Not in this lifetime. “No, thank you, Commander. I’ll get right to the point. This party we’re attending day after tomorrow. The senator didn’t mention Ian. I want him in place. If our mole is government and close enough to the Stantons to be worried about the senator’s investigation, then we could be walking into trouble.”
Reno was silent for long moments. “You’ll be followed by the Secret Service. I’ve gone over the agents’ files, they’re good men.”
“My gut is rocking here, Reno. I need Ian in place.”
He could feel that vague sense of danger moving in. It had begun to build the minute the senator began talking about the political party Emily was required to attend.
“You’ll have him.” Reno made the decision quickly. “Your dress blues will be waiting when you arrive at the senator’s town house tomorrow afternoon. I’ll arrange for Ian to have clearance on the flight in. We’ll leave one of the Secret Service agents in the condo Ian’s using to keep an eye on Miss Stanton’s home while you’re gone.”
Kell nodded at the shift in personnel. “We should arrive in D.C. by late afternoon according to the senator’s itinerary.”
“Clint will be waiting at the town house with the security layout of the mansion the party’s being held at and the route he’s laying in for the drive there.”
“Will you and Macey be in position?”
“Only as long as the senator is at the party,” Reno answered. “On another note, watch your ass. The senator is a little too pleased by something going on out there. If you’re playing tango with the senator’s daughter then he could make a very bad enemy when things go sour.”
“Any idea what he suspects?”
“None, but he got a phone call last night and the man’s smile was positively smug. When he finished, he pulled up your file and spent quite a few hours going through it. So watch your six, my friend.”
There could be few things worse than a former SEAL plotting another SEAL’s downfall by way of a wedding band. What concerned Kell was who would have called to assure the senator it was happening. Only one person had seen them together, seen them touching, and his investigation into her background had revealed nothing but a spoiled, bored little rich girl. Evidently the little rich girl was more than she allowed others to see.
“I’ll keep my eyes open—”
“And your jeans zipped,” Reno reminded him. “I know damned good and well what was going on after you saw that strip she did.”
“It was a lap dance.” Kell grimaced at the satisfaction in his own voice.
Reno snorted. “Make sure I get an invitation to the wedding. This would almost be worth watching.”
“In your dreams,” Kell growled. “I’m out of here now.”
“Watch your six, my friend,” Reno reminded him again. “I’ll be waiting when you show up in D.C.”
Kell disconnected the phone, his gaze lifting as Emily stepped out of the bedroom. Her hair was still damp, her face still free of makeup, and rather than another pair of Capris, she was wearing jeans, a T-shirt tucked into the low band, and a wide belt cinched tightly around her hips.
Her expression was mutinous, her body language assuring him he had offended her in the worst possible way. He was good at reading that particular message, he was just never real good at figuring out how he had managed to effect it.
“Father should cancel that party,” she announced as she stalked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “It’s a waste of time. An excuse for a bunch of highbrows to get dressed up and stand around drinking someone else’s champagne.”
“A thank-you for the political contributions and advice for the election that put your father in office,” Kell finished for her. “You’re his hostess. You’ve done the parties up until now, no one else can fill your place at this point.”
She didn’t need him to tell her that. Emily could feel the frustration raging through her body, the irritability that stemmed from the unquenched desires racing through her, the fear of the step she had nearly taken.
“Has he arranged my flight into D.C.?” she finally asked. “I hope he told you, because he certainly didn’t tell me.”
There was a big broad set of shoulders in the house, so her father didn’t bother to apprise her of any of the plans. Typical. Infuriating.
“We’ll leave in the morning for the naval base. We’ll be catching a Navy helicopter bound for Annapolis. Your father’s car will pick us up there, and drive us into the capital to his town house.”
“Then to the Dunmore Mansion the night of the party,” she finished for him. “I know how it works.”
The Dunmores were political allies of her father’s, and very influential within his political circle.
“Then you know you can’t get out of it.” He shrugged, his gaze moving over her again, pausing at her breasts, her thighs. “Why did you get dressed?”
Emily froze. She hadn’t expected him to be nearly so blunt regarding her lack of complete sanity earlier.