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“I want that four cheese one you make.”
“Ah, theQuattro Formaggi.” Claire opened the fridge with a flourish. “Let me see what I’ve got in the way of cheese. Oooh, you’re in luck—chevre, gorgonzola, ricotta salata, mozzarella, and roasted garlic on a garlic/olive oil base. An excellent choice.”
“What are you having?” Mia asked laughing.
“I think I’ll make aGenovesewith fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and roasted garlic and peppers on a walnut pesto base.”
“Oh, I love that one, too.”
“I tell you what, how about we do one of each and we split them?”
“Perfection. Want me to make salad while you make the pizzas?”
“And ruin a perfectly good beer and pizza night? Heaven forbid. Why don’t you go settle yourself in the spare room while I get these made and in the oven?”
“Sounds good.”
After placing the pizzas in to bake, Claire ran up to her own room, stripped out of her clothes and into a comfortable, stretchy knit maxi dress. She padded back down into the kitchen in her bare feet.
Mia had just rejoined her when the pizzas were coming out of the oven. “Yum. Those smell delicious.”
“It’s the roasted garlic. Come on, let’s go get comfortable.”
“I went through your DVDs and grabbed the movies. I queued upRear Window.”
They had just settled in on the chesterfield sofa when there was a hard knock on the door.
“What the hell?” said Claire.
The proximity alarm that should have gone off had remained silent. She picked up her double-barreled shotgun from the antique gun case and loaded it. Mia was in place to open the door so that it was between her and whoever was knocking. Claire looked down at her cell phone. Shit! It was Fletch and his techie, Carter.
Claire nodded and Mia flung open the door so that Fletch was confronted by a loaded shotgun being leveled at him by Claire. She needed him to understand she meant business and that she wasn’t just going to roll over for him.
Fletch stepped back. “Fuck, Claire. What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled as he stepped forward and shoved the barrel of the gun up so even if she’d pulled the trigger all that would have happened is she’d have damaged one of the beams in her ceiling before he disarmed her. “You could have hurt somebody.”
“That was my intention. How the hell did you get past my proximity alarm?”
“That thing? Child’s play to Carter. Mia, come out from behind the door.”
Mia peeked around the door. “How do you know my name, and that I was here?”
“You don’t really suppose my team and I are so inept that we don’t know exactly who you are, do you? My guess is you know Carter.”
“Only by reputation,” said Mia, blushing.
Claire rolled her eyes. “Give me back my shotgun.”
“No,” said Fletch as he broke open the shotgun and removed the ammunition. “Carter, take my keys and get Mia out of here. Take her to the safehouse and keep her secure. There should be a team there already.”
Claire tried to snatch the shotgun from Fletch, who merely slapped her hand. “That hurt.”
“I told you no.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” Claire snarled.
Handing the shotgun to Carter, he hauled Claire into his arms, his hand fisting her hair as he gripped the back of her neck and his arm snaked around her waist, holding her close. His mouth hovered over hers as he said very softly and distinctly, “You are the single most infuriating woman I’ve ever known and for reasons that escape me, I’m crazy about you.”
His lips came down on hers in a fiery kiss that left Claire shaking in his arms as she grasped his muscular biceps and held on.
