Free License to Love (An Agent Ex Novel) by Gina Robinson Page B

left until daylight and I have to scram.”
    “Not so fast.” He sprang out of the chair and sat down on the sofa disturbingly, enticingly close to her. “I have a condition, a term of agreement.” His voice was hypnotic, like the one he used to engage a crowd.
    She didn’t trust him or herself. It would be so easy to drop her guard and melt into his arms. And so dangerous. “Don’t worry about terms. NCS will be paying you handsomely. And if they balk, you can blackmail them. You have leverage.” She laughed, but it came out nervously.
    He shook his head. “Those are my terms with your boss and the government. I mean terms between us—you and me.” He took her hands in his warm, tight grip.
    “Terms between you and me—what are you talking about?” She eyed him warily, too stunned to pull free from his grip. As usual, he had something up his sleeve.
    “Give us a real shot at making our marriage work. If that means waiting until after the mission to genuinely get to know each other, so be it.” The look in his eyes was completely pleading and hopeful, so smoothly seductive.
    He almost made her believe in the dream that they could make things work and live happily ever after. But that was Rock, the king of illusions.
    Her heart hammered. “Rock, you don’t even know who I really am,” she said as reasonably as she could. And when he found out, would he ever forgive her or be able to live with who she was and what she did and had done?
    “You only saw a small part of the real me during the time we were together. The part I let you see. The part I played. You have no idea what you’re asking.”
    “I think I do.” His tone was uncompromising and confident.
    She took a deep breath. “If I don’t agree?”
    “I walk away now and your mission is toast.”
    “You do realize that if you walk away you’re a dead man? RIOT wants you dead because, to their knowledge, you’re the only other person capable of performing Outlandish Marauders and thwarting their plans?
    “We’re here to protect you. Once we’re done with this mission, you’ll be safe again. Until then—”
    “I don’t care, Lani. Those are my terms. Take them or leave them.” He squeezed her hands and stared deeply into her eyes.
    Why did she get the feeling she was almost playing a game of chicken with him? Show no fear or duplicity. She squeezed his hands in return. “Deal. But I’m only doing this to save you from yourself.”
    He held on tightly when she tried to withdraw her hands from his. “You agreed much too quickly,” he said. “Don’t forget. I’m a magician and just as used to fooling people, lying, misdirecting, and pretending as you are. Don’t think because I don’t have a notarized legal document you can get out of this. If you renege on your promise, I’ll talk and damn the consequences.”
    “And be tried for treason,” she retorted just as reasonably.
    “The damage will already be done.” He smiled, suddenly pleasant and released her hands as he settled back in the sofa. “Now, tell me all about the mission, my handler, and my new best friend Tate. And while you’re at it, the details of how you’re going to get Sol to take you on.”
    She slipped off her shoe and pulled a small data card out. “It’s all on here, the entire mission brief and cover dossier.” She held it out to him.
    He took it reluctantly. “You really need a new hiding place.” He stared at the data disk.
    “Study it carefully. You only get one read of it and then the data self-destructs.”
    He looked as if he didn’t believe her. “Like in Mission: Impossible. ”
    “Well, yeah. Only the actual disk doesn’t disintegrate or go up in smoke, just the data.”
    “You’re hedging,” he said. “What’s in here that I’m not going to like?”
    She may as well tell him. “I’m going to go to Sol and offer to split your reward money with him if he’ll take me on as his assistant.”
    “My reward money?” His tone was