Page 29 of Shadow of the Moon

Devlin grinned down at her. “Oh, honey, you know this is one of our songs,” he said plaintively, and a little louder than necessary.

Amberly glanced around. They were not the only couple dancing, at least, but she wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “Why did you drag me out here?”

Devlin pulled her tight and moved into an easy, swaying dance. “Because I specifically remember dancing to this on our honeymoon in Aruba. And the night we got married. Do you remember?”

“Yes,” she admitted grudgingly, “but this isn’t the time or place to dance down memory lane. The players are here. We need to be listening and gathering as much intel as we can.”

“Granted,” he murmured, “but we also need to look like a believable couple. We have history. Why not let them see that?”

She shook her head with a huff, and he reached up to brush her dark bangs away from her forehead. “Besides,” he whispered, “They haven’t even connected yet. It’ll be a few minutes before they get down to business.”

Amberly knew he was right. She just hated to admit it.

“Just give yourself a minute to remember. Then we’ll sit down and be superspies, listening to the Russians make a deal with a paramilitary flunky.”

Amberly snorted. “Fine, but no grabbing my ass.”

“Oh, baby, that was the best part,” Devlin growled in her ear, sending shivers up her spine. Then he slid his hands low on her hips and spread his fingers wide, aligning their bodies.

Amberly breathed out a sigh and rested her head on his chest. She could feel how excited he was to have her in his arms. “Oh, Devlin.”

For just a moment, she would allow herself to be just Amberly, a woman once in love with a dangerous man. They swayed across the dance floor, reacquainting themselves with each other, and she knew it was a dangerous thing, being with him like this. Because it would make her want again, and she didn’t know if she could survive it if it fell through.

They swayed and brushed and teased, and when the music ended, they stared at one another for a long moment, before quicker, upbeat music chased them from the floor. They walked back to the table, hand in hand, and she didn’t want it to be because they were undercover. She wanted him to hold her hand because he wanted to, not because of some obligation.

And there was no way of knowing what they were walking into going after Regent. Maybe she should snatch at the happiness she could. Last night she’d held back, but if he approached her the same way tonight, there would be no turning away.

They settled into their chairs and Amberly shifted hers over a little, so that she and Devlin could brush shoulders. It’s also gave her a little better line of sight to what was going on a few yards away.

The Russians had gotten their drinks and were more than halfway done with them. Even as she watched, the big male tipped his head back and swallowed down the rest of the mug of beer. The bartender brought him another, removing the empty. The couple didn’t really seem to be talking to one another, but maybe she just couldn’t hear them.

“Hopefully they’ll come to him,” she murmured, reaching up to run her fingers under his chin. The bristles were growing in a little. It had been at least a week or two since he’d shaved. She’d always loved the grunge look on him. Two whiter lines of hair bracketed his mouth, his chin still fairly dark. Devlin had had almost black hair most of his life and at one time she thought that was when he’d been most handsome. But seeing him settle into his age was even better.

“We should be so lucky,” he said, capturing her hand and kissing her fingers. “How is your arm?”

“It’s all right,” she said. “I don’t want to enter a rowing competition or anything, but it’ll work if I need it to.”

Within a couple of minutes, Zed motioned to the bartender for another bottle of whiskey. Once he got it, he carried it over to sit on the other side of the Russian female. Outside of their range of hearing.

“Shit,” she murmured. There was no way they would hear anything that far away.

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll work out,” Devlin said quietly.

Amberly didn’t think so. When she’d left for the meet in Chicago, she hadn’t planned on going any further than Chicago and the single meeting, so she didn’t have a lot of the fun toys the CIA had available to their officers. What she wouldn’t give for a damn bug right this minute. Even if it looked awkward as hell, she’d get it over there somehow. But, it wasn’t gonna happen.

Frustration boiled in her and it was hard to remember that she couldn’t just go over there and hold them at gunpoint to make them tell her what they knew.

“We just have to be patient,” he told her calmly.

Amberly could only see what they were missing out on. Vital information was being shared there, and she couldn’t get to it. “Maybe I can go compliment the woman or something,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her calmly. “Give it a few minutes.”

And he was right. Within about five minutes, things began to happen. The big Russian jerked his head around at something Zed said, then the woman rocked her head back and laughed, drawing the gazes of most of the men in the bar. The woman slid off the stool, saying, “You two work it out. I have to find restroom.”

In her tall heels, she swayed through the bar. It was obvious she loved the male attention, and she did the most with the body she had. Amberly moved to follow her, but Devlin put a hand on her arm. “Too obvious. Just wait.”

Amberly gnashed her teeth, aggravated that he wasn’t allowing her to do her job.

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