Undercover Match: Perfect Match, #6

By EmKay Connor

Lu Branson will do whatever it takes to get her man…even appear on a reality TV dating show, pretending to be in search of her Perfect Match.

Research scientist Jace James holds a top-secret security clearance, but he hasn't held a woman in years. His work at a clandestine government laboratory in Los Alamos makes dating impossible so the high-tech matchmaking protocol used by Perfect Match sounds like the ideal solution to his problem. Add in the allure of an upscale tropical destination, and he's all in.

To her fellow FBI agents, Lucille "Lu" Branson is just one of the guys. She earned her kick-ass reputation by taking the worst assignments, collaring the worst criminals and out-drinking, out-swearing and out-smarting anyone with XY chromosomes. She doesn't think twice about accepting her new assignment until she discovers it will require her to go undercover as a contestant on a reality TV dating show. Kicking her stiletto-clad feet and screaming obscenities all the way to Mimosa Key, Lu tries to ignore the curious emotions triggered by the frilly, feminine cover required for the assignment.

It doesn't take Lu long to figure out her target has been setup…and not by the TV producers. What was supposed to be a straightforward investigation soon turns into a risky game of cat-and-mouse as she tries to identify who's behind the false allegations against Jace. Lu has no idea how far she'll have to go to save her target, her career and her heart.

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This story is set in a world based on Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay Series; it is published with the permission of Roxanne St. Claire. Visit her website for links to her books and more information.

• Language: English
• Publisher: EmKay Connor
• Release date: Sep 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386810797

Book preview

1

Good morning, Birdie. Is the boss in yet? Roger Tilson, Deputy Director for the FBI’s Surveillance Division, paused at the ornate oak desk manned by the diminutive fiftyish redhead who served as executive assistant to Patrick Greenstreet, director of the FBI. Early morning sun warmed the functional Washington, D.C. headquarters office.

You have to ask? She frowned, nodding toward a pile of papers and folders haphazardly stacked on a corner of her otherwise pristine work surface. It looks like he threw those reports in the air and then slept on top of them. Ten years working with that man, and he still fails to grasp the concept of neat and orderly.

I only need about five minutes. Roger’s fingers reflexively tightened on his iPad, anxious to resolve the logistical complication that had arisen this morning, threatening weeks of careful planning.

I can give you three. Birdie began straightening the stack of paperwork. Take the coffee with you, and I’ll make it four.

Sure thing. Roger tucked the iPad under his arm and picked up the insulated carafe from the coffee maker on the matching oak credenza as Birdie announced him via the intercom.

Patrick Greenstreet, whose perpetually rumpled look caused his adversaries to underestimate his keen intelligence and observation skills, acknowledged his presence with a single finger raised to indicate he needed a moment to finish the task at hand. While Roger waited, he poured a mug of steaming, dark coffee and slid it onto the FBI director’s desk—a larger, more masculine version of the one Birdie occupied.

Sit, the other man said finally, sliding the document he’d been reading to one side and focusing his infamous emerald-green eyes on his deputy director.

This won’t take long. Roger dropped into a chair, then flipped the cover on his iPad and activated the screen. Operation Blue Suede Shoes has a wrinkle.

What sort of wrinkle? Director Greenstreet curled blunt fingers around the coffee mug but made no move to lift it to his mouth.

We scheduled an undercover operative to infiltrate the Los Alamos lab in two weeks’ time, but the target may not be there.

"And why might the target no longer be there? He’s been a research scientist on staff there for how many years? Did he suddenly give notice? If that’s the case, we might need to bring him in