Code Name Desire by Laura Kitchell Page A

than make money and look good doing it. He hid no safe or
compartment in the room. The carpet didn’t conceal any secret
cubbies. His dresser and chest of drawers contained only clothing.
And his closet, though impressive, offered no surprises.
    She would have worried if the place had
appeared too clean, which might indicate he’d purged the room of
incriminating items before her arrival, but dust bunnies under the
bed and a few wads of crumpled paper on his closet floor between
some shoes proved otherwise.
    From the woods, two thick, brown horses
emerged pulling a large yellow sleigh. Caster sat at the front and
held the reins in a single gloved hand while grasping the neck of
his coat closed with the other. Bundled with a patchwork quilt in
the back sat a tall blonde woman with an enormous nose and a
shorter boy with the same hair color and clearly juvenile features.
They cut across the large rear lawn, heading toward a place at the
back of the manor. The sleigh sliced through the snow and left a
long, straight track behind it.
    A stirring in the bed made her turn. “Good
morning,” she said in a hushed voice, reluctant to break the
quiet.
    He sat and rubbed his lids then peered at
her, blinking sleepily. “If I hadn’t seen you sleep with my own
eyes, I might wonder if you did.”
    “I slept,” she said, smiling and going to the
bed. She perched on the edge of the mattress. “You were great last
night.”
    “You were magnificent.” He took her wrist and
pulled her across his lap. “You are magnificent.”
    Heat rushed to her cheeks. Jaeda slid a hand
behind his neck and brought him close for a kiss so he wouldn’t see
her blush. Well…and because she liked kissing the man. He added two
extra pecks before straightening.
    “Thank you for letting me stay.”
    He extracted his legs from under her and
swung them off the bed. Heading for the bathroom, he said, “Right.
Like you had any other choice. Though I’m glad you did. Last night
was a dream.”
    She flipped onto her belly then adjusted the
belt on her robe to get more comfortable. Propping her chin in her
hands, she considered last night better than any dream she’d ever
had.
    Teague poked his head around the bathroom
doorway. “You’re awfully quiet.”
    “I’m not a morning person.” She didn’t need
to tell him her quiet came from a tremendous sense of contentment.
“I saw a sleigh. Caster was driving,” she called over the sound of
running water.
    He came into the bedroom, rubbing a hand
towel over his face. “We don’t have much occasion to use it, but
with ice under the snow, I imagine it moves along quite nicely this
morning.”
    “There was a woman and boy in the back.”
    “Mrs. Chesley, my cook, and her son, one of
the stable hands.” He turned on the television and switched
channels to the weather.
    “She didn’t look happy.”
    Pointing at the screen, he flipped the towel
over his shoulder. “I imagine not. Look at that. Eighteen
degrees.”
    She shivered at the idea of riding in an open
sleigh in such a temperature. The fact that the manor’s population
had increased by two made her uneasy.
    He laughed, drawing her out of her thoughts.
“It will be forty-four tomorrow. How’s that for a fluctuation?”
Shaking his head, he strode to the bathroom. “That’s England for
you.”
    Laying her cheek on her palm, she stared at
the mess of pillows attesting to their busy night. She adored how
he walked about in the nude without a care, and how he talked of
everyday matters as if she had been part of his life for years
rather than hours.
    A loud bang reverberated through the house.
Her heart in her throat, Jaeda snatched her coat from under its
pillow, retrieved her gun from the pocket, and ran for the
door.

Chapter Twelve
     
     
    “What was that? Jaeda?” Teague asked, still
in his bedroom as she sprinted down the hallway. Jaeda didn’t slow.
Taking the stairs two at a time, she followed the sound of a
woman’s scream and a