Free Heart of Fire by Linda Howard Page B

instructions?"
    "Of course they did." She gave him a cool glance that told him how successful that effort had been. Then she bit her lip. "I don't know for certain, but I think someone searched my place."
    "Kates, probably. Or someone he hired. He doesn't like to do the work himself. Did he get the map?"
    "No. No one will find it where I put it."
    "You don't have it with you?"
    "Of course not! I'm not about to bring a four-hundred-year-old map along. I copied down the instructions, but as I said, they're in code."
    He muttered something under his breath.
    "What?" she demanded.
    "I said, 'You must think you're Jane Bond.' They can't read the code and you won't tell them what it says, so they're forced to bring you along."
    "Exactly. They would just loot the site rather than trying to preserve it, and Dad's reputation would never be cleared."
    Abruptly his lazy facade fell away and he sat up, glaring at her with narrowed eyes. "And just how in the hell do you plan on stopping them?"
    She braced her shoulders. "I don't know. But I bought a pistol."
    He swore viciously. "And you thought that would solve your problem? Jesus. You bought a pistol. What kind, a pearl-handled derringer?"
    "A .38 automatic."
    "Do you even know how to use it?"
    "I do. I'm an archaeologist; my work isn't in civilized places. I wasn't lying about having to kill my own food a time or two, and I've had to scare off some unfriendly creatures, both the two-legged and four-legged varieties."
    He looked suspiciously at her purse.
    "No, it isn't in there," she said, and smiled at him. "And I'm not buying your act. You found it when you searched my room, so you know I have a pistol, you know what kind it is, and you know where it is."
    He smiled back at her, not denying the charge. Of course he had searched her room while he'd had the chance. "You have nice underwear."
    "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did you try it on?"
    "Nah. Just rubbed it against my face."
    Damn him. He probably had, too. The picture flashed into her mind and her stomach tightened. She still didn't want to show any reaction to him, but it was getting more and more difficult. He was wicked and blatant, and so damn masculine her nerve endings were tingling despite herself.
    He was watching her, still smiling a little as he picked up the way her eyes dilated. Some reactions couldn't be hidden. Ben felt more than a little satisfaction at finally having gotten past her guard.
    But there were more important things to talk about than sex. "Considering the situation," he said slowly, "why don't you decipher this code for me and I'll find this lost city, if it's really there, while you stay here out of danger?"
    She laughed in his face. She didn't try to be polite about it, either. She crossed her arms over her stomach and absolutely hooted at the ridiculousness of the proposition.
    "I take it that's a no."
    "I don't know how you even said it with a straight face," she replied, still snickering. "Do you think I trust you ?"
    "You'll learn," he said cheerfully. "After all, since you insist on going along, we'll be sharing a tent. Yep, you'll learn real quick that you can trust me in a lot of ways. For one thing, I won't ever leave you hanging, sweetcakes."

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    Chapter 5
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    She shot off the bed, control forgotten in the renewed surge of fury. " Share a tent !" she half yelled. "With you ?" "Shhh." He motioned toward the door. "Anyone out in the hallway can hear you." He hid his satisfaction at her reaction, because if she saw it she would clamp down again. She sure had fooled him the night before with that iceberg image. The pure volcanic rage he'd seen on her face right before she'd begun walloping him with her purse had made his entire body tighten with excitement, just as it was doing now that he had breached her control again. "I don't care if they can hear me down in the lounge." "That's a possibility. Settle down, sweetcakes." She lowered her voice to a furious whisper. "We're going