Covert Attraction (13 page)

And so he lowered his mouth to hers, even as he bent to take her into his arms.

* * *

Okay. Maybe she had wordlessly agreed that he could kiss her by not responding to his dare.

But she knew what she was doing—didn’t she? Sure, she was attracted to this man. She admitted it—to herself, at least.

That was all, though. She was not looking for any relationship any more than he was, didn’t want to seem as if she were paying him back for his help, his protectiveness, his working with her instead of trying to send her away, whatever.

Yet another kiss? Sure.

It didn’t mean anything.

She threw herself into it, adoring the feel of his heated mouth on hers, even as he pulled her closer yet.

She also adored how hard his body felt against her. Again.

Oh, yes, his touch along her back and side made her feel so aware of her sexual needs all over again. Needs she’d thought she had tucked inside once more, to be awakened someday only when she intentionally decided it was the right time and the right man.

This was definitely the wrong time and the wrong man, and yet she heard her soft moan as she again pressed herself against him.

His voice was husky as he murmured against her lips, “You’d better throw me out right now, Beth. Otherwise, I’m going to touch you all over. All over.” As if in illustration, one of his hands went from her side upward and forward and gently grasped her breast, teasing her nipple with his thumb.

“Time for you to leave, Daniel.” She attempted to sound firm, to pull back, but instead she gasped as that hand traveled down the front of her body, stopping at her aching hidden feminine hot spot below. He grasped her there, outside her jeans, and she suddenly wanted nothing more than to yank them off, let him touch her skin to skin.

Had all those threats, those descriptions of someone following her, been a ploy to get her back in bed with him?

But if so, why not just try to seduce her at his apartment?

“Okay, I’ll leave,” he finally said, but he hadn’t removed either his mouth or his hands from her.

“Good.” But she had slid her hands down his back and now gripped his buttocks, pulling him more tightly against her so she held not even the tiniest doubt that he was as turned on as she. Not with that hard erection pushing against her so erotically and insistently. She wanted, even more than pulling off her own clothes, to undress him and touch him there. Stroke him.

And more.

Bad idea, she told herself, even as she felt him unbutton her shirt and pull it off. Then he reached down for the closures of her jeans.

“No,” she said firmly. She was breathing hard, definitely eager for more but finally coming to her senses. Wasn’t she?

She took a step back before he could completely undo her jeans. Looked at him and saw the enticing bulge in his pants that she had felt moments before.

She wanted him.

But all they were was collaborators in a plan to save lives—including, perhaps, their own.

This kind of attraction, this need, was foolish.

Yet did it really matter in the scheme of things if they took advantage of this additional time to bond, to make love, to relieve a little of the pressure they’d been under?

No, it didn’t matter. And in fact, didn’t it make sense to be allies in as many ways as possible?

“Come here, Daniel,” she said, grasping his jeans at the waist.

And then she steered him, ignoring his sexy, smug and oh-so-magnetic smile, toward her couch.

“Okay, you’re the big strong man,” she told him, cocking her head slightly as she attempted to mirror his hot and inviting smile. “You can pull this to convert my sofa into a bed.”

He obliged immediately.

That was when his phone rang.

Chapter 13

D
aniel froze. He had just lowered the base of the pullout bed to the floor and glanced at the neatly tucked-in floral blanket on top of it. Much better for making love than the narrow surface of the couch. And the last time had been great even so.

But now the continuous ringtone of his phone grated at his ears, jabbing at the anticipation that had hardened his body.

Hell. He might as well answer. The sensual mood that had enthralled them was already toast.

He glanced toward Beth. She regarded him expectantly. Of course she figured he would answer. Was that a hint of regret shadowing those gorgeous violet eyes?

He yanked his phone from his pocket and looked at the caller ID number.

It was one of the CIU internal staff, the guy he had contacted before to run the license plate of the SUV that had followed Beth.

This was a call he should have expected, particularly since he’d made it clear that the information sought could be critical to helping his search for evidence—and, perhaps, to saving the life of one of the people whose identity the ID Division had helped to bury.

He should have turned off the damned phone.

On the other hand, if the information was critical, he’d have kicked himself for not grabbing it immediately. He pushed the button to answer. “Hi, Greg. Whatcha got?” He slowly lowered himself onto the nearest surface of the pullout bed, realizing he’d be a lot better off if he had more than one free hand to reposition his now-shrinking erection, not to mention his messed-up clothes. He’d take care of both later.

“I found the info on that plate,” was the response. “I’ll text it to you, too, but figured you’d want to hear.”

“So who’s the SOB who owns that SUV?” Daniel tried to keep his tone and words light to ease the fear that suddenly appeared on Beth’s face. He reached out his free arm and gestured for her to join him on the bed. Just to sit.

“It’s registered to a guy in Malibu, name of John Waterson. He reported the thing stolen yesterday morning.”

Daniel made himself continue to breathe evenly to avoid scaring Beth even more. But the fact the vehicle was stolen vindicated him.

The driver had at minimum been a thief. Had he stolen it to try to obscure his identity when he used the SUV for something heinous?

Like following and harming someone in his sights...Beth?

Did the thief work at Corcoris Pharmaceuticals or otherwise for Preston in some other capacity? He doubted it was Preston himself, but he’d reserve judgment till he learned the ID of the culprit for sure.

Hell, someone needed to find the stolen vehicle and check it for prints. Not to mention arrest the thief before he could do any further harm.

“I wondered about that,” Daniel responded. “And I’ll look forward to your texting the info. Has the vehicle been located?” He felt Beth stir beside him and glanced her way.
Stolen,
he mouthed.

Her eyes widened. She might not have believed him before about the vehicle following her. She might not now, either. The fact it was stolen didn’t mean the driver had any interest in her. But it certainly gave more credibility to his concerns, and she clearly got that.

He spoke with Greg a little longer. No, the SUV had not yet been located but its information had been added to the various official lists of stolen vehicles. Yes, as a member of a federal task force with interest in that particular SUV, he would be notified if and when the thing showed up.

“Thanks, Greg,” Daniel finally said, and hung up. He turned to face Beth, who still sat beside him, unmoving. The torrid, sensuous expression that she’d worn before when he’d pulled out the bed had been replaced by what appeared to be a studied blankness. No emotion at all radiated from it.

Which made him want to take her into his arms anyway to comfort her.

Instead, he said, “I gather you got the gist of all that.”

She nodded. “Then you were right about my being followed.”

“Could be.” He didn’t need to rub it in, especially when there was, in fact, a little bit of doubt.

“And it’s still missing?”

He nodded.

“So what do we do now?” She turned slightly as if assessing where they were—on her bed.

“We do as we’d already planned.” At the sudden shock and negativity in her expression, he laughed. “Not that. But even though we shouldn’t have gone so far anyway, too bad we were stopped by something like this.” He paused, waiting for her to invite him to start again. He wanted to. But he also knew how much of a mistake it would be, especially now.

“You’re right,” she said. “Let’s forget about that. But tell me more about that SUV.”

Was she forgetting about how they had started to have sex again—how hot they’d been? How attracted?

Somehow, considering the sad expression on her lovely face, he doubted it. But he wouldn’t press it. “What I meant,” he continued, “was that I’ll double-check your premises, then go home. Tomorrow we report for work as usual at Corcoris, continue our respective searches there for evidence and report to one another as needed. A couple of changes, though.”

“What?” Her voice was throaty, as if she had tried to swallow her fear. He forbore from taking her back into his arms. Her body had withdrawn from him, and he suspected her mind had, too.

“I’ll be checking on you often,” he said, “and you won’t take any chances. Not that you’re likely to see that particular vehicle again, but watch for cars following you, be careful when exiting your own car to be sure there are plenty of people around when you’re not home and keep alert around here for anything—
anything—
that strikes you as off. If something does, you just drive off and call me. Got that?”

She nodded. “Yes. And Daniel?”

“What?”

“Thank you.”

* * *

When Daniel left ten minutes later, Beth followed his instructions and made sure the door locked behind him. As if she wouldn’t have done that without being told.

Then she went into her kitchen and poured herself a glass of red wine—a little something to try to take the edge off her emotions.

Now that she was alone, she felt as if she had been stabbed and emptied of everything inside her.

She hadn’t believed Daniel had been joking about that SUV following her, but she had assumed he was a trained federal agent just being overly cautious, partly as a result of his prior experience.

Or he was a man who wanted to find a way to get some close-up time in again with a woman he’d had sex with before.

It turned out he might have been both.

When he left, she didn’t convert her bed back into a sofa—even though looking at it that way, she couldn’t help thinking about what might have been: steamy, memorable sex yet again that night with a man who was incredibly hot.

Instead, she sat on it against the backrest and sipped wine as she watched the TV across the room. Her legs were stretched out, one crossed over the other.

This was fine, she told herself. She was fine.

But who had followed her...and why?

Damn! She couldn’t obsess about this. She was here for a reason.

She got up, retrieved her laptop computer and began making notes on what she intended to do—particularly after the planning session she’d had with Daniel.

* * *

Daniel did not sleep well. He kept chiding himself for not insisting on staying with Beth.

Not for sex, despite how his body ached when he even considered resuming the activity they’d started.

No, to make sure she stayed safe.

Especially since he knew she wasn’t too pleased that he was telling her what to do.

He hadn’t simply left, of course, when he had departed from her apartment. He had slowly walked the hallways of her building, watching and listening. Then he had done the same thing on the street.

But there was no indication that she was in danger. No hint that whoever had been following was anywhere around.

He nevertheless hung out in his car as he had done before for less reason, watching, for maybe an hour. Waiting for his phone to ring in case Beth called to tell him she was scared and wanted him to come back.

But she didn’t.

He eventually headed back to his place and dropped off to sleep in his own lonely bed, his phone near him. No more sounds of his ringtone that night.

When his alarm went off, he sat straight up and looked around. He knew exactly where he was. His first urge was to call Beth to reassure himself that she was all right.

But he made sure that reason prevailed. Instead, he first got up, dressed and made coffee in his kitchen, which was small but more functional than Beth’s. Then, a mug in his hand, he called Judge Treena to give her an update. At least now it was nine-thirty in the morning in D.C. rather than the middle of the night.

She answered right away. “About time you reported in, McManus.”

“I’m always available for you to call, Judge,” he said. “Unless, of course, I’m at Corcoris playing tech monkey and can’t talk.”

“Too early for that at the moment,” she observed. “Okay, tell all. Especially about that SUV. Greg informed me that you had him run some plates on a vehicle that turned out to be stolen.”

“That’s right, but I’ll get to it in a minute.” He wouldn’t tell everything, of course—at least not about how he and Beth were getting along. But he had plenty to tell the judge about yesterday’s events at the Corcoris offices, including the lunch and his “borrowing” of the password of one of the execs. “I saw some stuff that might have been interesting but couldn’t save it or study it more. Not then. I heard noise outside—Beth Jones warning me that Corcoris himself was walking toward the lab I was in.”

Daniel poured more coffee into his mug and sat down in the kitchen. He leaned his forehead onto one of his hands as his elbow rested on the table.

“Then she’s still there and you and she are actually working together?”

“In a way.” He then told the judge about what Beth had said about eavesdropping in the ladies’ room.

“Smart lady, even if she is in way over her head,” the judge said.

“I can get the list of all attendees at yesterday’s brunch for physicians,” Daniel said, “and I’ll also confirm with Beth which ones she heard talking. I think it’d be worthwhile for CIU to contact them about their experiences after prescribing Corcoris drugs to their patients.”

“I’ll do that,” Judge Treena said. “Okay, continue.”

Daniel related how Beth and he had gone out for dinner far from the Corcoris headquarters, then decided they needed more privacy and met at his apartment to strategize.

“When she was ready to leave—that’s when I saw that SUV start after her.”

He then described how he’d called Beth, then met up with her—with no further sign of the SUV.

“I followed her home myself and made sure she got in safely and locked her doors,” he finished.

“And that’s all?” Judge Treena asked.

“Everything except details about how we’re going to try to work together more in gathering evidence,” he said. The judge sounded as if she had accepted Beth’s presence there at last—or at least she wasn’t arguing about it now. He wasn’t about to even hint at their amazing attraction that nearly drove them into her bed for hot sex...for the second time. The judge didn’t need to know that.

Even so, Daniel had the uncomfortable feeling that she was reading between the lines.

He took a long drink of coffee, decided it was getting cold and stood to heat it again in his microwave.

“That’s it, then?” the judge asked.

“So far, but with us working in concert that way, I’m hoping that the concrete evidence that’s eluded both of us so far will finally flow into our hands. Despite now having an exec’s password, I didn’t have much success before hacking into anything beyond what a lab technician was allowed to see, let alone checking out other parts of the company server for useful information. Instead of doing anything that can be traced, I’ll download to a thumb drive rather than printing or forwarding, then hiding what I did...just in case there’s someone even more savvy than me who looks into it.”

“Fair enough. And Beth? Has she found anything while cleaning that can help?”

“Other than eavesdropping and recording some of what she’s heard, no, but we’re working on other things she can do. One thing I’m suggesting is that she bring samples of drugs or their ingredients out of the labs for CIU to get tested independently against the contents of what’s on the market. She carries a purse, so that’s a possibility, at least—but of course, she’ll still need to be careful. There’ll still be a chain-of-custody angle to work out, but if we find anything useful, that can be dealt with. I know she’s eager to find something really spot-on that she can pass along for you to use in prosecuting anyone.”

“Good. Keep at it...and you can tell her the same, from me. She might be surprised to hear that.”

“I suspect she will be.”

“By the way, Daniel. Here’s a heads-up for you. I’m working on another angle. The FDA is always checking on all pharmaceutical companies and their required periodic reports. That includes Corcoris, of course. I’ve worked out a new contact there, one who’s a grumpy old fool who always suspects fraud when he gets a new report and doesn’t trust the pristine results of the last Corcoris inspection. He sounded absolutely over the moon when I told him his suspicions are right about Corcoris even though we don’t have proof of it yet. He’s going to send another team in soon to perform another inspection. I don’t know when or anything else but I’ll keep you informed.”

“Great,” Daniel said without completely meaning it. “But...well, since the last time the feds were there they found nothing, why will this one be any different?”

“Because you’re there now. And if you can find at least preliminary evidence before and show them where else to look when they get there, it’ll be all the better.”

Daniel felt dubious—but also determined to work even harder.

“And you’ll let me know if you figure out who stole that SUV and chased our Beth,” the judge said. Not a question but a statement.

“Sure, Judge. And I will find out. Count on it.”