Fascination

She laughed then and it pierced him. It was a sad sound.

“Guess you won’t see anything you haven’t seen up close and personal, hmm?”

Quietly he watched her dress and kept his eyes raised as much as he could. When she was more or less put together, he grabbed the envelope and followed her to the door.

Some days his job sucked.

4

SAGE SWALLOWED AS IAN pulled into the parking space in front of the station. She only had one play left and she was willing to do just about anything not to be taken into that building.

She rubbed her icy hands on her shorts, trying to warm them. It was hard to act sexy and calm when you felt like vomiting. She was desperate and didn’t like the idea of what she was about to do, but the idea of going inside that building was making her physically sick. Anything would be better.

Ian opened the door and waited for her to get out. When she did, she did so slowly, swinging her legs out first, then raising herself up to stand just a bit too close to him. She anchored her lower lip between her teeth and looked up at him.

“Ian, I want you to listen to me just for one minute.”

She stepped closer and planted the palm of her hand on his chest. His heart rate increased—she could feel it through the thin material of his shirt. She smiled up into his face, hoping her eyes were seductive instead of mirroring the desperation she was feeling inside. He looked around uncomfortably and pushed her hand away, removing it but not releasing it from his tight grip. His strong hands were warm and felt too good, though his voice was cutting.

“Don’t even try, sweetheart. Don’t lower yourself.” But he wasn’t immune to her closeness or the contact—she could tell. She saw it in his eyes. There was still a chance.

She stepped closer, keeping her voice just above a whisper so that only he could hear. Meeting his gaze head-on, she displayed a confidence she was far from feeling.

“Aren’t you more worried about lowering yourself than you are about me? You still want me, don’t you? Last night…last night, you only had a taste. A taste of what could happen between us. I’m willing to do more. To do anything you want. Just don’t take me in there—please.”

He blinked, considering her—or her proposition—for a moment. “I don’t think so. Let’s go.” He started to step away, but she didn’t budge. It was time to get down to it.

“Okay, fine. Let’s put it this way. I don’t know what’s on that disk, but if anyone can find out, it’s me. He gave it to me. Believe me, Locke won’t make it easy. By the time you have one of your flunkies figure it out, it’ll be too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“To stop it.”

His clipped tone was impatient and he stepped toward her, menacing but closer, and she felt a surge of hope.

“Stop what?”

“I don’t know exactly. My guess is some kind of virus.”

“Your specialty, huh, LadyBug?”

She let the comment bounce off. “Yes. And you won’t be able to figure it out without me. If you take me in there, you can forget it. I won’t help you. I know him. I’ll be able to find things you won’t even know to look for.”

He snorted. Looking away in disbelief, he started to pull her after him again, but she tugged him back, hard, pulling out of his grip, feeling panic crawl along her skin. But she didn’t show it—she had to make him listen.

“I’m serious, Ian. You won’t be able to figure it out in time. I can. Locke knows me. I—” She swallowed deeply, giving him some of the truth. “I can hand you Locke. I’ll do it—but not if you bring me in there.” Her eyes turned to the tall brick building and then returned to his.

“Whatever’s on that thing, it’s in your possession, and you know what they say about possession. You’ll probably go to prison this time around.”

“I don’t care.” She kept her gaze locked to his and played her final card. “I may go to jail, and your new position will go up in smoke when they know you had a chance to stop what was going to happen and you didn’t.” She gulped in a breath, not caring if he knew how anxious she felt. “And they may not believe you seduced me and maybe they won’t even care, but it might put a nice dent in your spotless reputation if a rumor gets out. And I can make it sound far, far worse than it was.”

She saw something change in his eyes, if only for a second, and knew she had him—she’d found the key. His job, his reputation. The only things he cared about. She pressed the advantage while she had it. Her tone became pleading and eager.

“We can get him, Ian. Please. There are only three days left to my sentence. Do you really think I would get involved in something this stupid now? I’m not with him—”

“You’re his lover.”

She nodded slowly. “Was. Years ago. Not now. Not ever again would I be that stupid.” He was teetering on the edge, and she drove her point home. “Don’t take me in there, Ian, and I’ll stop this, whatever it is he’s doing. Give me a chance.”

He grunted in disgust and walked away, turning his back on her. Relief started to ease its way through her; he’d gone for it.

“How long have you been in contact with him?”

“I haven’t been, I swear. Yesterday was the first time I’d seen him in years.” Disbelief flooded his features and she stepped closer. “I’m telling the truth. I haven’t had any contact with Locke at all—I was shocked to see him yesterday and I know I shouldn’t have picked up that envelope….”

“Shoulda, coulda, woulda, sweetheart. Why did you pick it up then? You know the rules.” His eyes searched hers, and she opened her gaze to his—she needed to show him she wasn’t hiding anything at this point, as much as he would believe that.

“I don’t know.” She stumbled a bit, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. “I was shocked to see him. I just acted on reflex. I didn’t know what he left there, but I didn’t want to take a chance.”

“A chance on what?”

“That whatever was in there could harm innocent people. And believe me, it probably can.”

“How magnanimous of you.”

She swept past his hurtful tone and pressed on.

“I know it was stupid, all right?”

“No. You had options. You could have come to me, told me, or brought the thing to me first instead of hiding it.”

She barked out a laugh, watching him blink in surprise. “What? And you would have believed me and not thought I was in cahoots with him anyhow? Like I could come to you on anything like that. There wasn’t anyone I could go to.”

“And I am supposed to believe you haven’t seen him, your old lover, at all, in years?”

Her face was close to his as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Couldn’t you tell last night, Ian? How hungry I was, how I reacted as soon as you touched me? Couldn’t you feel that I haven’t been with anyone? Not for a long while.”

He lowered his eyes from hers, his hands planted on his hips, and she wondered if she hadn’t pushed too far. But when he looked at her again there was a flicker of temptation in his gaze.

“If you’re yanking me here, sweetheart, I’ll take you down.”

“I know. I’m not. And the offer stands, Ian. I’ll help you get Locke and I’ll do…anything else you want.”

IAN FIGURED HE WAS LOSING his mind, letting her get to him, letting her swing the game. But what if she was telling the truth? What if she was right? Bringing down this guy would be a much higher priority than busting Sage on a sentence violation, even though the rules said differently.

He looked into Sage’s face, trying hard to be ruthlessly honest with himself—was he making a good judgment call, taking the lesser of two evils, or was he giving in to his baser instincts? She wasn’t just offering him Locke, she was offering him herself. That was a dynamite package. One that could easily blow up in his face.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he’d had doubts about bringing her in since they’d left the house. Even after finding the envelope he’d wanted to kiss her again as much as anything. In for a penny, in for a pound, a voice in his head mocked him. Was what he’d done last night any less damning because he hadn’t been inside her?