Sleeping with the Enemy by Jamie Denton

Author:Jamie Denton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2001-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

10

CHASE SMOOTHED HIS CHEEK against Dee’s rich, sleek sable hair, breathing in her light floral fragrance. Two days ago, he’d determined the way to get closer to the subject was to create the illusion of intimacy. Right this very second, holding Dee in his arms, she was anything but a subject whose personal habits were nothing more important to him than a dissection for further study and discovery. Worse yet, he no longer had a clue which version he’d managed to create—the illusionary kind, or the kind that smacked of cold, brutal reality.

His head told him the intimacy was manufactured, no more based in reality than the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus. Nothing but make-believe, a part of the cover, a part of the plan to unearth information necessary to solve the case.

His heart was busy rallying the troops for a completely different scenario.

“Like you,” she echoed. “How exactly?”

Like an over-the-road truck driver suffering white-line fever caused from long hours and too many miles behind the wheel, the roadway representing Chase’s conscience, not to mention his dedication to get the job done, began to blur and fade.

“Like me,” he repeated, tightening his hold on her. Not because he expected her to bolt, but because the emotions gathering like a fifty-ton weight perfectly positioned on his solar plexus had more to do with the countdown toward the emotional rocket launch he was about to experience. One he suspected could have him hurtling straight back to earth in a ball of flames if he wasn’t careful.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at here, Chase,” she said, strengthening her own grasp over his hands. “Were you…?”

He nodded, rubbing his cheek against her sleek hair again. “My folks, the teachers? They’re my foster parents. They took me in when I was around six years old. I haven’t seen my mother since I was fourteen.”

“But what does that have to do with the little guy in neonatal ICU? How is he like you?”

He pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. In order to weave that damned illusion, he’d have to open up and let Dee into the place he kept safely locked away from trespassers. Stupid was not a character definition applied to her, and although he was a damned good deep-cover operative, he knew clear down to the bottom of his soul if he really wanted the information that would lead him to her brother, he had no other choice but to let Dee inside. If he shut down now and kept her at arm’s length emotionally, he’d be defeating his own purpose.

Quid Pro Quo.

“Chase?” The concern lacing her sweet voice ripped through his chest and wrapped around his heart, squeezing hard enough to threaten his oxygen supply.

Quid Pro Quo. Something for something. The darkest part of himself, for her deepest secret. The part of himself he’d struggled with for most of his life to keep hidden behind the locked door of his past, for the part of herself she’d learned to guard against strangers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.