about it once we get settled.”
Wes followed them down the hall and into a small room with
several windows that looked out over another expanse of lawn studded
with rose bushes. The room was crowded with a conference table, eight
chairs, and a row of bookshelves underneath the window. A file cabinet
stood in one corner and a polygraph machine rested in the center of
the table. She sat down across from it. Evyn and Preston sat facing the
machine.
“The way this works,” Preston said, “is that the test is given in two
parts—part one will cover some basic informational questions. Then
we’ll move on to part two with more focused questions. Have you ever
had a polygraph?”
“No.”
“Is there anything you want us to know now before we start the
test?”“I assume you’re referring to anything which I feel would
disqualify me for this position?”
Preston answered before Evyn. “We find it’s best not to try
to outthink or rationalize whether or not there is a right or wrong
answer.”
Evyn added, “Just answer each question to the best of your ability.
If there’s something in the past you think may hamper or confuse your
answers, you should tell us. That will actually help us interpret the test
to your benefit.”
“There isn’t.” Wes hadn’t expected to see Evyn until later, and
this wasn’t the way she had hoped their next encounter would come
about, but Evyn was here to do her job and so was she. In a way, she
was relieved. There could be no ambiguity about what was happening
between them. Nothing. Only business.
“All right,” Preston said. “We’re going to go through some basic
questions first.”
Wes knew the basics of the polygraph. She understood that
some questions were designed to elicit a yes-or-no answer, and those
responses formed the baseline comparators for other answers. She also
knew it was best not to try to figure out which questions were the critical
comparators. “I’m ready.”
Preston made some notes while Evyn connected the galvanic
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Oath Of hOnOr
skin recorder to Wes’s right arm. Wes was aware of sweating slightly.
Unusual for her. Even under the tensest conditions, she rarely perspired.
She wasn’t concerned about the test, but she couldn’t shake the lingering
connection she felt to Evyn Daniels, and the disorienting effect of her
presence.
“All right, Dr. Masters,” Preston said, making a mark on a
scrolling roll of paper. “We’re going to begin. Is your name Captain
Wesley Masters?”
“Yes.”
Preston alternated asking her routine questions—her term of
service, her duty stations, her field experience—interspersed with
pointed questions.
“Have you ever been arrested?”
“No.”
“Have you ever used illegal drugs, recreationally or in conjunction
with an assignment?”
“No.”
“Have you ever met with foreign nationals hostile to the U.S.?”
“No.”
“Have you ever met with known terrorists?”
“No.”
“The Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, the American
Christian Army?”
“No. No. No.”
She answered no so many times she began to feel as if she was
revealing she had no life outside her job. But then, she didn’t.
Finally, Preston turned off the machine and Evyn sat back. She
gave Wes the slightest smile, and for some reason, Wes’s uneasiness
disappeared.
“We’ll let you know the results as soon as they’ve been analyzed,”
Preston said.
Wes rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck. “Good, thank
you. I wonder if you could tell me how to get to the medical offices
from here.”
“I’ll take you,” Evyn said.
“And someplace to eat?”
you a good place to get a late lunch.”
• 71 •
RADCLY fFE
“I don’t have much time,” Wes said, not wanting a repeat of the
intimacy of the night before. She needed a buffer between them if the
disappointment she’d experienced earlier was any indication of how
strongly Evyn affected her.
“I’m sure your team can wait another forty-five minutes. POTUS
isn’t scheduled to leave the House today. Whatever activity there is in
the clinic is already being handled by your staff. Lunch first. Then I’ll
take you over to meet your staff.”
“Thank you,” Wes said, realizing when she had been given an
order in the form of a suggestion. She’d have to get used to that, since
Evyn was in charge. And since part of Lucinda Washburn’s unspoken
message had been to assess those on the list, she’d best get on with her
job. “Lunch it is.”
• 72 •
Oath Of hOnOr
chapter nine
Cam leaned against the doorway to Blair’s studio in the house
they’d purchased not far from Tanner and Adrienne’s on
Whitley Point. In the middle of winter this far north, sunset came
early, and the late-day sun slanted low on the horizon. Diffuse golden
light cast a halo around Blair’s face as she concentrated on the canvas
propped up on the easel in front of her. Her paint-spattered jeans rode
low on her hips, and her faded black T-shirt with a silk-screened Andy
Warhol slid up and down over the hollow of her spine as she captured
the colors of the sea in gray, and green, and blue. A strip of skin two
inches wide just above the waistband of her Luckys winked into
view and disappeared to the rhythm of her brushstrokes in a hypnotic
cadence that captured Cam’s attention and made her throat go dry.
She knew that spot—the sweet softness of the skin, the delicate ripple
of bone beneath supple muscle, the breathy moans when her fingers
dipped and stroked. She’d rested her hand in just that spot while they’d
danced at their wedding.
She smiled. They hadn’t really celebrated privately yet. By the
time they’d said good-bye to the last of their guests, thanked Tanner
and Adrienne for opening their home and putting up with the weeks of
heightened security, and made it back to their place down island, they’d
fallen into bed exhausted. After sleeping far later than usual, they’d
both needed to unwind. Blair wanted to paint. Cam needed to move.
Now she wanted nothing more than to be right where she was, looking
at her wife.
• 73 •
RADCLY fFE
“Have a good run?” Blair asked, touching a dab of purple to the
swell of a wave.
“The beach is a bitch. I’d forgotten how much harder it is to run
on sand.”
“Tire you out?” Blair wiped her brush on a cloth and set it in a tray
next to the easel and turned, her gaze slowly sliding from Cam’s face
down her body.
“Just getting started.”
Blair smiled slowly.
“You’re all sweaty.”
“Sorry about that.” Cam fanned her fingers over the center of her
chest, and Blair’s eyes flared with heat, making her nipples tighten and
pressure surge in her groin. “Stark made me promise I’d let her join me
when her leg healed.”
“Oh, I can just see that—I know she hates to run. You’ve been
torturing her again by playing to her need to best the boss.”
“Ex-boss. And all Secret Service agents are competitive by nature.
I didn’t have to play her at all.”
Laughing, Blair crossed the room with the easy grace of a trained
martial artist. She gripped the bottom of Cam’s T-shirt and jerked it up
and over Cam’s head, tossing it onto the floor behind them. She leaned
against Cam’s body, pinning her against the doorjamb. “Well, I like you
sweaty and you’re going to need a shower anyhow—I’m going to get
paint all over you.”
Cam circled Blair’s waist and gripped her ass, snugging Blair’s
hips into the vee of her pelvis. “Is it washable paint?”
“I might have to work on it.” Blair nipped at Cam’s chin and kissed
her, molding her mouth to Cam’s, teasing the seam of her lips with the
tip of her tongue. “Rub a little here and there.”
“Make sure you get a lot on me, then.” Cam pulled her closer,
enjoying the heat spreading through her belly, the rising beat of arousal,
the anticipation of the pleasure to come. Blair’s hands covered her
breasts, thumbs lightly brushing her nipples, and she tilted her head
back, giving Blair room to scrape her teeth down her throat. “Your
mouth is so hot—God, Blair.”
“You taste so good,” Blair mumbled as she nipped and kissed her
way to the hollow of Cam’s throat. She licked the salty skin there and
moaned softly.
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Oath Of hOnOr
Cam pulled the tie holding Blair’s hair back, letting her thick
waves fall free. She tangled her fingers in them, cupping the back of
Blair’s head, guiding Blair’s mouth lower, to the curve of her breast.
Blair’s teeth closed over her nipple and Cam jerked. They were alone in
that part of the house, but several of Blair’s security agents were in the
kitchen—and she was losing her grip more with every stroke of Blair’s
tongue. “Shower soon?”
“Mmm, in a minute,” Blair whispered, licking a warm path down
the underside of Cam’s breast.
“Blair,” Cam warned, her thighs starting to shake.
Blair laughed, pressing the flat of her hand to the center of Cam’s
belly, making slow, tight circles, knowing the motion would work Cam
up even faster.
“You looked beautiful,” Cam whispered, “standing over there in
the sunlight.”
Blair stilled, then raised her head, her blue eyes dark and
questioning. “You always catch me off guard, Cam. You mean that,
don’t you.”
“Every time I see you, I fall in love again.”
“I believe you when you say those things. You make my heart
melt.”Cam framed Blair’s face and kissed her softly. Her body demanded
Blair’s hands, Blair’s mouth, Blair’s fingers, but her heart wanted
nothing more than to hold Blair close with her last breath. “I love you.
You’re all I want.”
“Cam.” Blair’s fingers trembled against Cam’s skin. “I never
thought I’d have this. You undo me.”
The tears shimmering on Blair’s lashes were Cam’s undoing. She
only wanted her love to make Blair smile. “Don’t worry—I’ll never
tell.”Laughing, the hint of vulnerability erased by joy, Blair closed her
eyes and rested her cheek against Cam’s shoulder. “Good. I’d hate for
my badass reputation to suffer.”
Cam skimmed her hand under Blair’s T-shirt and stroked her back.
“Want to take that shower with me?”
Blair fingers skated lower, brushing softly between Cam’s thighs.
“Want me to finish what I started?”
• 75 •
RADCLY fFE
“Oh yeah. Several times.”
Laughing, Blair took Cam’s hand and dragged her down the hall.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
v
“Five Guys?” Wes said when Evyn stopped in front of the red-
and-white checkered burger joint.
“What? You don’t like burgers? Are you a vegetarian?”
“No.” Wes shook her head. “I think my coronaries can take it. A
burger would be great.”
“Well, these are great burgers.” Evyn reached for the door but Wes
was there first, pushing it open and waiting for her to pass. “You know
that’s very retro, right?”
“What?” Wes let the door close behind them and followed Evyn
to the counter.
“Holding the door for a woman.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Do you always do it?”
“If I don’t have to knock someone down to get there first.”
Evyn laughed. “Chivalry just comes naturally to you?”
“I don’t know. Is that what you call it?”
Evyn almost said I call it sexy, but caught herself just in time.
Wes really didn’t know her actions were both charming and unusual,
and that made what might have been annoying in someone else just
plain attractive. “I guess you take the officer-and-a-gentleman thing
seriously.”
“I do.”
“So you don’t just rely on the uniform to turn heads?”
“Never did, really,” Wes answered easily. The glint in Evyn’s
eyes made it hard to resist her good-natured teasing. “I’m not the head-
turning type.”
“Come again?” Evyn stared. Did the woman really not know how
hot she was?
“What?”
“Never mind.” Evyn took a mental step back. Fifteen minutes
alone with Wes and they were already dancing around personal issues
• 76 •
Oath Of hOnOr
again. Maybe even flirting. Without her even realizing it. Without
meaning to. Wes slid right through her usual barriers, and she couldn’t
have that. Especially not here, on the job, and especially not with Wes.
“We don’t have much time, so if you know what you want…”
“I’m good to order,” Wes said, visibly drawing back.
Evyn supposed she’d been rude, but better that than familiar. So
what if the cool curtain that fell between them chilled her more than the
miserable weather outside.
They ordered, grabbed a table by the window, and waited for their
number to be called. She started to rise when the server called their
order, but Wes got to her feet.
“I’ll get it. Ketchup on your fries?”
“What else?”
“Vinegar,” Wes said.
“Blasphemy.”
“You should try it.”
Evyn leaned back in her chair and stared up at Wes, who stood
looking down, amusement dancing in her eyes. Every single thing
about her was attractive—the sharp profile, the long tight body, the
devastating mouth. And she was close enough to being on the job to
know what it meant to have no life to speak of—a schedule
that changed
at a moment’s notice, travel plans she couldn’t share, colleagues who
knew her better than family. Or maybe who were her family. Wes
Masters might just be the most interesting woman she’d ever met, and
that was a big, big problem. She’d had a very brief and very ill-advised
affair with another agent right after she’d been assigned to DC. They’d
split up when her ex’s ex returned from an assignment overseas and
wasn’t so ex any longer. Unfortunately, Evyn kept running into said ex
on the job. That was painful at first and then just embarrassing. Then
and there she’d decided to keep life simple—a total separation of work
and play. Wes was upsetting her game plan. Add to that the whole
breach in security issue, and the inadvisable became the impossible.
“I’ll stick to the sure thing,” Evyn said. “Ketchup, that is.”
“Okay.” Wes looked at her a second longer before disappearing to
retrieve their food.
“Smooth—really smooth, Daniels.” Evyn shredded her paper
napkin and wondered what the hell Wes had just seen in her eyes.
• 77 •
RADCLY fFE
“This is kind of scary,” Wes said, pointing to the grease-stained
brown paper bag filled with french fries as she sat down a minute
later.“Never took you for a coward.” Evyn grabbed her double burger
with cheese and bag of fries.
Wes just laughed and carefully tore the bag open. Fat golden fries
spilled out. She plucked one up, dipped it in a little plastic container of
vinegar, and ate it. “Good.”
“Told you,” Evyn said as she plowed through her food. “After
this I’ll take you over to the clinic—it’s in the OEOB.” At Wes’s raised
eyebrow she added, “Old Executive Office Building. You can sort out
your schedule and whatnot today in terms of coverage. Tomorrow,
you’ll report to me at zero eight hundred.”
“All right,” Wes said, carefully rolling up the remains of the paper
bag that had held her fries. “I need to take shifts in the clinic as soon as
possible. I want to see how things work—how the team meshes.”
“I understand. We’ll have at least one away exercise. The rest of
the sims we should be able to do at Beltsville.”
“Come again?”
“Our training center.”
“Gotcha. Assuming the polygraph results are okay.”
Evyn lifted a shoulder. “I doubt there’ll be any problem there. It