe the banker thing was legit. He was too damn suspicious sometimes. She checked several stock quotes and spent a long time perusing international monetary fund prices. He’d bet his next paycheck that was where her father’s illegal money was invested.
    Surreptitiously, he watched Julia stand up and do a few stretching exercises. She must do yoga or something similar, for she was as limber as a pretzel. A couple of seriously depraved ideas of what they could with that flexibility of hers flashed across his brain. Damned if that wasn’t sweat popping out on his forehead. If he didn’t get out of here right now, he was going to attack her like some slavering animal and try out a few of his ideas. “I’ve got to get out of here,” he announced, standing up abruptly.
    He had to put some distance between them right now. Otherwise, she’d be in grave danger. From himself.

Chapter 5
    “I ’m going to take a shower,” he growled. “While I’m gone, don’t open the door for anybody. Anybody. I don’t care if Jesus Christ rises up and knocks in person. Don’t open it. Got it?”
    She nodded, appropriately wide-eyed at his vehemence. He stalked into the bedroom, his adrenaline pumping hard. He needed to do something strenuous to burn it off. Like have sex. Hot, sweaty, wild sex. Dammit. He turned on the shower to cover the noise of his conversation and pulled out his cell phone. He punched out the number for Charlie Squad headquarters.
    “Go ahead.”
    Dutch recognized the voice of his commander, Colonel Tom Folly. He bit out, “Dutch here. I need a favor.”
    “You name it. And how’s the snow, by the way?”
    Dutch answered impatiently, “Packed powder until thismorning. But it’s blowing like a big mother out there now. Zero visibility and thirty below zero windchill.”
    “Bummer. So, what can I do for you?”
    “I need to extend my leave for a while.”
    “Dutch! I’m so proud of you! Your first vacation in five years and you’re actually enjoying yourself. Who’d have guessed?”
    He flinched at the colonel’s mirth. “Can I have, say, another week of leave?”
    “Hell, make it two, buddy. What happened? No, wait. Let me guess. You met a girl. She must be a babe and a half.”
    Might as well let the colonel think it was a woman. And after all, technically, it was. “Yeah, she’s gorgeous,” Dutch replied.
    “Who is she?”
    He winced. “Mind if I pass on answering that one, sir?”
    Folly chuckled. “Nah, go ahead and be a gentleman. Just don’t catch any diseases, eh?”
    For some reason, the casual remark set Dutch’s teeth on edge. “Thanks for extending my leave,” he ground out.
    “No sweat,” the colonel replied.
    Damned if he didn’t hear laughter in his boss’s voice. Dutch disconnected the phone and tossed it on the bed in disgust. He stomped into the bathroom to take a shower for real. A long, cold one, dammit.
     
    Julia listened to the water turn on in the bathroom. Every fiber in her being screamed for her to take this opportunity to run. But where would she go? What would she do? She believed Dutch without reservation when he promised he’d keep her safe