To Protect & Serve by VK Powell

Author:VK Powell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf
Published: 2008-03-21T13:18:04+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Alex claimed a seat at the mahogany bar in the Bedford Marriott lounge and idly cruised the new arrivals for a potential hookup. It had been too long since she’d allowed anyone to touch her body just for pleasure. Now she ached for it. Yet despite her cravings, nothing sparked. Her customary interest was absent. Her nerves already sizzled with fragility. Five hours on the road had failed to banish her fantasies of Keri. Instead she thought nonstop about the excruciatingly pleasurable dance at Shelly’s bar and that unforgettable kiss.

Being away from home always made her melancholy for the things she’d left behind. This time, one of those things was Keri Morgan. She remained like a watermark in Alex’s subconscious. Why was she so drawn to this woman that she couldn’t get her out of her mind? Keri wasn’t the Þ rst warm, honest woman she’d met, but none of the others had ever captivated her so completely. Alex wondered if she was simply needier now because of the changes in her life, or if those events had somehow changed what she wanted.

Other than her aberration with Helen, she’d always looked for brief, uncomplicated liaisons with women. Keri would never be one of those. Alex already knew that from just one kiss. Keri wanted more and if Alex were honest with herself, so did she. But the timing couldn’t be worse. She wasn’t ready for this, and maybe she never would be. Alex wasn’t even sure if she was cut out for a long-term relationship with one woman.

She jerked the idea from her mind and placed her order for Stoli vodka and tonic. The handsome Latino bartender returned with her favorite cocktail a few minutes later and Alex knocked back a mouthful.

• 127 •

VK POWELL

As warmth from the alcohol ß ooded her chest, she drove her thoughts to the other personal matter she was trying to ignore, her parents’ house and the Trojan Horse.

Alex had reviewed the documents Norman had given her and was overwhelmed by the magnitude of her parents’ estate. The stock shares themselves would be worth millions if she sold them outright. And the vacation homes were valued at several million. It seemed unfathomable that she could be the sole heir to such a fortune. What would she do with all that money—ever? But Alex had no speciÞ c feelings about being wealthy, beyond the numbing enormity of it all. She just couldn’t grasp it yet. Her main concerns at the moment were expelling Keri Morgan from her thoughts before she became a greater problem and getting back to the case that would deÞ ne her future.

Two task force members greeted her, looking tired and unhappy, obviously having made long drives themselves. Helen Callahan was conspicuously absent.

The DEA supervisor said, “Where’s Callahan?”

Alex shrugged. “She hasn’t arrived yet.”

“She arranged this brieÞ ng in the Þ rst place,” he said, conÞ rming her suspicions. “What gives?”

Alex struggled to keep her face calm. She couldn’t appear weak or ineffective to these men.

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