Midnight Heat (11 page)

“All of me? And here I thought you only liked me for my—what did you call it? My tight ass?” The sexy smile turned to a bad-boy grin she’d have never thought him capable of.

“That’s playing dirty. No man should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon like that.”

He laughed, the rusty sound the most wondrous thing she’d ever heard. “What, like a label on my zipper saying ‘handle with caution’?”

She reached up and grabbed his forearms, yanking him off balance until he collapsed down onto her. They were nose to nose when he caught his weight on his hands. “Your ego is almost as big as your—”

He kissed her soundly, then said, “Are you complaining?”

She couldn’t recall ever being this happy. “No. But the concealed weapon I was referring to was your smile.”

Color crept into his cheeks. “And you blush real cute too,” she added.

Dane gently bit her bottom lip. “Smartmouth,” he said, then sucked her lip.

Just as Adria was contemplating whether or not he could possibly be ready to make love again so soon, he pulled her into his arms.

“Hold on,” he ordered. She clamped her legs tightly around him as he lifted her, turned around, and sat down on the table, leaving her straddling his lap. When she tried to lean her head back, he cupped her head tightly to his chest. “No, not yet. Okay?”

“Perfectly,” she answered. His heart beat a strong tattoo against her cheek, the rhythm exactly matching her own.

They stayed that way in silence for several minutes. When he finally spoke, the teasing was gone. “This isn’t enough for me, Adria.”

Alarm bells jangled inside her at the threat of losing what they wanted so badly to keep. She pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

He brushed the curve of her jaw with his thumb. “I want more. You make me want more. More than sex on a picnic table. But what I want isn’t the most important thing here.”

No, she pleaded silently. Don’t do this. Not now. Not yet. Adria had an irrational urge to cover her ears. She didn’t want to hear this.
Because he’s right
, her inner voice said.

What about what I want? she wanted to shout. Slowly, almost painfully, she withdrew from the comfort and warmth of Dane’s embrace.

“Adria—”

She slid awkwardly from his lap and began
putting on her clothes. Funny, she thought. Knowing he watched, she found covering up more disconcerting than exposing herself to him.

Maybe because she was covering up far more than her body. Each article of clothing she donned was like a piece of mental armor.

“Adria.” This time it was a command, not a plea.

She turned to see him getting dressed as well. “Don’t start telling me about wrong place, wrong time, wrong woman, wrong everything.”

He moved so fast, he instantly had her hauled up to his chest, her face held hard with one hand, her hips cemented to his with the other. “Great place, the best time in my life, with the only woman.” He kissed her hard until she was gasping for breath and clinging to him. “You got that?”

She managed to nod weakly.

“But I can’t do a damn thing about any of it until I take care of the rest. And I can’t have you until I do.”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I guess I know that. But it doesn’t mean I don’t hate it.”

“I just hope you don’t hate me when it’s all over.”

“That’ll never happen,” she said with full confidence.

He held her tightly in his arms. “Adria, I’m
getting pressure to close this case. I have other more important cases to get back to.”

“Dane, I don’t hold you responsible for reporting the facts. But I am innocent of negligence. The only negligent party was that third pilot. We just need time to find the proof.”

“Forster expects this report Friday. If I don’t have anything concrete by then, I have to give him what I’ve got. But right now that’s not enough to buy more time. And once he turns it over to the FAA, I don’t think they’ll look any further for a ‘make everyone happy’ solution than having your job on a platter.”

Excitement of a different nature coursed through Adria. “Then let me help you out. After Sarah Greene called me this morning, I searched the
Post
for a follow-up story on Indian Head. There was one, but the byline wasn’t hers. Which is very odd. So I went to the
Post
and had someone point her out to me.

“Dane, the reason I called you today was to tell you that the Sarah Greene I met at the playground, the Sarah Greene who called me on the phone, is not the Sarah Greene who works at the
Post
.”

“Damn, damn, damn.” Dane didn’t care if Forster, who had just left his office, heard him.

Since Adria had dropped her little bomb on him yesterday, he’d been working nonstop. Hell, if he were honest, he’d admit that the information about the fake
Post
reporter was the smallest of the bombs she’d dropped on him yesterday. A picnic table, for Christ’s sake.

And he’d loved every damn second of it. If he had half a chance, he’d do it again. And again. Here. There.

But now he had no chance. Forster had seen to that.

“How in the hell am I going to tell her?”

“Tell me what?”

Adria stood in the doorway. Anxious with the most absurd fear that she could tell what
he’d just been thinking, he watched as she walked over to his cluttered desk.

“You haven’t slept or shaved since you left me yesterday, have you?” She peered at the overflowing trash can. “Or eaten. You’re living on caffeine.”

And memories, he thought. “I came back and began running checks on our Ms. Greene. I’ve been at it ever since.”

She looked as if she wanted to say something. Something personal. Not now, he thought. If it killed him he would keep this meeting business. Hell, by the time he told her about his meeting with Forster, he wouldn’t have to worry about talking to her at all. “I still haven’t been able to find out who she really is. But I did learn from a member of the recovery crew that she had flashed credentials and used Forster’s name. Which doesn’t mean squat. It’s not impossible to get Forster’s name and fake IDs.”

Adria sank down into a visitor’s chair. “I’ve been racking my brain all night and I just can’t figure out what this woman’s agenda is. She pretends to be a reporter to grill me and try to find out what I know about the investigation. She learns I’m most likely the fall guy, then I don’t hear from her again. All of a sudden she pops up on national television, digging around looking for plane parts.” Adria leaned forward
and snagged the open Coke on Dane’s desk, absently helping herself to a deep swallow.

It was such a casual gesture, Dane thought, one not unusual between two people who’d been as intimate as they had been. Maybe that was why it hit him so hard. It was the only indication either of them had given since yesterday that anything had happened between them at all.

Maybe it was just as well, his little voice commented. And maybe you can go to hell, he shot back silently.

“It’s all circumstantial,” he said finally. He held up his hand to forestall her argument. “I agree that there is a bunch of it, but I ran what I had past Forster, hoping he’d give me more time.”

“And?” Adria immediately shook her head. “Never mind. I can read it on your face.”

When had he let the rest of his guard fall around her? Masking his emotions was second nature for him. It was his
entire
nature. It made him a good investigator. Plane crashes were brutal, ugly scenes of carnage and death. A little detachment went a long way. And he’d taken detachment to a whole new level. Until Adria.

“Don’t worry, Dane. I know this makes you uncomfortable. I’m not trying to make you more so, believe me.”

“That’s just it,” he said. “I do believe you.
About everything.” And she deserved to know. He hadn’t been trying to save
her
the pain, he’d been trying to save himself.

“Well, then,” she said, sitting up straighter, clasping her hands in her lap. “I guess we have our work cut out for us, don’t we?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you don’t think you need my help on this, but it’s my job on the line. I promise I won’t do anything to compromise yours, no matter what happens. But we have to find evidence and I’m convinced our reporter is the link. Friday is less than three days away. You can’t expect me to just sit around twiddling my thumbs. I won’t. I can’t.”

He was a dead man. Death right now would be preferable to what he was about to tell her.
You’re a coward, Dane Colbourne
.

He’d never thought that of himself before. But maybe it was because he’d never risked anything of real importance to himself.

“We don’t have until Friday, Adria. We don’t have any time at all.”

She froze. Then, so quietly it hurt, she said, “What do you mean?”

Dane stood and came around the desk. When he was a step from her, she shifted away.

That withdrawal ripped into him, and he stilled for half a second. Then, as casually as
possible, he rested his hip on the desk, folding his arms on his chest. The pose hid the tight fists and, he hoped, the similar tight hold he was maintaining on his control. Only the barest thread of it kept him from yanking her into his arms.

“I just had a meeting with Forster,” he said. “He wanted an update and made it clear he was impatient. So I told him what I was working on and argued for more time.”

He was falling to pieces inside. If Adria was feeling anything the least bit similar, she was doing a good job hiding it. Which scared him. No one was easier to read than Adria Burke.

“I take it Mr. Forster didn’t think an unexplained third plane, a spy running around posing as a reporter, and threatening phone calls to one of the major players in this case warranted any suspicion or concern. Or any more of your precious time.” Her tone had been as cool and calm as her blue eyes.

He wanted to beg her to yell and scream. He certainly wanted to yell and scream himself.

“He wants my report today. Facts only, no supposition.”

“And you don’t find this odd? This rush job, I mean?”

He dug his fingertips harder into his palms. “Adria, I don’t know—” He pushed off
his desk and stood in front of her chair. She tilted her head to maintain direct eye contact.

“I will admit that it’s unusual for Forster to put this kind of pressure on me. But I have two other cases I’ve been working on, and he feels this is the least problematic of them. He wants it wrapped up now.”

“Can’t he just reassign it to another investigator?”

No! Dane was amazed he’d kept from shouting it out loud. The truth was, he didn’t want any other man sniffing around in Adria’s business or in her life, period. So he would let her take the fall for something he knew in his gut she wasn’t responsible for?
You’re a real prince, Colbourne
.

“You have lousy taste in men,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. She gasped. “I’m sorry.” He almost laughed at the understatement, but instead added, “About so many things.” She paled, obviously misunderstanding him.

He cringed. Just once he wanted to say the right thing. And if that didn’t happen now, he might never have another chance.

He reached for her. “Come here,” he said softly. He gave her no choice, afraid of the one she’d make if he let her, knowing he had to have her in his arms to be able to explain. To her. To himself.

She allowed him to hold her, but her body
was stiff. He ran a finger along her jaw to her chin, prodding it upward until she met his gaze. What he saw in her eyes wasn’t reassuring.

“I know you weren’t negligent, Adria.”

“Then help me prove it.”

“I’ve spent every spare minute and a whole bunch I didn’t have trying to do just that. I have no choice about turning in my report. The other investigators are as overburdened as I am. Forster won’t budge. He’s used to giving orders and having them followed. And once he turns it in to the FAA …” There was no need to go on; the pain in her eyes told him.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to keep digging on my own,” she said. By the time the FAA is ready to move on this, I’ll be ready.” He must have looked skeptical, because she lifted her chin from his finger and challenged him with a glacial stare.

“I have to, Dane. Don’t you see? Otherwise I have nothing.”

“You have me.” He sucked in his breath, fear lancing through him. Had he really said that? Opened himself up for the rejection she was sure to deliver? Would the pain of her rejection even remotely pay him back for the pain he’d caused her by letting her down?

“Do I really?” she whispered. “I need you. In ways that scare me to even think about. But if you can stand here and tell me that you’re
prepared and willing to turn in a report that doesn’t have
all
the facts thoroughly investigated and reported, that you’re satisfied with the job you’ve done here, then you aren’t the man I thought you were. If that’s the man you’re offering me, I don’t want him. I deserve better than that.”

Dane would have sworn he felt his heart break—if he did have one.

“I guess I don’t have a choice then, do I?” His attempt at a smile was a travesty. “What’s the worst the old bastard can do? Fire me?”

Adria’s cheeks burned like a slap in the face when she realized what she’d really just asked of him. When had self-protection changed to self-centeredness? Her job was on the line and that was all that had mattered to her. Looking out for number one and making sure everyone else looked out for her too.

She hadn’t taken even one second to wonder if by disobeying his boss, he would be jeopardizing his job. Was that something she could honestly ask him to do? Especially when she knew that he felt as strongly about his career as she did about hers.

“No,” she said. “There has to be another way. I can’t let you risk your job either.”

“Adria—”

“No, Dane, I didn’t think. I should never have—”

He didn’t give her a chance to finish. His
mouth covered hers swiftly and surely. He held her head and moved his lips over hers, twined his tongue with hers, until she could no longer remember anything except how wonderful he tasted and how much she’d have missed never having him make her feel this way again.