5
THE HECKWITH GETTING HIM naked; she just wanted to get out of here in one piece. “I was reporting in. But I obviously picked a bad time.” Her gaze faltered under the hard assault of those eyes. She bunched the petals more tightly in her fist. “I’ll get goingnow.”
“You don’t come here,” he said in that same soft, fiercetone.
Her pulse hammered under that mercilessgaze.
“You never come here. They could be watchingyou.”
“But—”
“No buts. That’s an order. I can’t believe you were stupid enough to come waltzing up my frontpath.”
“You can’t orderme—”
“Yes I can. Or I’ll yank you out of Oceanic so fast your hair will change color.Again.”
He was scaring her, but also she was getting the feeling that maybe he didn’t think her job was going to be such a waste of time, after all. “I’m a volunteer. You can’t fireme.”
“I can arrestyou.”
Her jaw gaped. “You’d arrestme?”
“If you don’t cooperate, you could jeopardize an operation we’ve been working on for months. If I have to go in and haul your ass out of there, you’re damn right I’ll arrestyou.”
“But—”
His finger shot up and pointed at her heart, reminding her uncomfortably of that horrible gun. “Don’t push it,Cyn.”
She felt a little lightheaded and sank to the bottom stair. “I was only going to tell you about my first day.” Her voice sounded like a little kid’s, which infuriatedher.
His face softened slightly, along with his voice. “I know you’re new to this stuff, but it’s not a game. You’re working at Oceanic as an accountant. That’s it. If it were me, or another agent, it would be a cover. But the beauty of this whole thing is thatyou really are an accountant working at Oceanic.” He glanced down at her. “Do you see where I’m going withthis?”
She noddedmiserably.
“If I need information, I’ll find a way to contact you.” He let out a breath and it seemed like he made a conscious effort to cool down. “Want abeer?”
“I thought you were throwing me out.” She didn’t move from the bottom of the stairs, where she could keep the front door in plain view in case she needed to bolt for safety. She couldn’t process that he’d gone from Mr. Fury to Mr. Hospitality in under twominutes.
He shrugged. “Now you’re in, you’ll have to stay until after dark. I’ll give you a number for emergencies. Otherwise, don’t phone me or visit myhouse.”
“Don’t you want me to reportin?”
He regarded her calmly. “I’ll find a way to stay in touch. Don’t come near me unless it’s an emergency. Gotit?”
She nodded. “I think I will have a beer.” She followed him to the kitchen, noting the changes he’d already made in the house. He’d kept a lot of the furniture, but still the house looked different. Mostly it was less cluttered. Mrs. Jorgensen hadn’t ever forgotten her Danish and Dutch heritage, and had married the two enthusiastically, filling her house with teak furniture and covering every surface with starched linens and Delftpottery.
Jake walked to the fridge, and Cynthia took a seat at the small rectangular teak table that looked so different without the hand-embroidered blue-and-white cloth on it and the little Dutch boy and girl salt and pepper shakers in the middle. His salt and pepper was a tubular contraption that could have been designed byNASA.
“You cook,” she noted in surprise, eyeing the pans hanging from a wall, copper bottoms blackened from use, the well-stocked fridge she’d glimpsed when he got the beer, and the hefty selection of cookbooks on theshelf.
Passing her a bottle of beer and a glass, he raised his eyebrows and half grinned. “I’m pretty good in thekitchen.”
How did he do that? One minute he scared the pants off her, the next he was sending glances her way that made her kneesweak.
He tipped back the bottle and drank, then said, “You want to give my talents atry?”
“Pardon?” Her gaze snapped back to his. Had he read hermind?
