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“How is he getting the assets?” She knew Antigua came from a wealthy family. “I had no idea he had access to that much cash.”

Sam propped his feet on the coffee table, the size of his leather house slipper holding her attention.

“Pearly, are my feet dirty?”

She covered well, yawning and looking at her watch. “I wouldn’t know. Go on, Horn. I’m getting bored.”

“Okay.” Of all the damn nerve, he slid down and reclined lazily on the couch. “When your family owns most of the banks, getting what you need isn’t a stretch.”

“Is there more to this?” At that moment, she didn’t care. Sam displayed himself to her like they were getting ready to have round two.

He propped up on his elbow and smiled at her. “I’m keeping you up.” He patted the couch, tilting his head flirtatiously. “Come sit with me. I’ll hurry if that’s what you want.”

If memory served her correctly, the man didn’t know what hurry meant.

“I’m getting the idea you are a loose cannon hustler.” She yanked the top of her robe together. “And, you probably don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Whoa, mama.” Sam got up, looking directly at her. “Antigua knows Sanchez. That’s the reason I’m here. “

She mulled over his words, the reality calming her anger. “That’s all you had to say in the first place.” Getting to her feet, Lana wanted to leave on a better note. “Please don’t hide things from me. We’re supposed to be working together.”

He stood and led the way to the door. “I’m glad you’re feeling better about our relationship.”

His cologne took her back two years, and her body reacted as it had then, warming, quivering, and panting to get him in bed.

“We don’t have a relationship. We’re partners on a job, Horn. Nothing more.” There, she had set him straight.

“Well, hell.” He caught her arm in his long-fingered hand and pulled her close.

She tried to turn her head to avoid looking into his eyes, nearly melting from the nearness of his body. “Is this a new maneuver, Horn?”

His mouth covered hers in a soft, deep kiss, and her body rocketed into a frenzy of pleasure. He tasted the same, the firmness of his lips teased and warmed her senses to a remembered, delicious agony.

Don’t you dare moan. Don’t you press to his body like you already are.

He was hard, and his heartbeat came through her robe to encourage hers to join in the game. He let her go.

“Just testing.” His chin touched her nose, and even that was an aphrodisiac.

She steadied her breathing, hoping to sound calm. “I know I’ll regret asking, but testing for what?”

“I had to know if you could still sizzle my blood.” He opened the door, standing aside like a true gentlemen.

He grinned and touched her collar. “Nothing.”

* * * *

Sam had just told the biggest lie of his life.

At the moment, he’d thought it had been a good idea.

He stood with his hand on the doorknob, thinking he should go to her suite and apologize. Not a good idea, Horn. Lana had been so pissed off when she left, she’d probably have the house dick throw him out of the hotel with her help.

He figured the best thing would be to act like he’d never made a fool of himself. At least she hadn’t slugged him. Yeah, that would be the route to take. Play stupid.

You excel at that, Horn
.

He switched off the lights and went to the bedroom and yawned more from boredom than weariness. Maybe he should have called an escort service. What the hell good would that do? The woman he’d taken to bed in his dreams had to be the one to ease his pain.

Damn, she was sweet. Her lips had gotten more delectable, and he could have sworn she pushed her hips against him. All he’d accomplished had been to light the fire again, with no way to put it out.

Sprawled on the bed, he forced his randy thoughts aside and played the mission plan over in his head. He hated boats and crowds of partying clowns. Lord, knew his family fit that description. Three brothers, two sisters, a dozen aunts and uncles and six zillion cousins seemed to all find their way to his parent’s ranch house in Colorado every weekend. Not that he didn’t like it that way.

He dropped his arm over his eyes, trying to fall asleep.

Okay, buddy, you still want that woman with everything in you. Just pursue her like hell fire and get it out of your system. You can do it if you don’t trip on your tongue or scare her off with a boner in your swim trunks.

He never thought he’d dread being in the company of such a beautiful, desirable woman, but he did. He knew how deep her passion ran, knew her scent and the feel of her soft lips. When he had kissed her, every ounce of testosterone in him boiled to the surface. His balls still ached from the rush, and she’d responded. He’d been dumb as a sack of rocks stopping when he did.

Deep in his dilemma of sporting an erection that wouldn’t deflate, Sam rolled over and turned on the bedside lamp. Work. That usually wiped sex off his brain. He got out of bed to open his suitcase, pulling out a notebook and pen. He tossed the items on the bed and followed them down onto the soft mattress.

Propped against several pillows, he studied the codes he’d penciled in, some of the entries two years old. Reading the notes gave him new concern, something he’d never experienced before now.

Always before, if he had a partner, it had been a hard-assed guy with as much attitude as he could stand. Now, there came Lana, and he would spend valuable time keeping her out of Antigua’s hands. And his. He couldn’t afford to be blindsided by his cock.

Damn it. How’d he get roped into this? Sam looked at the plan he’d put together months ago, the simple one where he went to Argentina, dragged that prick out to international waters, and arrested him. He tossed the notebook aside, grimacing when he thought about what the bureau had handed him. Play Romeo to Pearly, socialize with Antigua, and locate the fortune the idiot had stashed. The thing that ticked him off most had to be the order to wait until they had Miami in sight to take him down. He took some pleasure in knowing he had the option of unloading on Antigua and his musclemen if things went south.

He turned off the light and punched the pillows into the shape he wanted. He dozed and thought of Pearly, the lady divine.

What kept her awake so late?

He chuckled. It sure as hell wasn’t him.

Chapter Three

Lana yawned and grumbled under her breath. How could Horn look so rested and completely full of himself after being up until the early hours of the morning? She could hardly keep her eyes open and longed to close them, if only for a few minutes.

He’d insisted they have a bite before boarding their plane. What a start to the day. Their waitress had a voice like a shrill chainsaw, and a young couple ignored their three brats running wild through the dining room. She hid her smile when Sam quietly told the youngsters to pipe down. It had to have been his dark gaze that sent them scurrying back to their parents’ side.

Time dragged and she couldn’t seem to focus her attention on anything but Sam. He smelled like he’d just taken a walk through an orchard of full blooming mandarin trees and stood out in a fresh spring rain. The way he had dressed meant he intended to be comfortable. He wore no tie, and the collar of his white shirt had been left open. His expensive heather tweed sport coat fit him perfectly and emphasized his great build.

Lana changed her train of thought, eyeing his plate. “Do you ever get full?”

He brushed his palms together and sipped his coffee before answering. “Not when I have a yen for something special.”

She didn’t understand the man sitting with her at the small dining room table. But she knew her own body, and it hadn’t stopped humming since he’d kissed her. She frowned, remembering his smug comment while she could hardly stand up. Nothing, he’d said. Her pride had been stung, and that frustrated her. After all the fantasizing she’d done, all the dreams of tumbling around with him, and he felt nothing.

“Pearly, our driver is waiting.” He’d broken into her dark cloud, getting his gear together. “Come on, sleepy baby. Want me to carry you?”

To Lana, that didn’t sound too crazy, but she didn’t dare let him know how much she longed for more sleep. “That won’t be necessary.” He seemed determined to irritate her, or that could be his down home humor.

He closed his hand on her elbow and walked beside her, glancing at her with a smile that said he loved messing with her mind. Lana checked the front of her aqua blue blouse, suddenly aware he’d pointedly looked at her breasts. She inhaled a shaky breath, thankful they would soon be on their way. Outside, they followed the luggage cart past a taxi parked at the curb.

“Wait.” She caught Sam’s sleeve to stop him. “This taxi is empty.”

Instead of stopping, he caught her hand to move her forward. “No taxi for my princess.” A long black limo pulled up to the curb. “Your ride, baby.”

Her mouth had to be hanging open, but Lana quickly recovered. “I hope you have lots of cash on you, because I am not paying for this ludicrous pleasure craft.”

He ignored her, keeping an eye on the driver, who hopped out of the luxury car to open the trunk and efficiently stow their luggage before opening the back door for them.

She settled into the comfortable leather seat, the sheer delight of being so pampered sweeping away the exhaustion she’d felt earlier. Sam leaned across her to pull the seatbelt over her lap
.

Stupid, stupid
.

A jolt of desire shot through her after only the slightest brush of his body against hers. What would she do if they made love again? Cosmic explosion came to mind.

He settled back in total relaxation. She couldn’t relax. Her hands busily smoothing the white skirt she’d put on with no thought to how she looked. She should have worn slacks.

She looked up to find his gaze fastened on her legs, the glint in his dark eyes alerting her to steel herself for another of his observations.

“So, did you ever think about me, Pearly?”

“What did I tell you about going there, Horn?” This would make for a great mission if she couldn’t get her senses in check. He wanted to rile her, and she wouldn’t let him do that. “I’d think you were too busy to keep dredging up the memory of a quickie in a hotel with a stranger. For Pete’s sake. How dull is your life?”

He laughed. “Pretty damn dull since our little party.” Those darker than night eyes locked with hers. “I thought it ranked way above a quickie.”

Stop looking at him. You’ll be on your back with your skirt up any second
.

“Sam.” Lana tried to appear friendly, wheedling, for God’s sake. “You meet so many women, and I happened to be just one more.”

He caught her chin in his fingers, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t council me on what I feel, Pearly.” He let her go, looking out the window for a moment. “I remember you saying you’d get in touch with me.”

“I can’t believe you had that much fun.” Lana pressed closer to the door. “That’s a line you probably use on all your encounters. I just beat you to it.”

“That’s right.” His voice softened and the set of his firm lips was seductive. “But in your case, I hoped you meant it.”

“Do you intend to keep up this line of conversation?” She trawled her reserve of patience to end the personal direction this had to be going. “I’d prefer we stuck to the matter at hand and how we get Antigua off that boat.”

“How good an actress are you, Pearly?” He stayed on his part of the seat but observed her while he talked. “Are you willing to be my girlfriend for a week or two? If not, we may as well call in a replacement.”

Had he threatened to have her removed from the mission?

“I’ll do whatever is required.” She opened her leather tote bag and took out a small video camera. “I’ll play the goose and giggle at your jokes and take a million pictures. Is that what you mean?”

Sam nodded and took the camera from her hand. “Very nice. Something new the lab cooked up just like in a Bond movie?”

“You could say that.”

“Are you ready to cozy up to a guy you may have to put a cap in?”

“All in a day’s work, Horn.”

He seemed to forget she existed, reading the paper he’d picked up in the hotel. The man exuded sexual vibes no matter what he did. Lana eyed his hands, the shape of his fingers, and the width of his palms. Big, strong, and talented. She inhaled softly, chiding herself for letting her thoughts run amuck.

“You’re still having doubts?” His question surprised her, especially since he didn’t look at her.

“Of course I’m having doubts, or more to the point, concerns.” Lana did have doubts about how they would work together. She may as well tell him what bothered her. “You’re the agent in charge, but that doesn’t mean you don’t tell me ahead of time when something is going down.”

He folded the paper and turned in the seat to gaze at her. “I want to live, Pearly. I won’t make a move without telling you.”

“Sanchez and I spend hours trading information and working out an exact plan.” Her voice trailed off when his mouth set in a slight grimace.

“Pearly, you’ll have to trust me.” He squeezed her hand and added substance to his brief comment. “As soon as we get aboard that tub, we’ll do a lockdown and sweat out the details. I’m sure we have the same information, but if it makes you feel better, we’ll cram for the test.”

“Okay.” She’d sounded like a nag, but Lana didn’t want to approach their target like a blind rat. Anything she could find out about Antigua would be ammunition later on. “What do you know about Antigua’s habits, his past times and what he does to amuse himself?”

“He’s into polo, shooting animals in arranged hunting trips, high stakes poker, and women when he’s not chumming with his terrorist pals.” Sam tapped his knuckle against the window, apparently off somewhere in his own deep thoughts. “He doesn’t mind hurting people, Lana. Women are not exempt.”

“Thanks for the warning.” She’d read everything available on Antigua. He had an unpredictable, volatile temper that had rained misery and even death to the unlucky ones getting in his way.