Undercover Obsession Read online

  That genial attitude, however, didn’t mean he wasn’t just as diligent in his job at staying by Charles’s side and, apparently, making sure there were no threats to either him or her. Piper had suspected years ago that whatever Charles’s business was, it involved potential threats to him, and possibly her. A quick on-line search had only revealed that Charles Sandoval owned one of the largest, most profitable casino/resorts in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When Charles had first introduced Brody to her all those months ago as his assistant, she had simply raised her brow at him, the only indication she gave both men that she was old enough and smart enough to know he was much more than an assistant. Gambling, even legal gambling, she was sure came with risks.

  “I’m a careful man with my wealth, Piper, and you are my greatest treasure,” Charles had said and then dropped the subject.

  Long used to his evasiveness, Piper had let the matter of Brody’s employment drop, more interested in indulging in secret fantasies about her dad’s new bodyguard. Almost a foot taller than her, with a thickly muscled body she thought could only be found in the imaginations of romance authors, Piper’s own imagination worked overtime in conjuring fantasies about getting naked with him, fantasies she knew didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of ever being played out.

  Being set up in her own apartment near the Art Institute’s campus, Piper had enjoyed the freedom of college life, and that had included indulging in a long term affair during her sophomore and junior years. Ted had been a year older than her, ten inches taller and thirty pounds lighter. They were two peas in a pod, both of them geeks in their own ways, both of them felt they lacked the physical appeal most young people were drawn to and both of them were virgins. They met at the library one evening, became friends then lovers and she had enjoyed their fumbling attempts at sex as much as she had enjoyed his friendship. While they eventually learned to please each other physically, there was nothing earth shattering about their nights together, and after Ted graduated last year and took a job in France, Piper found she missed his friendship more than she did the sex.

  Glancing out the window again, Piper saw a familiar sleek sedan pull into the parking lot, park in front of her building and then watched as Brody unfolded his tall, mouthwatering frame from the driver’s seat. Just seeing him from her third story window was enough to have her pussy swelling and dampening with arousal, her breasts aching for attention as she imagined those lips suckling her sensitive tips, fantasized about how that body would feel thrusting inside of hers. Without a doubt she knew sex with a man like Brody wouldn’t be anything like what she had enjoyed but never craved with Ted.

  Piper’s erotic daydreaming came to an abrupt halt when Brody headed inside her building alone instead of opening the back door of the car for her father. When she opened her door to his soft knock, it wasn’t fantasies of how his dark goatee emphasized his sensual mouth, or how those lips would feel against hers in a deep, tongue probing kiss or moving slowly down her body that dominated her thoughts. Instead, she felt her expectations as well as her heart plummet at the look of compassion in those grey eyes.

  Tightening her trembling lips, she demanded, “What excuse did he give this time?”

  Brody Pearce did not want to be here and the main reason wasn’t because he was away from his undercover position as Charles Sandoval’s right hand man. It wasn’t his first undercover assignment, and, at just over eighteen months into it, it wasn’t his longest, but ever since he had met Sandoval’s ward nine months ago, it had become his most trying and challenging. Piper Winters was a sweet kid with bright, starry green eyes that revealed her every thought and emotion, eyes that were blinded by rose colored glasses when it came to the man she so obviously adored. After getting so close to Sandoval this past year and accompanying him six times to Geneva to visit his ward, he had no doubt about his love for Piper or hers for him. Unfortunately, that love was based on lies and deceit and if his mission is successful, those glasses are going to come flying off and shatter her delusions soon. And she would blame him as much as Charles when that happened.

  It had been easy to befriend her at first. She had such an endearing mix of naïve youthfulness and slowly awakening sensuality. While he wouldn’t call her short, plump figure sexy, his cock had no trouble rising to thoughts of sinking between those cushy, round thighs and riding that soft body hard for several hours. Those shy looks of attraction, curiosity and longing she thought he didn’t notice were all his libido needed, it seemed, to get riled up. Those glances, however, always seemed to be shoved aside quickly and replaced with a look of resignation and a sigh of acceptance, as if she knew any type of sexual relationship between the two of them wasn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, she was right, but not for the reason she thought.

  Bracing his forearm on the door frame, Brody looked down at her pretty face and watched those bright eyes dim with his reply. “I’m sorry, darlin’. He tried, he really did, but there are circumstances beyond his control that are keeping him close to home right now.”

  A home she had never been invited to, a home she obviously wasn’t welcome in, Piper thought sourly as she felt her need and determination to move on with her life without him gather strength with this latest defection. “So why are you here? He usually gives me his regrets over the phone.” She knew she sounded like a cold hearted bitch, but she couldn’t seem to dredge up enough regret to care. He was, after all, only doing her father’s bidding, what he paid him for.

  “I insisted on coming,” Brody lied to her without compunction. He didn’t know where the need to shelter her for as long as possible came from, but he refused to watch her delusions shatter any sooner than they had to. “And Charles was grateful. He didn’t want you to graduate without having anyone there for you. He’s really proud of his little girl.” At least that part was true, Brody thought. Whenever they were alone, Charles spoke freely of Piper and her accomplishments with so much admiration and devotion it almost made him regret the part he and his partner, Ian, were playing in using him and his alleged money laundering connection with Antony Pasquino to bring down the East coast drug and gun trafficker.

  “Just not proud enough to be here. No.” She stopped his denial with a lift of her hand. “Actions speak louder than words. Whatever his reasons or excuses, I don’t want to hear them. I appreciate you coming all this way, but..”

  “But nothing. I’m staying until Sunday, so you’re stuck with a friend for the next day and a half. I’m here, Piper, and I want to be here.”

  Piper could see nothing but honesty on his face and if she was honest, she really was glad he was here. At least she’d have someone clapping for her as she accepted her diplomas tomorrow, even if he was paid to be here. And Brody encouraged friendship and inspired lustful thoughts. If someone had to be foisted on her for the weekend, she couldn’t think of anyone she would rather have than him. Of course, having him around for the weekend without Charles here to distract her from fantasizing about getting naked with him was going to be difficult, especially since she wasn’t dumb enough to believe he would welcome an invitation to her bed. But she was so tired of being alone. She had missed Brody and Charles’s visits these past three months and the comfort she always drew from seeing the only person she considered family again.

  “I’ll go get a room and pick you up early tomorrow. We’ll get brunch somewhere before your commencement.”

  “I’m going to order a pizza. Do you want to join me?” she blurted out impulsively. She didn’t want to spend another Friday night alone, especially now that she knew she wasn’t going to be seeing Charles again.

  Brody was relieved at the invitation for more reasons than not wanting to spend the evening alone thinking about sad green eyes and a soft, enticing body that was completely off limits. Charles’s recent decision to go legit not only threw a very heavy wrench in their investigation, but had him veering on the side of caution when it came to severing ties with Pasquino. Piper’s guardian was sma
rt enough to know you didn’t simply walk away from doing business for a man as ruthless as Pasquino, which was why he was keeping a low profile lately and staying stateside. Thus far, there had been no indication that Pasquino knew about Piper. Sandoval had taken great pains to keep her existence a well buried secret, but when Karl got himself knifed in a bar fight, he apparently took the opportunity of losing one of only two men in his employ he thought knew of the illegal dealings his casino fronted for to begin turning over a new leaf. Brody and Ian had both secured security positions in the casino and earned his trust the six months prior to Karl’s death, Brody being the lucky one to have gotten the newly vacant position. Unfortunately, he had maneuvered into the exact spot he needed to gather the information they were seeking on Pasquino just in time for Sandoval’s change of heart. After having come this far, however, it was agreed upon by him, Ian and their superiors that they wait it out for the time being.

  Spending this evening eating pizza was a perk he wasn’t willing to deny himself after all the disappointments this assignment had wrought. He didn’t know if he wanted to befriend her to ease his conscience or because he wanted to see what those expressive eyes looked like as he fucked her, but if he could make her weekend special by spending as much time with her as possible before he returned to Sandoval and hopefully garnered enough evidence from an arranged meet with Pasquino next weekend to put an end to his assignment, then it would be worth the torture of being in such close quarters with a woman who was off limits to him sexually, and not just because of his job. Though he harbored a fondness for his assignment’s ward, she was too young and too naïve for his tastes.

  “That sounds much better than ordering room service and spending the evening in a hotel room. Thanks.”

  Damn it, he swore silently as he followed her inside and his eyes were automatically drawn to her ass. He was here as a friend, not as her fuck buddy he repeatedly told himself, even if he couldn’t help but noticing that her baggy jeans couldn’t hide the soft roundness of her buttocks or keep him from imagining her draped over his lap, her cheeks bouncing with each slap he administered, her skin warming under his hand. He knew his good deed of traveling here this weekend wasn’t going to be enough to ease his conscience once she learned Charles’s fate and the hand he had in delivering him to it just as he knew he wasn’t going to be spending any time between those soft, round thighs. With the exception of attending the private parties Charles gave for some of his high rolling gambling clients, parties catered by an escort service owned by Sandoval, he never fucked while on the job and his relationships in between assignments were based on nothing more than mutual sexual attraction and were always short lived, sexual indulgences Piper wasn’t cut out for. Hopefully, he wouldn’t see her again after this weekend, wouldn’t have to face her looking at him with the same disappointment and disillusionment she had shown when he had arrived without Charles.

  “What the hell was I thinking?” Piper muttered three hours later as she loaded the few dishes into the dishwasher while Brody went out to the car to bring in his bag. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to offer him a place to crash on her large sectional couch instead of watching him leave for the night to seek out a hotel room. Just because she hadn’t enjoyed herself with a man or anyone else as much as she had with Brody the past few hours, wasn’t any reason to take leave of her senses and torment herself by having the image of that tall, muscle hardened body sprawled half naked only a few feet from her bedroom in her head as she tried to sleep. “Damn it, just thinking about him is going to be enough to keep me awake,” she grumbled. “Did I have to go and make it worse?”

  “Problem, darlin’?” Brody leaned his shoulder against the wall as he crossed his arms and grinned at the way she yelped and jumped. Her muttering drew him to the kitchen when he had returned with his bag. She obviously had been so intent on grumbling about having trouble sleeping she hadn’t heard him return.

  Piper felt her toes curl and her pussy weep in response to hearing him call her darlin’ in that slow, deep drawl of his, her usual response to that endearment that she knew good and well meant nothing to him. “Damn it, Brody, you startled me!” Slamming the dishwasher shut, she turned to face him, irritated more with herself than with him. “And no, there’s no problem. I’ll get you a pillow and blanket. I already set out clean towels in the bathroom.”

  “I don’t need you to wait on me, Piper. And I hope you know you can trust me.”

  Unfortunately, she thought sourly. Sighing, she replied, “Charles trusts you, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t. “

  On impulse, he walked over to her and gave her a brotherly kiss on her forehead, hoping his gesture would get her to relax. “Go to bed. I’ll lock up,” he offered gruffly, the fact that she really shouldn’t trust him not sitting well with him.

  Chapter Two

  “You look quite pleased with yourself, darlin’,” Brody commented as he refilled her wine glass. “And you should be. Keeping a four-point-zero GPA in two majors is something to be proud of.”

  “Thank you, Brody.” Piper sipped her wine as she leaned back in her chair and basked in his undivided attention. “Actually, I am very pleased with myself. Thank you for bringing me here.” They had just finished dinner at Bistrot du Boeuf Rouge in downtown Geneva, an expensive, posh French restaurant that was popular among the residents as well as with tourists. Piper had never been here, had chosen to save every sent of her five thousand dollar monthly allowance from Charles to invest in her future. She was waiting on a call from him today as to which direction her future was going to take now. This time, she was under no delusions that he was ready to bring her back to the states and welcome her into his life with open arms.

  “You’re welcome. I was proud of you today, Piper, and I know Charles regrets not being able to attend your graduation.” That, at least, was true. Charles’s determination to sever ties with Pasquino so he could live a more normal life could put Piper’s life in the crosshairs if her existence was unearthed. His anger and disappointment when Brody had discovered they were being tailed everywhere they went three months ago, made Charles stop his visits to Geneva, stating it would be worth a temporary separation from Piper if the end result was eventually giving her more freedom as well as keeping her safe.

  Taking another swallow of her wine, Piper stated emphatically, “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Fair enough. What would you like to do now?”

  Oh, shit, Piper thought as she tried to keep her thoughts from showing on her face. That was a loaded question if she ever heard one. What she wanted was to spend the rest of the night having hot, hard sex with the man sitting across from her looking indulgently at her out of grey eyes. She had come out of her bedroom this morning just in time to see Brody emerge from the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of black, silk boxers. His body was even bigger, harder than she had imagined, the dark, curly hair on his chest which tapered down to disappear into his shorts made her nipples tingle as she imagined what those springy curls would feel like as his hard chest covered hers, his thick thighs spreading hers right before he thrust into her in one deep stroke. Ted’s thinner, hairless chest had certainly never inspired such a fast, pussy creaming response.

  “First, I’d like another glass of wine,” she answered him as she held her glass up for a fourth refill.

  Raising one black, brow, Brody filled her glass again, indulging her. “I was going to ask you if there was someplace I could take you dancing, but I’m afraid you’re going to be doing good just to get out to the car. I take it you haven’t spent a good portion of your college weekends getting wild and crazy with your friends?”

  “Yeah, right,” she snorted inelegantly. Piper had spent the past four years working hard to get through school and just as hard at trying to please Charles enough that he would want her to come back home with him when she graduated. But she was tired of being a good girl, tired of trying to get mo
re from the man who had been the only parental influence in her life since the age of eight than one weekend a month, tired of not having any control over her life. Tired of simply existing instead of living. Tonight she wanted to be bad, tonight she wanted what she knew she couldn’t have, tonight she wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that Brody wanted her as much as she wanted him. The wine had gone to her head, made her forget she was the overweight, pathetic ward of his employer, giving her the courage she never would have had if she had been clear headed.

  “Take me home, Brody. Let’s curl up on my couch again, drink more wine and watch sappy movies.” And hopefully end up in her bed together, she thought as she finished off her wine in one swallow.

  Brody grinned at her thinking she made a cute drunk. “I don’t like sappy movies,” he teased her as he came around and helped her from her chair. Even with three inch heels on, she was a head shorter than him and he couldn’t help but drape his arm around her and tuck her next to his side. He wasn’t an idiot. At thirty-two, he knew when a woman wanted him and Piper had starry eyed lust written all over her. Combine her youthful infatuation with probably her first over indulgence with alcohol, and he had a potential problem in his arms. As much as he fantasized about riding her soft body for hours, he wasn’t about to risk this operation or add to what was soon going to be truth revealing grief for her. But he didn’t want to ruin her big day any more than Charles’s absence had, so he would have to find a way to keep her happy without hurting her feelings.

  “Tough. I sat through two Die Hard’s last night. Tonight, it’s your turn to watch my choice.”

  “We’ll see.”

  An hour later, Bruce Willis was in the middle of trying to save New York while Brody was waging his own battle trying to gently keep Piper’s hand from exploring any further south than his chest. “Piper,” he warned for the third time as those soft fingers finally succeeded in nimbly unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt and slipping inside. “I’m trying real hard to be good here, darlin’. Why don’t you do the same?”