It just had to be.
Except it wasn’t.
Breathing hard, she reached back into the first pocket to double-check. When she grabbed at the pants, she froze. On the floor, six inches from her fingers, was a pair of worn boat shoes. Unfortunately, they were attached to the denim clad legs of Ben Segar.
“Looking for something?”
Heart in her throat, she rocked back onto her heels. How had she not heard him coming? The circumstances of this case were affecting her well-honed skills. A mistake like that could have gotten her killed. Thankfully, he looked more amused than murderous with his shoulder propped against the doorframe and his arms crossed over his chest.
“I didn’t hear anything from up here and I thought to come up and check on you. You weren’t around so I was just tidying up,” she fibbed.
The man actually laughed at her. And not just a polite chuckle, either. It was a full-on belly laugh.
Quinn got to her feet. “What’s so damn funny?”
“You are.” He wiped his eyes with his fingers. “You have no idea how easy you are to read. I always know when you’re lying.”
“I wasn’t lying,” she argued.
“That right there,” he pointed at her mouth. “You lick your bottom lip every time you lie. It’s been your tell since you were seventeen and it’s still your tell now.”
Damn. She had just swiped her tongue over her lip.
Still, she wasn’t going down without a fight. “Two men tried to kill you today, you idiot. Obviously, I would want to check on you.”
He stepped deeper into the room. “About that. Why don’t you tell me everything you know about Alexi Ronoff, Agent Darby of MI6.”
A powerful tingling raced from the tips of her fingers up her arms and into her lungs where it seemed to freeze her breath. How did he figure that out?
Ben took another step closer stopping a few inches away from her numb limbs. He had the nerve to cock an eyebrow at her.
“I—” She tried to find words among her scattered wits.
“Don’t!” he commanded before wrapping his fingers around her elbows and yanking her body flush with his. “No more lies. No more games, Quinn. People are dying and time is running out. Ronoff has something that belongs to the US government and you’re going to help me figure out how to get it back.”
Anger warmed her numb body giving her the strength to jerk her arms from his grip and take a giant step away from him. “He doesn’t have it,” she shouted. “Why do you think I’ve been looking all over for it?”
He wore a perplexed expression. “What do you mean he doesn’t have it? He took it from the Seas the Day last night.”
“What? It was on the boat? Are you an imbecile!” She was beginning to feel light-headed. How had she missed it? “If you knew what it was, how could you leave something like that just sitting out?”
“Hey,” he snapped. “I didn’t know a group of Russian thugs was going to storm my boat. Perhaps you can share with the class why they targeted me in the first place?”
Alexi has the list.
She sank down onto the bed to stop her head from spinning as the enormity of the situation settled into her stomach like a rock. “I need to get word to my handler. To my parents. This is a catastrophe.”
The mattress dipped as Ben plopped down beside her. “Your parents? Why would they care about some Russian stealing my micro card?”
“Your micro card?” She glared at him. “For such a smart man, you really are a dolt. The information on that card could cost my parents their lives! Don’t you get that?”
Unexpected tears burned the back of her eyes. Not only did she not have the list, but it seemed her legendary composure had disappeared as well. She’d failed not only her government, but her family. And to make matters worse, Ben was scrutinizing her wearing a genuinely baffled look on his face.
“No,” he replied. “I don’t get it.”
His ignorance ignited a firestorm inside of her. She shoved at his shoulder. “How could you let this happen!”
Jumping to her feet, she recklessly swiped at his head with her fist. Before she could connect, however, he grabbed her arm, yanked her flat onto the bed and pinned her there with his body. She pounded his chest in an effort to push him off.
“Ow!” he protested when her fist met his wounded shoulder. “Can you just relax and listen for one damn minute?”
He grabbed her wrists and placed her hands above her head. Her belly quivered remembering when he’d had her hands above her head earlier. Damn body. How could it so easily forget she was angry?
“I mean it, Quinn. I’m not the enemy here. Ronoff is.”
He was right, of course. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t make Ben suffer a bit longer. As usual, he had other ideas. He touched his forehead to hers. Their noses brushed together and their heavy breaths mingled between their lips. It was the worst kind of torture he could deliver. Her body thrummed with desire and she couldn’t douse it. She held herself still beneath his warm weight to keep from exploding with want.
“Look at me,” he coaxed.
She lifted her lashes to meet his steady gaze. There was so much honor in the depths of those hazel eyes it made her throat tight.
“You said I was the only one who ever knew you,” he whispered. “Well that goes both ways. Nothing has changed. I’m still the same guy you knew before.”
She wanted to argue. He had changed in many ways. Starting with the sexy sculpted body currently wrapped around hers. But her emotions were too conflicted right now to find words.
“I need you to trust me, Brit. Can you do that? Can you trust me?”
If he only knew. When it came to people she trusted in this world, Ben Segar had always been at the top of that list. Even if she was a bit peeved with him right now, that would never change.
“Good girl,” he said with a smile when she nodded. “This micro card you’re talking about, is it the list of operatives for the Phoenix?”
“Of course, it is!” Why must he torture her by being so obtuse?
“Your parents are on that list?”
She slammed her eyelids shut. A lick of fear ran up her spine. He was questioning her as if he didn’t know what information Alexi was buying. Could he be using her? Damn it! Yet again she was losing her head because her body couldn’t control itself. She lifted her lashes only to be pinned by his steadfast gaze.
“You trust me, remember?” he reminded her.
“My mother.” The words came out her mouth as though he were some sort of snake charmer.
He blinked. Twice. Then the corners of his mouth turned up in a slow smile of wonder. “Well, I’ll be damned. Kick-ass women run in the family.”
“Yes, well.” She grunted as she struggled unsuccessfully to shove him off her heavily aroused body. “If I don’t warn them, kick-ass or not, I won’t have any family left.”
He groaned when she nudged his shoulder again. “Could you please hold still?” He breathed the words against her ear. “Ronoff is not going to kill your parents.”
She stilled beneath him. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I said so.” His lips began to trace the column of her neck.