Melissa Cutler - Secret Agent Secretary

Passion ignites after office hours in this installment of the ICE: Black Ops Defenders miniseries

Bullets whizzed past as Ryan Reitano and Avery Meadows escaped into the night. How could Ryan have suspected Avery of being the mole inside ICE? It was true she was no ordinary secretary. The way she used her wits and her lethal stiletto heels against the gunmen pursuing them astonished the jaded agent. And that killer body he’d somehow never noticed before…

Too bad there wasn’t time to explore the possibilities. With Chiara’s men hot on their trail, capturing the mercenary was more than just a mission for Ryan. He had his own reasons for wanting the criminal dead. But with his surprising—and utterly enchanting—new partner, perhaps there’d be a chance for romance later…if they survived.

“Hold on—are we in some sort of danger?”

Looking into Avery’s wide eyes, Ryan let a wry chuckle escape his throat. He removed her hands from his lapels and held her wrists. “Right now I can’t decide if you’re honestly that clueless or if you’re the world’s best liar.”

She jerked away from his grip as if he’d burned her. Another twinge of regret jolted through him. He forced himself to remember it was a good sign, that feeling. It meant he had at least a shred of humanity left in him, which was saying something after all he’d seen and done in his life.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought you were conducting routine surveillance tonight, nothing dangerous. Otherwise, the whole team would’ve been here to—”

In time with the pounding bass from the ballroom, a booming shot rang out nearby. A second shot followed before he could react, lodging in the wall behind Avery. She shrieked.

Ryan pushed her ahead of him down the stairs as he retrieved his S&W .45. “Change of plans. How fast can you run?”

Dear Reader,

I love secret-agent movies and books, always have. From the larger-than-life action scenes and exotic locations to the even more spectacular heroes (hello, James Bond). Secret Agent Secretary features a Bond-worthy hero in ICE agent Ryan Reitano, who is ICE office secretary Avery Meadows’s tall, dark and drool-worthy office crush…and the only man who can keep her alive after she inadvertently plows into the middle of Ryan’s covert op to catch an international criminal mastermind.

Like me, Avery Meadows loves all things secret agent, but she takes her devotion a step further. Okay, several steps further. It’s the reason she became an ICE agency secretary and why her cats are named…well, you’ll have to read on to find out what she names her cats. By the end of Avery and Ryan’s story, you’re going to covet your own gadget watch and maybe even consider building your own secret lair. And you’re definitely going to want a smooth operator like Ryan Reitano to blaze into your life and whisk you away for a lifetime of adventure and true love.

Happy reading!

Melissa

Secret Agent Secretary

Melissa Cutler

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MELISSA CUTLER

is a flip-flop-wearing Southern California native living with her husband, two rambunctious kids and two suspicious cats in beautiful San Diego. She divides her time between her dual passions for writing sexy, small-town contemporary romances and edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense. Find out more about Melissa and her books at www.melissacutler.net, or drop her a line at cutlermail@yahoo.com.

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This book is dedicated to my two favorite secretaries:

Joanie, my inspiration for the story,

and my mom, Loutrisha,

who taught me that if you want to succeed in life, always be nice to the secretaries.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Excerpt

Chapter 1

The ICE Agency office was decidedly free of gadgets. Avery had known that in advance of accepting the secretarial position six years ago, but in her enthusiasm over the job offer, she’d overlooked the details that didn’t sync up with her lifelong dream to work in national security. Besides, no covert ops agency displayed their gadgets in plain sight. Everyone knew gadgets belonged in the basement.

She still adored her job even though she had yet to stumble upon a secret basement, but she could’ve seriously used a gadget tonight, some sort of mechanical arm or miniature grappling hook or the like. The problem was that she wasn’t flexible enough, nor were her fingers long enough, to grasp the zipper of her party dress.

In the office restroom, she spun in a circle, her body torqued at an odd angle, reaching for the zipper that was stuck in the middle of her back. Then it hit her that she was acting more like a dog chasing its tail than a single girl ready to dance her way into the New Year.

After giving up, she marched to her desk and flounced into her chair, chewing the lip gloss off her bottom lip in irritation. She should’ve taken Kristen up on her offer to primp at her house. Granted, that would’ve been awkward now that Kristen and Charlie were newlyweds, but at least she would’ve saved herself from engaging in a wrestling match with the slinky pink dress she’d spent half her paycheck on.

Rendezvousing at Kristen’s house also would’ve saved her from indulging her overactive work ethic. Here it was nearly ten o’clock on New Year’s Eve and she’d put in another thirteen-hour day at the office, leaving herself only twenty measly minutes to change clothes and walk four blocks to the downtown San Diego club where she was meeting her six friends.

“Oh, well. I bet Moneypenny works New Year’s Eve, too.”

Actually, the true reason she’d worked longer than any sane, healthy person would on a holiday night had nothing to do with her work ethic. The project she’d been helping several of the office’s agents with was bringing her the closest she’d ever come to assisting in the capture of an international criminal mastermind, which happened to sit at the top of her bucket list.

It didn’t hurt that the man in charge was none other than the office’s newest tall, dark and droolworthy agent, Ryan Reitano.

With a little smile, she glanced at his desk across the room. He’d transferred from a different branch of the department six months ago, and while the two female agents on staff hadn’t shown much interest in him, Avery sure had. Even if the man barely seemed to notice her presence, much less that she was female—and recently available.

She’d stayed late tonight composing a memo for Agent Lucey while stealing furtive glances at Agent Reitano as he got organized for his surveillance detail at the Mira Hotel in preparation for the big sting operation later that week. She’d just about worked up the courage to give him a genial “Happy New Year’s” hug on his way out when she heard his hasty exit as she was in the back hall making copies, off to do his supersecret spy thing while Avery couldn’t manage to zip up a stinkin’ dress.