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Whitney Dwyer sat on the striped couch in the family room next to her cousin Connor. The boys were watching them from the loveseat across the room. They were identical except for some freckles, and one weighed more.

“How come you guys are holding hands? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?” Jamie asked.

Whitney laughed out loud and so did Connor. The two of them were closer than they were to anyone in the family because they were the same age. His presence always calmed Whitney, gave her a sense of well-being. They even resembled each other with black hair and blue eyes. She’d made a point to stay in contact with Connor while he was in Syria and knew what a hard time he’d had there. She’d even flown over from Egypt, where she’d been guarding a traveling dignitary from an embassy in DC. Once she was in Connor’s village, she could see why the stint was so tough for him—squalid living and treatment areas, on call twenty-four hours, no hospital nearby to count on. He’d run himself ragged within a year. And then there had been that messy relationship he’d gotten himself into—and was still suffering over.

“No, we’re not close that way.” She squeezed Connor’s hand. “We’re cousins and haven’t seen each other in a long time.”

“Ick.” Jamie made a disgusted face. “Cousins don’t do that.”

“How do you know?” This from Ryan. “The only ones we got are old.”

They referred to President Manwaring’s kids. Man, Whitney liked being in the inner circle. Since she’d become an agent, she’d put in her three years of probation, then took her two years in investigations. She’d landed at the Threat Assessment Center and was drafted for protective duty several times, mostly with Max Blackwell, her sometime partner. An assignment like this was a plum, even though the president assigned her to placate Nick. Experience was experience, no matter how she got it, and she kept building up her résumé so she’d have choices in the future.

Ryan turned his big green eyes to Connor. “Mom gonna be all right, Connor?”

“Yes, she is.” The voice came from across the room. Nick stood in the doorway. As always, his mere presence was intimidating. He had a magnetism, an innate sense of himself and confidence that exuded from him. She’d tried to emulate him all her life. When he smiled that Nicky smile and held out his arms, she rose, crossed to him and threw herself at him.

He held her tight. “It’s good to have you here, Nitwit.”

“For me, too.” She pitched her voice lower so the boys didn’t hear. “I can’t believe I get to work with you.”

Though they both were located in Washington, his PPD duties kept them from seeing each other enough. And she had never been on one of his teams.

“They must be cousins, too,” Jamie said as they embraced.

Whitney chuckled as she pulled away.

Nick glanced over at the boys, then covered the space between them, knelt down and made eye contact. “Your mom’s doing fine, guys. Still sound asleep.”

“Okay.”

“Ryan, do you understand?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we go swimming now?” Jamie asked, whining a bit again. Kids picked up on tension. When Declan and his wife got divorced, his girls acted out. One still did.

“I can take them.” Whitney reached inside her shirt and snapped the strap of her bathing suit. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Fine, but I need to talk to Whitney first, guys. Go on upstairs and get your towels and sunscreen. And don’t disturb your mom.”

“Yes, sir,” Jamie said. Whitney was surprised the boys obeyed Nick so easily. Maybe because they knew he was a friend of their father’s. Or maybe they just sensed his authority.

Connor stood. “I’m heading back to the B&B for a while. I need a nap.”

After Connor and the boys left, Nick asked, “He okay?”

“I honestly don’t know. It was rougher over there than he let on. He’s probably suffering from exhaustion.” And deep, deep pain, the reason for which she hadn’t shared with his brothers.

They took seats on the couch. “It’s kind of fun having you both here.” Nick squeezed her knee.

“Uh-huh. And this earns points from the brass.”

“Gabe’s coming, too. On furlough.”

“Hmm.”

Nick caught her gaze and probably saw the doubt there. “That was a long time ago.”

“Not so long. Five years. The scandal could have hurt me. And you, Nicky.”

“He’s proved himself in Beltsville.”

“I know. But the entire service is under scrutiny because agents acted unethically or bungled a situation. And we’re related, so whatever one of us does reflects on the other even more. At least I don’t have to worry about any of that from you, Ironman.”

His nickname in the service. He didn’t seem to mind it. “Right on, Supergirl.”

Now that moniker irked her. She told Max that at least the boys could call her Superwoman. Because she showed up her entire class at the training academy and was in on pulling off some big assignments, she was not everybody’s darling. Thank God for Max. Her notoriety never seemed to bother him.

“Any news on the notes?” Nick asked.

“All three are written on the same stationery.”

“Did you trace them?”

“Uh-huh. The brand of paper is sold locally. And, unfortunately, all over the country.”

“Not surprised.” Nick’s brow furrowed like it did when he was puzzling something out. “The guy probably bought it here.”

“How’d you know the threat was from a guy?” she asked. “The handwriting analysis confirmed that, by the way.”

“This whole thing sounds like a man’s work to me.”

“You got good instincts. I would have guessed a woman.” She tilted her chin toward the second floor. “I’m hard pressed to imagine the beautiful sister of the president escaped female jealousy.”

“I think you’re wrong about that. Everybody seems to love her. Best friend. Boys’ teacher. He followed her around like a puppy at the kids’ picnic.”

Whitney frowned. Something about his tone…

“What?”

“You don’t sound happy about the guy.”

“Didn’t even meet him.”

“He got a thing for her?”

“God, I hope not.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll have to go on dates with them, and that’s hard to explain.” He rolled his eyes. “You ever had protective duty and chaperoned a romantic night?”

“Not yet.”

“It’s a real pain in the ass.”

Shrugging a shoulder, Whitney harrumphed. “Tell her she can’t go out, simple as that.”

Nick laughed. “She’s got a mind of her own.”

“Does she know she could end up dead because of a flirtation?”

There was a gasp from the doorway. “Watch what you say! The boys could have been with me.”

Whitney looked up to see the woman leaning against the doorjamb. She’d never met Isabelle Barton in person but was struck by a combination of feminine fragility and a toughness right beneath the surface.

“Why are you out of bed?” Nick asked, standing.

“The boys woke me.” She was definitely unhappy. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes. I apologize for us both.”

Whitney rose, too. “I’m Special Agent Whitney Dwyer.”

Mrs. Barton held on to the doorway. Her complexion bleached of color and she started a slow slide to the floor. Before she reached it, Nick was at her side and caught her in his arms.

Normal rescue behavior. Whitney had been halfway to her, too. But she didn’t like Nick’s expression. And his tone of voice when he spoke about the woman earlier had bothered her. Maybe that was why this knight-in-shining armor routine made her wonder what was going on.

Nah! She couldn’t believe Ironman would act out of character on a job. The Secret Service was his life and he made no bones about that. Whitney understood because she felt the same way. Nope, she was probably imagining things as far as his attitude toward the president’s sister was concerned.

“I think you should be in bed.” Nick stood over Isabelle, who was stretched out on the same deck chaise where he’d put her yesterday. He’d seemed upset when she’d almost fallen at his feet, but now he was all business. “You practically fainted in the family room.”

“I’m right where I want to be.” She pointed to the plate of apples and cheese he’d fixed for her. “All I needed was something to drink and a healthy snack. The painkiller knocked me out for the night, but I’m rested today. Besides, I want to watch the boys and your cousin in the lake.”

Arms folded over his chest, Nick leaned against the railing. “Again, I apologize for us talking so openly. We should have been more careful.”

Isabelle smiled. “I’m shocked. You’re always so businesslike.”

Shaking his head, he glanced out at the shoreline. His features had softened, making him more approachable. And attractive. “Maybe having Whitney on this case wasn’t well-thought-out on my part. Or letting Connor stay. My guard drops around my family.”

“Tell me about them.”

His brows knit together. “No, that’s not protocol.”

“I envy you. Michael was an only child. My parents just had Jimmy and me, and he was so much older. Jimmy says he’s envious of you, too.”

Now Nick’s brow arched. “I didn’t know he felt that way about big families.”

Reaching out to the side table, she picked up a pink hat that matched her summer sundress and put it on to shade her eyes from the sun. “You know everything about him?”

“I’m supposed to. Would you like something more to drink or eat?” He was trying to change the subject.

“No, Mary Ellen’s bringing lunch.”

Again, a frown. “I didn’t know she was coming over. You have to check everything with me, Mrs. Barton.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, when she gets here, you and I can’t be sitting out here chatting like this. I work for you.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Do so in the future.” His tone was autocratic.

“Does she have a key?”

“Yes. To the front door and the side gate.”

“You’ll have to get them back from her.”

“How the hell can I do that?”

“Tell her you’re having the locks changed, then don’t give her another.”

Isabelle was annoyed because he changed from the solicitous man to the dictator in a blink. She felt herself flush. Michael used to tease that he could read her emotions by the color of her face. He especially could tell when she was aroused. That reminded her of how she’d been dreaming about sex again during her drugged sleep.

“You’ll have to eat out here on the deck so I can keep an eye on you.”

“Fine.”

He rolled his eyes. “From living with Whitney and my mother, I know every single nuance of the word fine. And none of them are pretty.”

That made her laugh out loud.

“Isabelle?”

Nick’s body stiffened when he caught sight of Mary Ellen at the top of the deck stairs, bearing boxes from a local deli. After a pause, she crossed the deck to them.

“Hello, Mrs. Lewis.”

“Nick, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Isabelle moved her arm to her side so Mary Ellen wouldn’t see the bandages before she could explain her injury. “Hey, Mar. Why didn’t you come in through the house?”

“To stay outside, I guess. And the front door is locked. So was the gate to back here. How come everything’s like Fort Knox?”

“Being safe while we’re out back, I guess. The boys are down at the lake.”

“And you’re up here?” Her friend’s eyes widened and her voice kicked up a notch. Because she had no kids of her own, she doted on the twins. Once, she’d even suggested she be their guardian. “They shouldn’t be in the water alone!”

“They aren’t.”

Despite Isabelle’s clarification, Mary Ellen set down the food, strode to the railing and shaded her eyes with her hand. “Who’s that with them?”

“The summer nanny I told you about.”

Mary Ellen pivoted. When she got a full view of Isabelle from this angle, she said, “Oh, my God, what happened to your arm?”

“I had a run in with a glass table.”

“Did you go to the hospital?”

“No.”

“My brother used to be an EMT,” Nick put in. “He treated it.”

“Your brother?”

“He’s helping with the deck.”

Ever astute, Mary Ellen glanced at the lake, at Nick, then back to Isabelle. “Sweetie, what the hell is going on here? First, this guy comes to build a deck you don’t need and one you don’t even tell me about. You even let him stay at the house with you. Then, you hire a nanny who’s unnecessary. You know I’d be glad to help out more with the boys this summer.”

“I’m afraid the twins are getting too dependent on me. And they take up too much of your time as it is. My mother suggested I hire someone for the summer.” She shook her head. “When I cut my arm, Ryan freaked, so I know I’m right about this.”  She sighed. “Besides, the nanny is Nick’s cousin.”

“Maybe.” She turned a suspicious gaze on Nick. “But as far as you’re concerned, things don’t click. Like, why are you up here bantering with Isabelle, instead of working?”

Nick’s jaw tensed at her friend’s challenge. What’s more, Isabelle knew Mary Ellen could be a dog with a bone and she was apparently sinking her teeth into Nick. When she talked to her on the phone this morning, she’d quizzed Isabelle about him. Although she felt bad for keeping the real situation with the threats from her best friend and although she loved the woman, she also knew Mary Ellen couldn’t keep a secret. The thought of the press swarming on Catasaga again, shadowing Isabelle’s every move, made her reaffirm her decision not to tell anyone about her security guards.

Mary Ellen had folded her arms over her chest, much like Nick had earlier. “Is he just the deck guy or is there something more between you two?”

Nick shot her an I-told-you-so look. Isabelle needed a ruse. Taking in his long, sexy length, now slouched against the house, the sun reflecting off his dark hair, she blurted out what came to her mind. “Nick and I met a while ago, through Jimmy, and he offered to come up, put on the deck and also see me.”

“I still don’t understand.”

Giving Nick’s arm a squeeze, she explained, “When we last saw him at the White House when he visited Jimmy the same time I did, Nick and I found ourselves attracted to each other. He’s here so we can start dating.”

Nick’s first reaction to Isabelle’s explanation was anger at her for pulling an excuse out of thin air and not running it by him first. Then, like the trained agent he was, he tamped down his feelings and considered the idea. Her ruse wasn’t half bad. Being a beau could explain his need to be with her, keep her from dating and allow him to be around the boys. When he crossed to her, she reached out, grabbed his hand and squeezed her fingers, probably as a warning to play along.

“That’s right,” he said giving her a very male wink. “And it’s going very well.”

“How long have you known each other?”

“Mary Ellen, I told you I’ve known him for a while. He’s the brother of an old friend of Jimmy’s. That’s why I was comfortable with him staying in Mom’s apartment.”

Her dark eyes narrowed, Mary Ellen asked Nick, “How did your brother know the president? Did he go to Yale?” She sounded incredulous that someone of his lowly profession would come from an educated family.

For some reason, he wanted to tell her that his brothers held degrees from Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins, that Gabe had graduated from John Jay at twenty because he had a photographic memory. Nick himself had graduated from Columbia University magna cum laude in political science. And Whitney had outdistanced them all scholastically. Slouches did not get into the Secret Service. But he quelled the defense and recalled the story he and the president had decided on.

“My brother didn’t go to Yale. But we lived in New Haven and my dad and older brother did work at the college. They renovated the president’s frat house. Michael and my brother became buddies. They even took an interest in me, though I was a kid at the time.”

“Doesn’t that sound like Jimmy?” Isabelle asked rhetorically.

It did. President Manwaring won the Democratic nomination with his stance on helping middle-class America. And he’d followed through on every single one of his campaign promises. Who knew, though, that his wholesome little sister would be so proficient at lying?

Deciding to end this conversation before he said something he hadn’t thought out, Nick straightened. “I’m going to take a dip in the lake before I get back to the deck. Mrs. Lewis, nice to see you again.”

“Hell, you might as well call me by my first name.”

“Mary Ellen, then.” He squeezed Isabelle’s shoulder. Let his hand linger there a moment. “Isabelle.” It was the first time he’d said her given name to her face.

“Nick.”

Running through this new development in his cover, he changed quickly into swim trunks and jogged to the dock directly from his quarters. The air was cooler down here, though the lake was calm. Whitney was giving the boys instructions on how to swim with the flippers she’d brought for them. Since the lake was shallow at the shore, Nick kicked off his shoes, said to his cousin, “Be right back,” hustled down the dock and dived in. The water was thankfully refreshing and had the added benefit of clearing his head. He did a few laps and then swam over to the boys. They were cute in goggles and with air hoses standing upright.

“How you doing, guys?”

“Mr. Martin,” Jamie said lifting his foot out of the water and tipping precariously. “We know how to use flippers.”

“Super.” He gestured at Whitney. “My cousin was a lifeguard at one time.” He smiled at them. “And since you’re using everybody else’s first name, you guys can call me Nick.”

“Cool.”

Discarding his eye gear, Ryan headed out of the water and kicked off the flippers. “I gotta pee.”

“Me, too.” Jamie gave Nick a disgusted look. “Mommy won’t let us go in the water.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Dry off first,” Whitney told them in her best Mary Poppins voice. “There’s towels right on the chair.”

As soon as they were out of earshot, Nick hopped up onto the deck and sat with his feet in the water.

Whitney mirrored his actions. She wore a one-piece navy Speedo, and her black hair was tied up. Closing her eyes, she lifted her chin. “Man, this sun feels like heaven.”

A motorboat sped by in the distance, its wake sending a few waves to the shore.

Nick cleared his throat. “I have to tell you something.”

“Shoot.”

“There’s a new development with my cover.”

Back to alert mode, she asked, “What?”

“Mrs. Barton’s friend Mary Ellen Lewis asked why we were chatting personally when she came up the steps. Since we refuse to let anybody in on her protection, she said we, um, were attracted to each other, were going to, um, date.” Shit, he never stuttered. Never.

Whitney’s jaw dropped. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“Nope.” He flexed his feet, splashing her. “Shocked me, too. But now that I think about it, the charade will give me a solid excuse to be around her so much.”

“I think it sucks. You’ll have to pretend to be interested in her.”

Which wouldn’t be hard.

“You’ll have to show some affection.”

Which didn’t seem like an unpleasant idea. His mind started to wonder what that would mean.

“Nick, did you hear me?”

“I did.” He scowled. “Are you questioning me, Agent Dwyer?”

“Don’t pull that crap on me. I respect your authority and will go along with any decision you make on this assignment. But I know you too well to take any bullshit from you. There are so many potential minefields in the idea, Nicky, and you know it.”

Unfortunately, Whitney was right. But Nick had been adept at dodging all kinds of IEDs for his whole career, and now would be no different.