‘I don’t think that would work on me. It comes too close to an interrogation, or brainwashing even, and . . . well it probably just wouldn’t work.’ He left it at that.

‘You were trained to resist interrogation and mind control techniques when you were in the military?’

He frowned over at her. ‘I never said that.’ It was exactly right, though.

‘Come on, Marcus. Give me a little credit here. You move like a damn ghost. I’m good at being aware of people coming up from behind me, and you’ve snuck up on me twice now. Either you’ve had training or you’re secretly Batman.’

He snorted a laugh. ‘Okay, fine. You caught me.’

‘You mean you really are Batman?’ she teased.

He turned onto the road leading to her house and downshifted, making the Audi cough and rattle. ‘You may wish I were if this thing dies on us. We may end up scaling the side of the hill with a grappling hook.’

‘Big baby,’ she chided. ‘I run this hill every day when I’m training for a race.’

‘Really?’ He considered it, grateful for something to think about other than death and bullets and missing, frightened women. A glance over at her showed she’d accepted the momentary reprieve as well. Her eyes were alert and her mouth was curved in a smile that he wanted to see when he opened his eyes in the morning. ‘I want to see you run. Especially if I’m running behind you.’ The very thought made his mouth water.

‘Tomorrow morning,’ she challenged. ‘Crack of dawn. I triple-dog dare you.’

He shook his head slowly, a very different activity in mind. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘You’re refusing a triple-dog dare?’

He pulled into her driveway, turned off the engine and shifted in his seat, resting his forearm on the steering wheel. ‘I would never back down from a triple-dog dare. Game on, Bishop.’ He reached for her when she grinned, releasing her seat belt with one hand and catching her around the back of her neck with the other, then pulling her close for a kiss that left them both breathless. ‘But I think that tomorrow morning I’m not going to want to waste my energy on running that damn hill.’

She caressed his jaw with fingers that trembled. ‘Then I think I should give you a rain check on the triple-dog dare.’ She kissed him again, then smiled against his lips. ‘Mrs Pepper is watching.’

He pulled back far enough to peek around her. ‘How do you know?’

‘I saw the reflection of her porch light coming on in your window. We should go inside before she comes over to talk to us. She can talk for hours,’ she added in a whisper.

He was out of the car and around to her side to open her door in seconds, making her laugh. He tugged her out of the car and put her keys in her hand. ‘Unlock the garage door. I’ll pull it up so that you can drive the car in.’

‘I can open my own garage door, Marcus.’

‘I know you can.’ He gripped her chin gently, kissing her long and wet and hot, making her sigh when he kissed his way to her ear. His hands itched to run over her curves, but as hot as she looked in the tactical vest, it covered her curves all up. Plus he could see Mrs Pepper peering through the curtains on her living room window. ‘Let me open it anyway,’ he murmured. ‘Mrs Pepper will think I’m a gentleman, and I want to get on her good side. She makes great cookies.’

Scarlett shook her head, chuckling while she did as he asked. He waited until she’d parked the car and shut off the engine before pulling the door down, leaving them in semi-darkness. And total privacy. Finally.

He opened the driver’s door and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. Then he held her. Just held her. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her head rested on his shoulder.

He was shaking like a teenager, dammit. ‘This morning,’ he whispered, ‘was different.’

‘I know.’ She lifted on her toes and kissed his mouth softly. ‘This morning we were different. I didn’t know who you really were yet.’

He smiled down at her. ‘Batman?’

‘No.’ She nipped at his lip, then soothed the hurt with the tip of her tongue. ‘The man I so desperately hoped you’d be.’

‘I’m no hero, Scarlett,’ he said soberly.

‘Neither am I. I’m just me.’

He kissed her gently, because even though his body craved her, his mind knew this was too important to rush. ‘I like “just you”.’

‘Sometimes I’m not very nice,’ she warned.

‘I like my roses with a few thorns.’

Her lips twitched, then stilled as she grew very serious. ‘I’ve been alone a long time, Marcus, and I got used to it. But now, with you, I don’t feel alone anymore, and that scares the hell out of me. This morning was sex, and that was satisfying and fun. And simple. But this, us right here, right now . . . It isn’t simple anymore. This is . . . more.’

He kissed a line down her throat, making her shiver. ‘I want more.’

Her head fell back, giving him better access. ‘Oh good,’ she breathed. ‘It would suck if I were the only one.’

He unsnapped the vest, lowered his voice. ‘What do you want, Scarlett? A husband, children? A picket fence?’

She swallowed, shivering again. ‘Yes. I’m greedy. I want it all.’

He nuzzled her neck. ‘I can build a fence. And I’ve always wanted kids. And a wife. So we’re starting out on the same page.’ He slipped his hand under the vest, cupped her breast, felt the hardness of her nipple against his palm. ‘What do you want this minute?’

She laughed breathlessly. ‘To drag you off to bed and do all kinds of naughty things.’

His control snapped and he took her mouth roughly, too roughly. But she gave as good as she got, shoving her fingers into his hair and kissing him until he was afraid he’d come right there in her garage.

He reared back, breathing hard. ‘What do you need to do first?’

‘Walk the dog, take a shower.’

‘Then go. I’ll get my things and meet you inside. Where’s your bedroom?’

‘Second floor.’ She kissed him hard before pulling out of his arms and walking backward toward the door into the house. ‘It’s purple.’

He frowned. ‘What?’

‘My bedroom. It’s purple.’ She grinned. ‘You’ve been warned. I’ll hurry.’

‘Okay,’ he muttered, somehow managing to bend over far enough to gather up his gun and laptop and her jacket and shoulder holster. ‘Purple it is.’ He headed into the house and up the stairs, his pulse racing in anticipation even as he felt his shoulders lighten. Peace, he realized. This is peace.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Tuesday 4 August, 11.55 P.M.

Scarlett normally let Zat struggle up the stairs on his own, but tonight she was impatient. She could hear the shower running, and the thought of Marcus under that spray left her knees weak and her pulse thrumming hard. Everywhere. Scooping Zat into her arms, she ran up the stairs just as the shower shut off.

Holding her breath, she put the dog down gently and walked to the open bathroom door. ‘Oh.’ It was more a long sigh of appreciation than an actual word. She’d seen him shirtless. She’d seen all the important parts when they’d gone at it like horny weasels on her sofa that afternoon.

But not even her very imaginative daydreams had prepared her for the whole package of deliciousness that was Marcus O’Bannion naked and dripping wet. Broad shoulders bunched and flexed as he toweled the hair on his head, while droplets of water clung to the dark, crisp hair lightly furring across his chest, making her want to lick it all up. And then keep on licking downward. My God, the man was a fantasy in the flesh, and what flesh he had. Long and thick and hard. Remembering how it had felt inside her had her core muscles contracting so hard she shuddered. Soon. She’d feel him inside her again soon.

He finished toweling his hair and was dabbing at the bandage on his scalp from his run-in with Chip Anders’s splintered door when he saw her standing there, agape. His grin started slow, but spread to his whole face, his cheeks creasing in a way she hadn’t yet seen. He looked happy, she realized. And very relaxed. Except for his erection, which grew even larger and harder as she stared, bobbing to its own beat.