Chapter Nine
Jack sat on Maddie’s bed, his back against the headboard, typing on his laptop and stealing a glance at her now and then as she paced the room. “You’ll be fine. As you’ve reminded me, it’s not as if you haven’t done this before.”
She waved away his words, her nose scrunching up adorably in her frustration. “I know. But I’m going to have to ditch that perv Senator Miles before I can move into position to intercept Hale. And won’t that look wonderful? Flirting with one old man to get into the hotel room of another?”
Jack grunted and lifted a brow at her. “Careful. Congressman Hale is only a few years older than I am.”
Maddie halted her pacing and turned an apologetic look on him. “You’ll always be young to me, Jack—no matter what your age.”
“And handsome too?” he asked, offering her an over-the-top “sexy” look, playfully wagging his brows at her. “Tell me the women will never notice my gray hair and age spots when I’m old and decrepit, because they’ll be too enraptured by my stunning good looks.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. He could see the tension easing in her shoulders but could’ve used a little something to ease the tension he felt creeping into his muscles when she flashed him a playful smile and ran toward the bed, leaping at the last moment and landing beside him with a laugh. He tried not to notice how her full breasts bounced invitingly beneath her T-shirt.
If she saw the look in his eyes, she pretended not to notice as she rolled over and looked up at him, still grinning. “Yes, handsome too,” she said. “You’ll be the sexiest geriatric Templar ever.”
He shook his head and begrudgingly dragged his gaze back to his laptop, looking over the building plans that Finn had sent them. “Here,” he said, pointing to a stairwell on the east side of the ballroom. “This looks like a good route for ditching perverted elected officials if he corners you before you head upstairs.”
She scooted up until she was sitting next to him and leaned in to see the screen, her breasts pressing into his upper arm. He tried to focus on the screen. He failed. Miserably.
“Yeah, that should work,” she said with a terse nod. “The bar is in this little alcove, so I can pretend to be getting us a drink and then slip out to the stairs. And you’re sure Congressman Hale will be in his hotel room at that point? He wouldn’t be at the party?”
Jack shook his head. “According to the itinerary Finn was able to find, the congressman won’t be entering the party until around eight o’clock. Apparently, he likes to make an entrance after everyone else has arrived.”
She nodded again. “Okay. And what should I tell Hale about why I’m there? Presumably you will have intercepted Claire before then.”
“All you need to do is keep him busy until I can secure the flash drive from Claire and prevent her from making a scene at the party.”
Maddie lifted her face and gave him a wry look. “And how exactly am I supposed to do that? I imagine he’s going to be a little put off by me suddenly cornering him in his room.”
Jack tried to focus on her eyes and not the soft lips so close to his own at that moment. “Be honest. Tell him you know about his involvement in Ralston’s death and that even now evidence is being sent to the authorities.”
“And you think that’ll keep him busy?” Maddie asked, her nose scrunching up in doubt. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t have his security detail throw my ass out.”
Jack turned his mouth down briefly in the equivalent of a shrug. “True. But it’s also possible that he’ll try to talk himself out of trouble or implicate someone else, giving us another lead. Finn and his people will be listening in and recording the conversation, so just roll with it.”
She drew back slightly, eying him warily. “And how do you intend to persuade Ms. Davenport to hand over the flash drive? She doesn’t have any dirt you can use as leverage.”
Jack thought he caught a note of jealousy in her voice. “I don’t. It doesn’t take much to find something like a flash drive concealed on a woman’s body. And she and I met earlier in the hallway, so—”
“Youwhat?” Maddie interrupted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Good question . . .
“I didn’t think it was pertinent,” he said.
“Is she as pretty in person as she is in the dossier photo?”
He suppressed a grin, pleased more than he liked to admit that she was fishing for information. “She is beautiful,” he admitted. “I can see why Will is so taken with her.”
Maddie leaned back against the headboard and picked at the hem of her T-shirt. “Well, at least seducing her won’t be completely horrible.”
“I’ve seduced women who were less attractive, certainly,” he said with a shrug. When she snorted derisively, he grinned and closed his laptop, setting it on the bedside table before turning back toward her. “But seeing as how I have no intention of seducing her . . .”
“That’s what Will was asking you to do, though, wasn’t it?” Maddie blushed, making the freckles on her nose seem darker in contrast.
He nodded. “Probably. But I think that was more for his own benefit than a real directive on how to handle this situation.” When her brows came together, he explained, “I think it was Will’s way of trying to convince himself that he has forgotten about Ms. Davenport, that he’s not interested in her except as a pain-in-the-ass reporter he keeps having to deal with every time she gets too close, and now as someone who needs our protection.”
“And you think that’s total bullshit,” she surmised.
