Читать книгу Hired Husband - Rebecca Brandewyne - Страница 15

W hen, late that afternoon, Nick finally rang her office, Caroline was actually relieved. She had both dreaded and anticipated his call all day, so she had hardly been able to concentrate on her work. As a result, she had got very little accomplished, and she knew there was no point in continuing to fritter away any more time at her desk.

“I’ll come up to your office to get you,” said Nick. “I think we need to be seen to be in contact with each other, so that if the INS starts nosing around, questioning employees here at Fortune Cosmetics, they’ll at least discover some signs that we might have been having a discreet affair—and perhaps believe that we got more excited and careless as we moved toward marriage. So be sure your secretary’s there.”

“All right,” Caroline agreed slowly, knowing his plan was logical but still reluctant to fall in with it. She had been an object of gossip at Fortune Cosmetics during her relationship with Paul Andersen, and she loathed the thought of becoming so again. She had worked hard to put the past behind her. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, then.” After disconnecting, instead of hanging up the receiver, she punched in her secretary’s extension. “Mary, I’ve got those letters that needed my signature ready now, if you’d like to come in and get them.”

“Great. I’ll be right there,” the young, bubbly secretary replied.

Moments later, Mary appeared in the doorway. Instead of handing her the letters right away, Caroline pretended to sort through all the papers on her littered desk, chatting with the secretary and feeling like a fool at deceptively delaying her until Nick arrived. Caroline was glad when he finally showed up.

“Caro baby…oh, I didn’t realize you weren’t alone, Ms. Fortune,” he uttered contritely as he stuck his head inside the doorway, feigning momentary confusion and discomposure.

He did it so well, seemed so practiced at subterfuge, that for an instant, Caroline could not help but wonder if the INS really was right and if Nick really was a former KGB agent. Then she realized how ridiculous an idea that was.

Because if he were, he certainly wouldn’t have come to the United States and taken a job as a chemist at a cosmetics company. He would surely have sought a position at something like an electronics or aircraft company, or as a government official or a politician, so he would have access to the kind of information that would be valuable on the open market—to foreign governments and terrorists.

While rival cosmetics companies might be interested in finding out that Fortune Cosmetics was going to call its new shade of red lipstick and matching nail polish Maraschino Cherry, Caroline simply couldn’t imagine that anybody else would pay highly for that knowledge—or that it would attract the attention of a secret agent.