Lucy Monroe - Satisfaction Guaranteed

“Yes. We put you in as the mole and Ethan plays the part of your boyfriend, a much more suitable role to his personality. He’s a writer who has been wanting to move to the West Coast for inspiration. You see this job offer as a godsend so you can stay with him.”

It was a believable scenario and more tempting than she’d ever let on, but for one problem. “I’m not an agent.”

“And I don’t need you to be. It’s Ethan’s job to use the in you’ll give him to take Prescott down.”

“But this isn’t how we do things,” she said faintly.

Her dad knew she did not want to be an agent. He knew that fieldwork was the farthest thing from what she wanted to do. Especially a job that would require this kind of proximity to Ethan.

“We could use another agent, but we’d have to pull someone in from a different agency for the expertise. We don’t have time for Ethan or anyone else to bone up enough on this. You have legitimate work experience to use for references and the mild-mannered personality he’s looking for, Elizabeth. Not to mention that your background is going to be very tempting to Prescott.”

“You mean he’ll see her as a source of information?” Jayne asked.

“I believe so. Yes. Her mother has political connections and as far as anyone knows I work for the State Department.”

“You don’t think that will tip him off?” Ethan asked. “You want to use her real identity?”

“Beth’s life is an open book except for her job here. The more real the person we plant as a mole is, the better chance we have of getting one on the inside. Arthur Prescott did not get where he is by being easily fooled.”

“But she’s not an agent,” Ethan said, repeating her words. “It’s too dangerous for her and the case to send her in.”

Beth agreed, but didn’t get a chance to say so.

“She trained, she just never used the training.”

“Because I didn’t want to.”

Her dad’s expression turned cold and stern. “I’m well aware you have no desire to be an agent, but TGP needs you, Elizabeth. Are you going to turn the assignment down?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“There are always choices, Elizabeth, but your interview is set up for the day after tomorrow at 9 A.M. Your letter of application is in this file, along with a brief detail on my recommendation for your cover with Ethan.”

“I’m the agent in charge on this case, why wasn’t I informed of this prior to these steps being taken?”

“The advertisement came out when you were finishing up your last case. You’d already started preliminaries on Prescott, but you had other fish to fry at the time.”

Beth wanted to welcome Ethan to her world but managed to keep the flippant comment to herself.

Her dad turned to her. “You’re a shoe in for the position, Elizabeth.”

“Who will cover my duties while I am gone?”

“You’ve been asking for another admin, so I hired one. She’ll cover for you while you are away.”

“But she won’t have any time to train.”

“You’ll be available via computer and phone and I will be here.”

Her dad had no clue how key her role was in the agency, but he would learn and maybe in doing so…he would get a small lesson in not dictating other people’s lives without giving them any input.

“If I’m working for Prescott, I won’t be available all the time.”

“We’ll make do.”

“Assuming she gets the job.”

Now that nettled. “I assure you…the man would be a fool not to hire me. I’m exactly what he wants.”

Ethan frowned. “You’ll be working with me, Beth…as the subordinate agent. Remember that.”

Something thrilled through her at his dominant tone, but she was careful to keep her expression cool. “Yes, sir.”

“I’m still not comfortable with the level of risk for your daughter,” Ethan said to her dad.

Whit frowned. “In this building, she’s an employee, and right now she’s the best chance we have of getting an in with Prescott. That’s all that matters.”

The words sliced through Beth, but she didn’t let that show either. When had anything but the job mattered to her father?

“Besides, you’ll watch out for her. You’re too good at your job to let her get found out.”

“You’ve got me slated as a writer? How is that more my speed than bookish?”

“Writers can be eccentric, brooding, whatever. And I never said you couldn’t do bookish.”

Personally, Beth thought Ethan could probably do brooding very well. Her dad dismissed the other agents, but he and Ethan stayed in the room to finish discussing the Prescott case.

“So a relationship between us is my cover,” Ethan mused.

“Yes. Toward that end, you two need to spend some time together off hours. You know the drill. Your connection has to appear to have depth and as Elizabeth and you both pointed out, she’s not an agent. She’ll have a hard time faking it.”

“You want us to have a relationship?” Ethan asked, sending Beth’s pulse ricocheting toward the moon.

“I want you to be comfortable enough with each other for it to be believable.”

Ethan nodded, while Beth got her breathing under control.

“So, we spend time together off hours.”

“I’m not going skydiving as a form of togetherness.”

“What would you rather do, meet at the library?” Ethan mocked.

What she’d rather do was get the guy naked, but that was taking the pseudorelationship a step too far. Make that several steps too far. “The library sounds like a good place for a writer to meet his girlfriend.”

“A certain kind of writer, maybe, but not me, baby.”

There was that baby word again. She squeezed her eyes shut, but that only made the images of what it might be like cuddled in this man’s lap more vivid to her mind’s eye.

“I’m sure you two can find a common ground.”

She opened her eyes, doing her best not to hyperventilate. “Arthur Prescott is never going to believe I’m dating a man like Ethan. He’s not my type.”

“Aren’t I?” Ethan asked, just as if he knew the kinds of fantasies that kept her awake at night.

“No one is your type at the moment, Elizabeth. And Ethan is a damn good agent. He’ll have no trouble playing his role convincingly.”

“What about me? I’m not an agent… I don’t play roles.”

“Are you turning down the assignment?” her father asked in that no-nonsense voice that meant he wanted a straight answer. Now.

She looked at Ethan.

“I want the bastard, Beth. I’m not comfortable with you being the connection between us, but I’m damned if I can see another way in.”

She’d taken the job with TGP because she wanted something different in her life, but she’d taken it for another reason, too. She believed in the work her dad and the other agents were doing. She really did. She might hate the toll it had taken on her life with her dad, but she admired and respected him for what he had done for his country. She couldn’t help feeling that way.

And she couldn’t help wanting to bring a lowlife like Arthur Prescott down, too. The man had no loyalty to his country, no consideration for the safety and welfare of others, and too much opportunity to wreak havoc in their technocentric world.

She sighed. “Maybe we could start with dinner?”

Her dad took it for the tacit agreement it was and nodded approvingly.

Ethan’s eyes darkened with something she did not understand. “Dinner. Tonight.”

“Tonight?” she squeaked, back to the verge of hyperventilation. “We don’t even know if he’ll hire me yet.”

“He will,” her father said with confidence.

“And we don’t want to wait until we find out to start preparing the backstory. I’m not into sloppy agenting.”