shrugged off his black leather jacket and placed it alongside hers. “Lead the way.” He smiled a slow, lazy grin and in a split second Julie’s heartbeat tripled. Was he remembering the spark of electricity that had always been there between them? Did he feel the attraction that was there even now?
She cleared her throat. “Um, we’ll start with…the kitchen.”
Zach scanned what he could see of the first floor. The FBI photos didn’t do the place justice. Julie had decorated her kitchen in white with honey oak cabinets. Fresh tulips in different shades of yellow, pink and red filled a crystal vase on a round oak table.
A bay area for the table and four chairs faced the view of the inn through lacy white curtains. She had made this cottage into a happy place to live.
In spite of her loss.
Zach’s thoughts raced to his large, empty house in Montana. Would he ever find a woman who would bring him happiness and a home filled with warmth, as this one obviously was?
Face it, Marshall, you ’re not cut out to be a family man.
You never were.
“Zach?” Julie’s gentle voice broke into his thoughts.
“What were you saying?” He ran a hand through his hair and silently reminded himself why he was there.
After all he’d seen the past couple of years, Zach had become jaded, skeptical of anyone’s innocence. There was no future in his wayward impulse to kiss Julie and hold her in his arms again. He gazed into her eyes and fought to control the undeniable affection he felt for her. It was nothing more than old memories, he reasoned.
He wanted to kiss her for the deed’s sake and not for the coldhearted job he had to do. But if Julie’s kisses would get him to the bottom of the investigation, so be it. He’d take all she had to offer.
Maybe I should take myself off this case.
But there was no chance of that happening. Not now. He’d been involved in the assignment from the very beginning when he was called up as a special agent in the attack on New York and the Pentagon. He’d known all the details, including the fact that the woman they would be investigating was one he deeply loved long ago, when life was innocent and full of hope.
Zach’s heart told him that Julie was unaware of the goings-on from her lodge. His mind told him he needed facts to prove his instincts. Zach could not assume Julie was innocent. He had seen too much in his life to be that naive.
Someone had killed the inn’s groundskeeper, an ex-KGB agent trying to make a fresh start. His death had led the Bureau to Shadow Lake Inn. When was Julie planning to tell him about that? Why was she deliberately keeping the cold-blooded murder a secret, covering it up?
Julie turned to him. “I enjoyed having dinner with you tonight, Zach.” She sighed softly and smiled.
“Yeah, me, too. It’s…good to see you again, Julie,” he whispered, gently pulling her to him. His fingers automatically intertwined with hers. It was as if his body was reacting on autopilot. Zach’s heart filled with happy memories of the two of them together. She felt so right in his arms. It had been a long time since he held a woman this way—and too long since he’d held Julie.
His gaze rested on her moist, parted lips. He wanted to kiss her. He slowly pulled her closer. She felt so warm and soft. He rested his chin on her head. Against his better judgment, he drank in the clean fragrance of her long hair, letting its softness run through his fingers. He would kiss her during this assignment, no doubt about it, but not yet. It was all part of his job—getting close and then zeroing in for the takedown.
Swallowing a groan, he emotionally placed some distance between them, silently cursing the investigation and all it entailed. He could not let himself trust her. No matter what he felt. He needed to seize control of the intense physical and emotional reaction he had to her. Now, before he got lost in her arms, in her kisses.
Julie gently squeezed his hand. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.”
Taking his arm in hers, she walked him through a wide archway leading directly into the dining room. Antique mahogany furniture came into view as she flipped a wall switch allowing the crystal chandelier to light the room. Zach whistled. The deep dark tones and lines of the furniture were beautiful and classy. Elegant. It suited her.
Just as the photos had indicated, the furniture was expensive. The background check they did showed there was no way she could afford the cost, and there were no records of the purchase. Had she paid for everything in cash? Money earned by selling out her country? “This must have set you back a few bucks,” he managed, his voice more gruff than he intended.
“It was my grandmother’s. She left it to me when she passed away. The furniture and all the fine crystal and china she loved to use. I never could have afforded all this on my own.” She turned to him and smiled. Julie’s eyes filled with fondness as she spoke about her grandmother. “After all these years, I still miss her. She used to make me tea and honey.” Her gaze met and locked with his. “And homemade lemon cookies.”
How could this sweet woman be a spy?
Zach realized there was a lot he didn’t know about Julie. He vowed to change that, to solve the case, of course. He would verify the grandmother’s inheritance by morning.
“Are you bored yet?” Julie asked after she had shown him the family room. “We can stop anytime.” She laughed lightly.
“Upstairs, Jewels.” Zach smiled in spite of thoughts of her involvement in the grueling investigation. He wanted to know more about the home she had made for herself—before he locked her up in federal prison.
She led him up the stairway and Zach admired her slim, feminine body. He forced his gaze away in order to memorize every detail about her home that hadn’t shown up in the surveillance photos he’d studied. The fourth step creaked under his foot. He made a mental note of it. The information he gathered might prove useful in saving precious seconds that could save lives. Too many agents had already died or disappeared on this assignment.
“This is my room. I recently redecorated and bought new furniture.” Julie flipped another wall switch to light the room and walked inside. “I couldn’t resist a sale I found at a shop in Seattle. The furniture was just delivered a few days ago.”
The bed was new, all right. It hadn’t been in the photographs he’d seen. The rich dark wood of the four-poster bed contrasted with the pale green comforter and floral dust ruffle. Several matching overstuffed pillows leaned against the large hand-carved mahogany headboard.
Zach imagined Julie there, her blond hair draped across the pillows. He drew in a quick breath.
He’d never forgotten her. Even after all the years. Even though he’d married and fathered a child.
Zach cleared his throat and forced the unsettling thoughts from his mind. Glancing around the room, memorizing every detail, he noticed a thick pillar candle inside an attractive heavy glass holder. Arranged with green ivy trailing around its base, the candle arrangement complimented the dark wood of her night table. That was why the room held the light, pleasant scent of vanilla. Zach wondered why Julie felt the need for a fancy, scented candle. And such an intimate atmosphere.
Did she entertain up here?
He crossed to the huge bay window and brushed the lacy white curtains aside. Through the open blinds, he could see the distant lights in the windows of the lodge, even with the numerous tall trees on the property. He turned to face her. “Nice view.”
Nodding, she stood in the doorway and smiled. The pale pink Victorian lamp on the dresser gently lit her face. Zach’s heart filled with memories of the tender love they once shared. It felt unnatural not to pull her close and kiss her as he used to.
“It is a pretty view, isn’t it?” She crossed to where he stood at the window.
“That