Page 5 of Exposed

“I did,” he said, setting his carry-on black duffle on the floor near his feet then leaning back in his chair to stretch his arm across the back of her seat. The brush of his forearm against her shoulder sent tingles of awareness through her body and heat sparkled through her blood like wildfire. His next words, though, put a fast damper on that blaze. “But I don’t like the plan.”

Beth sat up straighter, leaning away from his touch. “Well, it’s a good thing then that I’m not paying you for your opinion.”

“You’re not paying me at all, sweetheart.” He gave her a slow grin that made her toes curl in her strappy sandals. “Even so, I don’t like using my real-life details on this trip, especially since we’re using fake names. It’ll be easier to stay in character if there are clear lines between what’s real and what’s not.”

He had a point. But it seemed to her that sticking close to the truth would be simpler—easier to remember, less chance of slipping up. There wasn’t enough time for Eric to learn all the intricate details of the fake life she and Jeff had put in place. They’d had weeks to learn their cover. She and Eric had… Beth checked her watch. Twenty minutes until takeoff. Crap.

Eric was watching her, his too-perceptive gaze narrowed, and part of her wanted to call the whole thing off. She needed a partner she couldworkwith—not someone who was going to challenge her on every point. But this story meant so much to her, and she couldn’t stomach the thought of waiting another six months before getting a chance to figure out what was going on. Someone was going to have to give a little—and if it wouldn’t beEric, then it would have to be her. She took a deep breath and forced a polite smile she didn’t feel. “What would you suggest?”

He gave a one-shoulder shrug, then winced slightly, rubbing his left side. “I say we agree now to a quick cover story. Something that’s close enough to our own truth that we won’t get tripped up if people ask us about it, but different enough that we’re protected.”

“Okay. Like what?” Beth shifted slightly to look at him.

“How about we swap a few things? I’ll be the workaholic writer and you can be a wife who’s just returned home from the service. Maybe while you were overseas, I got lonely and had an affair. Despite our troubles, we still love each other and want to try to work things out. That’s why we’re going to this retreat.”

“A little cliché…but not bad, actually.” She blinked at him a moment. She could fill him in on details for his writer-life cover and she had decent knowledge about the military from her research at work and from talking with her brother Heath. “I like the workaholic part. How about you put your career ahead of everything else now, including our marriage? Oh, and speaking of marriage.” She pulled a baggie from her pocket, after taking a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching them. “You’ll need this.”

He stared down at her outstretched hand. “What’s that?”

“Your wedding ring,” she said. She took his hand, feeling the warmth and strength in it, and slid the simple platinum band onto his finger. Hers was platinum too, but with a diamond solitary set on top. The stone glittered up at her beneath the overhead lights and even though this whole thing was totally a lie and the sparkling thing was a rhinestone, it suddenly feltall too real. For the next week at least, she and Eric would be playing husband and wife. A frisson of excitement fluttered through her before she tamped it down. “See? I have one, too. Necessary for our cover.”

This was all play-acting, putting on a show to fool the resort staff and the other couples and that was it. The more she reminded herself of that, the better. Besides she hadn’t been interested in anything like a white-dress wedding or a happily-ever-after for a long time now. Her career was her priority, not her love life.

Unexpectedly, Eric captured her hand in his then raised it to his mouth to kiss the backs of her fingers. Mesmerized, all Beth could do was stare at him, his eyes warm with amusement and his breath hot on her skin as he grinned. “Best start letting these people think I can’t keep my hands off you, right sweetheart?”

“Uh…” Cheeks flaming, Beth swallowed hard and searched for her words. She’d been the one to start this by greeting him with a kiss. Hell, by suggesting he join her at all on this trip. She had to be willing and ready to play her part. And that meant not blushing like a thirteen-year-old with a crush whenever Eric touched her.

She had to respond, had to show that she could take this in stride. She was opening her mouth just as she was interrupted by the intercom.

“Thank you for your patience—we are ready to begin boarding. Please gather your belongings and form an orderly line at the gate.”

She pulled away from him fast. “We should get in line.” She rose and put her laptop bag over her shoulder. It was a kind of armor for her and gave her the strength to say what she needed to.“Remember not to get too carried away. We’re supposed to be a couple having problems, right?”

“But we’re working on our marriage,” he reminded her. “One of my faults is that I haven’t paid enough attention to you, so I’d be trying to make up for that, right?”

Okay, she had to admit that that made sense. But that didn’t mean he should be making overly romantic gestures all the time. If he did, it would get really difficult to keep that line drawn between real and fake. “True, but let’s not forget, this is all pretend.”

Even if a tiny part of her didn’t want it to be.

4

Eric stared out the window of the cabin beside him and sipped his frou-frou tropical drink. They’d been on the packed private jet for nearly seven hours now and under normal circumstances he’d have been climbing the walls. Small spaces weren’t his forte. They made him feel trapped. And while flying didn’t usually bother him, the smaller confines of the private jet combined with their full group of couples made this trip a bit too close for his comfort.

Still, being with Beth calmed him, for some reason. Then again, it could be the alcohol in these drinks too. He had no idea what exactly went into making an Ipanema Explosion, but it tasted like rum and coconut and paradise and after three of them, he didn’t much care about anything at all.

“You doing all right, dear?” Beth asked him, looking up from her laptop screen. She’d spent most of the flight working while he’d napped or watched the in-flight movie on the screen in the back of the seat in front of him.

"Just fine, sweetheart,” he responded. He’d suggest two hours earlier that she put her laptop away sincehewas supposed to be the one of them who was a workaholic, but she’d insisted that no one could see her screen. If anyone asked, she planned to tell them she was reading a training manual for her next deployment. He tried to picture her in the service and failed. She was tough enough, she was disciplined, and he didn’t doubt her courage or resolve, but something about her attitude suggested she wouldn’t be great at taking orders.

She gave him a side glance, then continued clacking those keys of hers on her computer. “Want me to have the attendant bring you another of those fruity drinks?”

He snorted, amused. The irony of their positions was not lost on him. He was used to being the man in charge, a tough-as-nails alpha who commanded respect and led the pack on his SEAL team. But for the sake of her story, he’d let these people on the plane with them think whatever they wanted. He was here to protect Beth and if that meant laying low and playing her husband then so be it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please stow away any electronic devices and secure your trays in their upright position as we prepare for our final descent to the island,” an attendant in a crisp blue uniform said. “Thank you.”

Beth did as he’d asked and Eric straightened in his seat, watching her as she tucked her laptop away in the tote she’d slid beneath the seat in front of her. He’d thought she’d looked hot in her office attire the day before, with her form-fitting black pants and bright turquoise top. But man, oh man, she looked downright gorgeous today. Those long, tanned legs of hers displayed to perfection by her white shorts and the way that navy and white striped top she wore outlined her curves ought to beillegal in all fifty states. He had to stare out the window again to get his damned body back under control.

This was ridiculous. He was only here to help her out and to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble, per his promise to his buddy. Heath would have a cow if Eric so much as laid an inappropriate finger on his little sister. Not to mention the fact that Eric didn’t do relationships and Beth had “deserves better than no-strings-attached” written all over her.

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