Free A Dangerous Arrangement by Lee Christine

eyes and laid her hands on his chest. ‘I’m afraid my books are closed, so a direct approach will be necessary.’
    He smiled that brilliant smile, his lips a hair’s breadth above hers. ‘The answer I was hoping for.’
    He kissed her, claiming her mouth with warm, firm lips that moved over hers with just the right amount of pressure. She clung to him, breasts heavy and aching while he tasted her like a vigneron sampling a best reserve rarefied wine.
    She whimpered, and he deepened the kiss, stroked his tongue across her mouth, asking a question. She answered by parting her lips, fire surging along every nerve pathway as his tongue finally found hers.
    The world spun away, reducing Marina’s awareness to only him. She slid her fingers into his hair, urging him closer, aware of his laboured breathing, his strengthening hold, his hardening body.
    â€˜Excuse me.’
    They jerked apart to find a middle-aged couple trying to negotiate around them on the stairs.
    â€˜Excuse us .’ Dean kept his arm around her waist as they moved aside for the couple to pass.
    When they’d gone, Marina rested her forehead on his chest and struggled to bring her own breathing back to normal.
    â€˜Wow.’ Dean’s chest vibrated in silent laughter and he ran a warm hand up and down her back. ‘I think I need a cold dip in the ocean.’
    Oh no!
    Anything but that.
    She lifted her head and her heart squeezed as she looked into his handsome face. ‘I’m not wearing a swimsuit, and I said I’d catch up with the others.’
    His eyes twinkled. ‘Who said you’d need a swimsuit? This is Europe.’
    She reached up and traced his jawline with her index finger. ‘I’m a conservative American, remember?’
    He dropped a kiss on her forehead. ‘How could I forget?’
    â€˜So, what are your plans now?’
    â€˜Well.’ He took her hand and they headed towards the exit. ‘I was in Cannes when all this began. I flew to Venice, so at present the yacht is somewhere off Sardinia. My plan was to meet up with them somewhere along the coast, but then I got your call. I had a day to kill, so it was no trouble to ride the extra distance down here and show you these in person.’
    Marina looked down at the iPad in his hand. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t more help. You’re running out of time, aren’t you?
    â€˜With the encryption thing? Another two days, but that’s the least of our worries. We’ll pay the thousand bucks he’s asked, but we’re not hopeful. We’re sure the encryption’s a smokescreen, that the five days’ grace he’s given us is actually time for him to get away with the real prize.’
    Marina looked at him. ‘The designs?’
    He nodded. ‘For the new Mach V. This guy worked in my office. He wouldn’t take that kind of risk for a measly grand to decrypt the files, when he could have done it remotely. He wiped our backup tapes, infected every computer with a data-destroying worm. He even went as far as corrupting our remote server backup.’
    â€˜I can’t believe it.’ Anger welled up inside her at the injustice of it all. ‘The son of a bitch.’
    He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. ‘God, I love it when you say that!’
    Marina smiled. ‘As long as it’s not aimed at you.’
    â€˜I seem to remember you calling me that once.’
    They were back in the car park now. Up ahead, two men were standing by Dean’s bike, pointing at it, discussing it.
    They hung back, waiting for the men to move on.
    Marina glanced sideways at Dean. ‘This whole thing sounds like it’s been a well-planned operation from the very beginning.’
    â€˜There’s no doubt the company’s been specifically targeted.’
    Marina shuddered. ‘I can’t believe I lived under the same roof as him for six months. I mean,