Page 10
Story: Mr. Nice Spy
We ate quickly, and I kind of hated that on top of being beautiful, Mila also knew how to cook. And not, like, microwave dinners. I mean, actual cooking that tasted gourmet. When I questioned her about it, she’d acted all coy and admitted she was a chef for her day job. Well, when she wasn’t busy working for convicted criminals on the run from the CIA. Then she’d clammed up and refused to elaborate on what she was doing down here in the depths when she could be back under the sun running her own restaurant.
Gorgeous, talented, and humble. The trifecta of everything I wanted…far away from Chan. Luckily she returned to the kitchen, which was a modified sink, a collection of camping stoves, several Dutch ovens, and two refrigerators that were hooked up to some kind of generator.
Chan shoveled some of the last spoonfuls of soup into his mouth while I tried not to sigh over how good the homemade bread tasted. Technically, I was a prisoner, but I was beginning to realize there were some definite perks to my situation. The food wasn’t bad, and the company…
My eyes cut to Chan and the way he filled out the sleeves of his shirt. I’d never noticed I was an arms girl, until I’d met someone with defined biceps.
I had to remind myself to chew. And swallow. And not to stare, because staring wasn’t polite. Even if Chan didn’t seem to notice.
He turned to me and kept his voice low. “We’ve got work to do. We still need to find a way to talk to our friends. But they’re going to want to know what’s happening. So our to-do list just grew, and the second thing we have to do might be even more important than the first . ” Chan paused and sucked in a breath before continuing when he was sure Mila wasn’t looking in our direction. “We need to break into the lab.”
I dropped my bread back onto my plate. “How?” I hissed. “If we go anywhere outside our room, they’ll instantly become suspicious.”
Chan waggled his eyebrows. “Not if they think we’ve gone looking for places to be alone. Without a camera.”
It took me a full twenty seconds to process his meaning. I blamed the jet lag. Sure, I’d been knocked out on the flight over here and had no idea what time it actually was, but how else could I justify the fact that I hadn’t picked up that Chan had just suggested, um, that ?
I gestured to the room around me, with its moldy walls and rat-infested corners. “It may have escaped your notice, but this isn’t exactly the most romantic of hideouts,” I deadpanned. “I doubt anyone will believe we got carried away by the magic of the moment.”
“The majority of Holt’s employees are toxic gym bros with a superiority complex who’ve been stuck down here for months without anyone but themselves and a sock for company. They’ll buy it.”
We stared at each other for a few beats without saying anything, neither of us backing down. After a minute, Chan raised his eyebrows, almost like a challenge.
That was when I knew I was in trouble.
“Follow my lead,” he said. Then he started to nuzzle my neck.
A girl really needed more warning. Like, at least a full week if lips were going to be involved. Especially when those lips were soft, and warm, and felt like heaven against my skin.
I flushed hot all over, but it was nothing compared to the way I practically collapsed when he asked, “Is this okay?” in a low voice that made my knees weak.
I barely managed to swallow the lump in my throat and nod my acceptance before he lifted my hand and placed it in his ever-so-soft hair.
I was going to faint. There wasn’t enough oxygen in this room. Like, actually. We were several feet underground, so I physically needed more air for this kind of activity. Medically and scientifically speaking. I was still a chemist, after all, so I did know what I was talking about.
Still, I managed to thread my fingers into Chan’s hair and not pass out when he returned to kissing my neck. He hadn’t even kissed my lips yet, and already I was a puddle of anticipation and hormones.
I was pathetic, that’s what I was.
But I closed my eyes and pretended like this was real and I wasn’t living in a daydream and a nightmare all at the same time. A daydream I’d fantasized about from the moment I’d met Chan, and a nightmare since getting taken to this place, where I had zero control over my own life and lived in fear of my own flesh and blood.
But it was easy to forget the downsides and get lost in the moment. To focus on Chan’s fingers wrapping around my waist and pulling me close, his thumb finding the spot of exposed skin under my shirt where he traced a small circle that electrified all the nerve endings there.
His lips traveled down my clavicle, tracing my collarbone with a featherlight touch. It was enough to drive me wild, and my fingers tightened around the roots of his hair without me telling them to. I knew Chan was still acting, but I was running on instinct now, my body reacting whether I wanted to or not.
I’d lied when I said it wasn’t possible to get turned on in a place like this. Apparently I liked things dirty.
Mila cleared her throat, and Chan took his sweet time pulling away, a roguish grin overtaking his features. My face went hot, and I squashed the urge to laugh. I was a twenty-six-year-old woman. Grown women didn’t giggle when they were caught getting physical with their boyfriends. We hadn’t even kissed. Not on the lips. And I was really upset she’d interrupted before we’d gotten to the good stuff.
Chan leaned on the table, and I picked up the last part of my bread, tearing it to little pieces with my fingers. He watched me with a smile before turning back to Mila.
“What place down here is the most restricted?” he asked.
Mila looked at him askance.
“I mean, everyone can access the cafeteria,” he said. “And our guards can walk in our room without any kind of warning. Plus, there’s a camera there. But where do we have to go to really be alone? This lab we keep hearing about seems more exclusive, yeah?”
And just like that, the idea was planted. If we got caught sneaking around, Mila would be the first to say what she thought we were up to.
Chan really was a master of his craft. He may have been off active duty for six years, but the CIA was missing out. Chan was born to be a spy.
Mila shook her head and inhaled sharply. “Trust me, you’re better off with the camera.”
We didn’t say anything in response, but Chan’s expression spoke volumes. All I knew was that I drew the line at making a sex tape. It didn’t matter whether it was a matter of national importance or if I found my partner to be practically irresistible, there was no way I’d be caught dead in that situation.
Not that I thought it’d come to that. Because the whole point was to get into the lab, and I didn’t think there’d be any benefit to drawing out this charade if it didn’t end up with us there. But if Chan thought he’d need to push things in the bedroom to make it believable that we’d go somewhere else…
I felt my cheeks flame at the very thought.
“Maybe I should take you back to your room now.” Mila wiped her hands on her pants.
Chan looked at me, his expression hungry. “I think that’d be best,” he said with a wolfish grin.
I swallowed, then followed them both out of the cafeteria. At first, I’d thought the whole fake-dating thing might be the only way to save my life. Now, I wondered whether it might be the thing that broke me.
···
Xander was waiting outside our door, leaning casually against the stone wall and blending in with the dim light like he was about to do a jump scare. When he saw us approaching, he pushed off with his leg and stood in the middle of the tunnel.
“Mila,” he said. “I need a second.”
I had visceral flashbacks to the evening at the bar when Xander had grabbed my wrist and refused to take no for an answer. But Mila simply sighed and gestured to her room across from ours. Xander filed inside without looking back. Chan opened our own door and I looked back at Mila to make sure she was all right. I wasn’t sure why I bothered. She was one of the bad guys. I shouldn’t care.
But I did.
Mila sent me a wan smile that was difficult to decipher, her hand lingering on the door. Then she too was gone, and Chan and I were alone.
The guard we’d had earlier was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he figured Mila would stick around and he’d be off the hook. Or maybe Xander was supposed to be on duty instead of whatever it was he was doing with Mila.
Either way, I found it was a bit easier to breathe. It wasn’t like we could really go anywhere—I knew there were guards stationed at the exit tunnels, as well as access points that needed specific key fobs and security checkpoints. But after being given a glass fishbowl, this slightly larger terrarium complete with realistic fake rocks felt almost palatial by comparison.
I turned to follow Chan into the room but ran into his hard chest instead.
I opened my mouth to say something, but he placed two fingers gently over my mouth, short-circuiting any cohesive thoughts. Then he stepped back into the hallway and closed the door behind him, silencing me with his look.
That’s when I remembered there weren’t any cameras in the corridors. And if Xander and Mila were listening, they’d hear the door close and think we’d entered our room. Whoever was watching our camera feeds would just assume we hadn’t come back from eating yet. Right now, we were ghosts.
Chan took my hand in his and tugged me behind him, back toward the direction we’d just come. My stomach swooped in response. We really were doing this. We were snooping around the enemy base like they weren’t trigger-happy weapons dealers. I supposed there was no time like the present, and we weren’t likely to get an opportunity like this again. But…did we have to? Because from the way my back was sweating, I didn’t think I was cut out for this kind of thing. Scratch that, I knew it.
But I was learning not to underestimate Chan. Because once we made it to the first security door and I went to turn around, Chan pulled a key fob out of his pocket instead.
“Where’d you get that?” I hissed. And did he have to let go of my hand in order to retrieve it?
“Took it off Xander when he ducked into Mila’s room,” Chan replied, turning his head to better hear me. “Figured he wouldn’t miss it for a while.”
Okay, so Chan was a pickpocket now? How had I completely missed that happening right in front of my eyes? How had Xander? It made sense he’d picked Xander’s fob over Mila’s though—we already knew Mila didn’t have access to the lab, but Xander was Holt’s right-hand man. Holt trusted him to go to the surface and get me, after all. If he trusted him with his own daughter, why wouldn’t he give him keys to the lab?
“What’re you two doing out alone?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
We were caught. Done for. And I didn’t know how to react or what to say. My fingers twisted into knots at the hem of my shirt as I whipped around to face this new threat. Chan turned much more slowly, the picture of calm and ease.
Show-off.
“Xander sent us back to the cafeteria with a temporary key fob,” Chan said. His voice didn’t even waver. It was smooth as honey when he added, “He needed to be alone with Mila and didn’t want us next door.”
My eyes shot back to the man to see if he bought it. He was built like the Rock. He was so broad he probably had to turn his shoulders sideways to walk through a door, like the women who wore hoopskirts back in the day, only infinitely more dangerous. Oh, and he was definitely carrying. There was a bulge in his jacket that was bigger than a mere handgun, and honestly, why did everyone down here need to be armed? Hello, weren’t they all on the same team?
It wasn’t like he needed it anyway. His biceps were big enough to take someone out simply by smashing their head in the crook of his arm and giving them a noogie.
“Those two.” The guy grunted. “I’m getting sick of their slacking.”
It was getting harder and harder to keep my expression neutral when all I wanted to do was ask questions. So. Many. Questions.
Mr. Literal Gun Show sighed and swiped a hand down his face, glancing at the hall behind him before looking toward the cafeteria. “I should probably take you the rest of the way.”
Chan pretended to consider. “We know the way. You look like you were headed somewhere, and we don’t want you to get in trouble.”
I had to give him credit. His voice didn’t speed up at all. If it was me, I would have been speaking in a whole new register by this point. As it was, a sweat stain the size of Australia was spreading across my back. But kudos to Chan for planting doubts in the guy’s head about whether escorting us might land him in trouble rather than the other way around. Mind games for the win.
The man still looked uncertain though, scratching the back of his neck in an awkward way around his muscles that would have made me laugh if this was any other circumstance. When he still didn’t make a move to leave us alone, Chan gestured toward the cafeteria.
“But if you don’t think Xander would think you’d be questioning his authority…” He trailed off, and I held my breath. If this man escorted us to the cafeteria—then what? Would he stay there? Watch us until Xander came looking for us and our entire story fell to pieces?
This seemed to decide things for the man, because he stepped back and turned toward the left fork in the tunnel. “I can’t babysit you right now anyway,” he said. “We’re all supposed to help unload the shipment. Just don’t get lost.”
Chan gave him a salute, and we watched as he turned away, muttering under his breath about Xander’s overinflated ego.
When he was out of earshot and out of sight, I faced Chan and raised my eyebrows. “How are you so good at lying?” I asked. “And also”—I sent him a side glance—“should I be worried?”
He chuckled. “The best lies are based in truths. I told him Xander wanted to be alone with Mila. He believed it because that was the truth.”
“You know that only makes me question everything you’ve ever told me, right?” I asked.
He threaded his fingers through mine. Our hands fit perfectly together, like we’d always been two pieces of a puzzle. “Oh, I would never lie to you.”
His smile was charming—and I momentarily let myself believe him.
Then he shook his head and broke the spell. “Andee, everyone lies, even when they don’t mean to. Yes, I’d lie to you. I just did. A white lie to make you feel better.” His lips compressed into a thin line. “That’s your second lesson in being a spy. People believe what they want to believe.”
Contrary to what he’d said, this didn’t make me feel better. “Gee, thanks, I guess?”
He caught my expression and stopped walking down the tunnel, turning to face me and stepping forward so I was backed up against the bricks. He placed one hand on my hip, and my pulse sped up in response. I licked my lips.
It’s just in case someone happens to see us , I told myself. I’m just playing along . But really, I knew it was because I was a sucker and couldn’t help but react to Chan’s presence.
“What I can promise,” Chan said, voice low and urgent, “is that I won’t ever intentionally hurt you. And I’ll do everything in my power to keep anyone else from hurting you either.”
A warm, fuzzy feeling spread out across my chest, like sparklers lighting up a night sky. No, not sparklers—willows. The firework that hung in the air for a moment, trailing streamers of golden magic behind like its namesake tree.
His fingers traced along my jaw, and all the bones in my body melted.
“I thought we were in a hurry?” I asked. Sure, my voice was a little wobbly. But all in all, I was proud of myself simply for getting the words out.
The hallway to the lab was just ahead, its flickering light casting shadows on the surrounding tunnel.
Chan lowered his lips to my ear. “When we get in, we have to make it look like we’ve gone there to be alone. We don’t know for sure if the lab has cameras or when someone might find us. But if they burst in and we’re rooting through drawers rather than kissing, they’re going to have questions. Which means we have to be looking for answers while we’re feeling each other up. Are you okay with that?”
Yes. Yes I was.
Still, I pretended to consider, because I didn’t want to be too eager. Even though I definitely was. Eager, that is. Because, hello, I finally had the opportunity to feel Chan’s abs, and I was so going to take it.
Also, kissing. There had better be kissing.
I nodded, hoping my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.
He angled his face in front of mine, bringing his eyes level so I could see just how meltingly brown they were.
“If you get uncomfortable, about anything, you can tell me to stop. Just squeeze my hand and I’ll back off. You’re already doing enough for our country.”
As if I were doing this for my country. Ha. I was totally doing this for myself. I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded again, doing a pretty good impersonation of a bobblehead, if I said so myself. Chan didn’t break eye contact for a moment, and I swallowed.
Fun and games aside, I knew what we were doing was dangerous. Holt had already shown me what would happen if he got tired of keeping me around. But I was betting on the fact that he wouldn’t kill me off within the first day of arriving.
Hopefully.
Chan sucked in a breath, stepped back, and then took me by the hand once more and tugged me down the hallway with the flickering light. When we reached the door at the end, he pulled out the key fob and swiped it in front of the infrared sensor with its intimidating red light. It beeped once, then clicked open.
We were in.