Surrender to Temptation (Agent Lovers Series Book 1) (26 page)

Gratefully Gray and Chris accepted the offer and went to tell the women the news. Fifteen minutes later they were already on their way to their new assignment.

***

When they returned late in the evening three days later Liz and Jennifer had already packed their bags and begun to get ready to return to their old lives.

Gray leaned in the door frame with his arms crossed and watched Liz. He’d been in such a hurry to get back from the assignment, he hadn’t even taken the time to swap his uniform for civilian clothes. It had felt as if his future depended on getting back to Liz as quickly as possible, and making sure she didn’t slip through his fingers.

Jeff might be able to stall with regard to the doctor appointment, but it wouldn’t take the women long to see through his brother’s excuses. That meant haste was necessary. The speeding ticket he had gotten on the way back was a price he was more than willing to pay if it meant being able to thwart Liz’s potential disappearance.

It took all of Gray’s will power to keep from storming across the space between Liz and him, ripping her things out of her hands, and cramming them back into the dresser drawers. Back, in his opinion, where they belonged. “What’s all this? You haven’t even been to the doctor yet and you’re already packing your bags?”

Liz turned and looked at him. “He’s only going to confirm the obvious. We’re completely healthy and fit for duty again. And I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to my apartment and my own life.” Then she went on packing her things into the bag.

“And what about us?” he asked softly.

“What about us? I told you several times, we don’t have a future together because of our jobs—and because I’m not a person who has relationships. Nothing’s going to change that. Just accept it, Gray.”

“Have you ever tried? To have a committed relationship, I mean?”

“No. Why would I? I know it wouldn’t work.”

“Then what we have between us doesn’t mean anything to you?
I
don’t mean anything to you?” Gray held his breath. If she gave him any reason to think that he wasn’t important to her, he would let her go. But if she didn’t, he would see his plan through.

“I never said that! Of course you mean something to me. But I’d rather end it now before our feelings go too far. If I don’t, we’ll just be miserable when we break up. And it’s guaranteed that that would happen. We
would
break up.”

Slowly he exhaled, feeling pleased, even though no emotion showed on his face. So Jeff had been right all along. This was something he could build on.

“Liz?” Again she paused in her work and gave him a questioning look. “If you think you can dump me that easily, you’re fooling yourself. I would never let you throw me away like a pair of old tennis shoes.” As he spoke, he kept as cool as a cucumber.

“Stop it! I’m an adult and an independent woman. I’m going back to my apartment. How are you going to stop me? And why should I try committing to a relationship instead of staying independent?”

Tolerance wasn’t one of Gray’s well-developed traits. He believed that everyone had to dance to his own tune, but he didn’t have any patience for her objection. He knew of only one answer to her question, but he didn’t dare voice it. That would trigger an argument that Gray couldn’t win. Instead, he turned on his heels and left a confused looking woman behind him.

***

The next morning after a thorough examination, the doctor pronounced Liz and Jennifer completely recovered. Gray and Chris stayed in the waiting room during the exam, awaiting the confirmation that the women were healthy again and fit for duty.

“I told you we should have just taken our things with us! Now we have to make the trip twice, and that’s ridiculous.” Liz pinched her brows together and shook her head at the stupidity of that decision. Gray forced himself not to get worked up and threw a quick glance at Chris who sat next to him in the passenger seat. Chris was smiling secretively to himself, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the traffic flowing down the highway with feigned interest.

Liz looked at her friend, who shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She didn’t have any clue what was wrong with Gray and Chris, either. With an exasperated sigh, Liz leaned back, deciding it would probably be better if she didn’t complain anymore. Gray and Chris were obviously sulking, presumably because of the impending separation. She was sure that was the reason for their behavior.

Liz looked out the side window, but she didn’t notice the passing scenery. She was busy thinking about the past few weeks.

After she’d finally accepted the no-win situation of having Gray as her babysitter for an extended period, Liz had hurled herself into a passionate adventure with him. Their time together had been fantastic: indescribably carnal, and marvelously uninhibited. She didn’t regret anything! But these four weeks weren’t Liz’s real life; they were an exception, a vacation from her everyday existence.

Regardless of how beautiful their time together had been, the time had come for them to go their separate ways. It was better this way. A well-timed separation would minimize the pain for them both. Liz liked Gray, despite his authoritarian and possessive manner, and she enjoyed having sex with him. But she didn’t want to fall in love with him, and the longer they stayed together the greater the chances were that this is exactly what it would all come to.

That was one of the reasons why she had agreed only to have a brief, sexual fling. She’d known from the start that this problem could occur.

There weren’t many things that Liz was afraid of, but after her mother’s death, any form of love terrified her. At the same time, love made her feel helpless because she didn’t know how to deal with it—didn’t
want
to deal with it.
What benefits did love bring anyway,
she wondered. Extended periods of disappointment, pain, loneliness and self-doubt always followed much too brief periods of bliss. Why should she suffer the foreseeable consequences of love when she could avoid them?

She admitted to herself that at some point, the time would come when she would fall in love, easily and without conditions. But no one could force her into that. She was certain of one thing: love was like fire. It needed air in order to burn, just like people needed air to breathe. Love required freedom in order to grow.

Liz turned her gaze to the back of Gray’s distinctive head. Did this man mean something to her? Yes, she admitted to herself with a twinge of panic. He meant a lot to her, in fact. Already much too much for her to allow the relationship to continue and escape its inevitable end unscathed. She didn’t want to love him, so it had to end. Today she would return to her old life and finally put an end to the adventurous time she’d spent with Gray.

The moment she made her decision, Liz sighed in relief. The fear subsided, and a familiar emptiness moved into its place—an emptiness she recognized, and that gave her a sense of security she welcomed. Feeling at peace with herself, Liz looked out of the window again and was surprised to see that they were already in the driveway at Gray’s house. Her freedom was nearly within reach.

***

Standing in the middle of the kitchen with Furball in her arms, Liz turned around at the sound of Gray approaching her. She looked at him in surprise; she hadn’t heard him come in.

“There’s something else I’d like to talk to you about.” His voice sounded business-like.

Before she could ask him what he wanted to discuss, he’d turned away and headed for his study. Confused by Gray’s somber tone, Liz looked around for Jennifer, but she was standing at the bottom of the stairs, embroiled in a conversation with Chris. It was a very short conversation. Liz saw a totally perplexed expression on her friend’s face, and then Chris grabbed Jennifer’s elbow and pulled her behind him, up the stairs. They disappeared around the corner.

Liz frowned and, with the cat still in her arms, proceeded to the study. She couldn’t imagine what Gray wanted to talk about now.

As Liz stood in the middle of the room and looked at him expectantly, Gray braced himself for her rejection. Slowly he closed the gap between them until he was standing right in front of her. He raised his hand, and with a tender gesture, swept her hair behind her ear. Then he took a deep breath, shoved a hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box. As he opened it he asked in a cautious voice, “Will you marry me?”

Liz stared at the two thin, beautifully simple pink-gold rings that lay on a bed of white velvet. It seemed to take a minute for his question to sink in. She looked up from the rings in shock, took a step back and shook her head vigorously.

“You’re crazy! What’s the point? We’ve known each other six weeks; that’s not enough to be the basis for anything long-term!” Gray turned away without a word, went to his desk and sat down.

He’d figured Liz would react something like this, but he’d still hoped she wouldn’t turn down his offer so definitively. He didn’t have any choice now but to put into action the plan he and Chris had worked out. Swiftly he typed a command on the keyboard and then turned the monitor toward Liz so she could see the screen.

Liz looked at the screen and found herself watching part of the video recording from her last mission. The recording ended after a few minutes. She looked from Gray to the monitor. Why had he shown her that? What did her mission have to do with his unexpected offer? As questions crowded into her mind, fear slowly crawled up her back like a snake. As alarm bells rang in her head as Liz cautiously asked, “Why are you showing me that? I know what happened. I was there.”

From his position in the huge leather chair he turned toward her and gave her a steady look. “Can’t you guess?”

Uneasily, her gaze flickered back and forth between Gray and the monitor. He wouldn’t really use the recording against her to get his way. Or would he? She unconsciously tightened her grip on Furball, until he struggled in her grip. With an angry grumble, he twisted out of Liz’s grasp, jumped to the floor and took flight.

“You know what I want from you.” With a nod of the head, Gray indicated the open box that sat on the polished mahogany desk. “My ring on your finger.”

Again Liz shook her head. She wrapped her arms around her torso. She felt as though the rug had just been ripped out from under her feet. “You can’t be serious!” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Oh, but I am! You have no idea how serious I am.” He leaned back casually. “If you refuse to marry me, I’ll send this recording as an e-mail attachment.” A devious smile played at his mouth. “I suppose you’d like to know to whom I’m going to send it?”

Liz’s eyes closed and she shook her head slowly. She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to hear him say “Harold Gibson.” The clattering of Gray’s fingers on the keyboard made her jump. Her eyes flew open again. Gray wouldn’t send the message without giving her the chance to talk him out of this absurd idea, would he? She exhaled in relief. The e-mail hadn’t been sent yet, though it had been composed. As she read the message, she held her breath. The message confirmed her fears. “Why are you blackmailing me?” Her words sounded like a helpless cry. “Dad is your business partner! You can’t possibly want to hurt him like this!”

“He’s my business partner, yes, but nothing more than that. Why should I spare him? Things would be different if, say, we were related. If that were the case, I’d move heaven and earth to protect him and the rest of your family if it were necessary.”

Liz closed her eyes in despair. There had to be some way to get Gray to give up this absurd idea. She saw only one way to convince him.

“You took an oath,” she reminded him. “Among other things, you swore that all confidential information would be safe with you and that you’d do everything in your power to prevent its release. You’ll be liable for prosecution, and for what? So I’ll hate you in the end? I hate you now—for your coldness and your dishonesty!”

Gray’s inscrutable expression gave her no hope that her argument had swayed him. Her hope disappeared. Smiling coldly, Gray held her gaze.

“You tell me! Would I break my word and disclose your little secret if you turn me down? How do you really think I became such a successful businessman? I didn’t get where I am by fighting fairly, Liz. Now and then a person has to… let’s say, operate outside of fairness in order to get what he wants. And you know what I want now.”

“To get me? What do you think I am? An object? Your
sex toy
?” Liz said desperately.

“I can and I will get you. If you don’t give me the right answer, I’ll email this message right now, along with the video clip. What’s your answer? Will you marry me?” The whole time he spoke, Gray had kept his eyes glued on her, closely watching her reaction. Now he looked right at Liz and waited for her decision. He managed to keep all emotion from his face—a skill any poker player would envy.

She noticed the change immediately.
Will
no longer
want.
He didn’t leave her any choice.

“You can’t make me,” Liz murmured, crestfallen. She chewed on her lower lip and looked back and forth between him and the message on the screen.

Desperately, she tried to think of a way out. But Gray had carefully thought everything out. “Will you marry me? I need a decision Liz—right now!” He leaned forward in his chair, ready to transmit the message with one click. With two quick steps forward Liz bridged the short distance between them. She reached for his raised hand and clasped it tightly in her own ice-cold ones.

“You’re sick,” she said.

“I told you I wouldn’t let you dump me.”

“All this because I don’t want a committed relationship? What if I just change my mind and stay with you? There’s no need to get married.” Her heart sank when he shook his head regretfully.

“That’s not enough for me now. Either you marry me, or I’ll send the message. Those are the only options you have. I asked you often enough to stay with me, but you turned me down every time. Now I want it
all
!” Gray waited for her answer.