Mission: Irresistible. Sharon Sala

other, and whose sole intent was for a perfect body and some female adulation. But then Ally would be the first to admit that she was uncomfortable with her own sexuality. She didn’t see herself as others saw her. She looked in a mirror and saw a woman on the verge of being too thin, whereas most women would have been overjoyed to be built in her image. Of average height, Ally’s slim, finely toned body was strong and high-breasted with hips that would never spread. The striking combination of auburn hair and green eyes gave her youthful features a pixie appearance, rather than that of a sultry vixen. But there was nothing fey about Ally. No one would ever have guessed that she was a highly-trained operative within a secret branch of the government, or that her IQ was off the scale. She’d entered high school at the age of ten, graduating two years later. By the time she had turned seventeen, she had a Ph.D. in physics, another in criminology, and was considering another round of classes when she’d been recruited by SPEAR. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea. Her parents, intellectuals who were more concerned with their life paths than with hers, had left most of her upbringing to hired help and higher education, so it was no jolt for Ally to go from a college campus to the training ground of SPEAR.

      But being so much younger than her fellow students at college had been a drawback socially. She had made no close friends. If anyone had happened to notice that the quiet little genius was no longer on campus, it was so much the better. At least she wouldn’t be ruining the grading curve for anyone else.

      And for Ally, joining SPEAR was all a matter of readjusting priorities. There wasn’t much SPEAR’s instructors could teach her in the way of technology, but learning about covert activities and enduring the intense physical training put her in an entirely different world. There had been days when she wasn’t sure she would survive, yet she had. Now it was so much a part of her life, she rarely thought about the way it had been before.

      Today was only the second day of a much needed vacation and making the decision to go to the gym had come in a weak moment. Now, as she neared the end of her workout, the muscles in her legs were weak and burning. She gritted her teeth and bared down on the pedals, giving up her last bit of energy. Just as the digital readout clicked over to read twenty miles, she began to ease off, letting her muscles adjust to stopping. Finally, as she let her feet slip out of the pedals, she slumped over the handlebars with sweat pouring down her neck and between her breasts, her heart thundering in her ears.

      As she sat, her cell phone began to ring. Wearily, she slid off the bicycle seat and walked toward the bench where she’d left a fresh towel and her phone, wondering as she did, who could have possibly known she was here. As she picked it up to answer, she remembered she’d left Call Forwarding on her phone.

      “Hello?”

      “Alicia, we haven’t heard from you in a while.”

      The cool, almost impersonal tone in her mother’s voice had long since ceased to hurt her. She draped the fresh towel around her neck and began mopping perspiration as she dropped onto the bench.

      “I’ve been…gone,” Ally said, hesitating on the last word. There was never any option about discussing the cases she worked on with anyone, parent or no. In fact, discussion about SPEAR was nonexistent, because to the general public, SPEAR did not even exist.

      “We assumed as much.” Then, as if it was no big deal, Mavis Corbin added, “Next week is your birthday, but your father and I are going to be out of the country. So, Happy Birthday, Alicia and many more.”

      Ally ignored a quick surge of disappointment. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. It wouldn’t be the last.

      “Thank you, Mother,” Ally said. “Where are you going this time?”

      “Egypt. A whole new burial ground has been discovered. Your father is so excited. This is very important to us, you know.”

      Ally grinned bitterly. She knew all too well what was important to her parents and she was low on the list. “Yes, Mother, I know. Have a good trip and thanks for calling.”

      “You’re welcome, dear. Take care.”

      Before Ally could respond, the line went dead. She hung up the receiver and headed for the showers. She had a sudden urge for a milkshake and a chocolate doughnut. Instead, a half hour later she was standing in line, waiting for her order of black coffee and a plain bagel to be filled.

      “Four-fifty,” the clerk said, handing her a white sack with the top neatly folded and a steaming cup of coffee.

      She paid, stuffed her change in the pocket of her sweatpants and headed for the door. It wasn’t until she was unlocking her car and the sack bumped against the door that she realized there was something more than a bagel inside. The hair crawled on the back of her neck as she slid behind the steering wheel and locked herself in. Then she set her coffee cup in the holder on the dash and opened the sack.

      The small black cassette in the bottom of the sack could only mean one thing.

      “Well, hell,” Ally muttered, as she slid the cassette into the stereo on the dash. Jonah’s deep, gravelly voice was familiar, as was the unusual way in which she’d been contacted. It was typical of the anonymity of SPEAR. Ordinarily she would have been excited about a new assignment, but she hadn’t even been home long enough to do laundry or have an all-night session watching her favorite movies.

      She started the car, listening to the tape as she drove toward home, every now and then allowing herself a frown as she pinched off bites of the bagel and poked them into her mouth.

      As far as assignments went it was unusual, although she couldn’t find fault with the location. She’d heard of the spa on Condor Mountain and had no problem at all taking advantage of some free R and R. And Easton Kirby, who was now the manager of the place, was a legend within the agency. Her curiosity piqued as Jonah’s spare remarks began to sink in. If she understood him correctly, and she was certain she did because Jonah was not a man to leave anything to the imagination, Jonah needed Easton Kirby on active duty and Kirby had refused. The tape ended with a final order.

      Ally was to change his mind—in any way that she could.

      She ejected the tape and tossed it back into the sack, well aware that within thirty seconds of it having been played, it would go blank, leaving no trace of ever having been recorded upon. She pulled into the driveway of her house and punched the garage door opener. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes snapping angrily as she waited for the garage door to go up.

      “Change his mind?” she muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “And how am I supposed to do that…drive him mad with my womanly wiles?”

      Seconds later she pulled into the garage, lowered the door and then got out, but only after the door was completely shut. Her house key was in her hand as she swept the garage with a casual gaze before making a move toward the door. Once inside, she dumped her sweaty gym clothes on the washer and the bagel sack in the trash, then downed the last of her coffee before adding the empty cup to the lot.

      The red light on her answering machine was blinking, but her mind was on the new assignment. What in blazes did one wear to coerce a reluctant operative back into the fold?

      Almost a week later and a year older, Ally pulled into the parking lot of the Condor Mountain Resort and Spa, then sat for a moment, staring at the magnificence of the building and grounds. The four-story mixture of Gothic and Victorian architecture seemed to fit the starkness of the geography. Lush was not a word that described this part of the California coast. The mountainous area of the region had steep, and often narrow, winding roads, and the forestation of the area was sparse, often leaving bare spots in the rocky terrain. But there was a beauty to the land that seemed to fit the power of the waters that pounded the coast. Overhead, seagulls dipped and swooped, riding the air currents while searching for food, and she could hear the harsh, guttural barks of sea lions coming from the beach below. From where she was sitting, she could see the beginnings of a long, descending series of steps leading down the side of the hill toward the Pacific. The view was breathtaking and the weather sunny and breezy, which was typical for this time of year. She couldn’t help wishing this was going to be a “real”