Page 40 of Sweet Little Spies

“The Agency is excellent at changing a narrative,” Kenzieinsisted. “In this case, we’re McKay-Taggart bodyguards, and we don’t have topretend. Which makes me sad because I like the undercover aspect. I would havebeen Carys’s friend from work. Kally the nurse. I had a backstory andeverything.”

“Not a nurse.” Kala’s reply let Carys know they’d beenarguing about this for a while. “Do you know nurse things? We can dress a woundin the field but there’s more to nursing. I’m glad we’re going in as abodyguard since we’ll be walking into a nest of highly trained doctors. Whatwould happen if they ask specific questions we can’t answer? You and your backstories.”

She wasn’t about to mention most of these doctors would bearrogant assholes who thought nursing was beneath them and they wouldn’t askanyone without an MD for anything except maybe another coffee. “It’s for thebest. The medical world can be kind of insular. These are guys in highlyspecialized fields or in what we consider sexy fields like trauma surgery. Theywon’t pay attention to you. Hell, when they find out I’m in obstetrics, they’llcompletely shut me out. I will be considered Dr. O’Donnell’s girlfriend.”

Kenzie frowned. “Well, now I kind of want to take all ofthem out.”

Carys shrugged. “It is what it is. Maybe we can use it toour advantage.”

“I’m sure we can,” Kala said. “Now how hardcore should I goon Tristan’s ass? Am I guarding the bedroom door?” She turned slightly, lookingat the doorway. “What do you say, buddy? Do we need to have a talk? I’m notworried about your friend there, but we do have to work together.”

Carys followed Kala’s gaze, and there they were. Tris andAidan stood in the doorway. Well so much for respecting her boundaries. “Iasked you to stay at your place. I’m perfectly safe here.”

“My place is our apartment,” Aidan insisted, and she wishedhe didn’t look so damn delicious. He’d changed into PJ pants and decided hedidn’t need a shirt. “I’m not leaving you, and I know Kala thinks she canintimidate me, but I’m not about to crawl away in the hopes my cousin won’ttake my balls.”

“And she won’t be able to keep me out.” Tris hadn’t changedyet, but he stared at her with dark eyes.

With eyes that reminded her of everything this man could doto her. Had done to her. He could make her feel in a way no one else could. Hecould also rip her heart out.

“Are you planning on letting Aidan and I do our jobs?” Carysasked since he’d been suspiciously quiet during the hours’ long meetingdiscussing how this mission was going to work.

“Not at all. I plan on talking you out of it. Aidan’s put usall in a terrible position,” Tristan admitted. “He got overly emotional, andnow we have to find a way out. I’ll come up with it. I think our best way outis to replace you with an actual operative. It’s not like Huisman will havestudied you.”

“Because I’m nothing more than a prop.” It was good to knowthey were all on the same page.

Tristan frowned. “I didn’t say that.”

Kenzie stood. “I think they have some stuff to talk about,sis. You sure you don’t want to bunk down with me?”

Kala followed her sister. “It’s more fun to freak TJ out.”She brushed past the boys and turned. “You sure you can handle them? I can tossthem out. Or sic Bud on them.”

“Yeah, Bud might lick me to death,” Tris said under hisbreath.

The massive mutt her cousins had rescued wasn’t exactly aguard dog. She didn’t need one in this case. It was time to start dealing withthe problem. “I’m good.”

When the twins were gone, Tristan closed the door. “I’msorry for putting you in this position, Carys. Aidan wouldn’t listen to me, butI do have a plan. I’ve already contacted a woman I work with, and she’s tryingto find an operative who looks similar to you. I can think of a couple, but wehave to make sure we can get her here soon so she has time to familiarizeherself with Aidan. I wish I could do the same for Aidan, but I don’t know anysurgeons who also happen to be operatives.”

He was such an ass. “What are the requirements to pretend tobe me? Similar-sized boobs?”

“You know she’s a doctor, too.” It was obvious what playAidan was making. He was pretending to be on her side.

“I know how smart she is, but you know not a one of thosefuckers is going to view her as anything but your girlfriend,” Tristan argued.“The type of medicine she practices, while of the utmost importance, is viewedby them as basic.”

“I don’t treat her like that.” Aidan moved toward the bed.“She knows a lot about trauma. She’s my first and best sounding board. Ifanything, I’m the one who’s dumb about what she does.”

He wasn’t at all. Aidan often challenged her. When they’dbeen in med school they would test each other. Even as they’d found theirspecialties, they’d tried to keep up with each other. “He’s quite proficient atobstetrics, but you’re right about the rest of them. They’ll see me as hisgirlfriend. Whoever you bring in won’t need to know much.”

“He’s not bringing in anyone,” Aidan declared. “If he tries,I’ll pull out. Tris, you think I’m some moron who got caught up in the moment,but I thought it through. Carys needs this. I do, too. We’re not going in asafe house. We’re going to end this.”

“The fact you think this is the end only tells me you haveno idea what you’re doing. This is an intel-gathering mission. We’re not goingin guns blazing,” Tris argued.

“He wasn’t talking about ending Huisman.” She needed to beplain with Tristan. “Once we’re done with this, we’ll be out. You and Aidan cango your way and I’ll go mine.”

“Not what I meant at all.” Aidan looked stubborn. “I don’tcare about Huisman. After we do this, Tris can decide if he wants to be with usor if he wants to run around the world playing superhero.”

“We are not sure there is anusat all.” It lookedlike she would have to be clear with Aidan, too. “You lied to me. You workedtogether behind my back, and I need some time to deal with it. The truth istoday might have been a blessing.”

“Getting shot at is a blessing?” Aidan asked, his eyes wide,and then his face fell. “You mean because we’re not married. So you don’t haveto divorce me because I lied to you.”

---