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  Only Her Undercover Spy

  Mystical Lake Resort Romance

  Cami Checketts

  Copyright

  Only Her Undercover Spy: Mystical Lake Resort Romance #1

  Copyright © 2020 by Cami Checketts

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editing by Daniel Coleman and Jenna Roundy

  Cover art by Novak Illustrations

  Contents

  Free Book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Only Her Cowboy - Excerpt

  Also by Cami Checketts

  About the Author

  Free Book

  You can also receive a free copy of Rescued by Love: Park City Firefighter Romance by clicking here and signing up for Cami’s newsletter.

  Chapter One

  Iris Chadwick blew out a breath and pushed her heavy, blond hair back over her shoulder as she rapped on the door and called out, “Housekeeping.” She’d been raised scrubbing toilets someone could eat off—Grams’s words—and making beds any general would be proud of, Grams was the general, but she hoped at some point she’d graduate from maid service. She had a master’s in hospitality management, and she and her cousin Catalina were officially taking over the Mystical Lake Resort this year. Still, her too-feisty Grams was quick to remind her that owning and running the hotel meant filling in for any and every job when there was a need. Today, housekeeping was short-staffed, so here she was.

  There was no response from within the suite and no “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, so she felt safe to enter. She passed her all-access key card over the door and pushed down on the handle, swinging the door wide and tugging the housekeeping cart in behind her. The huge windows showcased the deep-blue lake, the lush greenery surrounding the lake, the cabins hiding in that greenery, and the towering mountain peaks beyond. Iris paused to savor the view. She’d grown up here and would never leave, and she would also never take her favorite view for granted.

  Mystical Lake Resort towered over the very edge of the lake. Its castle-like structure boasted eighty-two suites, an award-winning spa, four restaurants, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs, ice-skating in the winter, and miles of hiking and biking trails in the summer, as well as an outdoor adventure course and zip lines, kayaking, paddle-boarding, and fishing. The small town of Mystical Lake was only a mile around the lake to the east, and everything from ancient shacks to monstrous cabins stretched to the west and the south. It was a small valley, but there was enough open space to accommodate a large ranch to the east and south of the lake. This was heaven on earth, and Iris loved her self-imposed prison.

  The bathroom door swung open, and Iris’s gaze was ripped from the view of mountains and the lake to a view that had her jaw dropping and her eyes widening. A man strode from the bathroom, dressed only in navy-blue slacks; he was in the process of sliding into a white button-down shirt when he saw her and froze. One beautifully formed arm was partially in the shirt, but the rest of his upper body was revealed, and oh my, what an upper body it was. His chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms were rippled with smooth muscle and skin that made her mouth go dry.

  She forced her gaze to his face, hoping she hadn’t been caught ogling him, and immediately wished she’d kept focusing on his bare chest. His face was equally perfect with a strong jaw, a straight nose, and nicely defined brows, but it was his piercing blue eyes that had her gasping for air. He was glaring at her as if she’d just kicked the flowers off his grandmother’s grave.

  Then he moved. He reacted so quickly and smoothly she couldn’t so much as lift a hand to stop him. She only stared in awe, and in concern born of past experience, as his shirt flapped behind him and his athletic body shot across the space until he was towering over her. Her breath came in fast pants, and the delectable scent radiating from him did nothing to calm her nerves.

  “What are you doing in here?” he asked in a husky voice that sounded cold and suspicious. “Who let you in? What is your purpose?”

  Iris grabbed at the cart behind her for something to defend herself. She didn’t sense any evil intent, and she prided herself on reading people, but he was ticked that she’d invaded his room. A customer was always right, but he was in her personal space, and he was acting like she was attempting to steal secrets from the Pentagon. Her fingers wrapped around a handle, and she whipped the toilet scrubber up and held it in front of her. “Get back,” she demanded, as threatening and confident as she could muster while holding a white toilet brush. She could only pray he was a germaphobe. “I know how to use this.”

  He blinked down at her, surprise and then amusement filling those blue eyes. He took a generous step back and held up both hands, reassuring her that her instincts were on target and he wouldn’t hurt her. Lifting his hands made his shoulder muscles ripple. She licked her lips and tried not to stare at the attractive picture he made.

  “Put down the weapon and we can both walk away without injury,” he said, giving her a beautiful smirk and a wink that she felt clear to her toes.

  This man would not hurt her, and she laughed as much from amusement as from relief. He chuckled along with her, and she didn’t know that she’d ever heard such an inviting laugh. Lowering the toilet brush, she felt she’d better use the hospitality she’d been taught throughout her life and perfected with her online schooling. “Forgive me for intruding. You didn’t answer when I knocked and called out. There was no ‘Do Not Disturb’ magnet on the door.”

  He arched his eyebrows in a half-mocking, half-charming look that made her insides churn with an odd mixture of attraction and annoyance. “I left instructions with the front-desk manager that no one enter my room. And I mean no one.”

  That was odd, and not just because of how private he was. The front-desk manager—Iris’s favorite cousin and future business partner, Catalina—hadn’t put a note in the file. “I apologize again,” she said. “I’m filling in today and didn’t see that.” She paused and had to ask, “You don’t want housekeeping services your entire stay?” Most guests stayed at least four days, some several weeks. Mystical Lake was a remote location, and once people got here, they wanted to stay awhile. She knew she never wanted to leave.

  He shook his head firmly and folded his muscular arms across his chest, distracting her momentarily. It should’ve looked awkward with one arm in the sleeve and his crisp dress shirt trailing toward the ground, but he was too impeccably good-looking to understand what the word awkward meant.

  “What are you going to do when your toilet reeks and you’re walking on crumbs from all the room service food you’ve spilled?”

  That mocking look was back. “I’m generally a pretty clean person. I think I can avoid the toilet ‘reeking’ and keep my food on the plate where it belongs.”

  She should dredge up a little humility, but he was too confident and appealing. Maybe he needed a little humility of his own. Holding the toilet brush aloft, she gave him a challenging glare. “Well, when that toil
et reeks and you have to humble yourself and beg me to use my ‘weapon,’ don’t think I won’t give you a hard time about it.”

  He tilted his chin to her, his gaze slowly tracing over her face and his lips tilting up as if he liked what he saw. “I’ll look forward to …” His voice deepened to a gravelly tone. “Humbling myself and begging you.”

  Iris’s body went hot and cold. She knew she shouldn’t be flirting with a guest. She should back away and escape now, but as he stared at her, he seemed to finally notice that his shirt was half on. He tugged the one sleeve up and slid into the other one. The room swayed as she stared with her mouth hanging open. His muscles were so smooth, so delectable, it was all she could do to keep from drooling.

  His gaze on her become smoky and alluring. He knew exactly how he was affecting her. Tugging the shirt together, he slowly started doing up buttons from the bottom, letting her feast her eyes on that bare chest a few moments longer.

  Iris finally dredged up some self-control, muttered, “Excuse me,” and backed toward the door.

  Again, he moved much quicker than she’d expected, and before she knew it, that warm, spicy, yummy cologne of his was infiltrating her senses and he was in her space, her eyes level with his half-done-up shirt and his chest. He swung the door open wide for her.

  “Oh, um, thanks,” she managed, thinking a lifetime of training and six years of fitting in hospitality schoolwork every chance she had was a total waste. She couldn’t form a coherent sentence with a guest because he was too unbelievably handsome. She tugged the cart out into the hallway, wanting to hide underneath it like she had as a child when her and Catalina’s moms had regularly filled in for housekeeping. That had been before the resort had become immensely successful, her mom had gotten too sick with pancreatic cancer to work, and Cat’s mom had turned into an entitled, pampered woman. Iris and Cat had played hide-and-seek in the carts and half-heartedly helped their mothers.

  He hung on to the door, looking like a poster she wanted to hang on her wall. She had all kinds of fantasies of what he would say to her. Maybe when he opened his mouth, he’d ask her to go on a hike or bike ride, go swim in the cool, clear mountain lake, go to dinner with him at one of the retreat’s exclusive restaurants, or walk down to town and get ice cream or a shaved ice.

  “Will you please ask the hospitality manager to not send any more housekeepers to my suite?” His voice was still smoky, but the words were wrong.

  “Oh, sure …” He had no way of knowing she was the hospitality manager. “I’ll let her know.” She forced a smile and shoved her cart down the hallway to the next room. Taking a steadying breath, she rapped her knuckles on the next door and called, “Housekeeping.” No response. She waited and waited and then passed her key card over the door and swung it open.

  A chuckle from her right brought her head around before she could push her cart in. When she turned, the man was leaning out of his door and watching her, his shirt now buttoned up. Thank heavens. “I wish you better success in that room than in mine.” He winked.

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Iris flipped her long hair. “Your room was a lot of fun.”

  He grinned and saluted her. “Too bad we can’t repeat the interaction tomorrow.”

  She said sassily, “Too bad for you.”

  The smolder in his blue eyes should’ve been illegal. “Yes,” he said, staring at her as if he were drinking her in. “Too bad for me.” Then he tilted his chin at her and disappeared back into his suite.

  Iris forced herself to get back to work, but her brain was busy daydreaming about the man in the next suite over. My, oh my. She hoped she’d see him again this week.

  Chapter Two

  Devon Berkshire, aka Chris Wilson while on this job, smiled to himself as he knotted his tie and checked his hair in the mirror. The fit blonde housekeeper had him more stirred up than he’d allowed himself to get on a job, maybe ever. She was beautiful, interesting, and funny. Too bad he couldn’t request housekeeping every day with her as his maid. He glanced toward the closet, where his surveillance equipment was packed in a suitcase. No one could know why he was here at the Mystical Lake Resort, least of all a gorgeous housekeeper.

  He usually tried to minimize any contact with locals while undercover, but the blond had been impossible to resist teasing with. The image of her holding a toilet brush aloft and telling him to get back was adorable. Luckily, she hadn’t seen his Glock in the rear waistband of his pants that his shirt now hid. She’d been too busy checking out his chest.

  Striding from the room, he started a slow perusal of the massive hotel, which was situated on the edge of a clear mountain lake. It was picturesque, something you’d expect in Switzerland. He’d received the request for this job yesterday morning, and having just wrapped up an easy case in Little Rock, Arkansas, he thought a little mountain air sounded nice, especially as it was July and the heat and humidity in Arkansas had about choked him. He’d flown into Missoula last night and driven along deserted mountain roads in the dark, checking in after one in the morning and sleeping until almost eight—much later than he usually would allow, but his target wasn’t even here yet. Now, as he walked out onto the large open patio hanging over the lake and took in the mountain view, he felt like he could breathe. It was all so fresh and beautiful and clean, it reminded him of the appealing blonde.

  He’d traveled to many countries and most of the states, but the Rocky Mountains were hard to beat. When his bank account reached that elusive fifty million, he’d come buy one of the cabins nestled along the bank of a lake like this one, fish and hike and … probably go stir-crazy. That day was more than a few years off, so he didn’t need to worry about it too much.

  He wandered to the edge of the patio. Bending down, he trailed his fingers through the water. Chilly, but it’d be fun to jump into on a warm summer’s day. He doubted it ever got muggy hot at this high elevation. This morning, it was probably sixty, and it might break eighty by late afternoon. Perfect.

  His assignment was due to arrive around noon, so he had some time to explore. He walked past some large swimming pools and then along a beach spot with nicely manicured grass and a spot of sand. There was everything from kayaks to floating islands in the water. A couple of zip lines ended in the water, and there were a variety of different platforms to jump off, a rope swing, and an adventure course that went through the trees and out over the water. Already there were teenagers and children enjoying the play area. A young mom caught his eye and gave him a brazen wink. Devon pretended he hadn’t noticed and walked on. Better not to engage anyone, unless they were a certain beautiful blonde housekeeper.

  There were trails darting away from the main lodge into the trees to the west and north, and a paved road headed west, probably encircling the entire lake. He could see all sizes of cabins across the lake: small older cabins, decent-sized cabins partially hidden in the trees, and structures graduating to huge mansions. The cabins stretched around to the west and south sides of the lake. He knew from his research there was a small town on the east side of the lake, and he could glimpse bits of shops, restaurants, and even a Ferris wheel. There was also a large ranch south and east of town owned by a Stetson Stillwater. The airport was small and north of town toward the only road in and out of the valley. The lake was probably six or seven miles in circumference, so though the trees gave some privacy to the various cabins, it was fairly easy to see across the lake and into their backyards.

  His intel said the target, Antonio Jasper, was planning to stay at the resort, meet up with his contacts, and set up transfer points somewhere in the small valley. It was far enough off the beaten path that nobody would expect drug runners to fly drugs into the small, private airport or make exchanges with trucks up in these tranquil mountains. Devon hated that even in this picturesque valley, there were drug runners and deals going down.

  Rumor had it that Antonio, who was Italian by birth, had made significant contacts throughout South America and was suspected to
be moving mountains of drugs into America. It was assumed he was also involved in human and sex trafficking. So far, the man hadn’t been caught, and sadly, they couldn’t arrest him on rumors.

  Devon’s gut tightened. There was nothing he loathed more than the scum who exploited and enslaved others for their gain. Devon was an independent contractor, but he had built up a solid reputation with a clientele he could feel proud to work for while making incredible money doing the jobs their people couldn’t accomplish. He mostly gathered intel, then allowed the government agency or private business who’d hired him to proceed with that information, but sometimes he got into sticky situations. Which was why he was grateful for his Army background. He also carried his Glock and had a variety of weapons cleared to travel with him, stored in a suitcase and now in his rental car as well.

  The danger surrounding his job was why he avoided getting to know the locals; he didn’t want to involve anyone else with the scum he needed to survey. A few times, he’d had to protect such locals from trafficking or being used as shields when the scum got caught.

  Speaking of locals … As he strolled along a trail through the trees toward the west, he could see a gravel road winding off the main road. It led down to a large cabin situated on the lakeside. Within, he caught a flash of blond hair and a red T-shirt like his housekeeper had been wearing.

  Curious, he sidled through the trees until he had a decent view of the large main area of the cabin. Some open windows gave him a view into the kitchen, but most of the main area’s large windows overlooked the lake. He caught another glimpse of the woman before she disappeared up a wide staircase with a wooden railing. An older lady was in the kitchen chopping onions at the counter. She had tomatoes and peppers spread over the counter, possibly making salsa. The sight brought back a memory of his mom cutting onions for her bottled salsa while tears streamed down her face. He’d been a teenager and teased her about crying over him. She’d teased right back that a good boy wouldn’t make his mama cry.