Julie Kenner - Undercover Lovers

She might as well have slapped him. Carter had been too stunned to move. “What?” he asked. “What is it?”

With increasing urgency, she’d pressed against his arm. “I have to go.”

She broke free and ran down the hall, then up the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the corridor. He turned, instinctively looking around to see if anyone had witnessed her odd behavior. Nobody. The halls were completely empty.

It was only after the echo died that he realized what must have happened. It had all been a ruse. Their final tests were coming up, and so far he’d managed to pull ahead of her in every area. The Bureau didn’t formally rank its graduates, but everyone still knew who had the top spot. Right then, it was Carter. But Tori wanted that spot. Wanted it bad. And, damn it, apparently she even wanted it enough to try a little seduction to throw him off his game. He didn’t know why she’d run. Maybe she’d chickened out. Or maybe that was her game plan all along—get him hot and then get out of there.

He sighed. A damn shame. For a moment there, he’d thought they’d actually connected. He should have known better. Tori was too competitive by half. If anyone ever connected with her, it would be a damn miracle. He’d only wished she had run out on him before he’d got a major hard-on. Because all he’d had to look forward to that evening was a long, cold shower.

At the elevator, Carter sighed as he pulled himself out of his memories. He’d been her nemesis back then, and knowing Tori, she still had it in for him. At the very least, Tori was going to be less than enthusiastic about partnering with the man who—at least in her mind—stole her number one ranking in firearms, physical training and the classroom portion of their academy training.

He stepped onto the elevator, his mind reeling. Not that he was still interested in Tori. He got enough excitement in his job. She might have once been roll-in-the-sheets material, but nowadays, Carter’s interest in women leaned toward the more stable variety.

Swallowing a snort, he shook his head at his foolishness. No matter how he felt about her now, the truth was, he’d spent his days and nights at Quantico with a permanent hard-on, courtesy of a woman who drove him completely nuts and who probably never wanted to see him again.

A woman who was now his partner. A woman he was supposed to keep out of trouble.

The elevator doors slid shut, and he pressed his forehead against the cool metal.

Damn. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

“EAGLE’S NEST, this is Redbird. I’m in place.” Special Agent Tori Lowell ducked behind the Dumpster in downtown Hogan’s Alley, ignoring the repulsive odor of rotting food and who knows what else and waited for Murphy’s reply to register in her earpiece. She didn’t have long to wait.

“Roger, Redbird.” A burst of static, then, “Hatchlings, the rest of you give me an update.”

“Bluebird here. In place. No action.”

“Sparrow. Same here.”

“Seagull. Someone’s coming. Hang tight.”

Tori monitored the conversation through her earpiece, adrenaline pumping through her veins. The area behind the Dumpster stank to high heaven, and she longed to get out and see what was going on. But her orders had been firm—on this routine training mission, she wasn’t to do anything but observe unless she was given a direct order.

She sighed, resting her forehead against the rusty metal. How the devil was she ever supposed to prove herself if her superiors never gave her the opportunity? Carter Sinclair had been working in the field since they left the academy. Apparently, his career hadn’t suffered from their little liaison that night at Quantico.

She tightened her hand around the barrel of her gun, struggling to control her temper. She was just as good an agent as Carter—maybe even better—and yet she’d been locked inside an office building. Her superiors told her it was because she was good at research, and her mentor in the Bureau—an overprotective family friend—backed up that assessment.

But Tori didn’t believe it. She was too good to be chained to a desk. Which meant the only explanation was Carter. She’d made a mistake and had agreed to go out with the super-sexy agent. And then, when the wine and the moonlight had gotten the better of them, she’d succumbed to heaven in his arms.

She sighed at the memory. Oh, God, it had been heaven. At least until they’d been seen. She’d never discovered who their witness was, but she’d seen him in the shadows, watching her and Carter. He must have reported them; there was no other explanation. Her little tryst with Carter was reported to the higher-ups, and Carter, being a guy, still landed the primo assignments. Tori, however, got stuck in FBI hell.

It wasn’t fair; it wasn’t fair at all.

Bang! Crack!

Shots fired. Tori pressed her back against the brick wall, one hand on a pile of empty paint cans for balance. Her whole body tingled as she fought the urge to leap out and see what was going on.

Stay put, stay put, stay put. She repeated the mantra in her head, hoping the order to engage would squawk in her earpiece. More than anything, she wanted to get off the research and analysis grind. Technically, she was a field agent, but it was a rare day when she actually got to go out in the field. No, one little mistake, and she’d been stuck pushing paper in Investigative Services Division. She was good at the research, good at the analysis, but, damn it, she hadn’t joined the FBI to sit at a desk.

Her father had been an amazing undercover operative. Legendary, even. True, he’d hardly ever been around, but that was only because his work had been so important. When he’d died, Tori and her mom had just about died, too. From that moment on, Tori had wanted to fill her dad’s shoes.

She hoped she had what it took, but she really didn’t know. Tori had always been good in the classroom, but the real world was untested and, frankly, that made her nervous as hell. She’d always been among the best, but what if she wasn’t any more? The thought was sobering. She needed to prove herself, to live up to her father’s standards. And she’d do whatever she had to.

But so much was working against her. She was a woman in a man’s world. True, there were more female agents in the Bureau than ever before, but that didn’t mean the women didn’t have to work harder to get to the same place.

Her every attempt to get an undercover assignment had been foiled, and she’d spent the duration of her FBI career with her butt in a chair and her eyes on a computer monitor. The work was interesting, no doubt about that, but it wasn’t the same as going undercover. So far, her efforts had hit a brick wall, and she was angry at herself for helping to put that wall in place. She’d been attracted to Carter from the day they’d met. And, considering the many times he’d asked her out, that attraction was reciprocated.

She’d given in against her better judgment, and she’d been paying the price for years.

Now, though, she had a real chance. Follow orders, do the job and—hopefully—get the transfer. She held her breath, waiting for the order to engage.

Unfortunately, her earpiece remained stubbornly silent.

The alleyway, however, wasn’t nearly as quiet. Pounding footsteps broke the stillness. Someone running. And a voice shouting for him to halt and put his hands up.

Closer…closer…

She could apprehend him. She was in position. She could do it. All she needed was the go-ahead.

But still nothing in her headphone. Damn.

“Eagle’s Nest, this is Redbird. I’ve got a bead on the perp. Do I have the go-ahead?”

A burst of static hit her ear. “Negative, Redbird.”