Come Toy with Me. Cara Summers

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       4

      FROM HIS POSITION in the short alleyway that ran along the side of the Cheshire Cat, Dino had a clear view of the window in Patty’s Pub that framed Cat McGuire and her father. When he saw father and daughter shake hands, he knew that his fate had been sealed. He dug his hands deeper into the pockets of his bomber jacket. The sky was clear and the temperature was hovering at the freezing mark. But watching Colonel McGuire persuade his daughter into accepting a fake fiancé had proved highly entertaining.

      Dino had arrived while Cat still had customers in her shop—so he could familiarize himself with the area, he’d told himself. Along with his detailed cover story, McGuire had provided a hand-drawn map, so Dino knew that the alleyway emptied into a courtyard that backed into Cat’s apartment building and that Cat used it to get to and from work. Not the safest route, he mused.

      McGuire’s conversation with Cat had not gone smoothly. His daughter had a temper. He’d read it in her body language and in her gestures. There was a lot of raw, pent-up passion in Ms. Cat McGuire, and he knew that was part of the reason he was drawn to her.

      Keeping Cat safe was a trickier assignment than any he’d ever taken on under Maxwell’s command. It would have been a far easier task if he were just going to be her bodyguard. But the other role McGuire had required—acting the part of Cat’s head-over-heels-in-love fiancé and lover—was going to challenge his ability to remain coolly objective.

      Even through a plate glass windowand at a distance of some fifty yards, he felt the steady beat of desire in his blood. For the first time in his life he wondered if he would be able to control it. He wanted her with an intensity that he couldn’t fathom. Nothing, no one had ever pushed him to the edge like this.

      Oh, he might tell himself that he had a job to do, and mixing business with pleasure would distract him and possibly jeopardize Cat’s life. But no amount of lecturing could erase the vision that he’d had earlier of the two of them making love. Was it a premonition of the future or simply a fantasy? He’d always believed that the Fates offered choices, but he was beginning to wonder if he was going to be able to make the right one where Cat McGuire was concerned.

      The other problem—as if his intense attraction to Catwasn’t enough—was he had a strong feeling that James McGuire hadn’t told him everything. And going into an operation without all the intelligence that was available was dangerous.

      Thatwaswhy he’d contacted his navy buddy Jase Campbell right after he’d spoken with his mother. Dino not only needed some backup, he also needed Jase’s high-tech expertise.

      The question was what was McGuire hiding? The most obvious answer was that Cat McGuire was up to her neck in a highly profitable smuggling operation. James McGuire might not believe she was involved—but his opinion was biased.

      Dino had to make sure that his wasn’t. Cat McGuire might not be aware of the fact that the profits were being funneled to terrorists, but she was the obvious prime suspect to be on the receiving end of the smuggled drugs.

      Otherwise, how could it all be happening under her nose? Unless she was stupid, and Dino didn’t think she was. Neither did the feds.

      At least McGuire hadn’t lied about that. There was at least one other person watching Cat and her father tonight. Dino had spotted the man huddled in the doorway of the shop next to the Cheshire Cat when he’d strolled down the street and into the alley. The guy had been too well dressed to be homeless, and he hadn’t even bothered with some kind of disguise. Of course, the feds had never been known for their creativity. He himself had brought along a camera, a guide book, plus a shopping bag stuffed with gifts.

      When a tall figure moved in the shadows at the mouth of the alley, Dino closed a hand around the gun in his pocket and slipped behind one of the Dumpsters that flanked the alleyway door to Cat’s toy store. It wasn’t the fed he’d spotted earlier. That guy had been shorter, stockier. He listened, not breathing, for any sound at all. An engine grumbled as a truck rolled past on the street.

      The voice when it came was low-pitched and uncomfortably close. “I come in peace. Don’t shoot me.”

      Dino drew his hand out of his pocket. Jase Campbell could move more quietly than anyone he knew. “That was a risky move. I might have shot you.”

      “Nah.” There was a wealth of humor in Jase’s hushed voice. “I would have taken you down before you ever drew your weapon. Remember that time in Afghanistan?”