Satisfaction Guaranteed

Chapter 14

Ethan pulled the rental car to a stop in front of the gate of Arthur Prescott’s home. It was impressive. The stone wall was eight feet high with decorative wrought iron spikes at the top. Ethan was sure they were electrified and not for decorative purposes at all. They looked damn sharp.

The gatehouse was built into the wall and looked easily defensible, the gate itself was a huge double unit made of the same black wrought iron-looking material that topped the brick wall. A much smaller gate slid back into the wall and a guard in a smart black uniform stepped through the opening.

He stopped directly beside the driver’s side of the car and just waited.

Ethan opened the window and met the guard’s flat stare. “This is Beth Whitney. She’s got an appointment to interview with Mr. Prescott.”

The guard looked down at his clipboard and then up again. “Please step out of the car for a visual identification, Miss Whitney.”

Beth went to pull the door handle, but Ethan stopped her. “Is that strictly necessary?”

“Yes, sir.”

Ethan frowned, playing his role of overprotective boyfriend very well and nodded grudgingly. “Go ahead, sweetheart.”

She climbed out of the car and came around to face the guard. Ethan was already standing in front of the driver’s door, his expression brooding as he watched the guard.

The guard did a visual comparison to something on his clipboard and then smiled. “I’ll escort you up to the house, Miss Whitney.”

Ethan put a proprietary arm around her shoulder. “I’d rather drive her up, if it’s all the same to you.” His voice implied it had better be.

The guard’s smile disappeared. “You are not on the appointment list, Mr…”

“Ethan Grange,” Ethan replied, giving an alias that Beth had learned was a well-established identity for him.

Apparently being a writer of rather depressing literary fiction was a good cover in the espionage world. He even had two books published by a small press that had been subsidized by TGP. It was a good cover, one Prescott could investigate if he wanted.

“Mr. Grange, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait out here.”

“No. I’m going in with Beth, or she doesn’t go.”

Beth gasped, but he squeezed her shoulder and she subsided.

The guard looked at her with something that might have been sympathy. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible.”

“Then, we’re leaving.” He started guiding Beth toward the car.

She couldn’t believe he was doing this. “Ethan…”

He ignored her protest and kept walking. “If your boss doesn’t understand my desire to see to your comfort, he wouldn’t be a good employer. You can’t even see the house from here, honey. You aren’t walking all that way on a whim of some rich dude who thinks he can control you and the rest of the world. You know I’d rather you didn’t work at all.”

The guard was talking into his comm unit in low tones.

“But I wanted this job, Ethan. It’s perfect for me and it’s only part-time.” If she sounded more irritated than cajoling, that couldn’t be helped. She wasn’t an actress and she didn’t think the guard would notice the difference.

Ethan walked her around the car and tucked her into her seat before going back to the driver’s side and climbing in.

“Wait. Mr. Grange…I’ve asked my employer to approve your entrance on the estate.”

“I don’t think-”

“Please, Ethan, don’t be so difficult,” Beth pleaded, impressed with Ethan’s acting ability in spite of herself.

He smiled at Beth. “You really want this job, honey?”

“Yes,” she gritted out, deciding right then that he could play the role of overprotective and possessive boyfriend, but she didn’t necessarily have to accept the one of total doormat.

“All right.” He turned to the guard. “Well, what did he say?”

The guard was listening to something in the comm unit. “Do you have proof of your identification?”

“Of course.”

“Can I see it, please?”

Ethan leaned over and grabbed a book off the backseat. “Here’s my picture.”

The book was a hardback with a dustcover and on it Ethan Grange was emblazoned in bold letters under a pretentious title. He flipped the book open and a picture of him in a dark turtleneck and black-rimmed glasses was on the back inside flap of the dustcover. It was a totally supercilious move, and fit the persona of her pretend boyfriend to a T.

“I would prefer to see your driver’s license, sir.”

Beth’s heart stuttered and then started beating again, but too fast. Of course Ethan would have a fake license to go with the identity, but she held her breath until he reached for his back pocket, grumbling the whole time. Adrenaline was surging through Beth in pulsing waves. This undercover stuff was stressful, but…weirdly fun.

The guard waved them through the gate and Beth breathed out a sigh of relief. “That was close.”

“Don’t say anything, Beth.”

At first she thought he was staying true to his part, but then he shook his head imperceptibly.

And she remembered that he and her father had drilled into her that she needed to be circumspect about what she said while on Prescott’s property or anywhere close to it. She hadn’t realized they meant the car, too, but she should have. She knew as well as any agent that there were listening devices that could be targeted at her right now and relaying her conversation with Ethan to Prescott’s security team.

“I wish you would have let me walk to the house with the guard. You almost cost me a chance at this job,” she said, trying to play her role just in case.

It seemed like overkill, but then this man wouldn’t be so hard to get to if he wasn’t the ultracautious sort.

“I wasn’t letting you walk anywhere with that guy. Did you see the way he smiled at you?”

“Oh, please…”

“He’s interested, Beth. Stay away from him.”

“Give it a rest, Ethan.”

He winked at her, his approval of her playacting apparent and despite knowing that they were no better a fit than she and her parents, she felt warmth steal through her.

Another security guard met them at the front door and Ethan was shown to a room to wait while Beth was taken to Prescott for her interview.

According to their intel, Arthur Prescott was fifty-two years old, but with raven black hair, an unlined face, and the body of someone who obviously worked out, he looked much younger. Everywhere but his eyes. They were just flat, gray metal disks for irises, lacking all emotion and yet purveying the impression of a life that had seen things she never wanted to.

He asked the usual questions for a job of the nature he’d advertised and she answered them easily, confident in this aspect of the case. Though she felt like he watched her more closely than any other prospective employer had. There was a quality to his regard that she couldn’t quite define, but she felt almost touched by his gaze.

It was not a nice feeling because despite his professional manner, she did not get the sense he was a nice man. She didn’t think it was knowing he was one of the bad guys that was influencing her either. There was something about Arthur Prescott that gave her the chills.

Then he went silent and looked at her speculatively for several seconds. “I heard you had problems at the front gate.”

“Not with your guard. He was only doing his job.”

“But your boyfriend objected to leaving you.”

“Ethan can be a little overprotective, but he didn’t mean any offense by it.”

Prescott frowned. “As a general rule, my employee’s personal lives do not interest me, but I would have to be sure that your relationship with Ethan Grange would not impinge on your ability to do your job.”

“It won’t, I promise,” she said earnestly.

Prescott smiled, his eyes assessing more than her value as an investment counselor. He was looking at all of her, his gaze lingering a tad too long on her breasts and she had to suppress a shiver. “You’re a lovely woman, Miss Whitney. I understand your boyfriend’s protectiveness, but I need your assurance he will not make trouble should I need you beyond the minimum hours for the job.”

“I thought the job was part-time?”

“I may want to call on your expertise outside your usual hours and there are times I entertain business associates that I might find your presence invaluable.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” But her shock at his request showed.

She didn’t think it would be out of character for her to react this way, so she didn’t berate herself. Besides, he’d said he was looking for the quiet sort. She did shy well, since it was a natural part of her personality.

Prescott smiled, his cold gray eyes going almost friendly. “Good. Do you have a number I can contact you at tonight to let you know my decision?”

She nodded and wrote down the number for the hotel. “We’re checked in under Ethan’s name.”

“Very good. I’ll call you and let you know my decision personally.” He brushed her fingers with his and she had to fight to keep from yanking her hand away.

“Um…that’s wonderful. Thanks.” Her skin itched with discomfort as she unobtrusively slipped her hand back and stood up. “I’ll just collect Ethan and go.”

He stood and took her arm. “Let me walk you, Beth. I may call you Beth?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Should you end up working for me, you will call me Arthur. I do not stand on formality with my closer advisors.”

“Um…thank you.”

He certainly stood on formality with his security team, but he was looking at her like a meal he’d like to devour. While it made her skin crawl, she couldn’t help thinking it was a totally unexpected development. She couldn’t wait to tell Ethan. Surely if Prescott was interested in her as a woman, she had a better chance of worming information out of him that could be useful.

They were thirty minutes from Prescott’s estate back toward Portland before Beth felt comfortable bringing the subject up.

Ethan’s reaction was explosive. “What the hell are you talking about? You are not the agent in charge of securing information. You are the conduit, Beth. You will not encourage Prescott in any way.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. With a little effort on my part, I’m sure I could end up at some of these business meetings he mentioned.”

“It would be totally out of character for your role.”

“Wrong. You’re not looking at the big picture here, Ethan. I’m a fairly intelligent woman. And no matter how shy I am, I’m bound to chafe at restrictions placed on me by an overprotective boyfriend. I can encourage the attraction under the cover of a minor rebellion on my part.”

Ethan’s jaw hardened and his hands tightened on the steering wheel. “You aren’t encouraging anything. I mean it, Beth. This man is dangerous and you aren’t trained to play that kind of role with him.”

“I don’t think it takes a lot of training to do the man-woman thing.”

“That’s where you are wrong.”

“You seriously think I need agent training to engage in a light flirtation?”

“You are not engaging in anything with Arthur Prescott.”

“You don’t think I’m woman enough?” She crossed her arms and looked out the window. “I may not be gorgeous like Elle, but he’s already interested, Ethan. All I have to do is encourage him a little.”

“It has nothing to do with your feminine allure. I obviously think you have plenty of that.”

She said nothing.

He frowned. “Believe me, Beth, this kind of thing requires proper training.”

“I just don’t see what kind of training I could possibly need just to flirt a little.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Maybe I would.”

He shot her a sideways look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, we’ve already agreed that you and I started this sex thing between us because it was good for the case and I’m just wondering if a big portion of your response isn’t training.”

“I never agreed to any such thing.”

“You said the timing was because of the case.”

“That’s not the same thing as saying I’m taking you to bed for it.”

“Whatever.”

“I thought we already had this discussion.”

“We did.”

“But you came away with the wrong conclusion.”

“I don’t think so.”

The noise he made was one hundred percent masculine irritation. “Do you honestly believe that if my response to you was nothing more than part of my training that I would be worried about the level of intensity? Believe it, or not, I’m more professional than that.”

“You said it had been a while. You’re reacting more strongly than you expected, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t part of some master plan.”

“Seducing you was not part of my master plan for the case,” he gritted.

“You didn’t exactly seduce me.”

“Damn right I didn’t. It was entirely mutual.”

“I never said it wasn’t.”

“You implied it was just part of the job on my side.”

She was sure to an extent that was true, but he obviously felt there was more to it as well. The man was really worried about the intensity thing. “Maybe it would be less confusing if it was.”

“Why? So you could compartmentalize me with your other fantasies?”

“It’s more than a fantasy now.”

“Yes, it is. It’s a relationship.”

“Not hardly.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Do you notice how you swear a lot when you get irritated?”

“It only happens with you.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Ask my mama. She raised me not to curse in front of women, but you wind me up.” And he sounded apologetic about that. Embarrassed even.

“I don’t mean to.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute. You’ve got an ornery streak, Beth, about as wide and deep as a Texas gulley.”

“Gullies aren’t that wide…or deep.”

“They are in Texas.”

“According to Texans, everything is big there.”

“It is,” he said suggestively.

She laughed. “Well, I’d have to agree about some things anyway.”

He smiled, but then went all serious again. “We have a relationship, Beth.”

“We have sex. That you want to keep light.”

“We’re friends and we’re lovers; that makes it more than just sex.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. And I also say that you are not going to encourage Prescott in his attraction to you.”

“If I think otherwise?”

“I’ll pull you from the case.”

“You wouldn’t. It took too long to get this in. You aren’t giving it up on stubborn principle.”

“No, I’m not. But I’ll give it up to ensure your safety. You know he’s dangerous.”

“So you’ve said, but just because he sells information to the enemy doesn’t mean he’s going to hurt a woman.”

“He’s had women and men killed, Beth.”

“Because he knew they were agents. He doesn’t know about me and I’m not going to blow my cover.”

“Are you attracted to him?” he asked through stiff lips.

“Are you kidding? He gives me the willies.”

“And you think you can hide that?”

“I think if I can’t, he’ll like knowing. He’s that kind of man.”

“Which is all the more reason to keep your sweet behind out of his sights.”

“I don’t think it’s my behind he’s interested in.”

“With a man like him, you never know.”

“Now, you’re just being an alarmist.”

“No, dam-darn it, I’m not. Men like him eat women like you for dinner.”

“Give it a break.”

“I’m being serious here.”

“You’re being paranoid.”

“We agreed I was the agent in charge.”

“We also agreed that I’m not brain-dead.”

“I never said you were.”

“Then don’t treat me like it.”

“Disagreeing with you is not doubting your intelligence.”

“Maybe not, but trying to lay down the law without talking about it is.”

“We have been talking about it!”

“Don’t yell at me. We started off with one of your unilateral commands if you’ll recall.”

“Which you didn’t listen to.”

“I listened, I didn’t agree.”

“I’m going crazy here, Beth. Stop arguing with me just for the sake of it.”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

“It feels like it.”

“As opposed to me simply disagreeing with your decision?”

“Yes.”

She laughed. “But I do disagree.”

“And when we disagree…”

She sighed, knowing what he wanted her to admit. “You get final say as agent in charge.”

“Good answer.”

“After due deliberation and discussion.”

“Is there more you want to say on this?”

“Only that I think we should leave the option open.”

“We aren’t going to exercise it.”

“I agree…for now.”

Ethan questioned the sincerity of Beth’s agreement that evening when Prescott called to tell her she got the job. She gushed and used a breathy voice Ethan considered strictly his…for those times when he made her breathless. He tackled her on it when she hung up the phone and she laughed.

“I was nervous. It showed.” She didn’t look nervous to him, sitting there in the chair by the desk. She looked excited, her dark eyes glowing with anticipation.

He’d taken off his boots and was lying on the bed going over the architectural plans for Prescott’s house and grounds. The house was modeled after a large English manor, complete with a maze and rose garden. On the Oregon coast for crying out loud. The man was pretentious and rich enough to indulge his tastes.

“Sounded more to me like you were flirting. He probably thought so, too.”

“I’m glad.” And she had the temerity to look like she meant it. “I didn’t realize I’d be so nervous when he called and I wouldn’t want that to come through the phone lines.”

He scowled. “We agreed you were not going to flirt.”

“I didn’t flirt, but I’d rather he thought I was doing that than that I was so nervous at a job offer I could barely speak.”

“Try harder next time.”

“Try harder to be nervous?” she asked, sounding confused.

Annoyance spun through him. “Not. To. Flirt.”

She gave him that look, the one that said she thought he was being ridiculous. “Since I wasn’t flirting, that should be no problem.” She bit her lower lip and twisted a dark strand of her shoulder-length silky hair around her finger. “I hope I’m not a total basket case once I start working for him.”

“You won’t be. This job is going to be a piece of cake for you.”

“Yes. Right.” She looked like she was committing that fact to memory.

He bit back a smile. He wasn’t sure why she was so concerned, but she had no reason to be and she’d realize that sooner or later. As long as she refrained from tempting the tiger to hunt with her flirtation.

At that moment, Ethan wasn’t completely certain which man he considered the tiger she had to be wary of unleashing-himself or Prescott. “When do you start?”

“He would like me to start next Tuesday. He’ll be out of town on Monday. I told him I could.”

“No problem. We talked about this and we’ve already got accommodations.”

“We do? Then why are we staying at a hotel?”

“Convenience. Another layer of safety. The team is still working on setting up security.”

“When is move-in day?”

“Monday.”

“That’s good timing.”

“Always.”

“Are we staying here until then?”

“It makes the most sense. Did you pack before we left?”

“Maude has my suitcases she can ship tomorrow.”

“Mine, too.”

“I guess we were both pretty confident this was going to work.” Beth was still twisting her curling hair around her finger, her expression uncertain.

“Yeah, we were. But you aren’t sounding so confident now.”

She took in a deep breath and let it out. “I guess it just became a lot more real for me when I got the job. How long do you think we’ll be out here?”

“I don’t know, baby. A job like this can last as little as a week with a lucky break and as long as a year if things get hard.” Strangely, the thought of living a year in the same house, sharing a bed with Beth, did not bother him at all.

However, she blanched, looking almost sick at the prospect. “A year…I hope we get a lucky break.”

Her reaction bothered him and he had to force himself to reassure her instead of demanding what her problem was. She probably wanted to get that new life of hers started right away and he didn’t want to hear about it. “I’ve got a good feeling about this case. It won’t last forever.”

“You won’t let it. You really want to nail Prescott.”

“You know it.”

“You really think he’s responsible for the deaths of your friends?”

“I know he is, Beth. Don’t ever underestimate the evil that lurks behind the charming exterior.”

“He’s not charming.”

“You didn’t sound like you didn’t think he was charming on the phone.” His voice sounded accusing and that bothered him.

He’d never been possessive like this with a woman before, but like he’d told her, she wasn’t trained for that sort of undercover work. And he didn’t want her hurt, or compromising the case. That’s all it was.

“Are we back to that?”

“I’d rather be in bed.”

Her eyes widened, and instead of interest he read panic in their dark depths. “We haven’t had dinner yet.”

“We can order room service. Later.”

“But…”

“I told you…I think lots of sex is going to help us control the intensity.”

Her face went blank and then she got that stubborn look. “About the intensity,” she said the word like it was something sour she was trying to get off of her tongue. “I don’t know how to do light sex.”

“We’ll work on it together.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean, you don’t think so?” His heartbeat was hammering inside his chest all of a sudden for no reason.

“I mean I think that no sex makes a lot more sense than trying to keep intimacy between us low-key. I’m not like you. I haven’t been trained how to divorce my emotions from physical pleasure with another person.”

“I never said my emotions were divorced from you.”

She stood up, slipping on her shoes. Not a good sign. “You said you need to keep your focus on the case and I agree. I don’t want to do anything to put this assignment in jeopardy. I haven’t had your training. I definitely don’t have your experience with casual sexual encounters. The smartest thing for both of us to do is to pull back from any sort of physical intimacy.”

“I’m not a damn gigolo.”

“I never said you were.”

“Casual sexual encounters?” he asked with a bite to his tone that would have made a rattler turn tail and run.

She just shrugged. “Call it whatever you want, but we just aren’t in the same league. I knew that going in, but I didn’t realize it would be so hard to hold back my emotions, or that you might have a problem with how good the sex was between us. I’m not like you, Ethan. I’m not like my parents. When I feel, I want the freedom to express those feelings and I’m not comfortable sharing my body or my bed with a man who has issues with intensity. I want you. You know that, but I’m asking you not to capitalize on it.”

She didn’t raise her voice, or get choked up, or any of the other feminine emotional weapons at her disposal. She spoke with quiet dignity, every word laced with conviction. She wasn’t budging. Not for her own sex drive. Not for him. Not for anybody.

She picked up her purse. “I’ve come to realize I’m an intense person. And that’s okay with me. You don’t have to like it. My parents don’t have to like it. Alan didn’t have to accept it. But I do accept it and I’m through trying to fit in with people who don’t. You said we were friends and I’ve always believed we are, but we’re going to have to make this assignment work without the sex thing.” She stepped toward the door. “I want to go to dinner. I’ll wait for you to get ready if you want, but if you’d rather stay in and get room service, I’m fine going on my own.”

“Just like that, no discussion?” He wasn’t only talking about dinner and he knew she was smart enough to see that.

She nodded, a small but decisive jerk of her head. “It’s the way it has to be. I need you to accept that.”

“You think we can live together in the same hotel room and keep our hands off each other?”

“If we both try, yes.”

“And you expect me to try?”

“I wouldn’t respect you if you didn’t.”

“Only a woman would come back with an answer like that.”

“If I were a man, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

“Damn right.”

She laughed when all he wanted to do was howl at the moon in frustration.

He glared at her. “Let me get my boots on and we’ll go.”