Codename: Romeo (6 page)

“I don’t think two minutes will make much difference.” She lifted her head. “I’ve been asleep for three hours?”

He slid his hand down from her shoulder to cup her waist. Calloused fingertips drummed playfully against her skin. “Give or take a few minutes.”

She should have felt embarrassed by her poor hostess skills, but in truth, she felt too darned comfortable to care. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Are you kidding? It’s every man’s fantasy. A woman at my side who doesn’t talk during the entire game. I’d have to be crazy.”

“Male chauvinist.” She smacked her palm against his chest.

“Right to the core.”

She slipped off his lap and stretched her legs. Cool air replaced the warmth his body so sweetly provided. “Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?”

“I should be leaving.”

Raising a half-hearted smile, she tried to hide her disappointment. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t very good company tonight. I guess I’m still suffering from jetlag.”

Erik laced his fingers through hers and walked with her to the door. “You were better company than you think. You’re very … animated when you sleep.”

She chewed her bottom lip. Just what had she done the past three hours to give him that wicked glint in his eyes?

Erik paused at the door, facing her. He smiled and stroked his thumb along her jaw line. Despite the intimate gesture, he kept a distinct distance between them. Like earlier, he dropped a friendly kiss on her forehead and then opened the door. A gust of frigid air rushed in.

Just when she thought he would leave without saying good-bye, he slid his arm around her shoulder and urged her onto the porch with him. One minute he looked for a fast getaway and the next he pulled her along for the ride.
Men.

Face it, Victoria, you don’t know the first thing about men beyond the anatomy and physiology.
Nothing in her experience or her studies prepared her for someone like him.

Intense and self-contained, he was an enigma shrouded in a mystery.

She gazed at the starry sky. “Feels like snow.”

Erik leaned against the rail and tugged on her arm. The unexpected action sent her stumbling into him. Her hands gripped his shoulders, sinking into the buttery soft leather of his jacket. “I didn’t bring you out here to discuss the weather.”

“Then why did you bring me outside? It’s cold.”

“It was getting too hot inside. This way it will remind me to behave like a gentleman.”

“I don’t recall asking you to.”

“I know.” He cuddled her in his jacket. “But you should have.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated in an incredulous tone. “What kind of question is that? You barely know me.”

“I know that you’ve been in my house several times and you didn’t hurt me in any way. You eat my cooking and pretend that you like it.”

“I do like it. That doesn’t necessarily make me trustworthy.”

Was he trying to let her down gently or was he naturally argumentative? “Look, I’m a big girl, Erik. If you’re not interested just say so.”

He cupped his hands over her backside and settled her between his legs. His erection pressed firmly against her belly, sending a thousand-megawatt charge straight through her. As far as points went, he’d scored a major one. Actions did speak louder than words, after all.

“Does that feel like I’m not interested?” His voice reverberated with raw emotion.

“No,” she whispered.

She’d thought she’d died and gone straight to heaven. Why did the man insist on bringing her back to Earth?

“Then, unless you’re going somewhere in a big hurry, we have time.”

She twisted against him, giving back her own brand of the erotic torment. “I suppose I could break one of my pipes so you’d have to come back and fix it.”

“You don’t have to go to that extreme.” He lowered his head, nuzzling against the side of her face. His warm breath along her neck sent a delightful shiver dancing along her spine.

She buried her fingers into his silky hair. Her eyes fluttered closed as any conscious thoughts drifted from her mind. Sensations, pure and simple, took over. He nipped playfully at the small gold hoop in her ear, sprinkled feather light kisses across her cheek, and finally paused just above her mouth.

When she thought he might withdraw, she pulled his head to her. She needed more, and for once in her life, she wasn’t going to back down. Take control and don’t let go, the key to success in any endeavor. She rose up on her toes and arched in closer. Erik’s muffled groan vibrated in her ear. If he was fighting a battle with himself, he’d just surrendered. His mouth came down on hers, forcing her lips apart.

The feelings running through her changed from merely delightful to painfully erotic. She expected pleasure and received so much more. He explored with his tongue, tasting, teasing, arousing. Nothing had ever felt this good before. Nothing ever left her wanting so much more. She lost control, and she didn’t care.

As she reached for his belt buckle, his fingers grasped her wrist. “Now you’re playing with fire, Tori.”

She smiled. “I always did have a knack with combustible elements.”

He pulled her into his arms. “I’d say you’re damn near an expert.”

“Not yet. I’m still in the experimental stages.”

He struggled for a normal breath. “Okay, Doctor. As experiments go, how was this one?”

She rested her chin on his shoulder and sighed. “For a baseline kiss, it was very nice.”

He chuckled. “What does that mean?”

“A scientist would never form an opinion on just one experiment. First I have to set up criteria, than do a baseline test. After that, I compare all future results with the first.”

“Maybe tomorrow I could take you to dinner and I’ll see if I can improve on that baseline.”

She doubted that would be possible, but hey, she would settle for just repeating the results. Her body still tingled.

“I’d like that. And I’ll try not to fall asleep on you again.”

“If you’re going to fall asleep, I’d definitely like it to be on me,” he muttered against her ear.

She sucked in a deep breath. “I think you’re trying to get me flustered.”

* * * *

Erik slowly loosened his hold on her. He wanted to get her a hell of a lot more than flustered. He wanted her hot and bothered, but not while standing in the cold and not with her house wired like a public address system. But mostly, not while she was the prime suspect in a federal investigation. Damn. What was he thinking?

That was the problem. He wasn’t thinking. He let another part of his anatomy rule his actions. A reoccurring problem in her presence, it seemed. While he’d let down his guard once before, he’d never lost his head. He needed to get out of there before his professional ethics lost another round to his hormones.

“Tomorrow, Tori.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead and jumped the two steps to the stone walk.

She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Where’s your car?”

“Around the corner.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“No,” he said sharply and then grinned. “A gentleman always sees a lady safely inside the house.”

“And they say chivalry is a thing of the past.”

Her soft laughter resurrected the heart he’d thought dead. She affected more than his libido; she touched his emotions. Hell. The woman posed a bigger danger to his peace of mind than he’d realized.

“Get inside. It’s cold.”

She waved and stepped through the door.

He sprinted to the corner and then turned back to make sure she’d stayed put. The light shone on an empty porch. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he continued towards the van. It promised to be a long, cold night. He was in no mood to spend the next eight hours in cramped quarters with his comedian of a partner listening to snide innuendoes.

Instead of rounding the corner, he continued down the main street at a brisk pace. He needed to work off a heap of sexual frustration, not to mention a hard-on so damned uncomfortable he doubted an ice bath would help. He knew better than to let his judgment get clouded with lust, but Victoria affected him in a way he couldn’t control.

He needed to keep his guard up, especially after his near-fatal case. And he’d thought he knew women so well. Once he’d caught the sexy drug smuggler in the act, she’d agreed to turn state’s evidence against her accomplices to save her own ass. He never expected her to blow her chance at freedom. Apparently she wasn’t too happy with Erik for what she deemed his duplicity. Hell hath no fury. He ended up with a bullet hole. She got twenty-five to life. He couldn’t afford to get caught off guard again with Victoria.

After covering a four-block radius around the neighborhood, he returned to his waiting partner.

“What happened?” Daniels asked when Erik finally climbed inside.

“What do you mean?”

“You left the house fifteen minutes ago. What were you doing until now?”

“Checking out the area.”
After losing my objectivity and my common sense.
“Did you find out anything more?”

“Yeah. No other passenger left Flight 516 wearing the flower. And I turned up six Steven Jansens in the Northeast area, none of whom have a sister named Victoria. Did she happen to mention where this brother lived?”

“No.” She’d said very little during the evening. Just a series of sleepy sighs and moans that aroused him in ways she never intended. He’d figured he was safe when he found her asleep on the sofa. She made several amazing moves for a woman in an unconscious state. “If Becker doesn’t make contact by tomorrow, I’ll have to get someone to yank the confidential files.”

“Someone? Like the guys upstairs? You’re not gonna get your pal at MIT to hack into the system, right?”

“Of course not,” Erik said.

Daniels obviously didn’t believe him, but he didn’t call Erik on the lie, either. Certain things you didn’t even tell your partner. Particularly when a beautiful, doe-eyed suspect was involved.

* * * *

Victoria lifted her glass of wine off the coffee table and took a sip. Although the Chardonnay warmed her insides, she felt too hot to enjoy the feeling. She wasn’t sure what happened to her, but she liked it. Erik didn’t seem to mind either.

Erik behaved like a perfect gentleman, a fact she would appreciate when the erectores pilorum muscle fibers on her skin’s surface returned to a relaxed state and her racing heart kept a steady beat. Problem was, every time her thoughts wandered to Erik, her senses sprang to life again. The throbbing in her breasts and the moist heat in her belly conspired to keep her physically aroused. That was the blessing and the curse of her photographic memory—the ability to recall every detail of a situation.

With a sigh, she lowered herself into the leather chair in front of her computer. Einstein’s cartoon face smiled up at her from the computer screen.

“What’s your opinion, Albert? Any logical explanation for this?”

Who are you kidding? Her logic flew out the window the moment she laid eyes on Erik. She thought she knew better.

Her body shuddered. She should move slowly. What did she know about Erik Sanders, after all? That he could kiss her senseless and make her feel alive? Was it enough? Maybe not for a future, but maybe it could get her out of the past and into the present.

Chapter Five

A shove to the shoulder woke Erik from a restless slumber. Sleeping in an upright position left his muscles cramped. A light film of snow covered the windshield, and the temperature inside the van hovered just above freezing. What happened to their heater? Damn. If he could have accepted Victoria’s sensual advances last night, he would have awakened in a nice warm bed with a soft woman, not a frigid van with his scruffy partner. He threw back the parka that served as a blanket during the long night.

“What’s going on?” Erik grumbled.

Daniels held up his hand to silence him for a moment. “She’s got a meeting.”

“Becker?”

“I’m not sure. She seemed to know the caller, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

A knot formed in his stomach. An early morning meeting with a man could mean anything. A beautiful woman like her would have a number of male friends. He didn’t like that scenario any better than the one that involved her with Becker’s ring. His hands clenched into tight fists.

Where had that blast of anger come from? He owned no claim on her time or her emotions. In a few days, no matter what the outcome of this case, he was out of here. He didn’t want or need complications in his life. Especially a complication with big brown eyes and a body he’d love to explore in detail. He swallowed hard.

“I guess we have to follow her.”

“Shouldn’t be hard,” Daniels said. “She’s meeting him at her office. Good thing I had someone wire that place yesterday.”

“Let’s take the car. This van won’t blend in with the scenery.”

“Can we stop somewhere for breakfast first?” Erik groaned. How could his partner think about food this early in the morning?

* * * *

Victoria arrived at the university’s chemistry lab an hour before her meeting. Her colleague, Dr. Ariel Robbins, was conducting interesting experiments with aromatherapy. In the name of research, Tori decided to look into the project. Although skeptical, she tried to keep an open mind since science proved that the olfactory sense generated the strongest impulses. As she circled the lab, she studied the array of beakers and tubes holding essential oils from a variety of botanical species. They smelled incredible. Each unique scent invoked a different reaction.

“Victoria, don’t tell me you finally decided to participate in my study,” Ariel said.

“I’m considering it, for purely scientific reasons. Can you explain these to me?” Victoria asked. She joined the woman at the table.

Ariel sent an approving smile. “The eucalyptus improves respiration. The lavender relieves headaches, and peppermint improves concentration.” Her grin widened, and she raised her eyebrow. “And of course, they have been known to affect people in the same way as pheromones, which give them seductive qualities.”