Free Deceptions by Cynthia Eden Page A

actually lived in fade away.
    The perfect escape.
    Elizabeth cleared her throat. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
    â€œJust checking in with Sullivan.” He backed up so that she could slide past him. Their bodies brushed, and she felt that sharp pull between them. The awareness that was always close when he was near her. “He’s going to monitor the arson investigation at Steve Yeldon’s place and let us know what’s happening.”
    â€œSo...Sullivan knows everything about my past, too?” Shame burned through her again. She hated to have her past so exposed. A life that she’d wanted to forget. And she had forgotten...
    Why had this started again?
    â€œHe knows.” Soft. Grim.
    They were in his bedroom. His bed—a massive beast with a big, sturdy-looking headboard—was just a few feet away. The wild girl she’d been couldn’t help but think of Mac in that bed, with her.
    The woman who was trying to keep her control...she edged away from the bed. “Sullivan scares me.”
    â€œSully scares a lot of people.”
    That wasn’t exactly reassuring.
    â€œDon’t worry,” he added, “you don’t have anything to fear from him. Sully is on our side.”
    His robe slid over her legs. She wasn’t wearing anything beneath that robe, and she knew he realized it. Her clothes had been covered with ash, and she’d wanted to wash them before wearing the items again.
    She just hadn’t thought about the whole being-nearly-naked-with-Mac bit. “Most people are scared of you, too,” Elizabeth blurted. She knew that was true. She’d gotten a few not-so-subtle warnings from her coworkers after the first time she’d met Mac. “They think you’re a dangerous man.”
    â€œI am.” He shrugged. “But that’s good for you. That means I can take care of the creep out there.”
    â€œNot if he comes at you with a gun.” The way Nate had been killed. “Or with another bomb. It doesn’t matter how tough you are then. You can’t fight that.”
    â€œThat’s why we have to find the joker before there’s another attack.”
    Yes, they did.
    â€œBut right now you should get some sleep. Take the bed,” he told her gruffly. “And I’ll—”
    Oh, no. That wasn’t happening. “It’s your bed, you take it. I can go sleep on the couch.”
    He sighed. “I can sleep in here with you. We can both share the bed, or I’ll take the couch. You’re not sleeping on that lumpy piece of crap.”
    The bed was big enough to share. Only there was one problem with that plan. “I want you.”
    She saw his eyes change. Saw the green darken. Saw his nostrils flare. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”
    Well, if he was going to know all of her secrets... “I want you,” Elizabeth told him again. “That’s why I’ve been turning down your dinner invitations. Why I didn’t want to go out for a drink with you.”
    He raked a hand through his hair. “You know that doesn’t make sense, right? If you want someone, then you—”
    â€œYou make me want to let all of my control go and just feel.” He’d be an incredible lover; she had no doubt about that. All that hot intensity that was so very Mac...all of that intensity directed at her. Elizabeth swallowed. “I haven’t let go of my control in a very long time. I haven’t... I haven’t let myself care about anyone.” Not since Nate.
    His eyes narrowed as he slowly stalked closer to her. “That doesn’t seem like a good way to live.” Then his hand lifted, and his callused fingertips brushed over her cheek. “Not a good way to live at all. That seems empty. Cold.” Mac shook his head. “You don’t strike me as being cold in any way.”
    She sure didn’t feel cold right then.