Jeff reread Dr. Andy’s report again. He simply could not reconcile the words and charts that covered the pages with the woman they depicted.
Harper Kane. She was one tough bitch.
When he’d first heard about the incident at the train yards, a rare excitement had overtaken him. Though he’d lost some good men, the sheer power unleashed upon them was immeasurable.
And that power was exactly what he’d been striving for.
Somehow, Ms. Kane had gotten her hands on the pure serum and used it. The pure serum that had evaded him. Her damned scientist brother must have given it to her before he destroyed his own lab and all remnants of his research. The details were still a tad sketchy, but the fact was the pure formula pumped through her much-too-healthy body.
The pure formula that was proving very difficult to replicate. Jeff had yet to be successful in reproducing the serum Dr. Kane had used on his precious plants.
Something was missing. Something that Harper Kane possessed. Something she’d refused to give him.
She was damn tough. Everything he’d had Dr. Andy expose her to had failed to produce acceptable results. Every extraction of blood had given him nothing. Plus she refused to utter a single word and barely screamed when subjected to his most inventive interrogation drugs. Drugs that had made experienced and trained men twice her impressive size break like dried twigs. It was as though Harper Kane were impenetrable.
And according to Dr. Andy’s reports, she was.
A loud smack vibrated through the quiet of his office as he slammed the papers on the top of his desk. Resting a fist against his mouth, Jeff thought hard about the decision he’d made just before Rome’s impromptu and unusual visit. To move Harper was risky. He wasn’t sure what to expect from her. But he had to take the chance. He wanted more intensive and invasive experiments. The larger lab facility was better equipped for the comprehensive trials and dissections he intended for her.
Jeff needed to find the serum inside her and wring out the elusive formula. His project depended on it. And this project meant everything. Not just to him, but to the future. Dr. Robert Kane hadn’t understood that. So the brilliant doctor had been taken care of.
But now the doctor’s sister was in the way. And, in time, she’d be taken care of, too.
A harsh knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts.
“Yes,” Jeff called out, picking up the reports to read over once more.
“Sir.” One of his brawny subjects stepped through the doorway. Jeff narrowed his eyes at the man’s dingy appearance. He looked as though he’d been in a tussle. “She got away.”
Jeff shot to his feet and threw his papers against the wall. He stalked toward the man and grabbed his shirt.
“Find her,” Jeff growled, less than an inch from the man’s face, and then shoved him out the door. The brute lumbered down the cold hallway, barking out orders into his shoulder mike.
How in the hell did she escape? Had her powers returned? Even once outside, they shouldn’t have worked so quickly.
Did she have help? Jeff thought hard. No, everyone in this facility was more than loyal. He’d made sure of that long ago. But then, there had been someone else here, not that long ago.
Rome Lucian.
No. Rome was bound by duty. Jeff knew too well what horror the agent had gone through with his team several years ago. The man was dutiful to a fault.
Yet Rome had just been here. Asking about Ms. Kane. Could the agent have had a hand in her escape? Jeff didn’t want to believe it. Rome could complicate his plans for the serum, especially if he was helping the bitch.
Jeff shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face. He had a hard time thinking of Rome as a rogue agent, but this project was bigger than one agent. And one challenging woman.
He’d have to be wary of Agent Rome Lucian from now on. Just in case.
She heard a gurgling rumble as consciousness returned. The rolling and sputtering forced her eyes open, and she blinked, then took in her surroundings. She was in a car. A very loud car. The jumbling ride reminded her of the old red Volkswagen Bug Bobby had when he was in high school. The curved, dotted ceiling and the rounded rear window confirmed it. She was indeed in a Bug.
Flexing her arms, Harper pushed her weary body up to take a peek out the elliptical side window. Dusk appeared to be approaching. They were driving through a quiet suburban area. Wait. They?
Disorientation flushed through her. Hadn’t Rome come to her rescue in his Land Rover?
“Stay down,” Rome’s familiar deep voice filtered from the driver’s seat directly in front of her. “We’re almost there.”
“Where’s there?” she asked hesitantly, her voice scratchy from inactivity. Did it really matter? He could be taking her anywhere. Maybe to an even more ghastly place than before. But right now, this minute, she had a reprieve.
“I have a place just outside of town,” Rome answered, rounding a corner. She slid a little on the slippery vinyl of the backseat. “A safe house of mine.”
Safe. That sounded absolutely blissful. And highly unlikely. But what choice did she have? She had gotten in the car with him, after all. She’d have to trust him for now. Darn it.
“You passed out,” he offered quietly. “I switched cars, just in case.” She appreciated his keeping her in the loop.
Another ten minutes and they were just on the outskirts of Portland when Rome turned the car into an unfamiliar private warehouse area. Harper peeked out the back side window as soon as they slowed down to wait for the gate to glide open. Rome weaved the Bug around several of the buildings to one in the back that bordered a wooded area. The metal door of the midsized structure slid aside just enough to allow him to maneuver inside. She watched out the oval back window as the door skated shut with a loud, ringing clank.
Rome slipped out the driver’s side and walked over to a panel on the wall and punched some of the buttons. Lights illuminated the area, and a red light flickered on the little plate.
He came around to the passenger-side door and opened it. He reached down to pull the seat lever and moved the seat forward, gesturing with the sweep of his hand for her to get out.
Harper unfolded her long frame from the cramped backseat of the Bug. Stiff and achy, she stumbled a little as she crawled out. She felt Rome’s sure grip on her arm steadying her.
Murmuring her gratitude, she stretched out a little, hearing several pops and cracks. Grimacing, she glanced at Rome and saw a gentle smile crease his rugged face. She gave him a small smile in return, and then turned away to study her newest confinement. Goodness gracious. How many resources did an agent have?
“C’mon, Harper.” He placed a large warm hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He tugged on her slightly.
She stared pointedly at the hand on her shoulder and he immediately removed it. Harper saw a pained look of remorse cross his face, quickly replaced by a reassuring one. Good. He should feel guilty about locking her away like some psychotic freak. She knew she had big problems and had done some terrible things, but she hadn’t needed him to dupe her into trusting him and then treating her like enemy number one.
“Harper, you’re safe here. Trust me,” Rome implored.
“Trust you?” She couldn’t stop the burst of laughter, but she wished she had when she started to cough a little. “You turned me in.”
He nodded as his hand started to rub soothing circles on her back. Harper wanted to punch him and sink into his comfort all at once, but held herself in check. Until she knew what he wanted and what he was going to do to her now, she had to be on her guard.
“Look, I know you hate my guts right now.” Rome met her eyes. “I know you think you can’t trust me. Hell, I wouldn’t trust me.” He removed his hand from her back to swipe it across his face, frustrated. She missed his touch. “But, Harper, give me a chance to explain. To convince you I’m on your side.”
She looked away, but turned her gaze back when his fingers brushed her jaw with a touch so light, she might have thought she’d dreamed it.
“Please?” he asked quietly. Goodness, he was intoxicating.
“I guess I owe you for the ride,” Harper whispered, wishing she’d made a different decision back at Bobby’s house and not used her power.
“You don’t owe me anything.” His voice rang with self-disgust. “Please, Harper.”
Well, it couldn’t hurt.
“All right.” She allowed him to take her hand and lead her deeper into the square building. She didn’t have much choice, and realized she didn’t want one. So much had happened recently, she didn’t want to think about much of anything right now.
There were many things worth noticing as she followed Rome. Though crude, the one-floor warehouse had several rooms and cavernous ceilings. Some were finished, but most were just encased by bare two-by-fours, making it feel as if she were walking through a wooden jungle.
One half-completed room they passed sported a flatscreen television with a PlayStation 3 hooked up to it. A video-game nerd herself, she decided she wanted to poke around in there later.
Spying the modest stack of video games prompted her to realize that she was supposed to be returning home to California to resume her training and getting back to her job soon. Her coach, and maybe even her boss, would call when she didn’t show up. And she had no idea where her cell phone or her backpack were. Probably in the hands of the jerks who tortured her.
But there was no way she could go back to her normal life now. At least not until this was all over. If it ever would be. A cold wash of loss rained over her. She really had nothing.
With great effort, she shook the morose thoughts from her mind and resumed her attention to her surroundings.
Moving down the rough hallway, the next space had a humongous bed that looked cheerfully lumpy with goose-down quilts. A little farther in, the area opened wide like a great room with a kitchen and another big flat-screen television in front of three huge rust-colored beanbag chairs. A tacky yellow and red striped couch was at an angle to the television behind a low, chunky wooden table. The place looked to be a work in progress. It wasn’t musty or dingy, just unused and unfinished.
“There’s a bathroom through there.” Rome pointed to a smaller area just to the side of the kitchen. The only room with a door. “I’ll get some towels.” She watched him move toward a far closet as she headed to the idyllic room with a shower.
And what a shower it was. It was at least as big as her whole bathroom in her little studio apartment in San Francisco. A double-headed shower in a waist-high tiled rectangle. She sighed out loud in enchanted anticipation.
She pushed the door shut, leaving it open just a crack. She peeled off her grungy T-shirt and bra and tossed them aside, then reached in to twist the spigots on each side to steamy-hot.
A knock sounded before the door opened wide. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Rome standing there with his arms full of fluffy foam green towels, his mouth agape. His blue eyes darkened to the color of midnight as they swept down her naked torso.
“Harper.” Her name was spoken with a raspy breath of regret and desire. “I am so, so sorry.” He set down the towels and a new box of bar soap on the freestanding wooden towel rack and moved to stand within a breath of her. A whisper of a touch caressed her skin as his fingertips glided gently down her back. Peering over her shoulder, she followed the trail of his hand.
She knew she shouldn’t be shocked to see the angry red marks there; after all, she’d experienced every single one. But to see them in the bright light of the gleaming white bathroom was daunting. Also a little scary that they weren’t as bad as she would have thought.
She watched him while he continued to run his fingers softly over her back. His face was a kaleidoscope of emotion. Sorrow. Shame. Compassion. Fury. And, finally, determination. Then his face cleared and his gaze snapped to hers.
“Take as long as you need,” he said quietly, turning away. He picked up the box of soap, opened it, and set the fresh bar on top of the pile of towels. “I’ll fix us something to eat.” He shut the door gently as he left.
Hot steam clouded the room while Harper removed the rest of her grubby clothes. She briefly wondered whether Rome knew just how expressive his face could be. Probably not. He was a supersecret government agent or something. They weren’t supposed to have facial expressions, right?
Stepping around the shower’s tiled wall, she was enveloped by the cascading hot spray from both showerheads. She was a tad surprised at his affinity for double-headed showers. It was a luxury she definitely wasn’t used to. But she sure wasn’t complaining.
It was absolute ecstasy.
The lavish fall of water seeped warmth into every inch of her skin, soothing and healing the plentiful aches she knew were there and some she hadn’t known existed. The pain of the last few days slowly ebbed away under the restorative tide, spiraling down the drain.
She brought the bar of soap to her nose. Spicy and clean. Just like Rome. She was surprised when a low growl came from her throat at the thought of his scent.
Shaking it aside, Harper lathered a generous froth over her entire body. The thorough cleansing stung in a few places, but it was a small price to pay for the fresh feeling it created. Invigorating, really. She ran the bar through her hair several times, watching the soapy bubble rinse down the drain, relishing the feeling of grime sliding out of the blonde mop.
After she’d scrubbed herself off, she simply let the water flow over her, enjoying the clean and tranquil sensation, trying to stamp it into her memory just in case it was a while before she’d feel it again.
Harper reluctantly turned the water off on one side, then the other. The thick steam embraced her, caressing her dripping skin as she picked up the downy towel Rome had left for her. Drying herself thoroughly, she wrapped the thick fabric around her body and opened the door.
She spied Rome standing at the stove. Moving into the kitchen, the inviting aroma of eggs invaded her senses. A small smile broke out as she moved closer, spotting a heaping pile of shredded cheddar cheese and an open package of Canadian bacon on the counter, chopped into little chunks. He was making an omelet. And it smelled like paradise. The spatula looked odd in his large hand, but he capably flipped around the pan’s steaming and crackling contents.
“That smells wonderful,” Harper purred, leaning her toweled hip against the white tiled counter.
Rome swung his head to stare at her. His intense gaze raked across her bare shoulders, then down the towel to her thighs and back up. The swirling blue gaze virtually stripped the towel right off her freshly scrubbed body. The air between them sizzled with desire. She knew the feeling. There was something inexplicably hot about a manly man cooking.
“Uh, um…” He blinked and cleared his throat. “This’ll be ready in a minute.” He shook his head and turned his attention back to the steaming pan. “I set out some clothes for you in the bedroom. We can throw yours in the washer later.” He gave her a rueful sideways glance. “Again.”
Rapping her knuckles on the counter, she nodded with a smile and walked toward the room with the big bed. Spread out on top of the comforter were a pair of well-worn gray sweatpants and a soft cotton T-shirt. The black T sported a faded green and gold Minnesota North Stars emblem on the chest that just screamed Rome. She hardly knew him, but somehow, it was right. She tossed the towel on the floor and pulled on the clothes-his clothes. The fit was large, but comfy from wear.
Harper bent to pick up the towel and saw a pair of thick, gray wool socks on the bed as well. Donning them, she relished the cozy, cushy feel as she padded to the bathroom to spread the towel on the wooden rack. She then returned to the kitchen to see Rome setting full plates on the wooden table in front of the television. He then brought out two frosty bottles of water, setting them on coasters.
Smiling at the strange thought of a man using coasters, she sank into the nearest beanbag chair and grabbed one of the steaming plates, along with one of the nearby forks. The cheesy omelet tasted even better than it looked and smelled as she took the first scrumptious bite. It simply melted in her mouth.
“Mmm.” Harper couldn’t help the moan that escaped. “Good.” She shoved another forkful into her watering mouth.
“Cooking’s kind of a hobby of mine,” Rome said through his own mouthful. “But don’t tell anyone.” He lowered his voice and gave her a mock severe look. And added a killer wink.
“My lips are sealed.” She brought her fingers up to her mouth, mimicking the turning of a lock and key. Then she frowned. “Well, they’re sealed after I finish eating.” She gave him a playful wink back and smiled at his reactive grin.
So, he cooked. Something she was admittedly lousy at. Most everyone had a hobby. She thought his would be fixing motorbikes or snowboarding. Something rough and tough. But it was also somehow fitting that a strong, confident man like him would cook. Actual food, no less, not just reheated premade stuff. His joking about keeping it a secret was for show. He had a confidence in everything he did. And he did eggs very well.
Harper finished her omelet in silence and then studied Rome while she crunched on a piece of cinnamonsugar toast. His muscles were tensed, as if he was upset and wanted nothing but to spring away from there. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, which she was beginning to think was his usual garb. The shirt hugged his chest and shoulders like a second skin. Corded muscles flexed along his forearms as he consumed his meal. His jaw sported dark stubble and his close-cropped hair looked a tad mussed. Rugged and sexy. Like her own personal model for the annual firemen’s calendar. Being able to look at him was the one bright spot in this whole thing right now.
As if sensing her gaze, he took a deep breath, but kept his eyes on his own plate.
“I didn’t know they’d hurt you,” he said quietly. “I mean, I did. I know exactly what they do there, but I…” His voice trailed off and he took another bite. His jaw was hard with tension as he chomped hard. She watched him swallow and sigh heavily through his nose. “I didn’t know what to do, Harper. Your power-or whatever it is-it’s like nothing I’d ever seen. It scared me.” He took another deep breath and unleashed his blue gaze upon her. “I’m so very sorry.”
Sitting there, enraptured by him, Harper had no idea what to say. It’s okay? No, it wasn’t. He’d betrayed her. He’d just admitted it. As alone as she was now, that wasn’t something she could just forget. She took the last bite of her toast and set her plate down on the wooden table with a slight thud.
“You said to trust you,” she said softly, squinting with the aching thought. “Then you turned on me.” She watched him wince ever so slightly.
“You should have told me,” he countered.
“It shouldn’t have mattered,” she shot back. He whipped his glance away from her. Trust was trust. Wasn’t it?
“You still should have told me,” Rome persisted, turning back to her. A puzzled look crossed his face. “How can you do…that?” He wiggled his hand around, obviously referring to her power.
“I don’t really know,” Harper answered, leaning back into the chair. Its tiny foam balls wrapped around her nicely, as if she were sitting in a cloud. “Bobby left me a syringe of something. Some kind of serum.” She could practically hear her brother’s last words. “The men who killed Bobby tracked me down. We fought and the serum was injected into my arm by accident.” She could practically feel the intense fire racing in her head to consume her mind. See the fierce energy surge through the air toward the men. Killing them in less than an instant. “Right after that, I felt this power run through my body. It made my mind burn. And I killed them. Just like you saw at Bobby’s house.”
She kept her weary gaze on him, hoping he didn’t see her as some monster. She still hated that he’d betrayed her trust, but she didn’t hate him. In fact, she rather liked him. More than she knew she should. But she wasn’t sure she could ever trust him again.
“I never believed you were dangerous,” Rome finally said after a moment of soaking in her words. He clenched his jaw, a sign of tension she was coming to recognize. “Then I saw what you could do. You tore up that room. Killed those men. With some kind of semi-invisible force that came from your body.” He shook his head slowly and faced her once more. “That’s dangerous.”
Tightening her lips, she vividly recalled the scene in Bobby’s house. The bright sunlight filtering in. The guns pointed at her and Rome. The thought of being captured. She hadn’t meant to kill anyone. It made her sick to her stomach. She’d never even thought she was capable of something like that. Heck, every fish she’d ever caught, she’d set free.
But in that moment, just like at the Barracks, she’d come to know what was truly meant by “life or death.” It was them or the bad guys.
She’d chosen them.
And he’d chosen the bad guys.
Harper suddenly realized she shouldn’t be there. With him. The little respite he’d given her was now over.
“You’re right.” She shook her head sadly. “I am dangerous.” She looked around the room, searching for answers. This afternoon, she was able to control the power somewhat. That was good, right? She wouldn’t need his help now. But somehow that made her feel more alone than she ever had in the cold, dark cell. More than his betrayal had. She swung her gaze to meet his unreadable one. “I guess I’d better go. Thank you for helping me escape.” She began to wiggle out of the low chair.
“Harper, wait.” Rome rested his warm hand on her wrist, halting her antsy movement. “I can’t change what I did. I was just doing my job. My duty. You need to understand that.” He lifted his hand away from her and shook his head. “But you also need to understand this: There’s something about you. Something…I don’t know. I just know that I want to help you. Help you get your answers.” His imploring look captured her completely. He genuinely seemed out of his element. Well, they were on even ground there. “I know I said that before, but you weren’t telling me everything. Now I know what you were hiding. And I want to help you. Now more than ever.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why do you care so much?” And he did care. The fact that he’d helped her escape and coddled her since were all the evidence she needed. But could she trust him again?
He was right. She hadn’t told him everything. A girl had to have some secrets. And she still had one more. One she needed to keep to herself for now, just in case.
“I told you I had an instinct about you.” He sighed, rubbing his hand over his head. She remembered him saying that when she was tied up on his couch. “I need to trust that.” His gaze became a little unfocused and uneasy. “A couple of years ago, I worked with a team. Three other people. We were supposed to go into a warehouse and steal some contraband weapons. That’s all.”
She watched him reach to take a sip from his bottled water before he continued, obviously upset, but trying hard to hide it.
“Once we got in,” he continued, “we got the weapons, but we also saw the leaders of the smugglers’ ring in a meeting. My gut told me to wait and call for backup. Our orders were to only take the weapons. I’d never gone against my instincts, but I did this time because I thought it was too good of an opportunity. So I ordered the attack and my team was killed. I was the only one who survived. My mistake killed them. Since then, I’ve worked alone, strictly following orders. And I’ve never doubted my instincts again. Until I turned you in.”
“So what does your gut tell you now?” Harper asked, fascinated that he’d open up like that. And at the same time, his honesty touched the part of her that wanted to believe in him again. Believe they could figure this all out together. Yet his betrayal pricked at her like a bee sting.
“It tells me something isn’t right.” His voice was troubled. “What’s inside of you. What you can do. There’s something else going on here.”
“What do you mean?” She frowned.
“Those guys at the facility,” he started. “I saw you face off against them.” She remembered. Her power had been met head-on with theirs. Maybe he was right.
“They were like me,” Harper said, watching his face closely. It had surprised her when those men had negated her power with ease and without fear as though they possessed it, too. Maybe she wasn’t unique in this mess after all.
“They were like you,” he confirmed. “Only different somehow.”
“Different?” She was confused now. What exactly did he mean by that?
“I know it sounds crazy, but they just didn’t seem, I don’t know, as pure as you.” Rome smiled and held up his hands in a puzzled gesture. “Their powers were foggy, not clear like yours. It was like looking at dishwater.”
She shot him a skeptical look mixed with a smile. What kind of man said “dishwater”?
“Harper, my job is to fight evil. You’re not evil. But something out there is, and you’re somehow a part of it. I will help you find out why all this is happening to you. Why your brother was killed. I will help you get to the bottom of this. That’s my duty.”
Harper had to admire his personal code of honor. His loyalty to his duty. Those principles meant something to her. Rome Lucian was just doing what he felt was right. Though she had ended up in a worse than crappy hole for a few days, this man was the real deal. A real live hero. He may have betrayed her, but at least now she could understand why. He believed this was bigger than she was. And after facing those guys today, she believed it, too. Maybe she should consider trusting him again. She really, really wanted to.
“I have something for you,” he said, leaning forward and reaching behind him to pull something out of his back pocket.
Her medal. The one that had meant the most to her. The one she’d found tossed aside at Bobby’s. Really, the only tangible thing she had from Bobby. Rome must have picked it up and kept it safe.
Rome held it out to her and dropped it in her open palm. A tingle passed through her arm from the thin solid disc, warmed from his body heat. The thoughtful gesture reached deep inside her, tugging at her soul and gently sheathing it with compassion.
It was more than a token act; this was Rome’s way of attempting to bridge the chasm of trust between them. Something she imagined he didn’t often do.
Closing her fingers around the medal, she thought hard. Could she survive another betrayal from Rome? The only person in the world who claimed to be on her side? The choice was to go this alone in cold solitude or believe in a broken trust.
Harper shook her head slightly. Whereas she cherished his sincere expression of concern, she knew in her heart that she couldn’t afford to put her complete trust in him this time. But she also knew she could seriously use his experienced help.
And that was a good enough reason to give this alliance another chance, albeit a cautious one.
“An offer I can’t refuse.” She gave him a crooked smile, hoping she wouldn’t be made sorry yet again. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you, Harper.” Rome expressed his gratitude with a tender hand squeeze that sent pleasant little tremors through her arm. Then his whole demeanor changed in an instant. The tension filtered away and purpose streamed in. “First of all, I think we have a few days. No one knows about this place. It’s my own private safe house. The Bug, too. So we’ve got some time.”
“You won’t get in trouble for helping me?” She had to ask. She didn’t know much about his world, and what she did know was incredibly cruel. But, as much as she wanted his help, she didn’t want his life to follow hers down the pooper.
“They won’t know for a little while yet.” Rome didn’t seem worried. He held up a hand, obviously understanding her concern. “Besides, they won’t know it’s me with the getaway car. Like I said, the Bug is safe and I know how to cover a trail.” She wasn’t sure she believed that, but he would know better than her for sure. “And this is what I have to do. It’s the right thing to do. If it costs me my job, so be it.” His smile was unwavering.
“All right,” she conceded, her body releasing a tension she hadn’t even known had a hold on her. Now that she had an ally again, she realized she really had no idea what to do. “Where do we start?”
“Let’s get comfortable.” He gave her a big grin, grabbing their plates and walking toward the kitchen. “Stay put. I’ll be right back with dessert.”
She watched his retreating rear end, thinking dessert sounded fantastic.
After a gentle shake from Rome, Harper realized she’d dozed off. How long had she been out? A playful pat on the shoulder and a saucy smile later, he’d returned all fresh and showered with a huge bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough. How did he know cookies, raw or cooked, were her weakness? One of the few sweets she allowed herself while training.
Rome set down the bowl, then brought out two tall glasses of unsweetened iced tea. As he flopped down on the other beanbag next to her, he divulged that he’d made both himself. From scratch. And put her clothes and towels in the wash. He was quickly climbing close to perfect on her scale.
“The Five Watch is the group that’s after you,” Rome said after they’d shared a few spoonfuls from the bowl. “I think.”
“You’re not sure?” she asked around her own mouthful of gooey rapture.
“It’s a small unclassified section of the government that keeps very quiet.” He shrugged and ran a hand over his damp hair. The short dark locks were curled from the wetness of his shower. “So quiet, most doubt its existence, but they’re around. Everything they do is top secret, unofficial, and unsupervised. From what I know, they do a lot of-how should I put it?-ambiguous research.” She watched him watch her carefully, his eyes intense. “Ever heard of them?”
“No, never.” Harper licked the spoon clean and delved into the bowl for another tasty chunk. “If it’s so secretive, why would I know about it?”
“Your brother’s lab was a Five Watch facility,” he answered.
“My brother was a good and decent scientist, not some shady cloak-and-dagger operative.” She heard her voice turn cold and narrowed her eyes. How dare he accuse her brother of crooked deeds? She felt like dumping the bowl of cookie dough on his head. “He wouldn’t, couldn’t hurt anyone.”
“Whoa, easy. Harper, I’m not saying he was a bad guy.” He held up a hand in a calming motion. “I’m asking if he ever said anything to you about what he did. Or if you ever saw anything.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just…” She backed down a little, consciously trying to relax. Her brother’s death was still very raw and the questions surrounding it even more cutting. She cleared her throat. “Bobby rarely talked shop. All I really know is that he experimented with plants. I think.” She had to own up to her ignorance.
Honestly, she and Bobby hadn’t talked much about his work. All she knew was that he did research for the government and was a genius when it came to vegetation and biology. Maybe she should have been more interested in her brother’s career. He had always been involved with her swimming and was at almost every meet. Sadness filled her, knowing that she should have shown more interest in his work.
But right now, his work was all that interested her.
She tried to clear away the sorrow. She knew she needed to buck up and talk this out with Rome.
“Okay.” Rome seemed to sense her misery and covered her knee with a comforting hand. “It’s okay, Harper. We just need to pool our information. We’ll figure this out.” He gave her a reassuring smile. Oh, how she wanted to believe him.
“The place I was just at.” Harper watched him flinch at her words. “Was that a Five Watch place?”
“No.” He shook his head and sucked another bite off his spoon. “It’s just a local government branch. My boss is located there.”
“That’s where you work?” she asked, wanting to know more about what he did.
“I don’t have an office,” he said wryly. “I just go there to get my orders sometimes.” She watched his face as curiosity passed over it. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a swimmer.” She was thankful to be talking about something normal for a change. “I’m in the middle of training for the Olympic trials. I was just up here for a break.”
“Olympics? So you must be really good.” Rome seemed genuinely fascinated and impressed, which charmed her to no end.
“I am good,” she said with confidence, but knew she was blushing under his admiration. When was the last time she’d done that? It usually took a lot more than a compliment to make her self-conscious. “But to pay the bills, I’m a programmer for a small video-game company.”
“Really? Video games?” Rome’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Cool. Maybe I’ll have to take you on in the other room.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Her blush deepened. For crying out loud, she felt like an idiot. He meant the PlayStation. She reached a hand up to try to rub the heat from her cheeks.
With a leer, Rome reached forward and picked up the bowl. He used his spoon to scrape the last bits of raw dough. A big hunk clung to the utensil. They both stared at it. She caught him looking at her inquiringly.
“Split it?” he asked in a friendly tone. Thank goodness he offered. She could eat another bowl by herself.
“Absolutely.” She smiled back and held out her spoon for a scrape.
Harper just about moaned when he put the spoonful in his mouth and sucked off half of the dough. He then passed the spoon to her, picked up his iced tea, and leaned back, just watching her, spinning the ice around in his glass.
Keeping her gaze on him, she licked the last of the dough off the spoon, imagining the taste of him as she swallowed.
Holy cow. With that one innocently simple, yet unexpectedly provocative act, the festering aches in her body gently drifted away, like a riptide brushing the shore, gently pulling her grief along for the ride.
She was certainly no stranger to the art of flirting. She’d had her share of men. More than her share, Bobby used to say. But never a serious relationship. They were way too messy. Nonetheless, she hadn’t ever lacked for companionship. In her experience, guys loved no-strings-attached girls, and she took willful advantage of that.
But Rome was a different kind of guy altogether. He was a man in every sense of the word. Hard and intense. And the way he purred the r’s in her name made her want to crawl into his lap. Made her want to get to know him. To find out things about him, such as why this tougher-than-nails government agent liked to cook.
The inclination was a first for her and one she was surprised to find she wanted to pursue despite the gloomy circumstances. It just figured that her timing would be so bad. As much as she didn’t trust him, she sure was fascinated by the man.
“More tea?” Rome’s rumbling voice drew her out of her musings.
“Sure, thank you,” she answered. After her recent thoughts, she was feeling a little parched.
A wide smile creased his strong face and he stood, taking the bowl and their empty glasses with him. She couldn’t help watching him saunter to the kitchen. His worn jeans hugged his hard body close enough for her to easily see the muscles in his thighs shifting underneath the fabric. And his taut rear practically called to her just before it slipped behind the open refrigerator door.
Harper decided she needed to move around. Maybe she should indulge herself with a battle in the PlayStation room. Something as normal as a video game might take her mind off of her unreal situation and her budding attraction to Rome. She was with him for his tactical expertise, not his sexy tushie.
“I think I will take you on in the other room,” she said to him as she walked into the kitchen, clasping her hands together and stretching her arms behind her head, drawing the cotton fabric of the T-shirt snugly across her breasts.
The Tupperware pitcher dropped from his hand and bounced on the hard floor, coming to rest on its side as tea gushed out the open top. She shifted her gaze from the spill to his face. Liquid blue eyes stared at her with an intensity that burned a trail from her raised arms down her shoulders to her stretched-out chest and then to her face, which reddened under his blatant appreciative scrutiny. Dropping her arms, she crossed them tightly and turned her attention back to the floor.
“Do you have a towel or something?” she asked, hearing a huskiness in her voice as she nodded toward the floor. His gaze must have also burned her throat.
“Um, yeah, um.” Rome’s tone was low and gravelly as well. “Um, no. Go ahead and pick out one of the games.” He raked his hand across his head, ruffling his damp hair. “I’ll clean this up and meet you in there.”
Good idea. She nodded slowly and headed toward the other room, away from the heated kitchen.
Harper stepped into the room with the PlayStation 3 and perused the stack of games piled on the table against the semifinished wall, absently turning on the game console along with the television.
Rome had the standard sports and shooter games. The ice hockey looked fun, but considering the T-shirt she was wearing, she’d figured Rome was a hockey fan and probably an expert. Not her game. She knew from personal experience that hockey players were definitely hotties. After all, she’d gone to a few San Jose Sharks games back home. But she liked the idea of being under the water, not skating on it. Plus, she wanted to win. So she picked out a popular football game instead and stuck in the disc.
There. Playing a game she’d already easily mastered should cool her down and focus her attention on something other than Rome. Who was quickly beginning to steal her attention in a strictly carnal way.
He walked in the room and plopped down on the folding chair next to hers.
Sitting very close, he almost brushed her thigh as he reached for the second controller. The muscles in his leg flexed against her. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Well, at least she was distracted from her messed up life.
“Football?” he asked, his voice lifting. “How about hockey?” She gave him a sideways glance and saw him shoot her a playful frown.
“You a big hockey fan?” She plucked at the North Stars T-shirt she was wearing with her free hand.
His gaze moved to her chest and she watched the clear blue of his eyes darken into deep swirling pools. She looked down to see whether she’d spilled something, but no, he was just ogling her boobs. A little smile creeped onto her face at the thought. Hadn’t she just been doing the same to his butt?
“Um, no. I mean, yeah. Yeah, I am.” Rome’s voice was scratchy, and he cleared his throat with a little shake of his head. Raising his gaze, he met hers and smiled a tad guiltily. “I grew up in Minnesota.” He gestured, not too close, to her chest and the team’s old emblem. “I used to play in college at UM, but I busted my knee up really bad. I had to retire.” He rubbed his right knee absently. She imagined a scar under the worn denim.
No wonder he was so darn sexy. And that explained the rolling r’s that made her swoon when he said her name.
“Wow, you must’ve been pretty good,” she said, remembering he’d said the same thing to her just a few minutes ago about her swimming.
“Pro scouts were all over me until my injury.” He smirked.
As a former collegiate athlete, she understood the commitment that took. And the heartache his injury must have caused. She’d faced something similar.
“You ever get injured, Harper? I mean bad like that?” Was he reading her mind?
“About four years ago,” she answered levelly. It still felt as if it were yesterday. “My first preliminary heat at the Olympics. The four-hundred-meter individual medley. My best race. I was so far ahead, I thought I would show off a little. I mistimed my turn and hit the wall. Tore out my shoulder.”
“Ouch.” He cringed in reflex. “But you bounced right back. Me, I was done. You never really realize how quickly your life can change. Well, I guess you would.” He shot her a rueful smile that almost melted her insides with its sweetness.
“I was done, too.” She shook her head, remembering how shattered she’d been. “I was a mess. I never wanted to go into the pool again. But Bobby convinced me not to give up. So I started over.”
She thought of the long years in between her injury and now. The endless rehab and the pain. The rigorous training. But it had been her dream to make the Olympic team once again. Only Bobby had known how badly she wanted it. Her ego was too big to let anyone else know just how much it meant to her. So when she destroyed her shoulder, no one was there to help her pick up her concealed pieces.
Except Bobby. She had wanted to forget it all ever happened. Forget all her wasted years of training just to have had it taken away in a split second on one greedy move. But Bobby wouldn’t let her give up her dream. He said she had the strength to see it through once more. So she’d started over.
And now look where she was.
“Your brother’s right. You are strong. Inside and out,” Rome said, resting a warm hand on her knee. She could tell he was watching her carefully. “Besides, I’m not sure I would have had the focus and discipline for the pros, anyway. I don’t have your drive.”
“Oh, I think you do.” She mentally shook off the futile thoughts of her swimming and thought about how strangely alike they really were. “You just channel it differently.” She watched a smile crawl onto his face and then turned her attention to the television as the start screen of the game appeared. “So, how did you evolve from hockey player to government agent?” Her fingers moved on her controller, selecting a team.
“I have a degree in political science,” he answered. She raised her eyebrows. He looked affronted. “What? Hockey players skate on the ice, not through the classroom. What was your major? Or did you even go to college?”
“Double major. Computer science and systems engineering,” she countered with a disarming grin. “Stanford.”
“Well, goody for you,” he grumbled, turning back to the television. She laughed and watched him pick a team for himself. “Anyway, after I blew out my knee-and yes, I graduated-I got a job with the government, working for intelligence. My parents were both intelligence officers. But I was bored with just planning the ops. I wanted to be out there doing it. So I applied for field training. I had an excellent mentor who said I had great instincts. I then became an agent.”
Harper noticed the fondness in his voice when he spoke of his mentor. She was beginning to think that underneath his tough-guy shell was an adorable softie she really wanted to explore. But right now, she just wanted to relax and forget everything and lose herself in his easy company.
“Are you ready to get your tushie thumped?” she asked, returning her attention to the game.
“What is it with you?” he asked through a chuckle. “Why don’t you just say ‘ass’?”
“Because I’m a lady,” Harper answered with a grin, and pressed the Start button.
After a few hours, they were fully immersed in their second game. Harper had won the first and was now ahead by two touchdowns. To his credit, Rome wasn’t too upset, as most guys she effortlessly beat usually were. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much.
“No!” The exclamation came from Rome after her player intercepted an ill-advised pass from his quarterback, sealing the game in her favor. He dropped his controller to the floor and held his head in his hands, groaning.
“It’s okay, Rome,” she said through her chuckling. “I’m a pro.”
“Lady, my ass.”
She full-out laughed now and impulsively reached over and threw her arm around his thick shoulders in a consoling gesture.
She could feel his warm body tremor through his Tshirt from his laughter. Then he turned his head to face her.
So close. His face was so close to hers. It would be so easy to just lean in. Her laughter sifted away as she was drawn in by the vortex of his powerful blue gaze. She could feel his soft breath against her face. She watched his glance move to her mouth.
Harper knew what he wanted. She didn’t fight it. She wanted it, too. More than anything in the world. At this moment, all she wanted was to feel his parted lips against hers.
And with the slightest shift forward, Harper got her wish. Firm yet featherlight. The kiss seared and soothed all at once.
Then his mouth asked for more and she gave in without hesitation. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to dive in, sliding and savoring. Sensual shivers of pleasure danced through her body, radiating from the sizzling bliss he was forging.
Her game controller slipped from her hand and hit her foot with a startling thud. A reflexive jump broke the kiss. Slowly she opened her eyes to meet his scorching gaze at very close range. Rome leaned back with a heavy, ragged sigh.
“I’m not sorry,” he said with a rumble so deep, she felt it roll around inside of her like a pinball. Giving her a rakish grin, he stood up and reached to turn off the game. “I think we need to get some rest.”
“Sounds good,” she said, returning his smile with one of her own after a few calming breaths.
You know, she wasn’t sorry either. Goodness, that kiss felt nice. More than nice. The thought that she’d had her birth control shot a few weeks ago quickly passed through her mind.
“You take the bed. I’ll take the couch.” He gave her the sexiest wink she’d ever seen and strutted out the door.
Pressing her fingers to her moist lips, she was sorely tempted to invite him into bed with her or follow him to the couch. Her body didn’t seem to care that she didn’t trust him. But she knew he was right.
Exhaustion washed over her, only this time it was mixed with a warmth from the lingering essence of the man who had decided to be her ally. And who let her have the comfy bed.
Harper didn’t know what the future held, but for the first time since she stepped onto the bus for this fateful trip, she was looking forward to it.