“I forgot about poor Squirrel!” Mila grabbed her notepad and shoved it in her purse.
Zain stopped her from running out of the room without a backward glance. “Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?” he whispered against her ear. When he looked down at her face, he saw his future. In that blink of an eye, he knew. He knew it with every fiber of his heart. This was the woman for him. The woman he wanted by his side and in his bed for the rest of his life. He knew it the second she rolled her eyes and rose up on her toes to place a kiss on his lips.
“Now, do you think you can survive until we see each other after dinner?”
“Saucy minx. The better question is if you can think of all the different things I’m going to do to you when I get back.” Zain’s grin widened as she blushed. He loved it. The way she was just her. She wasn’t anyone else. She wasn’t trying to be a model, a princess, or what she thought he wanted. She was just Mila, and he loved her for it.
Zain watched her as she headed out the door. But she stopped and hurried back to him. She rose up on her toes and leaned into him. He thought she was going to kiss him, but instead she whispered into his ear this time. “While you are in your dinner, know that I’ll be naked in your bed.” She gave him a quirky grin and hurried from the room.
Mila couldn’t believe she did that. She wasn’t a flirty type of woman. But with Zain, it was playful and fun. She knew he wouldn’t laugh at her bad attempt at seduction. Instead, he encouraged her to open up even more. She could make all the corny jokes she wanted. She didn’t need to worry about censoring her words, or if she snorted when she laughed too hard. It was liberating being with Zain.
Mila got on the golf cart Cy was driving and thought about seeing Zain again. She watched the two-story federal-style brick house come into view. It was at least a mile from the main house and completely surrounded by horse pastures. It had a good-sized yard from what she could tell and seemed rather homey with flowers blooming in window boxes.
“Stay between us,” Cy ordered as he pulled a gun from beneath his suit coat and unlocked the front door.
Jackson was similarly armed behind her as the three of them slowly entered the house. They cleared the living room and Mila was told to sit on the couch while they searched the rest of the house. Jackson stayed on the ground floor while Cy went upstairs to the bedrooms. It gave her a chance to look around. There were pictures of family and friends on the built-in bookcases on each side of the fireplace. The shelves were also filled with books ranging from political nonfiction to spy novels. Fitting, since she was sitting here with a spy checking the house.
And to think, a week ago she was at a boring D.C. dinner party and now she was sitting in a prince’s house with a spy and a FBI agent. Mila shook her head. In one week, she’d fallen in love, made new friends who seemed more dear to her than the people she’d been working with for the past four years, and gotten fired. Right now she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Everything was so up in the air. She’d been strangled by an attacker, pointed at by her colleagues, and made love to by the man she loved.
“Is there a reason there’s a squirrel in the kitchen?” Cy asked as he holstered his gun.
“Squirrel!” Mila hurried to the kitchen and found the little creature curled up in a fleece blanket in a wire dog cage sitting on the counter. A tiny bright-blue cast looked like a band on his front leg as his big eyes blinked up at her. She would have sworn the little guy was happy to see her. “Let’s see what that nice vet has to say about you,” she cooed as Jackson placed their dinner order.
Squirrel had a broken ankle and had been rehydrated. Wyatt guessed he was around eight weeks old and left instructions to keep the water bottle filled and to give him as many apples, veggies, and nuts as he wanted. Mila made her way to the refrigerator and found some kale and carrots. In a bowl on the island, she found some apples and went about making dinner for Squirrel.
By the time she finished, their dinner had arrived from the café. Mila and the men talked while they ate. They were gentlemen through and through. They even held off talking about football until she left the room. After dinner, she made her excuses about being tired and followed Jackson upstairs. He showed her Zain’s room and promised to be right downstairs if she needed anything.
Mila took a slow turn around the large room. A king-sized bed covered with an ivory and chocolate brown comforter filled the middle of the room between two large windows. On the right of the room was a fireplace with a walnut-colored leather loveseat in front of it. To the left was what looked to be doors to closets and possibly a bathroom. Mila opened the first door and found a large walk-in closet. The second door opened to a master bath. There was a tiled shower encased in glass, a double vanity with ivory marble countertops, and a large soaking tub.
Mila peeled off her clothes and turned on the water. She could take a bath and wait for Zain in his bed, just as she promised. Mila stood naked in the mirror as she worked the knot on the scarf. Finally she pulled it free and the reality of the day hit her as she saw her bruised neck. She should have learned from all the fairy tales she’d read as a child that the prince always rescued the damsel after something happened to her. A sleeping spell, locked in a tower with a beast, eating a poisoned apple . . . but this wasn’t a fairy tale. There may be a prince involved, but she wasn’t a damsel waiting to be saved. She might not be tough like Abby, but that didn’t mean she would just sit back and take it either.
Mila stepped into the tub and sighed. It was time for her to examine all the evidence. Maybe she couldn’t catch the person responsible physically, but she might be able to find some clues that pointed to the culprit.
Mila closed her eyes as the warm water soothed her tense body. She replayed the meetings between Surman and Germany to see if she’d heard anything out of normal. Next she focused on what she’d overheard in the library. She was so into the moment that she even heard the sound of the secret door opening. Mila’s eyes popped open. It wasn’t her remembering the library. Someone had just come into the room.
“Zain?” Mila called out. She heard another door close and thought it was either the person leaving or going into the closet. “Zain? Is that you?”
She heard footsteps as whoever it was walked toward the bathroom. The door that had been half-closed was pulled open as a man strode in. Mila heard her own breath exhale. “That was a mean trick to play on me. You scared me to death."
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you—” He stopped talking when he saw her. Mila tried not to grin and ruin what she hoped was a seductive look.
“I take it from the way you’re looking at me that you’ve missed me.” Mila blushed and decided to go for it. She was going to seduce the hell out of him. She stood up slowly. The water slid over the curves of her body. Zain’s eyes grew wide. “Now get over here and kiss me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a grin as he hurried over to her.
Mila ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. The kiss was hot, but it wasn’t making her stomach flip. His touch was rougher this time. Was Zain’s mind elsewhere? Mila pulled back to ask him and paused. “Did you change ties?”
“Change ties?”
Mila narrowed her eyes as she looked at the man holding her and then screamed for all she was worth as she lashed out with a punch.