The Newlyweds by Elizabeth Bevarly

social level, it might be easier to get people to impart more information.”
    â€œSo what do you propose?”
    She shrugged, but the gesture was more one of restlessness than it was one of not knowing the answer. She’d lain in bed wide awake last night mulling over her idea, and she had more than a few suggestions. “If I were really Mrs. Samuel Jones, I’d be doing a lot of socializing,” she said. “And I’d make sure my husband was with me. Hey, you’ve just arrived in my hometown, after all. And you’ve just opened new offices. People like us would be going out of our way to get our faces out there to meet people and make connections. At the very least, I’d be doing some entertaining here at my home, to extend a welcome to my husband’s new colleagues. And I’d invite a lot of people he didn’t know so that he could expand his social and professional horizons. And since I haven’t been home for a while, I’d rely on my parents to help me with the guest list. Especially my mother. And a lot of my mother’s acquaintances and connections are through—”
    â€œChildren’s Connection,” Sam supplied for her.
    â€œBingo,” Bridget said with a smile. “And speaking of my mother,” she continued, “if I were actually her newly returned, newlywed daughter, my mother would be doing a lot to introduce me and my new husband around town. She’d make sure we got to know all of her friends from her pet project, where she volunteers so much of her time.”
    â€œChildren’s Connection,” Sam said again.
    Bridget nodded. “Yep. Between me and my mom, Ithink we can probably find a number of opportunities that will offer Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Jones the chance to mingle freely with quite a few employees from Children’s Connection, in settings that will lend themselves to a much freer exchange of dialogue. And that, in turn, might make it just a little easier for Special Agents Logan and Jones to do the job they’ve been assigned to do.”
    Sam said nothing for a moment, clearly giving much thought to Bridget’s proposal. Judging by his initial expression, though, he didn’t seem to much care for the idea of the two of them being more social as a couple. Probably, she thought, because it would necessitate them spending more time together. And although she was no more enthusiastic about that than he obviously was, she knew it was necessary if they wanted to uncover the information Pennington had indicated he wanted them to uncover.
    â€œBut I thought we were newlyweds,” Sam finally said halfheartedly, clearly struggling with whether it was more important to catch the bad guy or keep his distance from Bridget.
    And oh, wasn’t that just an incredibly flattering thing to realize? she thought. How difficult a call that that would be for him to make. Not that she hadn’t been struggling with the same call herself since making the decision to become proactive in the case, because she wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with him, either. But it didn’t make it any easier to stomach his own obvious unwillingness to be anywhere near her.
    How they felt about each other was in no way significant, she reminded herself. All that mattered was catching the bad guy, so what was the big deal anyway?
    â€œAnd newlyweds are supposed to keep a low profile, aren’t they?” he asked, bringing her thoughts back to the matter at hand.
    Nevertheless, his remark stumped her. “A low profile?” she echoed. “What for?”
    In response to her question, his gaze skittered away from hers. He turned his body away from her, too, to place his cup on the counter. Then he shifted his weight from one foot to the other and ran the pad of his finger nervously around the rim of his cup. He was fidgeting, Bridget realized. He was uncomfortable about something.