Spy Games by Gina Robinson Read Free Book Online Page A

the doorway. Ket had a bad habit of sliding warning messages under doors. Fortunately, I didn’t see any.
    “Okay. Looks like FSC didn’t pull any more tricks,” I said, trying to slide past Van. But he held me back.
    “I’ll go in first. You stay here until I give the all clear. Here, hold our uniforms.” He was polite enough not to call me a big, fat chicken as he handed me our new wardrobes. For all he knew I was overreacting to the staged break-in.
    I kept an eye on him as he stepped into the bathroom. “Everything okay in there?”
    “Nothing here but soap, towels, and toilet paper.” He stepped back out and checked the closet.
    I noticed he was frowning. “Something wrong?”
    Dear God, don’t let him have found another calling card from Ket, I thought. My heart raced with fear at the mere thought.
    Van slid the closet door closed without comment and I relaxed a little. He took a step into the room and spied my packed suitcase sitting on the suitcase stand by the dresser and turned back to look at me. “You’re certainly prepared. Everything zipped up and ready to go.”
    “Yep. That’s me.”
    He picked up my suitcase. “I’ll carry this for you.”
    “You mean, wheel for me?”
    He grinned. Across the hall, he performed the all-clear inspection in my new room before taking the suitcase stand from the closet, setting it up, and depositing my luggage on it. “There you go,” he said, “you’re all settled in.”
    Only I wasn’t quite. I’d set our uniforms down and had my back to him. Ignoring him, I inspected the deadbolt lock and security latch on the door.
    He came up behind me. “More Oprah tips?”
    “A girl can never be too careful.”
    “Let me take a look. I have some experience with locks.”
    I stepped back out of his way and over to my luggage. I know it was cowardly, but on the off chance that Ket, or someone, had stuffed a little present in my suitcase, I wanted to open it while Van was still there. Fortunately, my suitcase came up clean and so did the locks.
    We finished our inspections simultaneously. Van came over to where I stood in front of the luggage rack between the dresser and the adjoining room door.
    “The locks are good,” he said, standing very near me, crowding in on the heart of my personal space so close I could feel his body heat.
    “Great.” He was distractingly good-looking. He smelled delicious, too. Scientists say that if you like someone’s scent it’s a good indicator of compatibility. Well…I loved his. And the best part was he smelled completely different than Ket. The smell of Ket’s signature cologne was an automatic turn-off. I rejected any man who wore it. “Thanks.” I felt almost shy and suddenly nervous as I looked up into his eyes.
    “You going to be okay here tonight by yourself?” His question sounded more like concern than a come-on. I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed by that or not. Part of Ket’s legacy was that I didn’t trust my judgment in men anymore.
    “I’ll be fine.”
    He reached an arm past me and thumped the adjoining room door. “I’ll be just on the other side of this door. I’m going to unlock my side. If you need anything, come on over.”
    I nodded. Up close, I could see the golden flecks in his eyes. Our lips were so close, it would have been too easy to lean into a kiss. Only I panicked and looked down.
    He took his cue and stepped back. “Until tomorrow then.”
    I walked him to the door and locked up behind him, thinking what a big, scared dummy I was. One little kiss, what would that have hurt?
    The thing was, I liked Van. Probably way too much for having just met him. Though he looked like he could take care of himself, he was a math professor, not a cop or an FBI agent or something. Not someone who was equipped to deal with a maniacal Ket.
    I sighed. I’d had very few dates, and no real relationship, since Ket. And it was going to be hell starting one if I rejected every guy I genuinely liked