For Her Eyes Only by Shannon Curtis Read Free Book Online

able to don a new persona as easily as donning a coat.
    “What are you thinking? Housekeeping? Hospitality?” Drew cringed. “Janitor?”
    Reese shook his head. “I don’t think so. The best way for them get some new blackmail material would be to cozy up to the guests, sit in on the therapy sessions. Housekeeping wouldn’t give them that access. The Maxwells can then approach on an equal level, pass themselves off as peers maybe. You won’t share personal information with a waiter, but you will with someone else in the same counseling group. So we’ll do the same. Ryan, you’re our resident chameleon. You’ll go in as a developer, wanting to ‘power up’ his business.”
    “You’ll need a couple,” Vicky said absently as she drew a pirate’s patch on Ryan’s caricature head. The room was silent for a moment. Vicky looked up. They were all looking intently at her. Drew was trying to hide a smile behind his mouth, but she saw it.
    “What?” Had she missed something? She closed her notebook with a snap.
    Maggie heaved next to her.
    Reese smiled at her. “Well, you’ve always said you wanted to do some fieldwork.”
    Vicky gaped at him. Yeah, she’d told him at that, at every performance appraisal, and just before this meeting, but—with Ryan? She meant conducting interviews, investigative legwork...but posing as Ryan’s wife?
    “Uh, well...” she paused. She would rather stick a hot poker in her eye than go undercover at a couples’ resort with Ryan.
    “No.” Ryan’s flat negation had her frowning. “You can’t be serious, Reese. She has no experience in the field, let alone undercover.”
    “Hey, I’ve had some training,” she protested.
    “That’s right,” Drew commented. “I’ve taken her shooting. She actually hits the target now.”
    “Well, normally I’d team you up with—” Reese stopped talking as Maggie again raced from the room.
    “I think it’s last night’s salmon,” Luke said, before he followed her.
    “Maggie,” Reese finished. He gestured to the door. “But, as you can see, that’s out of the question at the moment. Vicky will partner you for this case.”
    Ryan frowned. “Wait, no! She could get herself killed. She’s got no experience.”
    “What is it that you think I do around here, Ryan?”

Chapter Four
    A brief silence fell after Vicky’s softly spoken question.
    Noah closed his folder with a sharp snap. “I’m outta here. I’ll ask Jess if she can maybe organize a wardrobe for Vicky. If she’s going to mingle with the wannabe rich and powerfuls, she’ll have to look the part.” Noah beat a hasty retreat.
    “I don’t know whether to run or stay,” Mal whispered sotto voce.
    Drew folded his arms and leaned back. “Stay. It’ll be worth it.”
    Vicky ignored their comments as she waited for Ryan to respond.
    He held his hands out, palms up. “Come on, Vic. Be serious.”
    She leaned forward in her chair. “I am being serious. I want to go into the field.” She was surprised to find herself speaking the truth, and not just trying to annoy Ryan. She wanted to find Karl Kruger’s killer. She wanted to find whoever had hacked at her close friend and left her for dead. Everyone around here treated her like a glorified receptionist. She wanted respect. Most of all, she wanted Ryan’s respect.
    Ryan laughed. “Aw, come on, you’re not an agent.” He stopped laughing when he realized she was serious. “But...”
    Vicky narrowed her gaze. “So help me, if you say—”
    “You’re our Moneypenny. You stay...here. Where it’s safe.”
    Vicky gaped at him. Drew was making a choking sound in the background. She ignored it and shook her head in disbelief.
    He’d said it.
    “You said it.” She looked over to Reese, who was intently reading the file in his hands, as though it contained new and exciting information.
    She turned back to glare at the infuriating, gorgeous man across the table.
    “So I’m just some secretary for you to flirt