Over the Edge

“Are you always so punctual?”

“Yes.” He glanced at his watch as he reached for her hand. A minute to spare. “Do you always cut your appointments so close?”

“I’m always right on time.”

He supposed perfect timing would be a necessary skill in her line of work, but he didn’t comment as she slipped tapered fingers against his, and the feel of her warm skin connected.

As an electrical engineer, Jake knew about conductivity, and Mallory Hunt’s touch flowed through him like a current. They’d only touched once before and sparks had flown then, too.

He thought he saw a flicker of surprise in those thickly fringed eyes, but her expression never changed. He wanted to feel detached, professional. He didn’t. The urge to lift her hand to his lips and press a kiss to her soft skin was strong, even though such an absurdly romantic gesture had no place in a business meeting.

Especially this meeting.

If she noticed how he seemed to be drinking her in, she didn’t react, simply withdrew her hand and said, “I shouldn’t get too close. I smell like a goat.”

He laughed. Even in a sweaty T-shirt and wrinkled shorts, there was nothing goat-like about this woman. “A workout?”

“Of sorts. Come on in.”

Jingling her keys, she trod lightly up the stone steps to her front door, and try though Jake might not to focus on her gently rounded bottom and the toned muscle playing along her thighs, he found himself staring.

And wondering what she’d done to work up that sweat.

He might no longer be a testosterone-filled teen who’d gotten a hard-on from kissing a sexy thief, but his reaction to Mallory Hunt was as extreme as ever. Apparently his reaction wasn’t about being caught up in the excitement of a dangerous situation. His reaction had to do with the woman herself.

Hmm. Looked like a reassessment of his position was in order. Especially since he meant to stick very close to her while she worked to troubleshoot his system.

If she accepted the job after she heard his unusual terms.

He’d convince her to accept.

She owed him.

When she retrieved a wireless remote from her purse to disable what he imagined was a top-of-the-line homesecurity unit, she distracted him with purely professional interest. What sort of system did a security specialist with Mallory Hunt’s credentials use to protect her inner sanctum?

He presumed a woman who knew all the industry tricks would secure her place tighter than Fort Knox. Especially a home she obviously took great pride in. And one glance inside her spacious town house revealed that she lived in the same classy style she drove. Jake didn’t know much about interior design, but he did know style and upscale elegance when he saw it. It stared him full in the face right now.

Mallory Hunt struck him as the epitome of a contemporary woman, a woman who boldly managed life on her own terms. While the luxury of her home didn’t surprise him, the coziness did. With its tall windows, sunny yellow walls and sleek marble floor, Mallory Hunt’s inner sanctum possessed a charming, welcoming feel that struck him as almost…homey.

Moving past her into the foyer, he glanced at the books lying open on a coffee table in front of the sofa, more on the end table. Sheet music covered the music desk of the white baby grand piano positioned between two floor-toceiling windows in the room’s far corner. A latte mug with a red lipstick circle rested on the mantel of a hall tree, as though she’d gulped down a last swallow of coffee before running out the door.

Jake wasn’t exactly sure what he’d expected from a former thief gone legit, but homey wasn’t it.

After locking her front door, she tossed her keys down and shrugged off her purse with a move that drew his gaze to the way filmy white cotton stretched across firm breasts. Hanging her purse over the banister, she turned to him and narrowed her gaze.

“Listen, Jake Trinity. I’ve got someplace to be right after we’re through here. Do you mind if I get ready while we talk?”

He shook his head, not surprised she didn’t conduct business in any ordinary manner. In his limited dealings with Mallory Hunt, he hadn’t found anything ordinary about her. And he really didn’t care how they conducted business as long as he got what he wanted.

“Hang on a second. Let me grab your proposal….” Her voice trailed off as she headed through the living room and disappeared from sight. “I’ve written down some questions I want to ask you.”

“I think we can come up with an arrangement that will be advantageous to us both.”

“I think so, too,” she said, reappearing in the living room, carrying a glossy folder with his company’s logo.

She smiled. But this wasn’t an impersonal smile of welcome. This was a full-fledged dazzling smile that nearly blinded him.

The effect was nothing short of devastating. The muscles gathered low in his gut in a purely physical response that was absurd in its intensity. He’d come today prepared to talk business, to convince this woman that she owed him so she’d agree to the unconventional terms of his job.

He hadn’t come prepared for a full-scale sensual assault.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a damned thing to say that might reassert his control over the moment, so he simply followed her when she motioned him upstairs and led him into…“Your bedroom?”

She only nodded before pausing to flip open the folder casually and glance inside.

Okay. A business meeting in the bedroom. He’d come to this meeting today expecting the unexpected. No problem.

Her bedroom was certainly roomy enough to host a meeting. The second floor of her home boasted windows as large as those downstairs, only these windows weren’t covered with sheer draperies. Through the lattice of magnolia trees outside, Jake could see the wide expanse of green city park across the street.

The furnishings were as upscale contemporary as downstairs, elegant and minimal, yet still creating a very comfortable feel. And her bed…

He skimmed his gaze over the neatly made pewterframe bed, not at all amused by how the sight of the silk comforter and plush pillows knocked loose a few more of his brain cells.

“You brought the specs for your system, didn’t you?” she asked, not bothering to glance at him as she moved to an open doorway and flipped on a light.

“Yes.” He could always spread out the prints on the bed.

But no sooner had he formed the thought than Mallory disappeared inside an adjoining room.

A bathroom?

Jake glanced inside, watched her set the folder down on the vanity and tug the band from her ponytail. Shaking her head, she loosed a sheet of straight black hair that fell nearly to her waist, glinting like glass beneath the track lighting.

His breath caught hard. He was beginning to get an idea of her definition of “getting ready.” And he knew right then she was testing his mettle, maybe even trying to shock him. He wanted to know why.

“You want to have our business meeting in the bathroom?”

She glanced back over her shoulder, lips pursed thoughtfully. “Can you handle it?”

Ten years ago, he should have restrained this woman and sounded the alarm. For a long time he’d regretted not doing that. He’d resented that meeting her—however unintentionally on both their parts—had screwed with his whole life.

But as he met her gaze now, recognized the challenge there, he found himself responding exactly as he had back then.

He wanted to see how far she would go.

“I’ll enjoy it.”

She smiled, silently acknowledging that he’d picked up the gauntlet. Then she disappeared from sight.