Stranded with a Spy by Merline Lovelace Read Free Book Online Page B

I’m, uh, a little rattled by all this.”
    “Not to worry,” he chuckled. “I’ve heard worse.”
    Mallory would bet he had. His expertly tailored sports coat and Italian loafers shouted money, but she’d seen the man in action. He’d handled the beefy tourist who’d accosted her with unruffled ease. She suspected he hadn’t come by those powerful shoulders working out in a gym. Then there were those awful scars….
    Wondering how he’d acquired them, she flipped up his cell phone again. The sun was a red ball slipping toward the sea. She’d better finish her calls and find some place to stay the night.
    All too well aware that a hotel or inn would require a guest’s passport, she wrestled the number for the American Embassy from the information operator. The embassy was closed, but a recording gave her a twenty-four-hour emergency number. Unfortunately, the duty officer who answered didn’t classify a lost passport in the same emergency category as death, dismemberment or attack by suicide bombers.
    Mallory argued the point for some minutes before gritting her teeth and informing him she would call back tomorrow. During duty hours.
    “God! Bureaucrats! I can’t believe I’m one of them. Or was,” she amended darkly.
    Snapping the phone shut, she handed it back to Cutter. What the heck was she going to do now?
    Spend the night sitting at a table in one of the little bistros, she supposed, if she could find one that stayed open twenty-four hours. Judging by the departing tour buses and rapidly emptying causeway, Mont St. Michel was a day-tripper’s town. Mallory had the sinking feeling it rolled up its streets at night.
    Cutter’s deep voice dragged her from the dismal prospect of roaming dark alleys and narrow lanes in search of a spot to rest her weary bones.
    “I don’t like leaving you stranded like this.”
    “I’ll manage.”
    Somehow.
    “How about we walk back into the town and get you a hotel room for the night?”
    Mallory was too relieved to mouth even a polite refusal. “Would you? I’ll reimburse you, I promise. Just give me your business card or mailing address.”
    “No problem. Or…”
    When he hesitated, her heart sank. Visions of dark alleys once again filled her head.
    “Look, you’re going to need a base camp for a few days to get this mess straightened out. I’ve been invited to put up at a villa not far from here. You’re welcome to stay there for as long as you like.”
    Wariness replaced weariness. Her face stiffening, Mallory retreated behind the defensive walls she’d erected in the past month. “Thanks, but I don’t think so.”
    As if reading her mind, he gentled his voice.
    “It’s okay. I’m not like the jerk who harassed you this afternoon. I promise I won’t hit on you.”
    A smile crinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes.
    “Unless you want me to.”

Chapter 5
    D oubts pinged at Mallory during the thirty-minute drive to the villa.
    Cutter’s invitation had seemed genuine enough. So had his promise to keep his hands to himself. She wanted to believe him. She was too exhausted not to. Yet the ugliness of the past month kept coming back to haunt her.
    What if he’d recognized her from the vicious stories in the newspapers and on TV? Or overheard the nasty remarks that creep had tossed out this afternoon? Mallory’s ready capitulation and acceptance of his offer to share a villa would have reinforced the rumors of her alleged promiscuity.
    On the other hand…
    He’d come to her rescue twice now, each time with quiet and extremely effective competence. Despite her prickly doubts and still-raw wounds, she felt comfortable with him. And, as crazy as it sounded, safe.
    Besides, she didn’t have a basketful of options at this point. Every bone in her body ached with weariness. All she wanted was a bed. Any kind of a bed.
    “You said you’re a bureaucrat. Or were.”
    His voice came to her through the autumn dusk now filling the car’s