gave her. She hooked her foot around his ankle and rolled him to his back.
Only his extreme agility kept them both from dropping off the edge of the bed. Not exactly the edge she’d had in mind. She tried to straddle him, but he wrapped his legs around her and kept her fully pinned to him, his fingers still entwined with hers. So much for controlling things.
“I seem to remember you have a penchant for being on top,” he said, his grin resurfacing.
Her pulse doubled. She was in so much trouble. She could extract the rarest of artifacts from the trickiest of locations leaving nary a trace. She couldn’t be around Finn Dalton for more than five seconds without losing every ounce of intellect she possessed. “I don’t seem to recall you minding all that much.”
He laughed. “No. No, I didn’t.” He slid his arms up over his head, drawing their joined hands higher, pulling her face closer to his. “So, about this partnership you proposed. I was thinking we should…hammer out some of the details.”
“I’m pretty sure I know what you want from this…partnership.”
“Now, now. Like you, I don’t conduct business in bed. That’s strictly personal time.” He abruptly rolled, and she found herself flat on her back again, pinned down by his weight, now fully on top of her.
She wished it didn’t feel so damn good.
“However,” he went on, “all work and no play can make for a very dull boy.”
“Dull. Hmm.” She pushed her hips up, making them both groan a little. “Apparently you’ve been taking a lot of time for play, then.”
“Unfortunately, no.” His grin was as unabashed as ever. “Though it’s a problem I’d be more than happy for you to assist me with.”
“How could a girl resist such an offer?”
He moved a little, until they were both breathing a bit more heavily. “I’m sure we’ll spend some time figuring out the answer to that.” He shifted his weight off of her slightly. “But for now, talk to me about this stone we’re both after.”
Her eyes widened in surprise as some of the fog blessedly lifted. She hadn’t thought he’d be so open about it. For all they’d both known, during each of their encounters, exactly why their paths had crossed they hadn’t exactly talked about. Much less shared any intel on it. “First off,” she said, “what happened to the no-business-in-bed rule? And secondly, we haven’t yet discussed what would be in this partnership for me.”
Now he moved his hips and gave her his most hopeful, innocent smile, which didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. She couldn’t help it, she laughed. “You’re incredibly incorrigible. A trait I admire, by the way. But, quite obviously I could get that from you without the promise of business.”
He sighed, but his eyes still twinkled. She’d forgotten how incessantly blue they were. It was like staring into an endless sea, sparkling with sunlight.
“True,” he said. “But think of how much more fun it would be to work and play together.”
She disengaged her hands from his and tried to wriggle out from underneath him. She hadn’t expected to feel such a strong tug. A tug that wasn’t entirely physical. It was bad enough that he could make her body tremble in need with nothing more than a glance and a smile. Her heart absolutely could not—would not—come into play. And yet she was looking at him and feeling something that was undeniably affectionate.
Foolhardy, indeed.
She needed to get some distance from him, and quickly, if she was going to think even remotely clearly on the matter. For whatever reason, and she was certain he had them, he let her go and rolled to his back as she quickly slid off the bed and moved several feet away.
She’d thought she’d been having a bad day when she’d so badly bungled her one prime opportunity in this case earlier this evening. Now she was standing in her own room, wearing nothing more than a few flimsy pieces of lingerie, her body riled up in ways it hadn’t been for two long years, her heart in a surprising little tangle of its own, and, furthermore, contemplating joining forces with the one man who’d proven himself to be her most formidable adversary. She hadn’t known the meaning of bad day.
“Allow me to dress, then we’ll talk.”
“Don’t feel you have to on my account.” He propped his hands behind his head and crossed his ankles. “You know, I rather like you in blue.” He said it casually, matter-of-factly. “Something about the contrast with that pale skin and all that amazing hair.”
She shouldn’t blush. Lord knew the things they’d already done together made blushing a bit after the fact. But for all that their main connection thus far had been purely animal in nature, he’d still occasionally say something so sincere, and so…uncalculated, she’d find herself reacting in ways that were dangerous, to say the least. Like wondering what it would be like to be with Finn in regular, day-to-day circumstances. Where every word, every move, didn’t have to be examined and analyzed for potential danger to the mission at hand. It was a dangerous notion, indeed. Of course, even in her real life she lived nothing remotely close to what people would consider a normal routine, so it was all moot anyway. Still…
She turned her back to him and walked to her closet. “I appreciate the sentiment,” she informed him, still struggling to reclaim that distance even now that his hands weren’t on her. “However, though you have good reason to assume otherwise, if it’s business we’re to discuss, then I’d prefer to be dressed for such.”
He shrugged. “Fine by me. All the better to imagine you like this underneath whatever tailored little suit you decide to put on. In some cases, more can still be less.”
She rolled her eyes. Truly incorrigible. But his smile was one of pure fun and mischief, and she wished like hell it didn’t make her want to be just as mischievous in return. Like surprise him by running back and leaping on top of him, and simply having her way with him for the next few hours. The images that immediately played through her now feverish mind made her leap for her walk-in closet instead. She did manage to pull herself together enough to pause before stepping inside. The only chance she had here was to keep him believing she thought she had the upper hand at all times.
She looked back at him. “Perhaps I should shackle you to the bed, to ensure you’ll still be here when I return. At the very least, to make certain neither of us gets a head start.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere.”
She stepped in the closet and closed the door behind her. “Yeah,” she whispered shakily. “That’s what I’m most afraid of.”
She skimmed over the array of clothing hanging in front of her, which was about as complete a wardrobe as anyone could hope to have at home, much less while traveling. She was an heiress and, as such, was expected to travel in a certain fashion. Had it been up to her, she’d have been thrilled with throwing a comfortable pair of trousers and a few shirts in a satchel and taking off. But that wasn’t how things worked. “And I’m so heartily sick of how things have to work.”
“Do you always mutter while you dress?”
She jumped. His voice was close. Just-on-the-other-side-of-the-door close. “I realize that my past manner of conduct around you might give a differing point of view, but, at the moment, I’d
