Free Dangerous Disguise by Marie Ferrarella

approval.
    Forty minutes later, the entire inventory for the month was done, along with the automatic list of things she needed to restock.
    “Thanks for helping.” Maren flipped off the light after locking the door to the room. She turned on her heel and walked toward the stairs.
    “Don’t mention it,” he murmured as he followed her up.
    With nowhere else to look in the narrow area, Jared was almost forced to watch every step she took. Forced to watch the way her hips swayed just the smallest fraction of an inch either way as she took each step.
    The rhythm reeled him in, warming his blood. Triggering things inside him that had nothing to do with investigations or money laundering allegations. He caught himself really wishing that she wasn’t one of the people in the case he was working.
    Had they met on the outside, she was definitely the kind of woman who would make him look twice. And cause his mouth to water.
    Walking out into the kitchen, he waited for her to lock the door to the basement. The woman had put in a fifteen-hour-plus day and he could still catch a whiff of her perfume. His sister had complained that scents faded after an hour or so, no matter how expensive it was. Why couldn’t hers fade?
    He knew it was important to keep his personal distance. But at times, it was hard to separate the cop from the man.
    Grabbing his jacket, he followed her to her office. She put the inventory on her desk. He squashed the desire to take her into his arms and kiss her. Or thought he did. “You going home?”
    He was leaning indolently against the doorjamb. Looking too sexy for her own damn good. “It’s after eleven,” she snapped. “I have to be here by eight. Where else would I go?”
    He moved his shoulders in a half shrug. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe for a walk on the beach.”
    She frowned at the suggestion. Only because she found it so romantic. “It’s winter.”
    “The beach is still there.” He took a step into the office. His eyes coaxed her even as she tried to resist. “And we’d probably have it all to ourselves.”
    “Sorry, not in the market for a beach.” She looked at him pointedly.
    His easygoing smile managed to work its way under her skin even though she was trying to be vigilant. “I’m not thinking of buying it, just walking on it,” he countered.
    She took her purse out of the drawer and then locked it again, slipping the key into her pocket. “No one’s stopping you.”
    He took a step closer to her. Took away some of the oxygen around her. His eyes seemed to pin her down. “What are you afraid of, Ms. Minnesota?”
    She bristled at the implication. That she was afraid of him. He posed no threat. It was her own vulnerability, especially tonight, that was the threat. “I’m not afraid, I’m tired.”
    He coaxed, just the slightest bit. “More to life than just work. All those stars out, they might just invigorate you.”
    “I have to get to bed.” Realizing the opening she’d given him, she added firmly, “Alone.”
    Jared inclined his head, a well-meaning employee, playing along. “A short walk, then.”
    “Don’t you ever give up?”
    “Not easily,” he told her.
    She wanted to say no, but there were nights when she didn’t like being alone. Nights when she felt so lonely, she ached. Those were the nights she usually went to see Papa Joe. But it was late and she didn’t want to bother him. Didn’t want to see the concern in his eyes. She hated worrying him.
    But she didn’t want to go home and fall asleep with the television set on the way she did when things from the past haunted her. The way they did tonight. She felt something welling up in her throat and bit on her lower lip. She wasn’t going to think about it. Wasn’t going to cry. Especially not in front of Jared. Verbally sparring with him kept her from dwelling on the pain.
    Maren took her coat from the rack in the office and began to slip it on. Jared moved behind her and helped her put it