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She smiled enthusiastically at Diego, but he didn’t return it. In fact, he looked a little peaked.
“In that case, chocolate cream pie always works to bribe me.”
Marin slammed her eyes shut at the sound of Agent Keller’s voice. When she opened them again, Diego shrugged before reaching into the oven to pull out the cookies. Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned on her heel to face the agent. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, rugged and sexy-as-hell, as he rested a shoulder against the doorjamb with his hands shoved in his pockets. Dressed casually in chinos and a blue oxford shirt, he looked like an ad from one of those preppy men’s magazines. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to reveal muscled forearms. A crisp white T-shirt peeked out of the V of his button-down.
She must have been on the verge of hysteria because she suddenly wondered how he got his T-shirts so white. Did he have a wife who did his laundry? God, she hoped not. He didn’t wear a ring, but that didn’t mean anything. If what Officer Stevens told her was true, the gorgeous man in front of her was once involved with the president’s daughter-in-law. A married woman. Sweet little Arabelle’s mother. Marin didn’t much care for Farrah and her wild ways, but she adored Arabelle. And this man had the capacity to upset the little girl’s life. Marin felt shameful for lusting over him.
I’m not lusting over him.I’m lusting over his ability to get his whites so damn white.
“Agent Keller,” she bit out. “Are you checking up on us? I can assure you, Diego and I have no intention of settingtheseovens on fire. But just in case”—she stormed over to the other side of the kitchen and picked up a fire extinguisher—“we’ve got not one, but two, working fire extinguishers. Not to mention a swarm of security staff roaming the halls.”
“Down girl,” Diego said softly enough for only Marin to hear.
“Good to know. But I just stopped by because I heard there were fresh cookies up here.”
“Well, why don’t we just hand all the cookies to the staff with nothing better to do than hanging out at an empty White House tonight? At this rate, we’ll be baking until two in the morning to get the number we need for the Easter egg roll. But, hey, as long as you’re happy, Agent Keller.”
She was babbling about nonsense, acting like a shrew, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. Perhaps the fire had affected her as much as she suspected it had Diego. Marin tore off a paper towel, pulled two of the hot cookies off the cooling racks and hastily wrapped them up. Marching over to where Agent Keller was still leaning nonchalantly in the doorway, she jabbed him in the chest with the cookies. His eyes appeared greener tonight and, this close, she could smell the soap he’d used to shower with after his run earlier. She had to physically stop herself from inhaling him.
“Here,” she said with a croak, suddenly ashamed of her ridiculous behavior. “Enjoy.”
Agent Keller didn’t take his hands out of his pockets.
Instead, he carefully studied her face. He almost looked concerned for her. Too bad Marin knew that was impossible.
His eyes darted past her shoulder. Marin caught the look he shared with Diego. The silent exchange between the two men rekindled her anger. She hated how a man she’d known for barely a day could infuriate and excite her so much at the same time.
“Are you okay?” he asked. The soft tone of his voice made tears burn at the back of Marin’s eyes.
“Just peachy. We just have a lot of work to do, and we keep getting interrupted. The pastry kitchen was a much quieter place to work,” she said, jabbing the cookies against his hard chest one more time. “Take the cookies and let me get back to baking. Please.”
Slowly, he pulled his hands out of his pockets. He reached for the cookies with his left hand while his right one traveled to Marin’s cheek. Ever so gently, his thumb glided along her skin until it came away covered in flour. The intimate gesture was very nearly her undoing. Holding back tears she didn’t understand, she stepped away from Agent Keller, headed back into the kitchen and picked up the rolling pin.
“He’s gone,” Diego whispered a moment later.
“Good,” she said. “Let’s get these done so we can go home. I need a big glass of wine.”
Diego laughed. “It looks to me like you need something else.”
Marin glared at him over her shoulder.
“Shutting up now, Boss.”
CHAPTER5
“Ineed to get her to take me to that wedding.” Griffin sighed into his bottle of beer.
It was a balmy Friday night, and tourists crowded the sidewalks of Farragut North. Griffin and his buddies, Adam and Ben, were enjoying a cold one while sitting at an outdoor cafe a few blocks north of the White House.
“And this is the guy who runs from any mention of matrimony.” Adam tossed a chicken wing bone into a plastic basket in the center of the table.
“He’s got to be desperate to solve this case if he’s willing to venture within five miles of bridesmaids.” Ben shuddered theatrically.
“He’s more than desperate,” Adam explained. “He wants to be a bridesmaid’s plus-one.”
Ben whistled. “On the other hand, maybe he’s not that desperate. Bridesmaids usually put out.”
The two men chuckled out loud before clinking their beer bottles together.
