Free The London Deception by Addison Fox

not anybody.”
    Rowan shook her head but couldn’t hold back the smile. “And here I thought you were up for a small game of breaking and entering.”
    “But it’s so much easier to simply have special access.”
    Rowan knew he was right, but couldn’t stop the kernel of disappointment that her ploy to figure out if he was the young man from her past had backfired. No matter how many ways she tried to look at it, she couldn’t shake the fact that Finn Gallagher pushed her buttons and made her remember things best forgotten.
    Because try as she might to ignore it, something about him made her think he might be the boy she’d left at the bottom of the Warringtons’ back patio all those years ago.
    Of course, it wasn’t exactly something you asked a person. Oh ho, there. So I was wondering if you ever tried to rob a Knightsbridge townhome.
    To borrow a phrase her grandfather was rather fond of, not bloody likely.
    “What was so urgent we needed to come here tonight?”
    Rowan moved at a steady clip through the Great Court, her heels tapping lightly on the marble floor. Darkness flooded the sky above them, visible through the glass panels in the roof. “Room 4 is one of the most popular areas of the museum.”
    Finn nodded, his understanding immediate. “And you’d like a private viewing?”
    “Let’s just say I love my fellow man in principle, but when I can jump the line, I’m all too willing.”
    She felt the light caress on her shoulder as they came to a stop in front of the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery. Although the museum boasted several popular rooms housing Egyptian antiquities, this one was by far the most favored—and most visited—due to the fact it housed the Rosetta stone.
    “You shouldn’t need to wait.” He traced her collarbone with the tip of one finger and Rowan could have sworn her stomach had just dropped out of the center of her body.
    Attraction washed through her system in hard, chopping waves of need, and her legs trembled as they stood at the entrance to Room 4. Their gazes locked as he dropped his hand from her shoulder, and Rowan couldn’t hold back the rush of disappointment at the loss of contact.
    With what she hoped was a casual move, she took a step closer. “It’s always more fun to have something unique and special all to yourself.”
    His gaze darkened, the hazel flashing over to a deep golden-brown. Once more, his hand returned to her shoulder, this time settling at the base of her neck. With gentle movements, he leaned in, his lips whisper soft against her ear. “I couldn’t agree more.”
    Another wave of delicious shivers racked her system, and even as her body leaned toward his, more than willing to enjoy the moment, her mind screamed at her in protest.
    What had possibly possessed her to go down this path? They were business associates, working on a high-profile—and potentially dangerous—job. She needed to keep her wits about her, and instead she was letting her hormones do the talking.
    “Let’s get to it, then.”
    Humor had the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled, but he gave no other reaction as he stepped back. “Lead the way.”
    Rowan walked past the Rosetta stone, stopping briefly to look at one of the world’s most famous artifacts. The words on the stone registered in her mind as she read the decree from King Ptolemy V. “In the reign of the young one...”
    “Can you read it?” Finn’s question pulled Rowan from her perusal.
    “Yes.”
    “All three languages?”
    The briefest flush of embarrassment had heat creeping into her cheeks. “I’m not great at Demotic, but yes, I can read all three.”
    “That’s incredible.”
    “You don’t read hieroglyphics?”
    Finn shook his head, the regret clear in his voice. “I’ve never learned. I’m incredibly impressed you can.”
    The genuine appreciation in his gaze lit her up, and the warmth of embarrassment changed into something else.
    Excitement.
    While she didn’t lack for male