“But?” She could hear it in his voice.
“But this gathering isn’t going to be relaxing, despite his claim. Not for me, at any rate. From what I understand, the activities planned aren’t exactly in my wheelhouse.”
He didn’t have to tell her why. People at the club talked about Burke’s private parties all the time. They were infamous for every form of hedonism and kink imaginable. Phil Burke and his endless string of young wives played the hosts, and they spared no expense in their quest for debauchery. Tasha had turned down a friend’s offer to join them a few years ago. It had seemed sordid then, but now that Burke had obviously set his sights on corrupting Stephen? She shuddered, wanting to warn everyone she knew to stay away. Burke needed to be blackballed for using people’s sexual preferences for political leverage.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Let’s see if I understand the situation. You want me to join you for a dirty slumber party so you can play undercover agent for the feds and let Burke compromise your reputation—because you have to know that’s his plan. And those skills of mine that you need have to do with my reputation at the club. You know that if he snoops around in my life, he’ll see exactly what he needs to see to make you irresistibly bribable.”
Stephen’s lips quirked. “That about sums it up.”
A completely inappropriate laugh threatened to escape her throat. “You need a beard.”
“A what?”
“You want me to be your kinky beard.”
Stephen furrowed his brow in confusion. “Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”
“You rarely do, so why start now? Just let me enjoy the moment.” She crossed her legs, feeling her skirt slip high on her thighs. He noticed. “So what are your thoughts, Senator Finn? What would I be to you in this scenario? Mistress? Girlfriend? Your secret cup of Puerto Rican hot chocolate on the side?”
He gave her the look that always made her ache. The one that made her want to beg. “Yes.”
He could be dangerous when he wanted to be. “And saying yes to this will mean I’ll need to act that part for the duration?”
“Yes.” His voice was deeper now, with the barest hint of a rasp. “I need him to believe you’re the weakness he can use against me. He’s been looking for something he can hold over my head. Something I’m passionate about that has the potential to be scandalous. Someone I’m passionate about.”
Tasha shifted in her seat at his emphasis. “It does sound like a role I was born to play—the mixed-race mistress with curves for miles and a shady family background.”
“It’s your shameless behavior that makes you right for this, not your genealogy,” Stephen corrected softly. “Your knowledge would be invaluable. And there’d be no need to pretend desire. Not between us.”
That was true. No pretense was necessary. She was ready for an undressed rehearsal right now.
“Since I’m not sure when he’ll send for us, you and Brady will spend the evening at my house. I’m hoping we can prepare a plan of action.”
“And you’re taking your cousin to a kinky sex party…why?”
“I’m allowed a bodyguard. I think Burke believes it will put me at ease. Brady’s got the right background and he’s been vetted by my contact, so they’ve allowed it. It won’t hurt to have someone we trust watching our backs.”
They better have damn well allowed it—Brady Finn was a genuine hero, a kickass Marine with a medal and everything. But vetting took a little time. How long had Stephen known about this party? “Did they vet me?”
He looked away from her. “They asked, but I told them it was unnecessary. That I trusted you, and if my word wasn’t good enough, we had a problem.”
Because he knew she wouldn’t pass their test? She couldn’t deny it was true. One or two cousins on her mother’s side had had more than simple brushes with the law, and her father had lived illegally in the United States—until she was ten, when he was deported back to Ireland and the family legacy he’d tried to escape.
She shook her head. “You’re crazy if you think they don’t already know every detail about my life, whether you said it was necessary or not. Hell, I have relatives in the IRA. I’m probably already on a list.”
“And the Finns were mobsters and bootleggers. What’s your point? I was simply informing them that you couldn’t be replaced with a female agent.”
She knew it. “They had someone in mind, didn’t they?”
His look said it all. “Burke would have made her as an agent the minute she walked through the door.”
“Made her? You already have the lingo down and everything.” She sighed a little dramatically. “So I’m last-minute Lucy. I’m flattered. Unless I wasn’t the first girl into kink you occasionally had sex with on your list. Because that would hurt my feelings.”