Read Online Secret Agent Minister by Lenora Worth - Free Book Online

choice in coming here, or a choice in being in that room at the wrong time, right?”
    “I’m sorry,” he said, the apology darkening his eyes. “We have to protect you.”
    That caused her glee to dissipate. “But I thought I was safe here.”
    “You are, for now,” Pastor Dev explained. “But we can’t stay here forever. And later tonight we have to go out and do some…research. That’s why we need to dress you up, so to speak.”
    “So it’s like I’m playing a spy part or something?”
    “Something,” Pastor Dev said, nodding. “At first, I thought I’d just leave you in a safe place. But I’ve reconsidered that. I don’t want you out of my sight. You have to be by my side at all times so I can protect you. Tonight, we have to look like a couple.”
    “Is that an order?”
    “It’s a request.”
    Lydia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She’d always dreamed of being by his side at all times. But never like this. His request sure put her in a pickle. “I see,” she said, not really seeing at all. “So who do I get to be? Lois Lane, Catwoman, Mary Poppins, maybe?”
    Kissie let out a hoot of laughter. “She’s a live wire, this one. Pastoral, you may have just met your match.”
    Lydia looked over at Pastor Dev, their eyes meeting in the brilliance of the golden dusk that filtered its way throughout the house. The look he gave her sent shards of hope and longing through Lydia’s heart. He looked sweet and unsure. But Lydia was very sure she was the woman who would love him and stay by his side at all times, for the rest of their lives, however long that might turn out to be.
    “Let’s get this over with,” she said to break the spell of his powerful gaze. “I don’t have all day, after all.”
    Kissie laughed again, then shook her head. “You gonna be just fine, honey-pie. Just fine. We’ll get you all fixed up and pretty for this high-society party tonight.”
    Lydia shot Pastor Dev a questioning look. He didn’t seem as confident as Kissie. He looked downright worried. But Lydia couldn’t be sure if it was because someone was trying to do him in, or because he’d just realized Kissie might be right. Maybe he had finally met his match.

SIX
    D ev waited, pacing at the bottom of the stairs, for Lydia and Kissie to come down. It was almost dark now; the New Orleans dusk was alive with the sounds and scents of nature. Jasmine and magnolias competed with honeysuckle and hibiscus, their sweet, cloying fragrances merging into a sultry perfume. Blue jays and sparrows made swishing sounds in the big live oak by the back gate, while squirrels chased each other in the banana fronds near the water garden in the courtyard. And somewhere, a mockingbird lifted its voice to the sky.
    He wished he could let these things distract him. But his mind was on this mission and the woman he had to protect. And from the sounds of feminine giggles and gasps upstairs, that woman had just undergone an amazing transformation.
    Which was why he was now pacing and sweating in the hall, while the gospel group set up in the big coffee bar.
    Devon Malone had scaled ten-foot walls to save human lives; he’d walked through fire to rescue trapped missionaries from rebels and drug lords. He’d swum through alligator-infested swamps to get to another person in need. He’d been shot at, attacked, taken hostage, stabbed, robbed, beaten and left for dead.
    But none of that had ever prepared him for Lydia Cantrell.
    Her very innocence and sweetness took his breath away.
    And now, because of him, she was about to change. She would not be so innocent from now on. Who knew what this journey would do to her delicate, sweet nature. Or to his own frazzled, confused mind. He’d always considered Lydia a dear friend and a wonderful office assistant. He’d taken her for granted for so long now, he automatically kept her front and center in his thoughts all day long.
    Only now, she was invading his nighttime thoughts, too.