Chapter 2 - Hunter Cocker

Cocker Brothers Book 31!

Welcome to Book 31 in Cocker Brothers! (click that link to see Books 1-30). Scroll down for the beginning of Hunter Cocker’s love story.

The sun dips low in the sky, painting Porto in hues of gold and crimson. I adjust my collar, fabric brushing against my neck as I step back into the bustling streets. My mind races with thoughts of Edward Thornton and the secrets I’m about to uncover. As a spy I’ve faced danger before, but this feels different. Heightened.

I can taste the adrenaline.

Intoxicating.

I pass a gaggle of tourists and from their glances darting to my head I know that my red hair is capturing the fading light. Being a ginger? A challenge in this line of work.

I stand out.

The only reason I was given the go-ahead to do field work was because I joined the CIA very young. My youth gave me a shield. A mask. People don’t expect a teenager to be spying on their every move. That he has a mind much smarter than their own.

Now that I’m a man…

I’m more…

obvious.

Trackable. Redheads don’t often blend. So the CIA moves me from country to country for jobs, rarely city to city unless they’re far enough apart. And I never go to the same place if I’ve been ‘made’ — cover, blown. With this ginger head? The beard? The pale green eyes so many of us inherited from Jerald Cocker? The good looks that were also passed down through our bloodline. You can’t hide attributes like these in a crowd.

So I keep moving.

CIA orders.

I’m fine with it.

I like anonymity.

With my stroll casual, confident, I pass lively cafes, single-owner shops, my devilish smirk hidden behind the innocent, lost expression of a traveler. Here? I’m just a guy in love. My imaginary, soon-to-be-fiancé? She’s back home in America.

That’s the story.

She was going to meet me here. Got held up at work. She’ll be arriving in a week. That’s what I’m to say when asked. There is no bride.

Never will be.

I make my way through the crowd, down a cobblestone street, lost in thought, and suddenly feel an impact. Stumble back a step. Caught off guard. Now ready to fight.

I look left.

My breathing stops.

Who is this stunning brunette. Wavy hair to her shoulders. A shift dress in black. A smile that could disarm the most hardened criminal.

Heavily lashed brown eyes sparkle with mischief, and her accent wraps around her words like silk, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” as she continues to purr, “I did not see you there.”

“Quite alright,” I smirk. Teasing her. Tempting her. Because I’m good at it. “Lot of people out here.”

Her laugh dances into my bloodstream. “I’m Tatianna. You’re American, aren’t you?” She extends her hand, palm down. A lady.

“Hunter,” I say, momentarily forgetting my alias. Kissing my hand, I correct myself, “Name’s Caden.”

Her sculpted eyebrows rise. “You said…Hunter?”

“You’ve turned me into one.”

A gorgeous grin flashes. “Smooth. You didn’t answer my question.” She sensually tames her smile. “Are you American?”

“That’s right. I’m just visiting. Trying to find the perfect engagement ring, actually.” Now why the fuck did I say that? My training is embedded. But with her, I’d have preferred to have forgotten that detail of my ruse.

Intense interest flickers in her beautiful eyes. Mixed with disappointment? Yes. I see it.

“An engagement ring?” Tatianna repeats, adding a purred, “How romantic.”

I hesitate to reply because I’m angry at myself. Not easy to pick up a woman when you’re engaged, Hunter, you dummy. Not a good woman, anyway. But who says she has to be good? My conscience is clear. I’m not cheating on a potential fiancé. There’s no woman in my life. “Not yet engaged,” I smirk, deciding to widen my net. “Just doing a little research.”

“I have a feeling I should be wary of you, Mr. American.” Her smile returns, hinting at something, and I feel an impossible-to-deny connection. “Love can be a dangerous game.”

“Is that so?”

“You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen in this city.” Her sharp eyes sparkle with stories untold.

With skill I feign innocence. “Porto has secrets?”

She gives the slightest nod. “It does.”

I step closer, holding her gaze, drawing her in with my magnetic presence. She bridges the distance with a step of her own.

“I like secrets, Tatianna. Know anything about this jewelry store?” I pull out his card. “Edward Thornton’s?”

Her expression shifts.

She knows something.

“Mr. Thornton, our jeweler? He is…” She stops talking, gaze sliding to the side before meeting mine again. “Why do you ask?”

I flash the grin of my alias — a love-struck tourist here to impress his girlfriend with the proposal of a lifetime. “I’m just playing, since you said there are secrets here. I was just at his place, ring shopping, so I used his card to play along.” With a shrug I keep smiling.

“I see,” she blinks, but there’s a wall up now. The rapport between us has faded.

I found out something I didn’t expect to. She’s in on this somehow. Lucky me.

I just bumped into a suspect.

But how is she tied to this?

I grin as if I’m just a normal guy. I’m anything but. “What gives with the jeweler? You’ve got me curious!”

Her turn to flash a smile. It’s a mask. I can tell. “Nothing to be curious about,” she lies. “You can trust him with your purchase. But I… wish you were buying something else.”

As I look into Tatianna’s beautiful eyes, I realize my Cocker instincts have me, and have me hard. Literally. I need to get closer to her.

For the mission.

“How about coffee?”

She tilts her head slightly. “I’m busy.”

“Tomorrow then?”

“Almost engaged,” Tatianna purrs. “You know what my grandmother used to say?”

“No. What.”

“She said, until they’re married, all is fair in love and war.”

I smirk, “She from here?”

“Yes.”

“Bet she gave Porto a run for its money.”

Like a cat, Tatianna moves away from me. “I’d love to continue this conversation. In another life maybe.”

I watch her leave.

Those hips.

That sway.

She’ll turn around.

I wait.

And wait.

Hunter, move.

Walk.

Go.

But damn, look at that hourglass.

Just walking away like that.

Not checking to see if I care.

I start to follow her. Her eyes said things her full lips didn’t. If my instincts are right, she’s hiding something. She’s tied to the secrets I’m here to uncover.

As I weave through the crowd, my mind is one fire.

Edward Thornton.

The safe.

Mysterious Tatianna.

Wait.

Where’d she go?

This is going to be fun. Are you ready?

~ Faleena Hopkins