Please Don't Blow Up the Neighbors

*** Book 4 in the 'Extreme Travel' Series ***

Since Kes and James are now agents, they travel to the Philippines with their team to save kidnapped businessmen. Due to the nature of the missions, the situations get very personal for Kes in more than one way.

Excerpt

"Kes!"

I all but jumped out of my seat when I heard my name yelled from far away. I must've dozed off or something, because the boring first speaker in the lecture hall was gone. My friend and coworker, Ben, stood in front of the entire auditorium with a microphone, looking right at me. I slinked down into my seat and he laughed. I hated working for the CIA just then. This was a required seminar for new recruits, entitled, 'The Magic of Distraction.' If I'd known Ben was speaking, I'd have faked a headache.

"No, Kes," Ben said. "I need you, right now."

It figured we'd be stuck with model-adorable Ben. He was a gorgeous agent, blond hair, blue eyes, and a killer white smile. He also liked to flirt a lot, especially with me.

Every person in the giant filled auditorium turned to see me. I hated Ben for this. He was going to buy me the biggest and most expensive dinner for making me die in front of everyone.

My cheeks heated up. "Where?"

"Up here, Kes. Now."

I stood up and gave my best 'save me' look to my husband, James, who sat beside me. He shrugged as if to say, 'you're on your own and I'm glad it's not me.' I wasn't getting out of this anytime soon.

I straightened my outfit and walked the plank to the stage. As soon as I got there, I gave Ben the 'don't mess with me' glare and stood with my arms folded.

"See this?" Ben picked up my long, wavy, dark red hair in his hand. "Huge distraction, especially in places where they don't normally have red hair." He held my chin and turned it toward the crowd. "Green eyes. Not normal."

I shot him the dirtiest look possible, making him chuckle. He stood back and held his chin as he checked me out. "Nice body, too. A little flat-chested, but you can't have it all."

I put my hands on my hips and watched him with my mouth agape. That little…

Ben stifled a laugh and talked to the huge chuckling audience again. "This lady has done amazing things with distraction. She has it down to a science and has proven it time and time again, even before she'd trained to be an agent. She was the inspiration for my book. I'd like to have her demonstrate some of the things she's done in the past. You might want to take notes, because she's a natural."

I looked toward James, who'd hidden far down in his chair with his face hidden by his hands. He probably felt like I did, terrified for what was to come.

Standing about five or six inches taller than my height, James Hamilton was very handsome, with compassionate and sexy light blue eyes and medium brown hair framing his face. His beautiful white smile and high cheekbones gave him a model-like glow. With his sexy slightly British accent, his muscular six-pack abs, and his very caring personality added into the mix, I'd married someone who should've been in the movies or on the front cover of a magazine. It didn't hurt that James was independently wealthy from all the businesses he'd started or inherited, including the biggest newspaper in Denver. Even so, we got along really well, but also knew how to push each other's black_ands. With his newly obtained doctoral degree in psychology, he thought he could counsel anyone. I was probably his only failure, because I played with his head. Even though we'd only been married for four months, I figured it was my right to play with his head a bit. It kept things interesting.

"James," Ben yelled. "Bring Kes her purse."

James took a deep breath and grabbed my purse. He walked up to the stage, handed me the purse, and headed back for the stairs.

Ben ran to James' side and directed him back to center stage, right beside me. "Oh, no, my friend. You're up here with us."

I turned toward James. "Do you want to kill him now or later?" I said it loudly enough for everyone to hear. The audience laughed. I even saw our big boss, Wilson, hiding a grin.

"Now, Kes, dear, relax," Ben said into the microphone. "I promise this won't hurt." He looked out to the audience and put his hand to the side of his mouth. "We're actually really good friends."

"Not for long," I said. There was laughter again.

Ben shot me a dirty look. "Anyway, here's how this works. Distraction is like the magician who can fool you into seeing one thing when they're doing something else behind your back. Let's take an example here. Kes, I need a sleazy woman."

I raised my eyebrows and lowered my gaze down over him. "Sounds like a personal problem."

Laughter rang throughout the auditorium. I was pushing my luck, but so was my good old buddy, Ben.