The Omega Team: Love: Classified (Kindle Worlds Novella) (6 page)

As she crawled between the crisp sheets, taking a deep breath of the familiar fabric softener, she dropped almost immediately into sleep. In her dreams, Joey kissed her, held her, and caressed her. When the dreams became too vivid, she opened her eyes and accepted she wasn’t dreaming anymore. Joey was with her, in her bed, despite his earlier denials. And he was gloriously, perfectly naked.

“What are you doing?” she sighed into his lips.

“Calming you down,” he said, sliding her shorts off and slipping his hand between her legs and stroking her to a quick, lovely orgasm.

“God,” she moaned, pressing him onto his back and straddling him without preamble. “I need you inside me.”

“That makes two of us,” Joey confirmed, his smile still wide, his fingertips digging into her thighs. “You feel amazing,” he said, pulling her down so he could suck her nipple into his mouth. “Come again, Paige,” he muttered around her flesh. “Show me.”

She ground down on his pubic bone and closed her eyes, feeling the climax roll up her spine until it hit her brain and shot down to her pussy, making her yelp. He clapped a hand over her mouth, hooked her leg and rolled them until he had her pinned beneath him. Even as the orgasm gripped her in waves of pleasure, his thrusts drew it out. She gripped his muscled arms, angled her hips and took him deeper.

“Gonna . . . can’t stop,” he groaned and covered her lips just as she felt him shudder all over and release inside her. “Oh, shit,” he sighed, his body still thrusting against hers. “Oh . . . shit!” He rolled off her fast, leaving her gasping and empty. “Oh shit, Paige, I didn’t use . . . are you . . . crap.”

He sat on the side of the bed, head hanging low, shoulders shaking. Paige got up on her knees and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “It’s fine. I take a birth control shot. No baby mamas here. And I’m clean.”

He sighed and dragged her around so she sat, cradled in his arms. His kiss was soft and gentle, and the sexiest damn thing ever. “You’re pretty amazing. Everybody thinks so,” she said mumbled around his lips.

He chuckled and kissed her nose, then stood up still holding her, turned and tucked her back into her bed.

“That was a nice surprise,” she said, already feeling herself slip into sleep.

“A little quick,” he admitted. “Sorry. I’ll make the next one better. I was, uh, a little pent up.”

“I can imagine,” she whispered. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he whispered back. “Sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.”

“I . . . think I love you,” she said, praying she was dreaming and not actually saying those words to a total stranger.

He smiled at her, his teeth shining in the moonlight streaming in her windows, pecked her nose, then got up and tiptoed out of her room.

Joey woke with a start, his training bringing him fully awake in an instant. He sat on the edge of the guest bed, reliving his decision to sneak into Paige’s room the night before and finding that he didn’t regret it, not one bit.

The phone that had woken him made another loud buzz from the side table. He grabbed it, recognizing the “No ID” immediately.

“Preston,” he answered.

“Please hold,” a robotic, vaguely female voice intoned.

“Joey.” Grey sounded out of breath. “I’m really sorry, man. But I need you.”

“When and where,” he said, his heart clenching at the thought of bolting out of here.

“ASAP. You know I wouldn’t do this to you. Athena isn’t talking to me right now because I’m calling you in on this one.”

“It’s fine. Email me the info, as usual.” He stood and stretched, relishing the pleasant, post-sex, full-body lethargy. His throat closed up at the memory of Paige’s last words to him before she dropped off to sleep. 

“Yeah, I will. Listen, Joey, it’s a nasty one. Cartel.”

“Okay.” He was puzzled. Grey usually didn’t talk this much about a job on the phone. They used an encrypted email server for details.

“I’m pulling almost all assets in, which is why I’m calling you. I want you to lead on it. You know this asshole better than anyone.”

“Fine.” He was already concocting his excuses for leaving on Paige’s sister’s wedding day, none of which sounded feasible in any way. “Can it be tomorrow? I really need to finish something up here.”

“As long as you’re here by oh-seven hundred tomorrow.”

“I can make that happen.”

“Fine. Emailing you now,” Grey said before ending the call.

Joey spent the hour between five-thirty and six-thirty reviewing the case—a not so simple assignment involving the delicate extraction of a compromised double agent—and made his flight arrangement for early the next morning. Then he took a long, hot shower, trying to do another extraction in his head, the one where he concocted some kind of a breakup or something to allow him to leave the next morning, no worse for wear.

But Paige DiFerrari was deep under his skin, and he knew it.

With a sigh, he stepped out into the hall, a towel around his waist, and came face to face with Caroline DiFerrari, dressed for the morning’s brunch, her eyes puffy and red as if she’d been crying.

“Oh, sorry, ma’am,” he said, clutching the towel tighter. “Uh, are you all right?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Go on now, get dressed. We need to get to the country club.”

He nodded, mortified at his mostly naked condition, knowing his preoccupation with Paige was making him careless. He slipped into his room and put on khakis, a no-wrinkle blue button-down shirt, and a pair of loafers.

He opened the door of his bedroom at the exact moment Paige opened hers. He sucked in a breath at the sight of her, dressed in a fresh sundress, her damp curls bouncing around her shoulders, her skin flushed from a shower and, he hoped, his efforts the night before. He grinned and held out his elbow. He’d break the bad news to her later, he figured. She needed him to help her through the rest of this day first.

The summer morning heat baked down on their heads as they made their way to the country club. Paige stayed silent, chewing her lower lip and threading her fingers together in her lap. At one point, he put his palm on her clenched fist.

“Chill, DiFerrari. It’s just a brunch. What’s the worst that can happen? Burnt omelets?”

She exhaled and kept her gaze trained out her open window. “Something else is going on, I can tell.”

“What do you mean?” He turned left where she told him and pointed the convertible down an empty stretch of road that begged for a lead foot. So he used one, hoping to distract her. She gripped the armrest and grinned at him as the motor roared and the car sailed up and down the rolling hills.

When she tapped his leg, he slowed and turned into the already crowded parking lot of the Lucasville Golf and Swim Club. As she attempted to tame her hair, Joey got out and started to put the top up.

“Just leave it,” she said. “It’s not supposed to rain.”

“Again, is your name on the rental agreement for this beast?”

She shook her head, biting her lip again.

“Then let me make the decisions about it.” He finished securing the top and then held out a hand. “Let’s go, doll. Time to tick one more event off the wedding weekend to-do list.”

She stared at his hand but didn’t move. When he crouched down next to her, unable to resist the urge to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, he saw the tears standing in her eyes. “What is it, Paige?”

She shook her head. Her face was flushed, and her hands shook. He put a hand on her leg, letting himself recall the intense, too fast encounter the night before. She grabbed his hand.

“Something is up with my parents. I mean, they’ve always been a little, I don’t know, disconnected, but it’s gotten worse. I didn’t want to ask Les and worry her.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. You said yourself this has been a stressful month or two of planning, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, still sitting. Joey put his fingers on her lips.

“Stop gnawing on those. They’re mine.”

She slumped against him. “I don’t deserve you, fake boy—”

“I’m your fake fiancé now, remember? Give me the respect I deserve.” But his chest was tight as a strange sort of anger lurked under his surface.

“Why did you even say we were engaged?” She turned her face up to his. Joey pressed his lips to hers, parting them with his tongue briefly, relishing the delicious, remembered taste of her before breaking away and tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Because, despite your sloppy, messy, disorganized, overly-emotional ways, I think I may love you. Sue me. Now let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

She let him help her out of the car and hold her hand all the way to the massive double doors. Before he opened them, she turned and put her hands on his shoulders, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him with an intensity that took his breath away. In that split second, Joey’s entire universe narrowed to one woman—a woman who went against every single thing in his personality that he liked.

But her lips and her hands and her body . . . he groaned and broke the kiss, holding her at arm’s length. “Don’t,” he said. “Not unless you want me to pull you into a broom closet.”

She smiled and slid into his arms again. “I thought that wasn’t your scene. The whole quickie in semi-public kind of thing.” He closed his eyes when she bit down on his earlobe.

“I’m finding myself more flexible these days, for some reason. But seriously, you’re just stalling. Let’s go in and eat our brunch, then get ready to do whatever it is you have to do for the wedding. No sweat.”

She sighed and leaned into his chest. Joey held onto her, feeling strong and protective, and utterly undone.

“Okay, but only if you promise to sit next to me the whole time and keep your hand on my leg.”

“Deal. Let’s go.” He opened the door and guided her inside the cool interior.

By the time the brunch was over, Joey suspected Paige might be right about the “something” going on between her parents. But he resolved not to get involved. Besides, he’d be long gone by this time tomorrow. Speaking of “something else,” he still had to break it to Paige. As if reading his mind, she glanced over at him and put her hand over the one he’d kept on her leg, per his promise.

Caroline DiFerrari stood, swaying more than a little, and held up her champagne glass. “So, here’s to getting on with this day,” she said, before knocking back what remained of it. “And moving on to the next drama.” She shot her husband a look that could only be interpreted as a death glare, then threw her napkin down and started weaving her way out of the half-empty room.

Paige, Leslie and Angelique Love all rose at the same time and followed her. Al DiFerrari stared into his empty rocks glass, his expression blank. Joey sipped his coffee and looked at Robbie, who shrugged and turned to talk to his brother on his other side.

“Don’t have daughters,” Al finally said with a huge sigh. “That’s my advice to you men.”

“Sir,” Joey said, trying to resist the compulsion to follow Paige, but sensing he was supposed to stay here with the guys and do something else. What it was, he had no idea.

“All right, let’s get out of here.” Al DiFerrari tossed his napkin down and rose. Joey, Robbie and the rest of their table did the same. Al draped an arm around Joey’s shoulders as they walked out. “Not sure what you’re getting yourself into with my eldest, son, but all I can say is good luck to you.”

“Yes, sir,” Joey said. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, is there anything else going on, I mean, with you and, uh, your wife? Paige was really worried about you this morning and, well, when she’s upset, it sort of upsets everything. If you know what I mean.”

Al laughed so loud the wait staff clearing the tables turned to look at him. He smacked Joey hard enough between the shoulder blades to make him stumble forward. Impressed, he smiled at the apparently miserable man. “Oh, boy, you do speak the truth.”

“Yes, so,” Joey persisted. “Is there? Some other problem, I mean?”

Al stopped on their way down the hall toward the front doors of the private club. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Caroline wants a divorce,” he admitted. “Jesus Christ, I need another drink.”

“Better hold off,” Jody advised. “How about some coffee? It’s gonna be a long day.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Al agreed, waving his meaty hand.

“I’ll grab us some to-go cups,” Robbie said, shooting Joey a sympathetic look. “Be right back.”

Joey stood, the awkward silence spooling out between him and the man who would ostensibly someday be his father-in-law, were he not perpetrating a giant whopper of a lie this weekend. Once Robbie returned with three lidded cups of caffeine, Al took his and stared down at the floor. “She’s convinced I’m screwing the new sales girl at the dealership,” the man said,
sotto voce
. “And while it’s not like it didn’t cross my mind because I’m not blind or dead below the waist, I haven’t, nor do I intend to. But shit, she won’t listen to me, no matter how many times I try to tell her.”

Joey and Robbie exchanged looks but stayed silent.

“My own wife is a stranger to me now. I swear it. I used to think we’d enjoy these years, me not having to work every damn hour of the day, the girls out and on their own. But no, Caroline gets it into her fool head that I’m some kinda cheating asshole. She’s kicked me out of my own damn bedroom. Woman nearly concussed me with a crystal decanter two nights ago. She’s like some kind of a possessed demon.” He glanced up at Joey. “Quite the introduction to your new family, eh, son?” He patted Joey’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. Let’s go. The way I understand it, we are free to do whatever we wish for the next few hours, as long as I get this one to the church by three-forty-five, sober and dressed in his tuxedo.”

Robbie nodded. “I took the liberty of getting us a tee time for eight holes, Al.”

Al’s face split into a huge grin. “I knew I liked you. Come on, Joey. You can borrow my clubs.”

Joey held up a hand. “Ah, no, I don’t play golf.”

The men gaped at him as if he’d just said he didn’t eat meat. He shrugged. “I’m gonna head back to the house, I think. Maybe catch a nap.” He patted his over-full stomach.

“Suit yourself,” Al said. “But do me a favor and don’t say anything to Paige about . . . you know. Her mother and I plan to break that to the girls later. No need to spoil this weekend.”

His thoughts whirled, dipped and spun as he made his way back to the DiFerrari house from memory. Guilt over having to leave Paige here with this mess towered over almost everything else by the time he parked and headed up to the huge front door. He knocked, then eased the door open slowly, listening for voices. Not hearing anything, he made his way upstairs, ready to make good on that nap.

He lay on top of the neatly made covers, stared up at the slowly circling overhead fan and sorted through his options. But all he could see, or hear, or remember was her, the wild, crazy chick who’d dragged him here. But thoughts of Paige made his damn dick hard, so he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, pondering the real danger he’d find himself in within the next twenty-four hours.

His dream shifted immediately in an erotic direction. Paige’s lips, hands, and body filled his consciousness as he rolled onto his back, trying to wake up from it before he did something embarrassing, only to find her actually on the bed with him, unzipping his fly.

“Shh,” she insisted as she released his rock hard dick, then started teasing with her lips and tongue.

“Shit,” he sighed as he threaded his fingers through her hair and pumped his hips, groaning when she took him all the way down her throat. “Wait, don’t, I’m gonna . . .” But she kept going, her sweet mouth moving up and down his shaft, swallowing him then releasing in equal, rhythmic movements. “Baby,” he sighed as he let himself release.

“Time to go to a wedding, Joey,” she said, primly wiping the corners of her lips with thumb and forefinger.

He lay there, gasping like a fish, watching as she rose and snuck out of his room without another word. After he had his breathing under control, he got up, brushed his teeth and washed his face, then changed into a fresh dress shirt. A knock at his bedroom door made him smile. He opened it a crack, grabbed Paige’s hand and dragged her into the room, slamming the door and pinning her up against it, pressing her hands up over her head and kissing her until he saw stars.