Page 6 of In Too Deep

I swallow hard, knowing what danger Theresa would be faced with in this line of work. I don’t know how Keith handled her constantly being in danger. I know he worried about it, especially when he would confide in me, but he always knew that this was her dream, and she was living it.

“Theresa,” I whisper. “These are dangerous men. You have Harry to think about.”

She sighs. “Don’t you think I know that? I’ve stayed up nights thinking about what would happen to Harry if something happened to me, but I need to do this.” She sits up, reaches over to place her wine on the table, and then looks into my eyes. “So this is where you come in.”

I brace myself for what’s to come.

“I need you to go undercover for the RCMP. I need you to get close to the club, especially the president, Vinney.”Oh, yes, Vinney, whose club name is Sparky—short for Sparkplug—because he’s a hothead.

“I need you to be our eyes and ears… you need to get in close. Get them to trust you, and when they do, they’ll bring you in as a member. If that happens, you will have access to all theinformation we need.” She pauses and then looks at me dead in the eyes.

“Cole?”

“Yes,” I reply, waiting for her to speak further.

“We need you as our informant.”

She stands, grabs her wine, finishes it off, and then places the empty glass back on the table. She paces the lounge room floor, deep in thought.

I won’t lie. What she’s asking of me is some deep shit. Shit that will get me killed. If the club gets a whiff of me being a snitch and working for the RCMP, they won’t just kill me, they will make me suffer a gruesome death. But that doesn’t stop me from answering her with the one word I know I would give without hesitation.

“Yes.”

Her head whips around to face me, and her eyes widen.

“You’ll do it? No getting back to me and taking a week to think on it?”

Nodding and smiling, I stand and walk toward her, placing my hands on her shoulders.

“I don’t need time to think, it’syes. You just tell me when and where.”

She leans in and hugs me, her apple scent reaching my senses, a perfume I’m sure is from her shampoo because every time I’m in her presence, I can smell the fresh-fruit scent.

She pulls back, looking up at me, and before I can say anything, she kisses me.What the fuck!I want to pull back, but I know she needs this. She’s missing Keith, and I’m the closest thing to him. Sure, I’ve imagined kissing her in the past. Who wouldn’t? She’s gorgeous and intelligent. Did I mention beautiful? But she’s my best friend’s wife, and I know he’s not here anymore, but this is still all too fresh.

Tasting her tears on my tongue, I realize she’s crying. Pulling back with my hands still on her shoulders, I take her in, noticing her eyes are looking at the floor. She knows that kissing me was a mistake—she’s in mourning and doesn’t even know what she’s doing.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpers, pulling back and walking toward the couch, crying in her hands as she sits. I let her sit there, getting her emotions in check. When she finally looks up at me, she wipes away her tears with the back of her hand, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry, Cole. I didn’t mean to kiss you. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Hey,” I say, taking a few steps toward her and kneeling in front of her. I can’t help but tuck away a strand that’s gotten free from her bun.

“You don’t need to ever apologize to me, Theresa,” I explain with a smile. “You know I’ve got you, right?”

She nods in reply.

“We’re all mourning Keith, and because of that, we do things we don’t mean. So don’t worry about it, okay?”

Theresa blinks away her tears and nods once again with a warm smile. Her hand reaches up to the top of my head, running her fingers through my hair.

“Your hair is growing,” she states, lightly pulling on the ends.

“And you have one of these, too,” she adds, scratching at my facial hair.

My fingers follow hers, running over my new beard. “Yeah, well, I guess now that I’m not serving, there’s no need to keep my hair short and no need to shave. Don’t you like it?” I tease, moving in to scratch her face with my facial hair.

“Stop.” She giggles, standing and running away. Smiling, I stand to face her, happy that she’s in a lighter mood. Our eyes connect, and she clears her throat.

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