Now
Wardrobe decked her out in a sparkling gray strapless dress with an asymmetrical hem and a sweetheart neckline for Max's attire for the night. The way the embellishments on the dress gleamed made it seem like the dress was pure silver, especially when she swayed or moved. Her heels perfectly matched the dress, of course, and they'd done her make up so well that she actually felt sophisticated, put together. They left her hair down in soft waves and gave her small platinum hoop earrings with diamonds positioned in the front, as well as a diamond bracelet, to accessorize and enhance her outfit. She hoped Alec liked it – even though he'd had numerous missions like this before, she wanted to make his mouth drop open and his eyes darken. Call it a kind of pride.
Fraternizing amongst the soldiers was strictly forbidden, but there was still the occasional hook-up, like Max and Pete's shared time in the library, or every once in a while, the rare Mating. She'd heard about the explosive sex and the eternal commitment Mating ensured. Sounded nice. Sounded like belonging.
She wasn't naïve enough to think she could fall in love, though. Soldiers didn't have the luxury. But she wouldn't have been against a hook-up, per se, like she'd had with Pete. Like she'd had once with X5-336, Nick. He had an average dick, but that wasn't the main attraction for her, no. The coup de grace for Nick was that he had the longest tongue she'd ever… encountered. Very skilled tongue. Even now, thinking about his tongue made her insides clench. They'd hooked up a couple years ago in the Quad when everyone else was asleep. Max had to bite his hand very hard to keep from screaming out in ecstasy and waking everyone up.
And now, she wanted to see if that smart aleck had better talents than Nick; because Nick wasn't even a 'Nova, he was a regular IT unit. She shuddered to think what Alec might be able to do with those luscious lips, that twisting tongue, that skillful mouth.
So it was with great disappointment when she climbed into the SUV that would take them to the gala, that she discovered he'd had no reaction at all. He'd looked at her dress, her upper half (she thought) on brilliant display, and asked, "Do you have your cover and credentials memorized?" instead of ordering everyone out of the SUV, and Max to take off her panties immediately.
Whereas Max, on the other hand, had taken one long look at her gorgeous handler in a tuxedo tailored especially for his lean but muscled body, and had to squeeze her thighs together to abate the growing need and pulse between them.
She guessed she was wrong about the dress. "Uh, yeah. Eva Maria Diaz, 24, from California if anyone asks. How long has it been since they've seen you?"
Alec pulled gently at the neck of his bowtie as the SUV revved to live and began the drive offsite.
"About a year. They probably think I'm out of the game, but I was just on a solo that turned out to be a little longer than expected."
Curiosity peaked and she wanted to ask him where he'd been and what the mission was, but typically, the solos were confidential. She deduced it was someplace warm with great sun exposure, judging by all the skin she'd seen to date. Or maybe, the mission had required him to be topless or nude most of the time. Sometimes, 'Nova missions were like that. But what could have caused a Manticore-bred accelerator to have a mission that was 'longer than expected'? What happened that forced him to be there longer? Had he still achieved mission success?
Absentmindely, she wondered if he liked his missions. She thought he must be good at what he did – he made CO after all, and his marks were off-the-charts good. Off-the-charts good 'Nova, she mused, and felt the heat of a blush rushing up to her face. She cleared her throat. "So, who is Eva Maria Diaz to Mr. Edward Bruneau?"
He turned his hazel stare back to her, shifted his eyes down to her lips for a moment, and asked, "you mean, like, are you my girlfriend, or colleague or…?"
She nodded. "Am I your plus one date or have we… known each other a while?"
He shook his head this time and looked away.
Was he upset about something? She couldn't figure out his behavior. Did he think Manticore picked the wrong female agent for this mission?
"Um, we've been dating since I've been away," he supplied.
"Over a year?"
"Yeah," he said, meeting her imploring eyes. "You gonna be okay with that?"
Her blood rushed through her body angrily and excitedly. He didn't think she could act the part? Maybe he should be worried about acting the part, himself. She could pretend just fine. She did six months with Cale, whom she really didn't even like; she could do a night with the insufferably attractive Alec. "Um, yeah, I can manage."
"Good."
"Good."
When they arrived, Alec offered her his elbow and escorted her into the extravagant hall. Draped in expensive ivory laces and clear crystals, the room echoed Cale's penthouse bedroom in its excess, except his bedroom didn't have an extensive glass bar, marbled sunken floor, and bout twenty-five servers attending to the various tables scattered at the edges of the giant room.
An older man with hanging neck skin and only dark eyebrow hair to speak of recognized Alec right away, and brought who Max assumed was his daughter their way. She looked maybe Italian, dark hair, olive skin, big boobs. "Edward, is that you?"
Alec placed a warm hand over Max's and gave a gentle squeeze before addressing the man. "Congressman Eilers, nice to see you again." He shook the man's hand, then turned his charming smile to the woman with him. "Colleen," he greeted, kissing her hand.
"And who's your friend?" Colleen asked.
Max noticed her large diamond ring on her ring finger while Colleen lazily stroked the Congressman's shiny bald head, which meant… ew. She married this old man? She couldn't have been much older than Max, herself. Maybe twenty-six. Gross.
Alec looked back to her with an expression encouraging her to go with it. "This is Eva."
"His girlfriend," Max said, plastering on a wide smile.
"My, you are a lucky woman," Colleen offered, shooting a lusty and forlorn look to Alec. "How long have you been together? Last time we saw you, you were as single as the day was long."
Was it just her imagination, or did Colleen the Congressman's wife just shoot a hard stare down Alec's body? Max gritted her teeth. Even though he wasn't really hers, he was hers to these people, hers for the night, and she didn't want Colleen or anyone else giving him too-appreciative a stare. She felt guilty for it, because it wasn't like she had a right to him, right?
Like he'd done this a million times, Alec seemed to take it in stride, grinning at Colleen and putting a hand on the small of Max's back. "I'm the lucky one to have this gorgeous woman on my arm. We started dating last year." He looked into Max's eyes and she thought she could see genuine warmth. "She's amazing. So smart, talented and beautiful. I'll be extra lucky if she lets me hang onto her." He smiled again and Max blushed for the thirtieth time tonight.
Yeah, definitely a 'Nova.
"Aw, Eddie, you're so sweet," Max said. If she hadn't have known any better, she would have believed him. She also had the sneaking suspicion he'd obtained information from the Congressman's wife using his particular set of skills. "I need to go powder my nose, excuse me," she said. Or else I'm gonna be sick all over these people.
Alec leaned toward her and kissed her on the cheek.
She felt his hand linger and trace her elbow as she walked out of reach. Now that Alec was 'on' and occupied, she could get this mission completed. She headed toward the stairs leading up to the second story of the grand ballroom, where she could better hide getting on an elevator.
