The Agent's Redemption (Special Agents At The Altar 4) by LISA CHILDS Page B

She pressed her lips against his shoulder to hold in a scream of ecstasy.
    Then he tensed before his body shuddered, as he joined her in release. His skin damp against hers, he clutched her closely in his arms. “That was...”
    As wonderful as it had always been between them. But she waited for him to call it something else. A mistake. That was what he’d thought the last time they’d become lovers, that he’d made a mistake.
    But he said nothing more. He just held her tightly, so tightly that she felt safe enough to fall asleep. But she wasn’t surprised when, hours later, she awoke alone. Her sheets tangled, but empty.
    Then she heard the rumble of a deep voice. He wasn’t gone. He hadn’t deserted and rejected her as he had six years ago. At least not yet...
    Then she heard the high-pitched squeal of Alex’s laughter. And she knew why Jared had stayed. For their son.
    She dressed quickly and joined them in the living room. Father tickled son as they sat on the carpet, the lie detector hooked to the little boy. It looked like a blood pressure cuff hooked to an Etch A Sketch with a bunch of squiggled lines on it.
    “You are lying,” Jared said. “You’re definitely ticklish.”
    “Did the test say I’m lying?” Alex asked between giggles.
    “I don’t think he needed the test to determine that,” Rebecca said. “You’re definitely ticklish.”
    “Mommy’s up,” Alex said. “It’s her turn now.”
    Even if the test was just a toy, she didn’t want to be hooked up to it. But she couldn’t tell her son no. So she let him strap the cuff to her arm.
    “So, Mommy,” Alex said, “do you ever swear?”
    She groaned. “Yes...”
    He giggled again. “Are you the tooth fairy?”
    “Alex!”
    “Santa Claus?”
    She reached out and began to tickle him. He squirmed and protested. “No, you have to answer the questions yes or no.”
    “No, no,” she said and hoped the machine wasn’t real.
    Alex squinted at the screen and shrugged. “I don’t know. Daddy, you ask her a question.”
    She sucked in a breath—afraid of what he might ask her. Afraid of even looking at him. But he moved closer, so that he could see the screen her son studied. And she breathed in the scent of him—some intoxicating combination of soap and coffee and musk. He must have used her shower and made coffee again. She looked up and lost herself in his amber-eyed gaze.
    “What do you want to ask her, Daddy?”
    He stared at her a moment, as if considering. And she saw that he had many questions. But she never guessed what he would ask her. “Will you go to a wedding with me?”

Chapter Ten
    Why had he asked Becca to Dalton Reyes’s wedding? And why, in the days since he’d asked, hadn’t he rescinded the invitation? It was too dangerous. But then even staying in her own home was too dangerous—with Kyle Smith broadcasting her address to suspects. So he’d convinced her and Alex to stay with him—at his condo in Chicago—instead of in their home. Surprisingly, Becca had readily agreed. But then he doubted she would ever feel safe in her house again now that Harris Mowery knew where she lived.
    “Why?” he asked the reporter.
    “Isn’t that what I should be asking you?” Kyle replied as he settled onto a chair across the conference table from Jared. “Why did you ask me to come to the Bureau office? You finally realized you will need my help solving your case, Special Agent Bell?”
    Jared patted the folder that lay on the table between them. “It seems you wanted to be an FBI agent yourself.”
    Kyle’s snide grin slid away, and he stared at the folder as if wanting to grab for it. “You had me investigated?”
    Jared plastered on his own smug grin and replied, “It only seemed fair since you’ve been investigating me.”
    “Ouch,” Kyle said and pressed a hand to his chest as if Jared had stabbed him. “So instead of focusing on finding the serial killer who’s eluded you for six years, you’ve wasted