For Her Eyes Only. Tori Carrington

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СКАЧАТЬ acted more surprised had someone zapped him with a live wire, but he’d be damned if he could pull away. She tasted of chocolate and coffee. Smelled of fresh air and open interest. He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he felt the quick flick of her tongue over his bottom lip before she pulled away.

      He stood dumbfounded. Had that really happened? Had she just kissed him? His almost painful erection told him she had. And that he wanted her to do it again.

      “Why…what did you do that for?” He barely recognized the low, gravelly voice as belonging to him.

      She glanced quickly away, then gave a slight shrug. “Just curious.”

      “About what?”

      Her gaze slid to his face, and she smiled. “Curious as to whether your lips felt as good as they looked.”

      She began to move away again, and he let her. Near the door, she turned toward him. “By the way, they do.”

      She stepped through the door.

      Jake stood for a long moment watching her, an ache the size of Virginia in the pit of his stomach.

      2

      HE DECIDED to blame it on all the time he had on his hands. Jake stood waiting for the elevator to reach the second floor, only belatedly thinking he should have taken the stairs. And thinking of the prospect of having time on his hands. He’d passed his most pressing cases to fellow agent Edgar Mollens. His desk was clean even of dust. The only thing that stretched before him was five days trekking through the Blue Ridge Mountains with David.

      He cringed. He’d be the first to admit that spending the night in a tent wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. In his mind, roughing it was being stuck in a hotel room without CNN. But even his reluctance to snap on his new backpack and tie his new boots wasn’t to blame for his unusual interest in a certain provocative Michelle Lambert.

      Then there was her kiss.

      He forced the thought from his mind even though his body immediately responded.

      At any rate, it was better that his chances of seeing her again were zip to nil. She’d never answered his question, but he was certain she’d be heading to France tomorrow. The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out. What he couldn’t help wondering was when she was due to fly out.

      Bypassing the administrative offices where he usually left any papers, he walked through the jam-packed waiting area in Room 200, vaguely aware of a number being called and an elderly woman likely of European descent using her cane to rise from her chair. He strode down the long hall leading to his office. His interest in Michelle should have been equivalent to his interest in the European woman. Less, even, because Michelle violated at least ten of his appearance rules.

      Yet his mind kept venturing to her. The way she ran the small pad of her thumb across the rim of her cup while she spoke. Sat slightly leaning to the right, her legs crossed. Looked as if she could see inside him, appearing candidly interested in what was there.

      Jake stopped outside an immigration information officer’s cubicle and waited for the officer to finish with a young man presumably of South American descent. The kid finally left holding a sheaf of papers that likely reflected the details of his life thus far.

      Pauline turned toward her computer, putting her back to him. “Good thing you’re so tall, Jake, or else nobody would know you were there.”

      Jake entered the office. “What do you got on a Lambert, Michelle?”

      Pauline entered the name in her computer. “French. Point of entry, Dulles. Extension denied.” She swiveled slowly toward him. “Why?”

      “Who handled the case?”

      “Brad. You didn’t answer my question.”

      “Thanks.” Jake stepped out of the cubicle and headed to one down the hall.

      “Jake McCoy, one of these days I’m going to cut off your special privileges. Then where will you be?” Pauline called after him.

      He grinned.

      Brad Worthy was between cases. Jake repeated his request for information on Michelle. Information that either hadn’t yet been or wouldn’t be entered into the computer.

      Brad leaned back in his chair and tossed his pen to the desktop. “The Frenchwoman? Quite a looker, that one, eh?”

      “I hadn’t noticed.”

      “Yeah. You wouldn’t.” He shuffled through the files on his desk. “Extension denied.”

      “What else you got?”

      Brad stared at him from under lowered brows. “What’s the interest?”

      Jake suddenly felt uneasy. He had a hard time explaining that one to himself. Maybe if he knew she was heading out, leaving for France, he’d be able to get her out of his head. “Indulge me.”

      “Okay.” He opened the file and scanned the contents. “Lambert, Michelle. Twenty-eight years of age. Chef. Came in on a B2 tourist visa, though it’s noted she tried to get a special travel visa. Claims her three-year-old daughter, Elizabeth aka Lili, was kidnapped by her biological father and brought to the States two months ago.”

      Jake digested the information. Chef. A transient profession. If she chose to violate the terms of her visa and stay in the country, she could find a way to stay indefinitely. “Why was her request for an extension denied?”

      Brad sat back again. “She lied on her initial application about her criminal past. Information we didn’t have when she came in but we since got.”

      Jake frowned as he recalled her vulnerability when her purse had been stolen. “Kid stuff?”

      “Not this one.” Brad shook his head. “Her visa’s up at midnight tonight. But I can already tell you she’s going to defy.”

      “How do you know that?”

      Brad grinned. “Because she told me so. Let’s see, how did she put it? That if I wouldn’t give her the time she needed to find her daughter, she’d take it. Yeah, that’s it. If she wasn’t such a looker, I’d have had her detained on the spot.” His grin widened. “Anyway, I’m planning to pass her file on to Edgar in the morning.”

      “Edgar?” Jake repeated. What could she have possibly done to warrant high-profile attention? He and Edgar Mollens took on the high-risk cases. Suspected terrorists. Drug runners. Russian Mafia. Sweatshop owners. What could Lambert, Michelle, possibly have done to earn the same regard?

      And would her file have been passed to him if he wasn’t officially on vacation?

      He was about to ask for specifics on the conviction when Brad’s phone rang. “Hang on a minute.” He swiveled his chair away to speak to the caller. “Brad Worthy.” Jake inconspicuously turned Michelle’s file in his direction. The Four Pines Motel. He noted the address.

      Jake’s cell phone vibrated in his jacket pocket. He slipped it out and stepped closer to the door. “McCoy.”

      “How СКАЧАТЬ