Page 27 of Death Wish

“I have a pretty good idea, considering the fireworks going off like the fourth of July inside me the last time you barely kissed me.”

Jesse watched her a moment, then nodded. “Come here. I’ll do it right this time.” He slowly urged her toward him until Simone was in his embrace. A bit at a time, he lowered his head until he captured her mouth with his.

The world stopped turning while fireworks exploded in her veins. Heat roared through her body as she inched closer to Jesse and wrapped her arms around his neck.

This was what she’d been missing every time she dated. Fireworks. Heat. Care for her as a person. How Jesse conveyed those things with his hold and his mouth moving over hers baffled Simone.

And how could this tough medic have a touch as gentle as anything she’d felt in her life? Was this the real Jesse Phelps? Or was this only for show?

Simone broke the kiss and stared up at the handsome operative. “Real or show?” she whispered.

“Both.”

She dragged in a shuddering breath. “We need to do that again.” Over and over a million times.

He chuckled. “Agreed. Not right now, though. We have a job to do, and you’re a distraction. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.” Jesse quartered the area as he escorted her inside the building to sign in, then to the bank of elevators.

She glanced at him as the silver doors slid shut. Gone was the dreamy kisser and in his place was the operative alert for a threat. They were on stage, she reminded herself. Someone in security who would report their movements and discussions to someone higher up the food chain monitored everything they said and did in this building.

They stepped out on Simone’s floor, and she led Jesse to the cubicle farm where she worked. Suspecting they were being observed here, too, she threaded her fingers through Jesse’s and tugged him to the back corner of the room where her cubicle was located.

As soon as she rounded the wall dividing her space from Joy’s, Simone knew someone had been snooping around her desk and computer. Good or bad? Perhaps someone was being extra cautious or Simone might have aroused suspicion yesterday.

She waved toward her workstation with a big smile on her face. “Here’s my station, baby. It’s kind of dull at the moment. I need pictures of you to decorate my space. I missed seeing your handsome face and gorgeous eyes yesterday.”

“We’ll do something about that soon,” he murmured, and trailed a finger down her cheek and neck. When she shivered, Jesse smiled and bent his head as though nibbling on her ear. “What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“Someone has been poking around my space.”

“Can you check things out while you chatter about nothing important?”

“Please. Multitasking is my strong suit.”

He captured her mouth in a quick kiss. “So, you still want to go out to dinner tonight?”

“Absolutely,” Simone said as she dropped into her seat and logged in to the system. As the computer booted up and loaded the programs, including the one she’d added to mask her work on the keyboard, she scanned everything on her desktop.

Someone had moved the pen holder and desk phone. How did she tell Jesse without blowing their cover? “Joy mentioned a couple of restaurants in Sayulita that have good food. Plus, we got in so late from work last night we didn’t have time to explore the town. I’d love to see the shops and get a feel for the town itself.”

“Sounds good to me. Ask Joy to join us.”

“Great idea. I’ll ask her when she arrives.” She reached for a pen and deliberately knocked the container over. Pens spilled onto the desk and rolled to the floor. “Oops.” Simone smiled wickedly at Jesse. “You kept me up too late last night, Mr. Porterfield. I’m afraid I’ll be a klutz today.”

“Want me to keep my hands to myself, babe?”

“No way. I’ll deal with the fatigue. Well worth the sacrifice of sleep.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his neck. “Phone, too.”

He gave a slight nod, kissed Simone’s temple, and released her. “I’ll take care of the pens while you start work.” He grabbed the empty pen holder, knelt and gathered the pens. As he picked up pens, Jesse used the desk to hide his examination of the holder.

A moment later, he removed a small black disk from the interior and slid the object into his pocket. Jesse stood, dropped the pens into the container, and handed it to Simone. “I have to leave in a minute to report in for work. Want to see if any of the restaurants Joy suggested require reservations? If so, I’ll call and set it up when I’m on a break.”

She remembered three restaurants Joy had mentioned but pretended that she couldn’t recall the names by searching for restaurants in Sayulita. As she did, Simone moved her cubicle phone closer to the keyboard as though simply repositioning it for her own convenience.

Jesse hovered behind her. When she pulled up one restaurant, he leaned closer to the screen. He pointed. “Can you pull up the menu? I’d like to see what my options are before we walk into the place. Joy said it was one of the most popular restaurants in town.”

Using his body as a shield, he moved the phone to Simone’s lap and turned it over. No weird black disks on the bottom.

He leaned down as though to see the screen better and opened the housing of the handset. Inside was a twin to the disk in her pen holder.

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