Woman Of Innocence

“Even at two in the morning you have a sense of humor.” She grinned a little and kissed his jaw. The sandpapery quality made her lips tingle as she sank against him.

Sighing, Morgan said, “Only for you, believe me.” He’d lost count of the times he’d been awakened by a person on duty over at the Perseus headquarters about a mercenary mission. No, he savored a good night’s sleep. Morgan also knew that since the kidnapping, Laura had kept a lot of her emotions in, and had lost some of her childlike spontaneity. Over time, he’d learned how to read her when she internalized things, and he tried to stimulate conversation with her, to find out what was going on inside that intelligent head of hers. Tonight was one of those nights, he realized. Laura rarely woke him up like this. He wondered if she was worried about one of their four children. Jason, their firstborn son, in particular, who was going through a very rough time the last couple of years as a maturing teen.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked quietly. He felt her hand range across his chest, her touch always wonderful. Savoring the feel of her slender, feminine body against his own, he moved his fingers across her shoulder.

Closing her eyes, Laura sighed. “It’s about Jenny.”

His brows drew downward. “Jenny? My assistant?”

“Yes.”

All sleepiness left him as he wondered why Laura needed to discuss the woman who worked for him at Perseus. “What about her?”

“You know how much we both like her,” Laura began.

“Yes…” Where was this leading? Normally, Laura didn’t discuss business at 2:00 a.m. with him. She helped out occasionally on hiring people for Perseus. Otherwise, she had her hands full with their four children, devoting her life and time to them, not Perseus. “She’s become like a fifth child to us,” Morgan agreed.

The fact that Jenny had a lot of Laura’s own traits hadn’t escaped either of them. With her short blond hair and pixie face, Jenny looked more like one of their children than Morgan’s secretarial assistant. Jenny had been abandoned at birth, given up for adoption, and she still didn’t know who her parents were. When Laura had discovered that fact, she’d automatically extended a hand to the young woman of twenty-four, and made her a part of their extended family. Morgan didn’t mind. Jenny was a superb worker, highly intelligent, and had graduated from Bryn Mawr in the top ten percent of her class. She had a degree in psychology, and spoke three foreign languages fluently. Jenny was no ordinary secretary, by a long shot. She was, literally, Morgan’s right-hand person at Perseus. Everything that went on, Jenny knew about. She was reliable, trustworthy and hardworking.

“You know her birthday is coming up in a week? She’ll be twenty-five?”

Rubbing his face, Morgan muttered, “Oh…no, I forgot. Damn…It’s a good thing you reminded me.” He made it a point to remember the birthday of every one of his employees. But Jenny kept the list for him, and knowing her as he did, he realized she’d never tell him her birthday was coming up! She didn’t like to take the limelight or have anyone make a big deal over her. She was almost a shadow, a behind-the-scenes player in all respects.

Laura nodded her head. “A senior moment, sweetheart.”

They both laughed. Now that Morgan was in his mid-fifties, he had found out that his memory wasn’t what it used to be.

“I have a special gift in mind for her,” Laura said enthusiastically. “And that’s what I need to talk to you about.”

Raising his brows, Morgan said, “Okay…whatever it is, get it for her. She treats you like the mother she doesn’t have. You don’t need my okay on it.” He felt Laura laugh and she hugged him.

“Don’t be so quick to agree, Morgan. The ‘gift’ I have in mind is unusual and does require your approval.”

“You’re up to something….”

She laughed liltingly. “You’re slow, Trayhern. Must be the time of morning I woke you up.”

He grinned and squeezed Laura, placing a kiss on her smooth brow. Morgan treasured these special moments they shared. They didn’t have many, not with four kids and the demands of Perseus hanging over their heads all the time. “Why is it the man is always the last to know?” he teased back.

Laura kissed his cheek and then sat up. The sheet fell away and pooled around her hips. She saw the glimmer in Morgan’s dark blue eyes and reached out and skimmed her hand across his massive chest. “That’s why you guys needs us girls around.”

Catching her hand, he pressed a kiss to it. “Okay, I give. What’s going on?” He liked the way the pale peach silk nightgown with the deep V-neckline revealed her slender body. Even after carrying his four children, she was as beautiful and desirable to him as ever.

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Uh-oh…now I am in trouble!”

She giggled and met his smiling eyes and cockeyed grin. Despite Morgan’s overwhelming workload, when he was with her, he was more like a little boy than the serious, conservative military tactician that he was. With her, he let down his walls. He trusted her. He loved her. “Yes,” she whispered wickedly, “I think you are….”

With a sigh, he struggled up into a sitting position. Leaning against the cool brass headboard, he held her hand in his. “Okay, what have you planned for Jenny’s birthday?”

Laura lost her smile and turned slightly, her knees brushing against his thick, hard thigh as she met and held his glimmering eyes. The moonlight was bright, contrasting starkly with the deep shadows in the room. Morgan’s face was square and large. Even in the moonlight the scar on his face stood out, a constant reminder of that fateful day during the Vietnam War so long ago.

“You know how desperately she daydreams of going on a mission with a mercenary.”

Morgan groaned. “Laura…”

She held up her hand. “Hear me out, darling.”

Groaning, Morgan rumbled, “That’s all it is, Laura. She daydreams. She knows she can’t go on a bona fide merc mission. She’s not trained for it.” Scowling, he added, “Jenny is smart, bright, resourceful and creative, but she’s not merc material. I can’t put one of my men at risk to fulfill some romantic dream she has about this business. You know that.”

Sliding her hand along his jaw, Laura whispered, “You’re overreacting, darling. Remember last week, how you mentioned to me that you have a level one mission coming up in Agua Caliente, Peru? You said you needed to assign someone to interview Major Maya Stevenson’s Apache pilots for that top-secret mission that will be going down in Mexico. Jenny’s a psychologist. Who better to interview and help select the right three women for this? A level one assignment means no danger. Why couldn’t you assign Jenny to go along? Make her feel like she’s doing something important? Let her undertake the interviewing and choose the pilots. I really think if you’d do this, she’d lose her romantic visions of the business. As it is now, that’s all she talks about—to be part of one of your merc teams.”

Groaning, Morgan closed his eyes. “Laura…”

“Morgan, it’s a little thing, but it’ll mean so much to Jenny.”

Opening his eyes, he regarded her shadowed face and absorbed her warm, pleading look. She knew he wouldn’t refuse her. He never did. How could he? Loving Laura was his whole life. Their children were proof of that, and their love had deepened and gotten even better over the years. She was his best friend. And she rarely took advantage of their bond as she was doing now.

Morgan knew that Laura felt deeply for Jenny’s plight as an abandoned child. Laura had a habit of bringing in strays all the time. There was that stray kitten down at the grocers, starving, its eyes nearly matted shut, that she’d brought it home and nursed back to health. A pigeon had been hit by a car and was lying on the side of the road, and Laura had stopped and picked it up. She’d put a splint on its broken wing and nursed it back to health. Now that Laura had released it, the dumb bird made its home on the rail outside their bedroom door. Morgan wasn’t very happy about that. The bird messed everywhere.

Morgan’s mind ranged over the many animals Laura had rescued over the years. And he had to admit, if he was honest, that she had rescued him, too. He was a stray. He’d been abandoned in every way possible, yet, she’d opened her heart and her life to him, without question.

Morgan wouldn’t make Laura beg. He respected her too much to play that kind of game. He saw that her velvety eyes were filled with love toward him. Sighing, Morgan squeezed her small hand in his large one. “Okay, okay! So who’s available to go on this mock merc mission?”

Laura released a breath of air, leaned forward and threw her arms around his broad, warm shoulders. “Thank you, darling.” She gave him a quick kiss on his mouth and said, “Matt Davis is coming in from Bosnia tomorrow. He’s been on a level four mission, and I would imagine he’d like something a little safer and quieter.”

Morgan arched one black brow. “Davis? Baby-sitting Jenny? Oh, brother, Laura. That is not a match made in heaven. That’s like putting oil and water together.”

“He’s the only one available,” Laura said, biting her lower lip in thought. “I’ve met him several times. He’s very nice. Good-looking too. And single.”

“Is this all for Jenny’s benefit?”

Laura laughed. “It doesn’t hurt that he isn’t married, Morgan.”

Giving her a dark look, he growled, “You aren’t matchmaking again, are you?” Laura had a penchant for that.

Her mouth twitched. She saw Morgan’s dark, assessing gaze on her. “Me? No. Go look at the database yourself. There’s no one available except Matt. I’m sure if you explain to him the reasons for his being assigned, he’d go along with it. He’s got a soft heart.”

“Humph. I’ve got to have a soft head to think he’d agree to it. I’m going to have to do a helluva lotta talking to get him, Laura. He’s thirty years old and he will not like baby-sitting a rookie. Hell, Jenny isn’t even that.” Running his fingers through his black hair, he grimaced.

“Matt knows Spanish. And this is a Spanish-speaking mission,” she reminded him. “And Jenny knows Spanish. She won’t be a problem. Besides, she plans all the missions with you and Mike Houston. Just because she hasn’t spent any real time on a mission, she knows how they work. I think if you tell Matt why, he’ll gracefully capitulate and do it.”

“I’m not so sure….” Morgan wasn’t. “Grace is not his middle name.”

“More than anything,” Laura said, “please don’t let Jenny think this isn’t an important mission. Let her think that she’s really contributing—that she’s the best person for the job.”

“I can’t let Jenny think we’ll do this again, Laura. She’s not qualified and trained in military maneuvers.”