Free Agent in Training by Jerri Drennen Page B

avoid her all week and had done a pretty good job… until now. With rumors circulating about them, he’d definitely have to try harder.
    “Agent Trent,” she responded, then turned to look at the elevator doors.
    What the hell? Was she ignoring him ? Was she upset he hadn’t called her after their night together? Women . You never knew what they were thinking, and to reason with one was virtually impossible.
    The author that wrote the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus had obviously been a genius. Women were definitely from outer space as far as he was concerned, and he sure as hell didn’t understand their alien dialect.
    Freeman’s words came crashing back to anger him further. Did everyone think something was going on between him and Shiloh? Well, there wasn’t. Nothing had happened. Not really.
    Nick shook his head in disgust. What kind of respect would he get from his fellow agents after Freeman got through with him? Why had he even taken her to her apartment? It was just plain stupid. But it was too late to second-guess his actions now and in the end he’d done the right thing even though it violated all his rules concerning women. Especially women bosses.
    “Were the WPD able to find who that print belonged to?” Nick wasn’t sure why he asked, but for some reason, he wanted to know.
    “No, not yet.” She hadn’t even bothered to turn and look at him.
    Nick balled his fist in anger. Her attitude pissed him off, especially now that he was going to be linked sexually to her around the water cooler. Was she embarrassed about their almost-night together, or was she just being a hard ass as usual?
    Either way, he didn’t like being dismissed so easily. After all, he’d touched her in places where probably no normal man had gone before. At least now he knew why. But for some stupid reason he’d thought that because he had been with her intimately, she’d be different around him now.
    No such luck.
    “Did you tell them about the threatening pictures?”
    She swung around and glared at him. “Listen, Trent. I’ll deal with my life; you deal with yours, all right?”
    “Whoa, I’m just asking a question. Obviously it’s a sore subject with you, but then again, what isn’t?”
    “I don’t need your concern. I’ve been taking care of myself longer than you’ve been out of diapers.”
    Nick narrowed his eyes at her. “You didn’t seem to think I was too young the other night when I had my hand down your pants.”
    Her face reddened, and she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek.
    Nick stepped back, surprised.
    “Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Nicholas. That was very unprofessional. I haven’t been sleeping well. I know that’s no excuse, but I—”
    The elevator doors opened and Nick made a beeline to exit. “Forget about it.”
    He didn’t bother to stop and look back, but continued across the hall to the revolving door, making another exit.
    No woman had ever hit him before. Had he deserved the wallop he had just received? That comment had cut way below the belt. Literally.
    Maybe he did.
    Hell, if he’d been able to keep his cool with Freeman, a disgusting creep, why had he deliberately tried to start something with her? His boss? Because he was angry about what could happen next. If Shiloh thought she was having a bad day now, wait until she found out about the rumors—rumors that could destroy both their careers if the wrong person heard them.

 
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    Shiloh hated herself. How could she have slapped Nicholas? Obviously, she needed to get some rest, because she wasn’t using her best judgment any longer.
    The worst part was he’d been right. She wanted him even though he was young—even if it went against policy. Even worse, she could hardly stand to be around him because of it. That was definitely a powerful desire. Especially considering that lust had never been prevalent in her life before now––before Nicholas entered the picture and