Aim for the Heart

“I’m finished now. Thank you for waiting.”

He hadn’t heard her approach. She was standing in the doorway. Her face was scrubbed clean of makeup, her hair was a cascade of loose curls around her shoulders. The dress she had worn tonight was draped over her arm in a fall of shimmering ice blue. In its place she wore an olive-green T-shirt and a pair of plaid flannel drawstring pants.

She wasn’t dressed for seduction, she was dressed for bed. Yet the sight of her sent Hawk’s pulse racing. Why was that? Was it the challenge she presented? Or was it because she seemed oblivious to the effect of her appearance? Her lack of vanity was as attractive as the self-assurance she displayed, her take-it-or-leave-it attitude. It arose from that confidence in her femininity he’d noticed the first time she had caught him looking at her body.

The anger he’d been struggling to control shifted. He no longer wanted to grab her and shake her for putting herself in danger. He wanted to kiss her.

He clamped his hands on the back of the sofa. “Sarah, we have to talk.”

“I agree, Dr. Lemay.” She carried her dress to the wardrobe and hung it up beside her coat. Her breasts swayed beneath the T-shirt as she raised her arms. “We need to discuss some ground rules.”

He dug his fingers into the upholstery. “Good. We can’t have a repeat of what happened this evening.”

“Exactly. In the future, I’ll need to know the details of any meetings you arrange.”

“Why? So you can report on them?”

“No, so I can assess the risk and suggest an alternate arrangement.” She took a brush from the bottom of the wardrobe and went over to sit cross-legged in the center of her cot. “I’ll fax a written apology to Prince Jibril tomorrow, but the incident could have been avoided if you had told me you had gone to the reception specifically to meet him.”

She really didn’t give an inch, he thought. And she was right—he had attended the reception in order to meet Jibril. “Sarah, the incident happened because you overreacted. You were jumping at another mop handle.”

“The prince was trying to abduct you, sir.”

“That’s not true. You heard what he said.”

“Precisely.” She tipped her head sideways and ran the brush through her hair from the roots to the tips. “I heard and understood every word he said. I speak Arabic.”

The revelation shouldn’t have surprised him. She had already demonstrated her gift for languages. “And?”

“He lied to you. He didn’t tell his men to escort you to a quieter place. He told them to keep you quiet and get you outside.”

“The two versions sound close. You could have made a mistake with the translation.”

She tipped her head the other way. A shadow of a frown creased her forehead. “I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t believe I did.”

“So now, in addition to the plot to assassinate me, there is a plot to kidnap me? Better not embroider the story too much, Sarah. It’s difficult enough to believe already. I’m just an ordinary man—”

“Bull.”

He let go of the sofa and crossed his arms. “What happened to the ‘Yes, sir. No, sir’?”

“You are not an ordinary man, Dr. Lemay. You’re bright enough to realize the impact that your research into fusion energy could have on the balance of power in the world and even on the course of history, so don’t insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise.” She put down her brush and rotated her shoulder. “People and nations who rely on oil as the source of their income would not be pleased to have their way of life made obsolete. Neither would the big auto companies. Or the unions. Not to mention the various utility companies. I don’t think the issue is who at this conference wants to stop you. It’s who doesn’t.”

He realized her shoulder was probably bothering her again. He already knew she wouldn’t accept his sympathy or any offer of help. Still, he wanted to demand she be more careful, he wanted to shout at her for being reckless enough to get hurt in the first place. He wanted to walk over there and help her finish brushing her hair. “Sarah…”

“And I wouldn’t rule out your good friend Prince Jibril Ben Nour. The oil reserves of Moukim provide his wealth and his political power. How can you trust him when you don’t trust me?”

“What makes you think I trust him?”

That made her pause. Her cheek moved, as if she were chewing it. “You appeared to be friends.”

“We have a connection, but it’s not as simple as friendship.”

“I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Wasn’t it in my file?”

Her gaze flicked over him. “I’ve been discovering there are many things that weren’t in your file.”

There was an intriguing undertone to her words. He crossed the room to stand at the foot of her cot. “Such as?”

She took a deep breath before she would meet his gaze. “Nothing that has any bearing on my duty. What is your connection to Jibril?”

“We met fourteen years ago. I was doing my doctorate at Stanford and he was representing his family in negotiations for a grant to the university.”

“Then your connection is financial.”

Hawk considered leaving it there, but for the sake of Sarah’s safety, he couldn’t. Unless she knew the truth, she might do something insane like taking on Jibril’s commandos again. “That’s how it began,” he said. “We were friends once. Until we both fancied ourselves to be in love with the same woman.”

Her lips parted but she made no sound. The look of shock on her face should have been comical, but it didn’t make Hawk feel like laughing. Didn’t she believe it was possible for him to have once been in love?

Then again, he wasn’t so sure of it himself. He unfastened his cuff links and turned away. “It was a long time ago,” he said.

The cot creaked. Sarah stood up and moved in front of him. “Fourteen years isn’t that long. What happened?”

“Do you mean who won?”

She nodded. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Technically, neither of us. The lady died.”

“Oh, God,” Sarah whispered. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.” She lifted her hand. For a moment it seemed as if she were going to touch him.

And once again Hawk wanted to kiss her. Not out of desire but to absorb the compassion he saw in her gaze.

He closed his fist over his cuff links, feeling the metal jab his palm. “I didn’t tell you as a ploy to gain your sympathy, Sarah. I thought it would be safer for you if you understood that my relationship with Jibril has nothing to do with my work or his oil. The last time we saw each other we met to bury a person we both cared about.”

She dropped her hand. “I appreciate your candor.”

“You would have found out eventually. You do work in intelligence.”

She cleared her throat, as if reminded of her job. “This does put a different spin on the situation.”

“I don’t believe the prince would have waited until now if he had wanted to kill me. If he was harboring some jealous grudge, he knows me well enough to have eliminated me anytime, so there isn’t any reason for you to put yourself in the kind of danger you did tonight.”

“I hope this means you realize my only concern is your safety.”

He walked to the bedroom. “I haven’t changed my mind, Sarah. I still don’t fully trust you, and I think you’re a menace to yourself and everyone around you.” He paused in the doorway to look over his shoulder. “But you’re one hell of an interesting woman and I don’t intend to get rid of you yet.”