Author: Jaci Burton

She knew Mac’s history, and if she had a choice, she’d choose her agency to turn the vial over to, not Mac. Not a once petty, now probably professional thief.

“A virus like that could be worth a fortune.” She shuddered to think what someone could do with it. Countries looking to create chemical warfare. Terrorist organizations.

The possibilities were endless.

“I can’t tell you what I’m going to do with the virus.

But trust me, it’s nothing bad,” he said.

“And I’m supposed to believe you.”

He shrugged. “You have no reason to, but yeah, I’d like you to.”

The look hadn’t changed at all—street toughness mixed with charm. God, it was so sexy, had always served to dissolve her hesitations. It had worked so well back then. It didn’t now, and that actually hurt. He had stolen something dangerous and destructive. Despite their connections to each other and to the past, she couldn’t allow it. She grabbed her bag from the ground and pulled out her cell phone. Thank God she’d looped the long strap of her purse around her neck and shoulder or she’d have lost her purse in the scuffle in addition to her gun.

“I’m sorry, Mac, but I have to call this in. There’s no way I can allow this virus to get out, no matter what you’d like me to believe.”

She started punching numbers to call the agency, but Mac moved like a stroke of lightning. He was on her in seconds, jerked the phone out of her hand, threw it on the ground and stomped it to pieces. She stared dumbstruck at the crumbled remains of her phone, not sure if she wanted to cry or kill him. Judging by the trembling anger bubbling up inside her, probably both. She forced a calm she didn’t feel, refusing to break down in front of him.

“I’m sorry too, babe, but I can’t let you make that call.

If you were calling your boss or the cops, that would spell bad news for me.”

Gathering her wits about her, she said, “You should have thought about that before you broke into the museum.”

“Tell me who your client is.”

“I was hired by the museum to check night security.

Which obviously sucked since you managed to get in.”

Unbelievably, he grinned. She shook her head. He was proud of his prowess as a thief. Frustration ate at her, making her pace back and forth in hopes of releasing some of the furious tension boiling inside. Long term passion and feelings for Mac or not, she was a law abiding citizen, a former cop.

She followed the rules. And Mac had never followed them.

She’d found that exciting about him once, to her detriment. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.

“I’m not doing anything wrong, Lily.”

“Give me a reason to believe you.” This was why she had paused when she saw him at the museum, why she had delayed making that call. Instinct, maybe, but she’d somehow known it was him, couldn’t bear turning him over to the police.

Now she was kicking herself and needed some kind of proof, needed him to tell her anything at all that would make her believe in him.

“I don’t have one. But you know me.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I do. I know you’re a thief.”

“Okay, you’re right. But do you really think I’m the kind of person who’d sell a killer virus to terrorists?”

She didn’t think so. But ten years could change a person. Had Mac changed that much? “I don’t know.”

He reached out and skimmed his knuckles across her cheek. So gentle, the action so incongruent with his bad boy image. That’s what always made her insane about him. He was unpredictable, never fit into any kind of a mold, part of what was attractive about him. And she’d always been able to see beyond the surface, past what everyone else had seen of Mac Canfield. She’d seen the goodness in him. Was that part of him still there?

He hadn’t hurt her, and he could have. If he’d changed enough, become bad enough, he could have shot her, or left her behind to fend off the shooter. Instead, he’d grabbed her and taken her with him. He’d thrown his body over hers, making himself vulnerable to protect her.

“Don’t believe everything you see, Lily. Things aren’t always as they seem on the surface.”

She sighed. “Then if there’s a reasonable explanation for what you’re doing, tell me.” She wanted to believe him, wanted to accept that he’d changed, that what he was doing was some kind of superhero act, that he was working for the good guys.

“Sometimes you have to rely on faith and your instincts. What do your instincts tell you?”

“They didn’t serve me so well ten years ago,” she muttered, more to herself than to him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For a lot of things. For ten years ago, for this. I can’t change the past and I can’t change you being in the wrong place at the wrong time tonight. What happened tonight was a fuckup and you got caught in the middle. Now you’re going to have to come with me. I know you don’t like it—I don’t like it. But I don’t have any other choice.”

She paused, her mind replaying what he’d just said.

“You can’t mean to kidnap me.”

He moved back to the tent and resumed erecting it.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you. I hadn’t expected to run into anyone and especially not you, but I sure as hell can’t let you go.”

Her frustration returned. She couldn’t believe she’d almost had sex with him. What the hell had she been thinking?

Oh, right. She hadn’t been. Just like when she’d offered her body like a sacrificial lamb, as if giving up her virginity to Mac would somehow open his eyes and make him realize she could be the greatest thing in his life.

It hadn’t made a damn difference to him. He’d taken what she offered and still dumped her. She’d been stupid then, just like she’d been stupid a few minutes ago in the bathroom.

What was it about him that made her IQ drop a hundred points and turned her into a quivering mass of bimbo?

“I’m not going anywhere with you voluntarily, and I can’t believe you’d stoop to kidnapping.”

He tightened the tent ropes and stood, wiping his hands on his jeans before he approached. “Look, Lily. I wish I could give you answers. I’m not into anything illegal, but I can’t tell you what I’m going to do with the virus and I can’t let you go, so you’re just going to have to ride along.”

She was about to start another argument with him but that was pointless. He was obviously lying and probably into ‘illegal’ up to his neck. But it occurred to her if she went with him it would be a perfect opportunity to bide her time and recover the virus. If she didn’t go with him, the virus was gone.

And no way could she let that deadly virus get out there in the world. And while she was at it, maybe she’d figure out what Mac was really up to. If she was clever enough, she could wait until just the right moment, uncover his secrets and steal the virus before he made delivery to…whomever. Hell, she could bust this case wide open.

Then again, she’d be bringing Mac down while doing it, and that wasn’t something she wanted to be responsible for.

But she’d figure that out later. First thing she had to do was cooperate, gain his trust. Maybe even ply him with a little seduction.

After all, men thought with their cocks most times, anyway. And she wasn’t above using her feminine wiles to get Mac to give her what she wanted. And what she wanted right now was information, the virus, and her freedom. And it would make her agency happy. Good PR, right?

Okay, so maybe she still carried a big, bright burning torch for Mac. That much was obvious after the episode in the bathroom. Her pussy quivered at the way he’d backed her up against the wall, the promise in his touch and in his kiss. She wanted more.

But he’d used her ten years ago. Payback time.

As soon as he trusted her and let his guard down, she’d be history—along with the virus.

“Lily,” he said, breaking her thoughts. “I’m sorry this happened..”

She shrugged and sat in front of the fire, not saying anything. She didn’t want to give in too easily. He sat next to her and added another log, the additional flame calming the chills shivering through her body. The night had grown cooler, the wind picking up around them adding a bite. It wasn’t quite summer yet and late spring nights up in the hills could still be cold.

“I remember when you took me up to the point to see the stars,” she said, glancing at the sky.

He smiled. “You said you’d never been out in the country before. I was surprised.”

“Hey, I was a city girl. It wasn’t like my dad ever took camping trips or treks into the hills.”

“You had your head tilted back for so long you ended up with a crick in your neck. You must have gaped at those stars for hours.”

“They were so beautiful. Like tonight.” The bittersweet memories washed over her. Sitting in Mac’s convertible, the sky clear black and the stars so close she felt like she could reach up and touch them. She’d never seen anything like it.

They were like that tonight, too. And the same man was next to her again. He’d been the only one to give her adventures. She’d had to create her own excitement after Mac, and even then it hadn’t been the same, because he hadn’t been with her.

“So you were a cop?” he asked.

She nodded.

“How did that happen?”

She lifted her lips at the incredulity in his voice. “I majored in police science in college, then went to the academy after graduation.”

“What about law school?”

“That was my father’s dream, not mine.”

Mac shook his head. “Bet your dad was pissed about that.”

“Oh, he was so angry.” She grinned at the memory.

“Threatened to cut off my funding, refused to pay for college.

His way of getting me to toe the line. It backfired on him. I got loans instead, determined to do what I wanted to do. When he realized I wasn’t going to back down and return to the fold with my tail tucked between my legs, he relented and paid for my education.” She looked at her hands. “Not that it did me much good.”

“Why not?”

“Three years on the force and he used his influence to keep me off the streets. I got tired of his interference, tired of being assigned desk jobs and fighting him. I quit.”

“And now you’re a PI?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you end up in Chicago?”

“I couldn’t get hired anywhere in Dallas. Dad’s power was too great there. I moved to Chicago to get away from him, so I could actually do my job without him sticking his fingers in everything I did.”

“You own the agency?”

“Not yet. I figure Dad would hinder me less if I just work for an agency right now, so I found someone who I thought couldn’t be bought or manipulated. Maybe someday I’ll start my own. We’ll see how this goes.”

“You like it?”

She shot him a sideways glance. “Actually, I do. A lot.”

“And here I thought you’d end up a lawyer in your father’s company.”

“That’s what he wanted. Hence the ‘pissed’ part.”

“You always enjoyed digging at him.”

She lifted her chin, thoughts of her father inflaming her nerve endings. “He deserves it.”

“Yeah, he does.” He shifted on the log. “And you turned out so damn different than what I thought.”

She wanted to say ‘and you dumping me did no good, did it?’. Instead she kept silent, knowing it would come across shrewish and petty. But she couldn’t help wondering how different things would have been if they’d stayed together, if he’d given them a chance.