Model in Disguise

9. Amateur Agent

      Wait, no. Twenty-eight of those brunettes have highlights.

      Adrian then leans in to brush his lips against my cheek, and I allow a blush to rise and redden my face. “Blue hat,” Adrian whispers. I take in the heat from Adrian's face next to mine. It irritates me.

      “Possibly,” I say, grabbing his hand and bringing him with me as I walk further away from the aforementioned person. I glance back at he girl to my right in a blue hat with long black hair whose body is relaxed, but somehow still alert to its surroundings. Pretending to bend over and fix my foot inside my heel, I let my senses examine her.

      Then I notice that her phone is bulging out from her jacket pocket. It's not her. “A possibility, yes, but not quite.”

      A few more minutes pass as Adrian and I embrace the grounds of Smile. We stroll across the grounds and I breathe in the scent of fresh rain that surrounds the area. Turning my head to the right, I look out at the plethora of stores and malls that reside near the campus. My ears listen to the chatter of the teenagers lounging on the grass.

      Someone is playing football.

      “I've got it!” they yell, stumbling backwards over the manicured grass.

      And as I'm looking to my right, something bumps into me on my left. I'm pushed into Adrian a little, then, but my feet stay firmly on the ground. My head swivels to see who has just bumped into me.

      Suddenly I'm staring into apologetic green eyes a few shades lighter than my own. The boy has blond hair and nicely shaped eyes that compliment his light skin tone. He's gorgeous, of course. But I don't pay much attention to the fact.

      What I pay attention to is that he just bumped into me.

      “Sorry,” he says immediately, sparing Adrian and me a quick glance. I eye him skeptically as he searches the ground for the fallen football.

      I then clutch Adrian's hand tightly, forcing myself not to react as we turn away and continue searching for our partner.

      But then I stop abruptly.

      Tilting my head to the side, I slowly turn back to my left. The boy is staring back at me.

     One corner of my lips lifts up into a small smirk, and I start towards his figure.

      “I don't get caught off guard that easily,” I explain, my tone fierce as per usual. I don't bother hiding my voice behind a fake one as I tell him why I caught him. “And there's no football anywhere on these grounds.”

      This is when the boy cracks a smile. “Alex Peterson,” he says, holding out a hand for me or Adrian to shake. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

      I raise an eyebrow at him.

      When he notices that neither of us are going to shake his hand, he doesn't take it back. Instead his grin widens and he reaches forward to pick up my hand himself.

      I gawk at him. Is he really forcing me to shake his hand?

      The boy's hand grasping mine brings tingles through my arm. It wakes me up a bit, and I blink down at our hands, entranced for a moment.

      His hand is incredibly soft.

      “Hey,” Adrian's hard voice says, stepping forward to rip our hands apart. He replaces my hand with his. “Nice to meet you, I'm Adrian.”

      I purse my lips. Adrian is possessive? That's new . . .

      But Alex's bright green eyes tell me that he completely missed the tone of Adrian's voice. “Great! You guys did a pretty good job of finding me.” His eyes make contact with mine. “Although you seeing me five minutes earlier would have been much more appreciated.”

      This time both of my eyebrows raise, as if asking, “Are you serious?”

      The agent then breaks into laughter, his eyes filled with humor. “I'm joking!”

      As Alex smiles a lazy smile, irritation enters my expression. Why is this kid so happy? Isn't that a bit unprofessional of him? Special Operations operatives are supposed to be focused and serious. And obviously this guy isn't.

      This is the agent they sent me?

      I send Alex a last withering look and turn sharply, heading back to my luggage.

      All at once I feel my mood drop. I don’t want another partner if he’s going to be an amateur that messes us up. This is my first mission and I have expectations to live up to.

      If I really have to, I’ll work with him – I mean, he’s better than Kyle, right? But even so, I probably won’t rely on him for much.

      The last thing I need is someone getting in my way.

                     *          *          *

       Well. Someone has an attitude problem, huh?

       What do you guys think of Alex's happy-go-lucky attitude?

       Smile Academy on the side! COMMENT and vote, guys! Commenters get dedications! :)

       ' AwesomelyBlaze