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“Like you did any better, Steve Jobs.”
Her notebook refused to boot up, and she scowled. The battery indicator in the corner glowed red. Dammit. Out of juice. She dug in the box again and came up with a power cord, but there weren’t any outlets in the tiny closet. Frustrated, Natalie stared down at the expensive but currently useless gadget. “Stupid technology.”
“What is it?” Kyle leaned around her to peer at her screen.
His warm breath tickled the hair near her temple, and Natalie closed her eyes, trying to will away how his proximity made her feel.
“Dead battery, huh?” Kyle said, sitting back. “That’s too bad.”
“What’s too bad is, we’ve got two computers and no idea which one is the good one.”
“Two computers—two of us,” he said. “Neither of us was willing to walk out of here empty-handed, and now we don’t have to. It looks like we both win. Or lose, depending on how you look at it.”
“What if you have the wrong one and mine has all the data?”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to track you down again.” He tucked his notebook inside his jacket, then moved toward the small window positioned high on the wall. He jumped and caught the window ledge easily with his long, dexterous fingers.
“You won’t find me.”
“Wanna bet?” With a small grunt, Kyle hoisted himself out the window. Seconds later, she heard thecushof his combat boots on the ground outside, and he called, “Any time now, Duchess.”
Natalie turned off the light, tucked the small notebook down the front of her jeans and beneath her T-shirt, then scrambled to the top of the nearest stack of boxes before making a calculated leap, narrowly grasping the window ledge.
She swung one leg over and pulled herself up to sit in the open window, looking down at where Kyle was waiting for her before stepping down onto his solid shoulders. Kyle grasped her hips and held her tight as she slid down his chest. The feel of his warm, hard body against hers didn’t help her coordination or her concentration.
By the time her feet touched solid ground again, she felt hot and bothered and completely out of her element. She brushed the dust off her clothes, then headed for her truck near the back of the parking lot.
“So, back to the Agency, huh?” he asked, striding along beside her.
“That’s right.” She clicked her key fob to unlock the government-issue black Suburban, eager to be on her way. “Good luck to you, Kyle.”
“No luck needed, Duchess,” Kyle called as she slammed the door. “Like I said, I’ll find you if I need you.”
She didn’t bother replying, just started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot in a spray of gravel. In her rearview mirror, she saw him climbing into a nondescript white compact car and thanked her lucky stars she’d gotten out of there before she’d blown her cool. She and Kyle Matthews had too much history, too many secrets between them, and this mission was too important to blow because of her mixed-up, twisted feelings.
2
Kyle woke the next morning to a distinct prickle on the back of his neck.
Someone was watching him.
Slowly, he slipped his hand under his pillow and grasped his Glock. Whoever made the colossal mistake of breaking into his crappy motel room might live to regret it—or not, depending on how the next thirty seconds played out.
In the blink of an eye, he rolled and pulled the weapon at the same time, facing the intruder down the barrel of his gun. “Hands up.”
The person in his sights was the last person he’d expected to wake up to. The same person he’d planned to track down later today. Right after he’d showered and dressed and…
A cool breeze drifted over his naked body.
“Impressive,” Natalie drawled, her tone flat as a pancake as her gaze traveled the length of his body. “But not what I came to see.”
“What the hell are you doing in my room? Last time I checked, you were ditching me in the parking lot.”
“According to my tech team, this whole which-notebook-is-the-good-one is more complicated than we thought.”
“And that justifies breaking and entering?”
“Do you want to get this job done or not? You’re working with Hayley, right?” she asked, referring to the cyberanalyst who was dating his teammate Scotty. Kyle nodded. “Has she seen your computer’s hard drive yet?”
