Lucy Monroe - Satisfaction Guaranteed

“You live to drive me insane.”

“Oh, no…don’t blame that on me. I have it on good authority all agents are a little crazy. It comes with the job.”

“It still bothers you that I’m an agent.” She hadn’t sounded bitter, but he knew.

She shrugged. “What is must be accepted.”

“Oh, very Zen.”

“You think so?”

“Sounds like it could be…or one of my grandmother’s bits of wisdom.”

“She’s into Zen?”

“She’s into old sayings that carry a world of truth.”

“I like that.”

“I do, too. You’d like her.”

“I’m sure I would.”

Despite having to spend time listening to the goings-on at Prescott’s estate and having another agent there to help, Ethan and Beth spent a lot of time together. And it felt right.

She went to work on Monday morning determined to get into Prescott’s office, but was shocked when he called her in to speak to him.

“I trust you had a good weekend, Beth.”

“Yes, Arthur. Ethan wasn’t working, so we got to spend a lot of time together.”

“I see.” He frowned, looking concerned. “In the general way of things, I stay strictly out of my employees’ personal lives.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Arthur, Beth. I want us to be friends.”

“Thank you.”

“I find what I’m about to do distasteful. Not that I am wrong to do it, but it is always distressing to me to have to point out the perfidy of others to someone as sweet and innocent as you.”

“Perfidy?” Had Prescott discovered Ethan was an agent? Why would he tell her?

“Especially in relation to someone you love.”

“Um…I don’t think I understand.” But her heart was beating a mile a minute.

“Beth, my dear…I have something to show you and I know it is going to upset you.” He stood up and came around his desk, putting his hand on her shoulder. “You have only worked for me a short time, but I feel that we connect.” He paused. “As friends. I want you to let me be your friend right now.”

“Thank you, Arthur, but I don’t understand what’s going on.”

He guided her around his desk and pressed a button on his computer so the image from a security tape started running. It was the upstairs hall and Ethan was walking along it with Miss Fournier. Her hand was under his jacket, caressing him. He was guiding her toward a bedroom.

“I don’t understand…how did you come across this?”

“It’s my habit to watch my security feedback after I have guests in my home.”

She wasn’t touching the why of that with a barge pole. “He told me he was helping her because she wasn’t feeling well.”

“Is that what it looks like to you?”

“It could be. Women go for Ethan, but that doesn’t mean he responds. It’s her hands all over him. Do you have cameras in the bedroom?” She didn’t think Ethan would have risked going on the roof if that was the case, but she had to ask.

“Not that bedroom, no.”

“You have cameras in some of your bedrooms?” she asked, feigning shock, but feeling disgust.

“Some people who stay in my home can be security risks. It is a protective measure only.”

She managed to hold back a cynical I bet. “I appreciate your concern for me, Arthur. I really do, but I don’t think this proves Ethan was doing anything other than what he said he was. Helping the woman out. You don’t know him like I do. He wouldn’t cheat on me.”

“Beth.” Prescott shook his head. “You are so innocent and good, only seeing the best in others. Mr. Grange is a very lucky man.”

She let him hug her shoulder even though it made her feel claustrophobic to have him so close. She used the diversion to press the listening device to the bottom of the desk near where she stood. Ethan would be proud of her.

“The smarmy, self-seeking bastard.” Rage ripped at Ethan’s insides and he wanted to pound something. Preferably Prescott’s skull.

Beth had waited to tell him about Prescott’s attempt to discredit Ethan in her eyes until they were in the cabin after he picked her up from work. She had good instincts, always careful to discuss sensitive stuff behind the wall of their security.

“Don’t get so upset,” she soothed, her voice soft and so damn feminine it made his dick hard despite his anger. “It’s not as if I believed him. I know why you were in that room with Celine Fournier and frankly, I’m glad he thinks it was for the reason he does.”

Ethan knew his fury was all out of proportion to the situation. This was a case and as Beth had pointed out, it was a good thing Prescott wasn’t wary of his motives for going upstairs. But none of that seemed to matter.

“The idea of anyone trying to undermine our relationship pisses me off,” he admitted through gritted teeth.

Her big brown eyes widened, as if his words had really shocked her. “But he’s one of the bad guys. We expect this sort of behavior from him.”

Uncomfortable with the feelings roiling inside him, Ethan paced away to stare out the window. “I know he’s a lowlife slug without a shred of loyalty to his country, but this is getting personal, Sunshine.”

“Ethan, you’re the kind of agent who takes all your cases personally.”

He turned around to frown at her. “I’m a professional.”

She didn’t even look minutely intimidated. Her eyes were filled with the kind of warmth that could be addictive. “You’re a man who cares about your country so much you’d give your life for its safety. You’ve risked your life on more assignments than I care to think about.”

He shrugged. “I’m an adrenaline junky. Everyone knows that.”

She didn’t smile like he expected her to, but got all serious like a woman intent on knowing and exposing the secrets of his soul. For a man like him, it was a terrifying look, but he couldn’t make himself break eye contact or turn away.

He needed to hear what she thought of him. Of why he did what he did.

“Maybe,” she said after several seconds of intense silence, “but you’re an agent because you care, not because you need your adrenaline fix. You’ve got a superhero complex and I, for one, find that irresistible.”

Then she did smile, but he couldn’t match her lighthearted expression. Her attitude touched something deep inside him that no one else, not even his family, had ever come close to. She was right. He did want to be a hero for his country. Not so others would look up to him; he didn’t care if anyone ever knew what he sacrificed for the greater good. But he needed to be part of making the world a better, safer place.

It wasn’t something he’d ever admitted out loud. Not even when he told his dad he wanted to do something besides ranching. Back then he’d been too embarrassed to admit to such lofty goals and since then, he’d gotten used to hiding his true nature behind his adrenaline junky image.

Beth saw through him though. “I think you’re the only person who sees that about me,” he admitted quietly.

“I doubt it. A discerning person couldn’t know you very long before realizing you want to save the world from evil.” Again the smile. So darn sweet. So incredibly beautiful to him.

“But the fact is, others don’t see it, Beth. Why do you know me so much better than anyone else?” It really was a puzzle to him.

They’d only been “together” for a matter of weeks and he’d never told her any of this. Or even hinted at it.

“You’ve been my obsession for two years, Ethan. A woman learns a thing or two about a man when she spends so much time thinking about him.”

“So, it wasn’t all sex…even in your fantasies.” Man, he liked hearing that.

She looked startled and then shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. But it did. To both of them.