So much for keeping a professional distance.
“You’re a bloody idiot,” he muttered as he rinsed the soap from his face.
Cursing, he switched off the water and yanked a towel off the rack. When was he going to learn that women and undercover work were a deadly mix? Hadn’t he learned his lesson with Alisa?
The thought of the female agent who’d lost her life because of him twisted his gut into an all too familiar knot. Two years ago he and Alisa Hayes had partnered to work on breaking up a terrorist camp in the west Texas desert. It had been a tough assignment. Zack and Alisa had approached the group passing as illegal-weapons brokers and had infiltrated the group. But instead of concentrating solely on the mission, Alisa had ended up in his tent one night and Zack hadn’t sent her away.
After that encounter, Zack had lost all objectivity. He’d lost his concentration. His focus. By the time he realized he’d screwed up, it was too late. Alisa was dead and Avery Shaw had a bullet in his spine. Was Zack going to make the same mistake all over again with Emily?
Zack flung open the door. He couldn’t believe he was getting himself into the same mess. Two people he’d cared deeply for had paid a very steep price because he hadn’t had the discipline to keep his hands off—
The sight of Emily curled on the bed, fast asleep, stopped him cold. She was lying on her side with her arms crossed, her face relaxed. Her lashes were like black velvet against her pale complexion. Her full lips were partially open and looked incredibly inviting, reminding him of what it had been like to kiss her. The robe she was wearing had ridden up slightly, and he could see the velvet flesh of her thighs. For a full minute he stood there captivated, watching her sleep.
Zack knew better than to take those few treacherous steps to the bed. If he got any closer, he would touch her. And this time he wouldn’t stop with just touching her. Considering the way she’d responded just a few minutes earlier, he wasn’t certain she would either. A disaster waiting to happen.
So how are you going to keep her safe when you’ve got your hands all over her? The same way you kept Alisa safe?
Ignoring the hot rush of blood to his groin, Zack crossed to her. Standing at the edge of the bed, he gazed down at her. She was long legs and lush flesh rolled into a tempting-as-hell package. He could smell the shampoo and soap she’d used in her recent shower. He’d seen her panties and bra hanging neatly in the bathroom and knew she wasn’t wearing a thing beneath that robe….
“Don’t even go there,” he muttered, bending to her.
She groaned and shifted restlessly when he pulled the down comforter up and over her. “Zack?”
“Go to sleep,” he whispered.
But Zack knew that was the one thing that would not come to him right now.
EMILY WOKE WITH A START and she sat up. Bright sunlight spilled in through a single draped window. The air smelled slightly of wood smoke. Briefly she was disoriented, not remembering where she was. Then she remembered Zack Devlin. The situation at Lockdown, Inc. Going into Signal Research and Development. The chase through the night. And that hot, hot kiss they’d shared.
She knew without even glancing around that Zack was gone. He was the kind of man whose presence she could feel. Even with her eyes closed she would know if he was in the room. She tried to deny the stab of disappointment, to deny that she’d been looking forward to seeing him.
Tossing off the comforter, she padded to the bath room, then she switched on the television. The four-cup coffeemaker was on and half-full, so she poured herself a cup. A news story on the TV grabbed her attention as she took her first sip.
“There was an escape last night from the Bitterroot maximum-security prison near Salmon.” The pretty blond reporter’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she read the news report. “Irish terrorist Zack McKinnon, who is serving a life sentence on multiple counts of murder, escaped last night with the help of a female corrections officer. The jailbreak left two inmates dead and launched the largest manhunt this peaceful, rural area has ever seen. The manhunt is continuing this morning.”
“What?” Emily nearly choked on her coffee. Her gut tightened when both her and Zack’s photos flashed on the screen.
The reporter continued. “Channel 53 was on the scene first thing this morning and got the following statement from prison administrator Marcus Underwood.”