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SWEET STRANGERS
UNDER COVER ANTHOLOGY
By
MaryJanice Davidson
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter One
^ »
Renee dashed into the middle of the busy street Leaping like an ungainly
brunette gazelle, she managed to avoid death three times before she got to the
curb, taking the angry shriek of the bus's airbrakes as a musician takes applause.
She didn't slow, but did take time to snatch a look over one shoulder… yep. Still
about twenty yards behind her. They hadn't gotten a good look at her face.
She darted into the hotel and was momentarily dazzled by the brightly lit
chandeliers and the ferocious grin of the concierge. The guy had a hundred teeth.
Where to go where to go wheretogo?
She heard the plaintive ding! of the elevator, and cruised in that direction. She
had to get off the floor. After that… well, she'd worry about the rest later.
Improvisation was her specialty. The bad news—like she needed more—the
elevator was one of those glass cages. Everyone would see her going up.
She saw a few guests amble out, snug and smug in their dark autumn colors,
with doubtless nothing more pressing on their minds than where to have dinner.
She wanted to choke them and cry on their shoulders at the same time.
As the elevator emptied, a lone businessman walked in, his nose buried in a
newspaper. A daring, reckless, and ultimately insane plan popped into her brain
and, as usual, was approved by management.
They don't know my face very well; the picture they have is truly terrible, she
reminded herself, putting on a burst of speed as the elevator doors started to
close. Plus, they're looking for a woman alone. So…
Renee skidded along the tile and slid into the elevator, almost smashing into the
far wall. Darned new shoes; she knew better than to wear unscuffed soles to
work. Errr… on the run from work.
The businessman blinked at her over his Wall Street Journal, then raised his
eyebrows as she snatched the paper out of his hands and flung her arms around
his neck. "Sorry I'm late!" she panted, then mashed her lips down on his.
This was business, not pleasure. Or was it the other way around? The man was a
stone fox, and that was a fact Thick, wavy brown hair fell almost to his
shoulders, an interesting contrast to the so-sober black suit, sky blue oxford shirt,
and blue tie with black stripes. She saw that his eyes, in the moment before she
sexually assaulted him, were the same blue as his shirt His hair felt like coarse
silk.
Far from shoving her away, or smacking her with his briefcase, the businessman
kissed her back enthusiastically and hungrily. She felt her feet leave the ground
and realized he'd picked her up, the better to snuggle her into his embrace. Oh, to
be snuggled! It had been such a long time. Since—er—what year was it? She
wrapped her legs around his waist and let him take her mouth again and again.
Ding!
Sure, she'd been having a rotten day. Week. Month. And yes, the bad guys…
okay, good guys, she was the bad guy… were definitely hot on her trail. And she
had no money and no place to stay. And if anyone figured out what she'd taken,
her life wouldn't be worth spit on a sidewalk. At the very least, she'd never get a
job in the industry again.
Ding!
But this man, this amazing man… his hands were all over her, big and warm, his
mouth was kissing and nibbling, his aftershave smelled like a sunny apple
orchard, and—
Ding!
The elevator had stopped.
With deep, deep regret, she managed to wrench herself free and put her feet on
the floor. It was hard to get a deep breath. All that running, probably. Followed
by the finest kiss of her life. Meanwhile, the businessman had thrust his hands in
his pockets and was looking her over very carefully. He didn't smile.
"It's all right," he said at last, as she backed out of the elevator.
"What's all right?" She tried not to wheeze. What floor were they on? Who
cared?
"Being late. You said, 'Sorry I'm late.' " His voice was a pleasant baritone. His
gaze never left her face. To her surprise, he followed her out of the elevator,
leaving his briefcase behind. "It's all right."
"Er… thanks. Gotta go."
His hand reached out and closed over her elbow. She briefly considered breaking
his wrist, then decided against it She had bigger things to worry about than
assaulting Mr. Hottie. Again, anyway.
"Have lunch with me."
"I can't. I have to…" Go. Run. Hide. Figure out what to do with PaceIC. Cry
myself to sleep. Jump off a ledge. Kiss you again, then jump off a ledge. "I have
to go."
He chuckled, but still he didn't smile. "You misunderstand. I wasn't asking…
Renee." She nearly fainted as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge.
"You've got some explaining to do. And you can do it over lunch."
You can do it, dude. First day on the job—shoot, Minneapolis is Hicksville
compared to back home. You can do it.
He approached the couple. Mighty cute, both of them, she with reddish brown
hair and pretty brown eyes and rosy cheeks, and he with that butch longish dark
hair and Paul Newman eyes. He looked like a million bucks in his suit, but she
was way underdressed—leggings, a knockoff purse, and a sweatshirt with the
logo "Free Martha."
"Hi, I'm Rod and I'll be your server today."
The woman blinked up at him. "Hi, Rod, I'm here against my will."
"Can I tempt you with the specials? Today we're featuring sautéed sea bass
served over a bed of grilled radicchio—"
She set down her water glass, hard. Water slopped over the side and spattered the
tablecloth, which made her companion sigh. "Rod, you're not listening. I'm
having lunch under duress. This goon here—"
"Oh, now, I object to 'goon,' " the dude with her said mildly. He was pretty
blank-faced, but Rod, with the instincts of an experienced waiter, had the strong
sense the guy was enjoying himself immensely.
"—assaulted me—"
"Excuse me?" Blue-eyed dude's eyebrows climbed up so high, they nearly
dropped off his forehead. "Who assaulted whom?"
"—and dragged me here and is forcing me to eat." The gal finished this absurd
tale in triumph, and drained her water glass in three gulps. She belched lightly,
which brought another sigh from her date. "Man, all that running made me pretty
thirsty. Could I get a refill? Um, like three of them?"
"Right away, ma'am."
"Don't call me ma'am. You're my age, I bet."
He plunged ahead, thinking, Of course, I'm gonna get the nuts on my first day.
It's like a law or something. "Then we have just a lovely lobster tail which has
been brushed with a teriyaki sauce and grilled, which we're serving with wild
mushroom risotto."
The woman peered up at him. "You're from New York, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma—uh, yes."
"I recognize the breed," she said to her companion. "Nothing fazes them. I could
be on fire and he'd still recite the specials."
True, but I'd hand you a bucket of water while I recited them. "Finally, we have a
top sirloin which has been rubbed with pink peppercorns, served with a lovely
Bernaise sauce."
"As opposed to a nasty Bernaise sauce?"
"Be nice," her date said coolly.
"Listen, Gestapo Boy, I won't stand for—you know, that last one sounded good,
I'll have that."
"I will have the same, but hold the peppercorns," Gestapo Boy said. "And a
martini." He looked across the table at the gal and nearly shuddered. "Keep them
coming."
"Oh, I like that. Who kidnapped who?"
"Whom."
"Right! What?"
Rod was walking away by then, but he heard the dude say a very strange thing.
"I can't believe there's a seven-figure price on your head. Your head."
"I can't believe I didn't knee you in the gonads when I had the chance."
Maybe they were rehearsing a play.
Chapter Two
« ^ »
"So." He sliced off a corner of his steak, forked it into his mouth, chewed, and
swallowed. Excellent. "Where is it?"
"I'm not telling you shit," she said with her mouth full, lightly spraying him with
breadcrumbs. "As soon as the meal is done, I'm outta here."
"I don't think so."
"I can't believe I kissed you."
"Nor could I. It certainly livened up what had promised to be a dull day. But," he
continued cheerfully, "what's done is done. And now we're here."
"We aren't anything. I'm having a nice lunch and letting you sit at my table."
"And pick up the check."
"Well, yeah. I can't—" She stopped talking and took a monster-size gulp of her
frozen mud slide.
"You can't draw on your bank funds or use your credit cards, because you'll be
caught."
She shrugged sullenly.
"Oh, Renee, really. Just give me the vial and this will all be over."
"Ha!"
"What, ha? It will. I could even talk to your boss, Mr.—"
"The Jackal? He won't listen to you. He'd see me hanged if he could."
"Now, that's a bit melodramatic," he said mildly.
"Pal, have you been chased the last two days?"
"Ah… no."
"Right Keep your trap shut, then."
"I'd best, or you might stick your tongue into it again."
Her eyes widened and actually bulged, and he had to stomp on the chuckle that
wanted to get out, stomp on it and make it gone. If he laughed at her, he could
count on getting a face full of frozen mud slide.
"Never mind," he said quickly, hoping to head off the outburst. "Uncalled for
and all that. But, Renee, surely you realize you can't keep running and running.
Besides, you're not the victim here. You've stolen—"
"I didn't steal anything!" Then, startlingly, she burst into tears, put her head
down on her plate, and sobbed into her Bernaise sauce.
Within minutes he had settled the bill and brought her up to his suite. She had
curled into his side like a weepy shrimp, and he glared at everyone who stared.
