by Cynthia Eden
He seemed to absorb her words. Why was he being so quiet? She’d just been kidding. But—
“Or…” His voice was such a low, deep rumble when it finally emerged. “We could kiss, and the desire between us could burn out of control. You could get so turned on that you rip off my clothes, and we have sex right here. Fast, hot, dirty, make-you-scream sex.”
“That’s an option,” Harper whispered. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had fast, hot, dirty, make-you-scream sex. Not like the offer was just given every single day and—
“Fuck.”
Yes, if they kissed and ignited, she did imagine they might—
“Someone’s here.” His head turned toward the house. “An uninvited guest.”
What? She was still rather stuck on the fast, hot, dirty—
Harper shook her head. Focused on his house. She saw that a light was now shining from the window to the left of the double front doors. That particular light hadn’t been on a moment before. And the rest of his words registered.
Uninvited guest.
Tension snaked through her. Not the sexy tension of a moment before. But hard, driving tension. Adrenaline. “Someone broke into your house?”
“He has a way of showing up when I don’t want him to appear.” Roman took a step back. “I’m afraid the night has to end for us.” He swung away.
That was it? He’d almost kissed her and now he was stalking off to confront an intruder? “No.”
He stopped.
She grabbed his arm. “I’m your partner.”
He looked down at her.
“That means when an intruder is in your home, I don’t stand back and let you face danger alone. Jeez, man. Who have you been hanging out with?”
His gaze drifted over her face. “The wrong people, obviously.”
She nodded. “Damn straight. If we’re making this work, we have each other’s back. That’s just what happens.” Kisses or no kisses. Her shoulders straightened. “So let’s go in there and take care of this business right—”
“I know who is inside. He’s a pain in the ass, but no threat.”
“Well, still, I should come with you and—”
“No.”
His answer had been kind of fast and hard. And sure, it made her super suspicious.
“You don’t want to meet him.” Roman shook his head. “Your life will be far better without him in it.”
“But—”
“Drive safely, Harper. I’ll see you at the office.”
Well, damn. He’d just dismissed her. Without another word, he marched for the house.
He’d gone from nearly kissing her to walking away from her without a backward glance. All in just a few minutes. How about that?
Her chin notched up. She kept her eyes on him, and right before he slipped into his house…
OhmyGod. Did Roman just pull out a gun?
He had.
There was no way she was just going to leave her partner on his own to face whatever threat waited. If it was a friendly visitor, he wouldn’t take a weapon inside.
Roman, I’m watching your back. Whether you want my help or not, you’re getting it.
***
“A gun, Roman? Really?” The man sitting in the study let out a long sigh when Roman crept into the room. The lamp blazed from the corner. “Aren’t we past that stage in our relationship? You know, the whole let’s-kill-each-other phase? I thought that phase ended when I married your lovely sister.”
Roman narrowed his eyes on the intruder—and his brother-in-law. Dexter “Dex” Ryan. CIA mastermind. All-around-pain-in-the-ass. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
“Checking in on a friend.” Dex didn’t get out of the chair, but he did put a hand over his heart. “I care, you know? I care deeply.”
“You are such a jackass.” But Roman holstered his weapon. He’d been about ninety-five percent sure Dex would be his visitor. When the light had flashed on, he’d gotten the signal to come inside. Someone who’d wanted to kill him wouldn’t have ever so helpfully turned on the light.
“I am many things to many people.” Dex grinned at him. “I was worried you’d bring the lady in, so I figured I’d better give you a signal that I was waiting here.”
“She wasn’t coming in.” Though he’d hoped and he’d been so close to kissing—
“Not coming in? Are you sure? I mean, you two had a big date, she brought you back home, and then I did happen to peek outside, and I spied you leaning in for a kiss—”
“She’s my partner at Wilde.”
Dex’s grin slipped. “What?”
“My partner.” He knew Dex had heard him the first time. “Don’t worry, she’s on her way—”
“Behind you,” Dex growled.
Roman’s shoulders stiffened. He hadn’t heard anyone approach. But when he spun around, he found Harper staring straight at him. Her right hand was raised and holding a gun. The gun wasn’t pointed at him. It was angled toward Dex.
“Oh, my,” Dex’s amused voice rang out. “This is certainly an unexpected development. Did she just get the drop on you?”
Such an ass. Roman took a step to the side. He put his body between Harper’s gun and Dex. “No,” he snapped back at his brother-in-law. “She got the drop on you.”
A faint line appeared between Harper’s delicate eyebrows. “What’s happening here?”
He needed to tread with extreme caution. “I’m…talking with a friend.”
“You didn’t strangle on the word ‘friend’ when you said it,” Dex noted. “I am impressed.”
Roman sucked in a deep breath. “You can put the gun down, Harper. He’s no threat.”
“If he’s no threat, then why did you pull out your weapon before you came inside?”
“I am a threat.” Now Dex sounded annoyed. “My entire body is a deadly weapon, and you know it, Roman. Don’t you dare even pretend that I’m not—”
Roman fired a disgusted glance over his shoulder.
Dex clamped his lips together.
“An annoyance,” Roman clarified as he focused back on Harper. “That’s what the man is. An annoyance. But no threat.”
She lowered her gun.
“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing.” Dex had risen and was edging closer. The floor creaked beneath his feet. “I don’t believe I got your name.”
“I’m—”
Roman caught her arm. Pulled her toward the door. “She’s leaving, and you’re forgetting her.”
Harper’s mouth dropped open. “Roman! What—”
He kept pulling her toward the foyer. “How did you get inside? I know I locked the door.”
“Well, yes, but I picked the lock. I was worried about you, and I wanted to help.”
He stopped at the double doors. Gaped at her.
“What? I’m not crazy. Someone was in your house. You went in with a weapon. A good partner wouldn’t just leave you when that stuff was happening.”
She’d come in to protect his back?
“You didn’t introduce me,” she chided.
“That’s because you don’t want to know him, and I don’t want him to know you.” The last thing he wanted was for Dex to try pulling her into some of his spy games.
Harper’s gaze sharpened. “So you have a secretive frenemy in your home. Someone who made you so leery that you approached him with a gun, but it’s no big deal.”
Frenemy? His temples throbbed. “Yes.”
“That’s not suspicious behavior at all.” She glanced back toward the study.
Dex stood in the doorway. His gaze was on her, and Roman did not like the way the other man was watching Harper. “Stop it,” he ordered.
Dex merely crooked a brow.
He needed to get Harper out of there. ASAP. Roman yanked open one of the front doors. Prodded her over the threshold. “Thanks for having my back, but I’m good. Better call it a night.”
“But—”
“Harper, you
need to go.”
Her lips thinned. “This is not the way to build trust.”
He got that. “I’m sorry I ate your chocolates.”
“What?”
“Good night.” He shut the door. Firmly but, hell, in her face.
“Oh, man.” A low whistle from Dex. “That is not going to score you points. If you plan to get her into bed, you are going to have do some serious groveling to make up for this crap.”
Roman locked the doors and spun around. “Why are you screwing up my life?”
“I’m not screwing it up. I’m helping. I’m a helper.”
Bullshit. Roman stomped toward him. Hell, yes, I’ll have to grovel. And buy her new chocolates.
“Look, I just wanted to check in on you. Make sure this whole new-life thing was going okay.” Dex didn’t move. “You have a lot of enemies. We did our best to bury your past, but I wanted to make certain no one had found you.”
“I’m ready for any threat.”
“Um. Yes. If that’s your story.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means a petite beauty in a white dress just got the drop on you. I’m worried you’re losing your edge.”
“Fuck off.”
“I’m hearing whispers.” Dex’s voice turned grim.
Tension skated through Roman’s body. “What?”
“Someone is looking for you. You pissed off a lot of people. Some of those people have long memories and extensive reaches.”
“I thought the CIA fixed my past. You know, when they made me a dead man.” The person he’d been before? He’d died. A violent, fiery death. Or at least, that was the story. And he’d switched lives. Become Roman Smith. A Wilde agent. He’d known the transition might not be exactly seamless, but for someone to already be hunting for him…
That was damn fast.
“Just stay on your toes,” Dex advised him. “I have my people checking things out. But don’t lower your guard.” He swept by Roman and made his way for the door. “Because if you do, you’ll turn around and find a woman in an evening gown holding a gun on you.”
“Not funny.” Not even a little bit.
“It wasn’t supposed to be funny. It was supposed to be a warning. Or have you forgotten the last time you let a woman get too close?”
He would bring up that. Figured. “Harper isn’t like that.”
Dex slanted him a glance. “Oh, it’s Harper?”
“She’s with Wilde. I’m sure Eric has checked and triple checked her background.”
“If she’s going to continue working with you, I’ll be checking her background, too.”
His spine was ramrod straight. “Leave her alone.”
Dex held up his hands. “What? I’m not torturing the woman. I’m just doing a standard background check. I’m looking out for you.”
“Nothing is standard when it involves you. Leave her alone,” he said again. “I mean it. Don’t pull Harper into your world.”
“You’re the one who pulled her in. You’re the one who was almost kissing her.” Dex shrugged. “I’m just the one who wants to make sure she’s not some double-agent who has been hired to kill you. Isn’t that what friends are for? I wouldn’t be a good brother-in-law if I didn’t watch your sorry ass.”
“Dex…”
“If she doesn’t have anything to hide, it won’t be a big deal.” He reached for the doorknob. “And if she does have something to hide, then I’ll just make certain she vanishes so that she’s no threat to you.”
“That shit is not funny.”
“No, it isn’t.” Without another word, Dex left.
Fuck me.
Chapter Four
He’d kicked her out. He’d been meeting with some seriously shady guy with a gaze that had been downright scary. And Roman kicked her out. Just shoved her out the door as if they hadn’t been about to kiss five minutes before. That was annoying. Insulting.
Maddening.
Harper marched out of her bathroom. She was wearing her favorite pair of pajamas. Soft and silky, they slid gently over her skin. She hopped into the bed. Yanked the covers up to her chin and glowered at the ceiling.
Had she really wanted Roman to kiss her? She’d never gotten involved with a partner. Sure, there were plenty of hookups at Wilde. When you were living twenty-four, seven in a high-adrenaline world, emotions tended to break past your control. And yes, she had fallen for that one client that time. But…
It had been a mistake. A painful one.
After that disaster, she’d decided not to ever mix her personal life and work, but then tonight, she’d been less than an inch away from pressing her mouth against Roman’s and seeing how he tasted.
I bet he’s delicious.
Delicious and dangerous. And what had been up with the mansion? And the creepy frenemy who’d been waiting inside and—
Her phone rang.
Her head turned on the pillow.
The phone rang again and vibrated on her nightstand. She threw her hand out and saw the caller’s ID…Roman Smith. Tension snaked through her body as she reached for the phone. Her finger slid over the screen, and she put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“I wanted to make sure you were all right.” His voice was deep and dark and ever so sexy.
She looked up at the ceiling. It doesn’t matter that he sounds sexy. “Why wouldn’t I be all right?” Her own voice was flat.
“You’re mad.”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Harper…”
“I’m all right.” Her voice was softer. But still flat.
“I’m sorry…look, I didn’t want you around that guy, okay? And if I seemed like an ass—”
“You did,” she assured him.
A long sigh. “I apologize. He has a way of causing trouble. I didn’t want that trouble touching you.”
“You realize, of course, that everything you are saying about this mystery man just makes me more curious about him.”
He cursed.
She caught herself smiling.
“Can you just forget him?” Roman asked her.
Not gonna happen. “Even more curious,” she murmured.
Another curse. A fun, inventive one.
Her smile stretched. But worry nagged at her. “Is he a threat to you?” Her voice had turned very serious.
“No. I can handle him. There’s just no need for him to pull you into his world. If you ever happen to be out and you see the guy coming at you, do me one favor, okay?”
“Uh, what’s that?”
“Run.”
She laughed.
He didn’t.
“Want to tell me more?” Harper prompted into the heavy silence.
More silence.
Her hold tightened on the phone. So they were back to that, hmm? That’s rather what I thought. “Good night, Roman.”
“Wait!”
Her heart thudded into her chest.
“Are we going to talk about it?” Roman asked gruffly.
“It?” Her voice notched up.
“Yeah. It.”
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
“We almost kissed.”
“Oh. That.”
“Yes. That.”
Her gaze darted around her room. Had she just heard a tapping on her window? The wind must be picking up. “Nothing happened. So there’s nothing to talk about. Now, it’s late and I should—”
“I wanted to kiss you.”
And I wanted to kiss you. “I need to go to sleep.”
“Right. Got it. Good night…”
She exhaled. “Good night.”
“Harper?”
“Yes?”
“I still want to kiss you.” Soft.
And I still want to kiss you. But she didn’t say those words. She ended the call. Stared down at her phone. Roman was driving her crazy. She felt the attraction. She wanted him. But…
His words slipped through her head. If you ever
happen to be out and you see the guy coming at you, do me one favor, okay?
Run.
Roman was keeping secrets. Far too many of them. She’d always hated secrets. Mostly because they had a way of hurting innocent people.
She put the phone back on her nightstand. Plumped up her pillow. And decided that she would not think about Roman again for the rest of the night. Would not. Absolutely would not.
The man had better not slip into her dreams.
***
Roman stared at the phone. Yeah, one hundred percent, he’d screwed up that call with Harper. He didn’t normally call women in the middle of the night, so he hadn’t been sure what to say. He’d just wanted to talk to Harper.
He liked hearing her voice. Something about her voice made his chest feel warm.
He’d probably sounded like an idiot. Figured. Could he do nothing right with her?
He dropped his phone and shuffled toward the bathroom. A cold shower was in order. Maybe in the morning, he could take her some chocolates. An apology for eating the ones that had been on her desk and also a congrats gift for their museum case.
Yes, he’d take her chocolates.
Until then, hell, he’d be fucking fantasizing about her mouth.
***
A rustle woke her later. The faintest of sounds, but Harper had always been a light sleeper. Her eyes flew open and—
Something slapped over her mouth. A hard, rough, gloved hand.
“We won’t hurt you,” a male voice growled. “So just take it—”
She raked her nails toward where she thought his eyes would be. He screamed and stumbled back. Harper leapt from the bed. With one hand, she scooped up her phone, and with the other, she shoved at the hulking shadows that lunged for her.
In my home. In my home. She didn’t know who these guys were, and she wasn’t about to stand around and find out. She kicked at one attacker and leapt for her bedroom door.
But…
Someone grabbed her from behind.
“We don’t want to hurt you!” It was the same growling voice.
She elbowed him as hard as she could. His hold loosened. She shot forward. Someone was blocking the hallway, so she rushed into her bathroom. Shut the door. Locked it and—
She swiped her finger over her phone’s screen. She had to call Roman. He’d come and help her. She needed—