The Royal Spy's Redemption. Addison Fox

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      Knox ran a finger over the counter. “Looks like you’re off to a stellar start.”

      “You know catering?”

      He grinned at that. “I know eating. Cooking the food is another matter entirely.”

      “You don’t cook?”

      “Love, I’ve never even turned on the oven in my flat.”

      Again, that persistent shiver at the endearment fluttered over her nerve endings. “Ever?”

      “Gas company keeps sending me notices asking if I want to turn off the line.”

      Unbidden, a small giggle bubbled in her throat, especially as she recalled grumbling at the size of her gas bill the previous month. “So what do you eat?”

      “Takeaway and sandwiches are my speed. Occasionally, if I get really ambitious, I’ll scramble up a few eggs.”

      “Good thing you’ve left the gas on.”

      “No doubt.”

      He settled onto one of the stools she kept lined up against the large countertop that made up the center of her kitchen. Although the pasty sheen of white had receded from his features, pain still tightened the corners of his eyes and mouth, and she took the seat next to him without argument.

      Unbidden, a wave of compassion hit at the mix of pain and exhaustion that she sensed even more than she observed. But it was that softening that had her going on the offensive.

      “Why are you really here?”

      “A gunshot wound isn’t enough?”

      “I don’t mean here at my shop. I mean here in Dallas.”

      “I’m doing my job.”

      The urge to call him out was strong, but a quick glance toward their joined hands made her reconsider. Although she didn’t feel physical danger in his presence, she’d be rather shortsighted to ignore the barely leashed strength she sensed in him. And gunshot wound or not, Knox St. Germain looked like a man who could take care of himself and anything that got in his way.

      So she’d wait and watch. And continue to puzzle through the issue on her own. Although she’d kept her own council, she’d questioned his arrival from the start, showing up at her friends’ store, Elegance and Lace, and claiming the auspices of Britain’s MI5.

      “Those are awfully serious thoughts flitting through your mind, Miss Sanchez.”

      The lilting, cultured tones of his voice seemed to fill up the darkened room, spreading out like a warm flow of lava. He was an attractive man—virile, strong and incredibly self-possessed—but add on the accent and he took on a sort of lethal sexiness.

      She met a lot of people in her line of work, and few—if any—of them had ever churned her insides up in a whirl of nerves and need.

      But maybe she could use that to her advantage...

      Because in that moment, as her insides went to liquid at his voice, she sensed a solution to her two most pressing problems. She wanted to uncover the secrets of the man beside her. And she desperately needed a bit of relief from her family.

      The question was, could she pull both off?

      “I’m in a serious situation.”

      “I won’t hurt you. And I’ll be out of your way soon enough.”

      Gabby shot him her most beautiful smile and went to work, laying it on thick. “I know that. But—” She hesitated another moment before offering up a small sigh. “I wonder if you could help me in return.”

      “What do you need help with?”

      “I need to get my mother off my back.”

      The words were out, floating around in her darkened shop like heat-seeking missiles with no place to land. Had she really just opened up on the most embarrassing thing in her life? And was she actually thinking of blackmailing an injured man, no matter how suspicious he seemed?

      With a glance at the hard jaw that showed the lightest sheen of stubble and her mother’s earlier litany still echoing in her ear, Gabby knew the answer.

      Yes.

      A million times yes.

      “What, exactly, does getting your mother off your back entail?”

      “My cousin’s engagement party. Tomorrow night.”

Chapter 2

      “Who has an engagement party on a Wednesday night?”

      Gabby supposed it was a fair question, but in an extended family of more than one hundred, you didn’t wait solely for the weekend to get together. The Sanchez family often spent time together. “My aunt is hosting dinner tomorrow night at her home. We’ll celebrate then.”

      “I’ve never been engaged, but isn’t that something people do on weekends?”

      The knowledge he’d remained perpetually unattached only added to those sizzling hormones that seemed to spring to life in his presence, but Gabby resolutely ignored them.

      She had him on the hook.

      “I have a big family. If we waited only for weekends, we’d never fit in all we have to celebrate.”

      “And you want me to go to a private family event?”

      “As my date.”

      He stilled at that, his earlier humor settling into the craggy grooves of his face. The color had returned to his cheeks, and he no longer looked on the verge of passing out, for which she was grateful.

      “Your date?”

      “It’s my lack of a love life that has my mother so upset. Bringing a date for the evening will give me some breathing room for a few months.”

      “Why does she care?”

      “How many brothers and sisters do you have, Mr. St. Germain?”

      “One. A sister. And it’s Knox.”

      “Is she older or younger?”

      “Older.”

      “Does she get up in your business?”

      Something flashed across his face. She saw it in the brief tightening of his jaw before it was shut down. Firmly. “She’s my sister. Of course she does.”

      “I have five brothers. I also have forty first cousins, more than half of whom are women. And I have my mother. And my grandmother. And too many aunts to count. Trust me when I tell you interference is a way of life in my family.”

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