Free Sex, Lies and Surveillance by Stephanie Julian

head. “But that was really out of line.”
    “Only if you didn’t mean it.” Her voice had lowered a few decibels.
    “Yeah, I meant it.”
    Still…
    He tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t have him blowing his cover or pushing her away. Because this was exactly what he needed to be doing. Drawing her in. Making her trust him. So he could dig out all her secrets.
    His stomach twisted in on itself.
    With considerable effort, he forced himself to ignore it.
    “It’s just…” He shrugged, hoping it looked contrite and not angry. “I like working here. Much more than working for the government.”
    “The NSA couldn’t have been that bad.”
    He shrugged again as he eased into his chair, only inches from where she leaned on his desk. And told her the truth.
    “No, it wasn’t. I just…burned out.” Which was the absolute truth. Kind of shocked him to hear it spoken aloud. Even though he was still working for the government. “When I heard about this job through the grapevine, I knew it’d be a decent gig. Your parents’ reputations are legendary.”
     
    Janey nodded, remembering that this was exactly what he’d told her parents when he’d come for his first interview. The detailed background check she’d done, including the fact that his last partner had been KIA, in addition to her parents’ more in-depth checks, had corroborated everything he’d said. Still…
    “My parents are in a class by themselves.” Huge understatement. “But don’t you find all of this—” she gestured around his office, “—boring?”
    A slight grin lifted the corners of his mouth and he shook his head. “It’s a nice change of pace. Most of the cases—” Mal stopped and shook his head and she knew he was thinking about his dead partner. “No, I don’t find this boring.”
    Weariness etched itself into his skin in lines, and sorrow. She wondered how it would feel to lose a partner. Her partners were all family. She couldn’t imagine anything happening to them. The grief would tear out her heart.
    “No,” he continued. “This suits me just fine right now.” He raised his gaze to hers, then pointedly looked at his desk. “Look, I know I was out of line last night and today. I’m really—”
    She gently covered his mouth with her fingers, cutting off his words as efficiently as if she’d cut his vocal cords. She didn’t want him to apologize again.
    “Don’t.” Her fingers lingered on his lips for a few seconds, his skin soft and tantalizing. She wished he’d lick her, suck on her fingers—
    She withdrew her hand, got up and walked to the door, then turned to look at him, noting his sober expression. “Let me know when you come up with any more on the Donnelly case. And…we’re still on for Valley Forge tomorrow, yes?”
    After a few seconds, Mal nodded. “Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.”
    “I’ll let you know what time I’ll pick you up later today.”
    Then she walked out, closing his door behind her, and wandered back to her office in a haze.
    Mal had called her beautiful and kissed her. Again.
    Sitting behind her desk, she stared sightlessly at the door, half hoping he’d follow her to finish what he’d started. That kiss proved he was attracted to her. She hadn’t been imagining it. A rush of heat tingled from head to toe.
    He wanted her. And she wanted him.
    And neither of them should do a damn thing about it.
    “Damn, damn, damn.”
    When the phone rang, she grabbed for it like a lifeline.
    “DeMarco Investigations.”
    “Hey, DeMarco, what’s up?”
    Janey smiled in spite of the tension still throbbing through her body. “Hey, Annie. How’d you get that Nazi of a boss to let you make a personal call in the middle of the day?”
    Her best friend’s short, hard laugh spoke multitudes. “The man is a menace to society, which is why I no longer work for him.”
    “Oh, no. What’d he do?”
    “He actually had the nerve to tell me I was distracting the other