"Leigh and Dirk left several minutes ago, and Janie followed," Maggie explained. She didn't seem concerned.
"Maybe I should make sure she's all right," Abel suggested.
"Down, boy." Jane's grandmother added with amusement, "We're the professionals, remember? Janie will be fine. She has several weapons at her disposal."
Abel glanced over. "Weapons? I didn't see any weapons. That dress couldn't hide any weapons, Maggie. You're just trying to keep me from looking for her."
"Call me Gran," the woman ordered, reminding him that he was supposed to be her grandson. Then she finished, "And trust me. She has weapons."
He persisted. "What weapons?"
Maggie Spyrus scowled impatiently, then sighed. "Twenty years of martial arts and knockout lipstick, among other things."
"Twenty years?" Abel asked with disbelief.
"All the Spyrus children are put into martial-arts classes before they turn five. Jane was too. She's taken Tae Kwon Do, jujitsu, karate, kung fu, Go Shin Jitsu, and Jeet Kune Do." Maggie shrugged. "She only gave it up a couple of years ago when her schedule got too hectic. She still spars once in a while, though."
Abel shook his head. He was starting to feel a bit inferior. He'd taken karate for five years as a teenager, but Jane had taken twenty? Someone sat down beside him. Abel felt the hand moving up his leg and didn't have to turn to see who it was. Lydia was back. Great.
------
"You have the most incredible eyes."
Dirk had led Jane through Will's office and out onto the patio. They'd spent several moments just looking out at the star-filled sky before he'd turned to her and made that announcement in an incredibly deep and sexy voice. Who wouldn't be flattered? Jane certainly was. She was especially impressed by the fact that he'd actually been looking into her eyes rather than talking to her breasts. He went up a little in her estimation right there. The man couldn't be all bad.
Realizing that he was probably waiting for some response, Jane searched for something to say. Unfortunately, the only thing that came to mind was the line from Little Red Riding Hood, and she didn't think saying, "The better to see you with" quite fit the moment. Although it was true enough. The man was a pleasure to look at. She could hardly believe that he was showing an interest in her. In truth, Jane was at a loss. She wasn't the most experienced of women. Men like Dirk Ensecksi simply hadn't paid much attention to her through the years. Instead she'd found herself pursued by persistent pests who seemed to feel it was their duty to show her favor, or techies who thought sex on a computer was cool, and "Lord, I love your mind!" was foreplay.
"And you have lovely, luscious lips," Dirk continued.
Jane started and took a nervous step back, finding herself against the rail of the deck. Dirk raised a hand to brush one finger lightly over her bottom lip. Her skittish reaction was as much from surprise as from the jolt of awareness that shot through her at his touch. For a woman like Jane, the attention of a handsome sexy man like Dirk was heady stuff. So heady that when his head started to lower toward hers, she just stood there wondering what his kiss would be like. It wasn't until his lips were a mere breath away that she suddenly remembered the knockout lipstick and turned her head away so that his lips landed on her ear.
Dear Lord! What had she been thinking? Wouldn't it have been fun to explain why Dirk Ensecksi was unconscious on the deck!
"And you smell good too," Dirk murmured, his breath causing a tingling along the sensitive skin below her ear.
Then again, she had wiped the lipstick off to eat. Perhaps she'd got it all and it was safe to let him kiss her.
Bad Jane! she reprimanded herself in the next breath. This is the man who kidnapped Edie and plans to control the world. Shame on you for wanting him to kiss you!
"Mmmm. I wish I could just inhale you into my body." His arms closed around her, and he pulled her close and nuzzled her throat.
On the other hand, Jane thought vaguely as she slid her hands around his neck and tipped her head back, Mr. Manetrue did say that they hadn't been able to find anything while investigating Dirk and his father. And testing mind control via fashion was really a feminine thing to do. Perhaps Lydia was behind all the evil doings at Ensecksi. Maybe Dirk was just an unwitting accomplice. She gave a sigh and allowed herself to sink into his body.
"I've wanted to do this since I first set eyes on you," Dirk murmured, pulling back and eyeing her lips again.
"Really?" Jane asked, hardly able to believe any of this. She was in a handsome man's arms and he was saying such sweet things to her. What had she been missing all these years by burying herself in books?
"Well, no, not really. Actually my first thought when you fell backward on the steps with that wheelchair was, 'Jeez, what a ditz.' But my second thought was: 'No brain, but I'd like to get into that body.'"
Jane was so shocked by his words that she just gaped at him. He tried again to plant a kiss on her lips. It was bad timing. And a bad kiss. Jane had the almost overwhelming urge to knee him in the groin, then throw him over her shoulder to the hardwood deck as his mouth closed wet and sloppy over hers.
Fortunately, just as her leg started to rise, she recalled her truth serum perfume. Dirk had been nuzzling her neck and inhaling it for several minutes. Which somehow made everything worse, since she realized it was the complete truth he'd just spoken to her, but it also recalled her to the reason she was here with this man. Kneeing him in the groin and tossing him on his back might be terribly satisfying in the short term, but it wouldn't get her the information she was seeking.
But, then, neither would suffering his tongue being shoved down her throat like a slippery eel. He could hardly talk like that, she decided grimly, and broke away.
"Um, Dirk?" she said, trying to decide what would be safe to ask him. He'd tell the truth to anything she asked, but he'd also remember everything. She had to be careful.
"You have the tastiest-looking breasts I have ever seen," he announced, his hands moving to grope her. "And this dress is hot!"
"Thank you," she said dryly, trying to catch his hands. "Speaking of dresses, have you noticed everyone seems to wear yellow ones here in Sonora?"
"Yeah. I am so sick of yellow."
"Yes, but..." She hesitated, wondering how to get him to tell her the yellow dresses were a result of mind control without coming right out and asking. She forced his hands away from her chest and he let her, then planted them firmly on her behind.
"You have a great butt too," he announced. "I couldn't take my eyes off it when you were walking up the stairs in front of me. I wanted to drop that wheelchair and just grab both cheeks."
"Oh!" Jane gasped in surprise when he did just that, squeezing her firmly and pulling her up against him. His words were getting a bit slurred and Jane began to wonder if he hadn't had a lot more to drink tonight than she'd realized. Or if mixing alcohol and the truth serum wasn't having a bad effect. Whatever it was, he'd pulled her firmly against him so that her feet dangled off the ground and he and she were almost on a level. He took advantage of the position to dip his head between her breasts and inhale. "God, I love this perfume."
"Dirk, I think..." She reached behind to try to force his hands off her butt so that she could stand on the ground again. Had she ever imagined the spy business was glamorous or fun?
"Don't think. Feel," he said, completely oblivious of her attempts to escape. "I know you want the bone."
"The bone?" Jane gave up on trying to make him release her and gaped in horror.
"Yeah, you women love the bone. And I've got a big one, let me tell you. I could satisfy you like you've never been satisfied before."
"Oh, I..." She paused. "Really?"
"Yeah. Not that I would though," he added with scrupulous honesty. "I'll do what I have to to get you into bed, but once there I just want to get my rocks o--"
"Of course," she interrupted with a sigh. It just figured, didn't it? Mr. Gorgeous here could get anyone he wanted, why put
any effort into it? He was popping all her delusional balloons. She suddenly didn't have any trouble at all seeing him as a villain. What a selfish, ignorant jerk.
"How long have you lived in Sonora?" she asked, just wanting to get what information she could and get away.
"I don't live here." Dirk pressed his nose against her throat and breathed deeply. He seemed to be trying to snort the serum off her skin. Perhaps she'd put too much pheromone in it. She'd have to cut back on that. Though, she hadn't noticed this strong a reaction in the test trials. Could it be that he was just especially responsive?
"I really love this perfume. I could just eat it up." He licked her throat, and Jane stiffened. This could not be a reaction to too much pheromone. This was just too much--
He swayed slightly and Jane felt alarm course through her. "Dirk?"
"Hmm?" He lifted his head, and Jane stared into his eyes. They were dilated, she realized; then she noted the smudge of red by his lips. Lipschitz's hot-red knockout lipstick. It seemed she hadn't wiped all of it away. But she apparently hadn't left enough to knock him out either. She suspected that it, combined with the truth serum, was what caused this odd, almost drunken behavior. Suddenly she wished she'd paid attention to Lipschitz's presentation so that she'd know what was in the darned lipstick and what to expect. The man might still pass out.
Deciding there wasn't a darned thing she could do about it, except maybe get some answers out of him first, Jane returned to questioning him. "You don't live here in Sonora?"
"No. I live in Canada. I run the Canadian division of Ensecksi Satellites. Lydia lives here. She commutes to the San Jose office."
"Then you're just visiting?"
"No. Yes."
Jane eyed him closely. "Which is it?"
"Both." He dropped his head, his nose landing in the hollow between her breasts again.
Jane sighed impatiently as he inhaled more of the truth serum. She wasn't finding anything attractive about this man anymore. "How could it be both, Dirk?"
His voice came muffled from her flesh. "I was going to come and stay till after Thanksgiving, but then my assistant Josh and I had to drive E--"
"Here you are!" a voice said brightly. "Gran's getting tired and is ready to go."
Jane glanced sharply over Dirk's bent head as Abel stepped out onto the deck through the office. She could have kicked him for interrupting. Then in the next second, she decided it was probably for the best. If Dirk later remembered what he'd said here, he wouldn't be overly alarmed. Had he continued talking and admitted to kidnapping Edie, however, as Jane thought he'd been about to do...
Noting Abel's sudden glare, Jane realized Dirk still had his face buried in her bosom. She'd started to think of him as a rather annoying puppy in the last few minutes, since he'd stopped grabbing and started sniffing and licking her perfume. Abel obviously didn't see it that way, however.
Reaching down with both hands, Jane grabbed Dirk by the ears and lifted his head forcibly away. "I have to go. Gran is tired," she announced.
"Can't he take her? I don't want you to go." Jane knew it was the truth, but she'd heard enough truth tonight to know that it wasn't really her he wanted. It was her hot dress, tasty breasts, and great butt. Actually, she suspected he was now more interested in licking the perfume off her skin. Which might have been fun if she could forget his saying she just wanted the bone. Unfortunately, she couldn't. But she also couldn't alienate the man. He was her link to Edie, not to mention whatever plans Ensecksi Satellites had for the microwave mind-control technology.
She forced a regretful moue and shook her head. "I wish I could stay, but my brother can't change Gran and dress her for bed. I have to go." She smiled sweetly.
"That sucks. I had plans for you," he said with an honesty that almost made Jane laugh. Fortunately, in his disappointment, he lowered her again to stand on her own two feet.
"Yes, well...perhaps another time." She tried to move around him in the hope that he'd release the death grip he had on her butt. All she managed was to turn so that Abel had a perfect view.
"Count on it, baby," Dirk said in the husky tone she'd found so attractive earlier. "I know every line there is. I'll have you in bed within forty-eight hours or you aren't worth my time."
"Ah." Jane managed to disengage his hands with a little effort, then moved quickly away before he could grab her again. She said, "I'll, ah...look forward to it."
Not!
She passed Abel and moved back into the house. They were through the office and halfway up the hall on their way back to the living room and the party when something fell to the floor with a clatter. Jane glanced down, recognized the lipstick tube, and bent with exasperation to pick it up. No doubt all of Dirk's groping and nosing around had dislodged it from her bra. She supposed she should be grateful she hadn't lost it on the deck without noticing. It was not something it would be good to leave lying around.
"What's that?" Abel asked.
"Lipstick," Jane answered, wondering at his stiffness as he paused at her side. He was acting as if he were peeved with her.
"You'd better put some on." He looked her over critically. "And straighten your hair. You look like you've been necking."
Definitely peeved, Jane realized. She felt the heat of a guilty blush cover her face.
"The washroom is that door there. I used it earlier," Abel added when she appeared surprised by his knowledge.
Jane moved to the door and stepped inside. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw herself in the mirror. Thank heavens he hadn't let her return to the party as she was, peeved or not. She looked like she'd done more than neck on the deck. Was that a hickey? Jeez! She'd known Dirk was nosing around her neck, had even felt him lick her once or twice, but how could she have not noticed such sucking?
Jane leaned toward the mirror to examine the angry red mark and shook her head. She'd never had a hickey before. They were really unattractive. Straightening, she did her best to put her mussed hair into something resembling the style her grandmother had created, then reapplied both layers of Lipschitz's lipstick. Deciding she looked a little better and less like a hooker, Jane straightened her shoulders and rejoined Abel.
They were silent as they returned to the main room. Collecting Gran, they made their excuses to Leigh, then were again silent on the short walk back to their house. It wasn't until they were in the elevator at the Goodinov house that anyone spoke, and then it was Maggie Spyrus. "Did you learn anything interesting from Dirk, dear?"
"Not much," Jane said, pausing when Abel gave a snort.
"It looked to me like you were learning a lot."
She stiffened at his gibe, but merely said, "All I found out was that Lydia runs the San Jose office, while Dirk runs the Vancouver division."
Abel harrumphed. "Fancy that. I learned the same thing from Lydia and didn't have to let her grope me to do so. Not bad for an accountant. Maybe I should by out this spy business."
The elevator doors opened then, and he stalked off in the direction of the master suite.
"Actually, she did grope at him quite a bit," Gran announced after a moment.
Jane simply stood glaring after Abel. "Yes. I noticed," she snapped and wheeled her grandmother out of the elevator.
"You were going to say more. What else did you learn?" Gran asked as she was wheeled into the room she'd chosen.
"Just that Dirk and his assistant Josh are the ones who drove Edie here."
"He said that?" Maggie asked with alarm.
"He started to, but Abel interrupted before he could get Edie's full name out." Jane stopped beside the bed.
"Hmm," Maggie Spyrus murmured as Jane moved to the dresser to find her a nightgown. "It's probably best that Abel interrupted, then."
"Yes." Jane agreed. She fetched a housecoat and slippers as well, and set all three items on her grandmother's lap before taking her into the washroom.
"He's jealous, you know."
Jane paused and met her gran's gaze in th
e bathroom mirror.
"He is. He's attracted to you, and he's jealous. But he'll get over it," she added.
Jane thought about that possibility as she helped Gran through her ablutions and then into bed. Leaving the door open, she moved into the room across the hall where she'd napped that afternoon, intending to sleep herself. The sight of Tinkle made her pause. The dog was lying in a pool of feathers on the bed. Jane drew a furious breath then caught it and forced herself to relax. Getting upset was exactly what the little beast wanted, no doubt. It was the Yorkie's way of letting her know that while Mr. Tibbs may have got the best of her, Tinkle was still queen over her humans.
"Gran's in her own bed," she announced angrily. It had the desired effect: Tinkle leaped off the bed and scampered out the door.
"There's my little darling!" Jane heard her grandmother say. "Have you been exploring, Tinkle baby? Did you miss your mama? What a good doggie."
Rolling her eyes, Jane turned toward the closet in her room only to pause. Her clothes weren't in here. She didn't have any clothes here but for jeans and a T-shirt. However, the clothes that B.L.I.S.S. had supplied weren't here either. They were at the other end of the house in the master suite--where Abel was even now probably stomping angrily about.
Jane was just thinking she'd have to go down there and face him to get something to wear to bed when she remembered she'd told him they would set up the listening devices after the party.
Jane stood in the center of the room considering the matter briefly, then threw up her hands in exasperation. Making a decision not to head for the master bedroom, she began searching the closets in the other rooms until she found the one holding the clothes B.L.I.S.S. had supplied for Abel. As she expected, they included men's pajamas. Jane chose the only black ones supplied--silk, of course--then moved back to her room.
Perhaps she'd shower after planting the cameras and listening devices outside. Still, she had no intention of traipsing around out there in her black lace party dress and high heels. She wanted them off, now--especially the shoes. Also, Jane wanted to feel more herself before she faced Abel. She'd always liked men's pajamas, they were dark enough for nighttime reconnaissance, and they were comfy.