Chapter 2
Gibbs hardly ever awoke slowly, but it must have been the bourbon or the emotion of the night. He burrowed in, finding his bed softer and more comfortable than normal. He had such a hard mattress and this…
Gibbs’s eyes flew open. These weren’t his sheets. This wasn’t his room! He sat bolt upright, looking around. Sunlight streamed in through curtained windows, lighting a large room, one he’d never seen before. He knew damned well he’d gone to bed in his own room last night, the nautical comforter draped over him. And yet now he had something that was green with black.
Rubbing a hand over his jaw, Gibbs padded to the window, his feet getting lost in a thicker carpet pile than he had. The street wasn’t the same"nothing was the same. What the hell had happened to him?
He stood stock still, straining, trained hearing sharpened. There were no voices, nothing particularly out of the ordinary inside the house. Besides him.
Gibbs walked cautiously out of the bedroom, checking the other rooms he passed, wishing he had his weapon. By the time he got to the front hallway, he knew for certain he was alone. He started researching, finding a desk and digging through it. There was no wallet, though there were house keys and spare change…and a bunch of letters waiting to be mailed. Glancing at the return address, Gibbs stopped stock still.
“L. J. Gibbs?” he said quietly, rifling through the mail. It was all there, bills, personal correspondence, a letter from someone named Lauren directed to “Jet,” who thanked him for going to Jessica’s piano recital. Business checkbook for Gibbs Consulting. There were framed pictures of a man who was almost his double on the walls. He glanced at the computer, wondering if he could do some research when the phone rang. He stood there frozen, listening as the answering machine message came on and his voice spoke back.
“Gibbs. Either not here now or I’m avoiding you. Leave a message,” the machine recited in his voice, and his hand itched with the urge to grab the phone and answer it. But he’d get some intel first, he had to go carefully here until he figured all of this out.
“Hey, L.J. This is Kelli, your personal assistant. I’m just reminding you, in case you’ve forgotten who I am, since you’re about two hours late for work and haven’t called in yet.” Her Jersey accent lent to the sarcasm in her voice. “I figure you probably had a late night. But you usually call me to let me know so I can pick you up, since your head is usually killing you in the morning. Did you really have that much last night? Man, you really need to learn how to moderate yourself. In any case, I’m on my way over. You better be ready to go in like five minutes. You’ve got a big meeting with the new contract at one. See ya soon!”
He scrambled for the phone, the only thing registering was that name on the phone. “Kelly?” he asked, his voice a little shaky. She sounded nothing like his daughter, had a completely different accent but when he heard the name, he had to try.
“I… what’s going on?” He heard the words, but he didn’t comprehend what she was saying.
“Hey Boss! Welcome to the world. How’s the head?” Slamming the car door, Kelli looked at herself in the side mirror, fluffing her hair and checking her makeup. She may just be his personal assistant but L.J. Gibbs was rich, young, handsome and she had her eyes set on becoming more than just the girl who picked up his laundry.
“Head… I…” He didn’t even know how to answer her. He latched on to something she’d said earlier. “You’re coming here?” He heard a car door slam and walked to the window. “That you in the black sedan?”
“Well, yeah, L.J. You expecting someone else?” A stab of jealousy ran through her, but she ignored it. Any new minx coming through his bed never stayed long enough to make an impression on his pillow. Kelli was in it for the long haul. She wanted a ring on her finger; a big shiny, weigh-your-finger-down ring.
“No,” he said hoarsely and then disconnected, opening the front door and waiting for her to come up the path. She looked absolutely nothing like his little girl, something he was very thankful for.
“Kelli?” he asked, giving her an intense look.
“God, Boss. How much did you have last night? Of course it’s Kelli. You losing your sight now too?” she asked, pushing her way into the house. Walking into the kitchen, she opened the fridge like she owned the place. Pulling out a bottled water, she closed the door. Leaning against it, she opened the drink, eyeing him closely.
She pushed off from the appliance, she walked up to him, really looking at him. “What the hell happened to you? You look like you’ve aged fifteen years…”
“Don’t…know.” He pulled in a breath, trying to focus. He moved over to the coffee pot, a complicated electric number, and started hitting buttons, cursing when he couldn’t figure it out. “Need some help here!”
Once he had some caffeine in him, he’d start grilling her.
Rolling her eyes, she sauntered up to the coffee maker, checking to see if there was coffee inside. Hitting a few buttons, she got the machine going. Turning around, she quipped, “You need someone to take care of you, L.J. Seriously.”
Moving closer to him, she reached out, straightening his t-shirt. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?” She shook her head in mock frustration. Smoothing out the shoulders, she looked up into his eyes, her pale blue-grey eyes narrowing slightly in concentration, though she avoided too much facial movement; have to protect from wrinkles after all.
“Damn, Boss. What the hell happened to you? You’re all grey and wrinkled. Whatever you did last night, you seriously need to stop. Your body obviously can’t handle it.”
“Said that before,” he remarked. “You know me…” He shrugged. “Pretend we don’t know each other. Pretend I’m a stranger.” He ran his hand over his jaw, scraping over stubble. “Pretend I’ve forgotten everything. And then maybe you can… Oh, I dunno…” He shrugged, giving her a look that usually worked on most women that predatory. “Help me get cleaned up.”
“Oh, L.J. What am I going to do with you?” Taking an over-exaggerated breath, she gave him an appreciative smile. Even looking unexpectedly older, he still could bring her to her knees with a look. “Why don’t you go get a shower? I’ll find some clothes for you for this afternoon’s meeting.” Turning him around, she gave him a slap on his ass, his nice firm ass. “Now, get going.”
She hadn’t answered a damned thing and he hadn’t had his coffee yet. “What’s the matter? You don’t want to play that game?” he asked, rummaging in the sink and rinsing out a mug.
He filled and sipped it, watching her. Slipping into a flirtatious persona to get information shouldn’t have been this easy, but it was.
Her boss rarely turned his full charm on her and she could barely keep her wits about her with him using that smile on her. “Um, yeah. Yes, of course. You know how much I love games. What kinda game you wanna play?”
“Pretend I don’t know a thing. Tell me all about myself. Pretend I have amnesia or that I don’t know a thing. Tell me everything, every little secret. And what you like best. What…” he lowered his voice to a growl, “...turns you on.”
“Ah, well, I happen to be very good at pretend. Let’s see. Well, for starters, you’re L.J. Gibbs, a former Marine, divorced, still friendly to your ex-wife and love your former step-daughter Jessica. You own Gibbs Consulting, an elite firm that deals with training security personnel. You have also have a contract with federal agencies to train law enforcement officers in combat and interrogation techniques.” Taking a step back, she gave him a thorough looking over.
“As for what turns me on, you’re a very good dresser, unlike your current ensemble. Normally, you have dark hair with only a tinge of silver. And it isn’t normally so closely cut. You love to take your yacht and head down to the Mexican Riviera. And you’ve been promising to take me out on it someday.”
Completely different. Money, though he’d been able to tell that from the feel of the sheets against his body. He glanced down, looking at the pajama pants and T-shirt. “Would it be better if I slept naked?” he asked, wanting to keep her off balance. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d used sex appeal to interrogate someone. Okay, she wasn’t a suspect, but she was someone who could give him some intel.
He ran a hand through his hair, pretending to be shocked at the length. “Don’t know what happened to my hair. Must have been a hell of a night, Kelli. Sure we have to go to that meeting?”
He looked up towards the stairs, draining his coffee. “I’ll wear whatever you choose for me. It’s been a while since…Lauren…” It was Lauren, wasn’t it? “Been a while since I’ve had a woman’s touch.” Yeah, Lauren thanked him for going to Jessica’s event. The someone else….not him! They must be at least somewhat friendly if she was sending him a thank you note.
This is just an undercover assignment. Don’t get too deeply involved.
“Well, if it’s a woman’s touch you need, you know you just have to ask.” The invite wasn’t subtle, but Kelli wasn’t a subtle girl. Her peroxide bleached hair, heavy makeup, and acrylic nails were a testament to that. “Then just head upstairs, stud. I’ll be right behind you.”
She couldn’t believe her luck. Since the day he hired her, Kelli’d been trying to worm her way in. But she never could get him to turn that dangerous charm and those gorgeous blue eyes on her. When she’d read her horoscope this morning, it told her that today would change her outlook. Maybe it was finally coming true after all.
Gibbs arched a brow, giving her a slight wink and bounding up the stairs ahead of her. He was in deep here, but he’d do what he had to in order to figure out why there was some other guy with his face and his name in this house.
In rushing ahead, he was able to locate the bedroom, the huge attached bathroom and manipulate the dials on the shower. If she came in and took what she wanted…well, it was just sex. She wouldn’t touch his heart. No one had for a lot of years.
Man must be in a rush, Kelli thought to herself. Wonder why…could he? Does he want me to join him? Kelli just couldn’t believe her luck. Taking a quick look at herself in the mirror, definitely liking the picture she presented, she took off after him.
Walking as stealthily as she could in her three-inch stiletto heels, she found her way into his bedroom. Seeing the open bathroom door, she took her cue and stepped inside. “Now you mentioned something about a woman’s touch?”
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