“Listen to me,” he said. “I set up a meeting with my contact from MIDNIGHT. I have to be at the rendezvous point in half an hour.”
“MIDNIGHT doesn’t exist! It’s all a big lie.”
“Where is this coming from?” he asked.
“Lying is what you do, isn’t it, Zack? You lie to win someone’s trust? How do you do it? Do you lie to yourself, too? Is that how you live with yourself?”
“You don’t believe that.”
There was a part of her that desperately wanted to believe Zack. She needed to know she wasn’t like her father. But what about the news report?
“Give me a chance to prove to you I’m not lying,” he said.
Staring into his dark eyes, she could feel her emotions spiralling. How could she feel this way about a man who may have murdered innocent people?
“Let go of me,” she said.
“Not a chance,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers.
ZACK KNEW BETTER THAN TO fight fire with fire. He knew he was only going to get burned. But he couldn’t stand the way she was looking at him. As if he were the lowest form of life on the planet. As if he were a killer and a liar and she didn’t believe a word he said.
He wasn’t quite sure when he’d started to care what she thought of him. But he did. Too much, if he wanted to be honest about it. Not because he needed her help. But because he couldn’t bear the thought of her believing he was a killer.
For the span of several seconds she fought him. She set her hands against his chest and pushed. But then her body went soft and slack against his. A sigh whispered across his cheek. The protest she was in the process of uttering came out as a moan. Then she was kissing him back and he forgot all about the mission, about crossing lines, about being a professional and doing the right thing.
Touching her had unleashed something inside him. Made him just a little bit insane. Insane to kiss her. To touch her. To be inside her.
Suddenly he realized they were standing at the front door, with cold air pouring in. Never taking his mouth from hers, he pushed her into the room, closed the door and locked it. Then they were on the bed and he was unbuttoning her shirt. Need like he’d never known before churned inside him.
Her shirt fell open. Zack’s gaze swept over her breasts, and he was awed by the sheer perfection of her. That she would share this with him moved him. He could feel his emotions intensifying, making him feel things he did not want to feel. This was not the time for him to go off the deep end.
But then, he’d never had the best of timing when it came to women.
She quivered when he touched her breast.
Uncharacteristically uncertain, he ran his hands over her thin cotton bra with a feather touch. “Let me touch you.”
He didn’t wait for her permission and with the flick of his wrist unsnapped the front closure of her bra. The scrap of material fell open. Her nipples were large and erect, her belly taut and flat. When he looked into her eyes, he didn’t see a corrections officer but a woman he very much wanted to make love to.
“Emily…”
He kissed her hard on the mouth, then pulled back, shaken and awed. Her eyes shimmered. He saw uncertainty in their depths and put his hands on either side of her face, forcing her gaze to his. “I need for you to trust me,” he whispered.
“I’m afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of what I feel for you. It’s messing with my head.”
His need for her was making it increasingly difficult for him to concentrate. He wanted her trust, but he’d reached a point where he could no longer keep himself from touching her.
“Me, too,” he said softly. “Trust your heart.”
The kiss was electric and he felt it all the way to his toes. He could feel his control slipping away, leaving him raw and aching with desire for this beautiful woman in front of him. He heard his name on her lips. Felt her arms going around him—
Pounding at the door sent Zack scrambling off the bed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Emily sitting, clutching her shirt to her breasts, her eyes wide and frightened. Then Zack’s training kicked in. He darted for the disguise he’d used the night before. Standing in front of the mirror, he went to work.
A second knock sounded, harder and more impatient. “This is the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Department. Open the door, we’re checking all the rooms.”
Though his heart was pounding, Zack’s hands were steady as he used the adhesive to secure the tiny mustache to his upper lip. The scar came next. No time to finesse. His gaze met Emily’s in the mirror and he whispered, “Get dressed. Pack what you can. Hide in the shower, close the curtain, take your bag with you.”
She was already off the bed and heading toward the bathroom. He watched the light in the bathroom go out. Saw the door close halfway. Heard the shower curtain hiss as she yanked it closed.
Praying the police didn’t force their way in and search the room, Zack crossed to the door, slipped into his antiquarian persona and opened the door.
Chapter Twelve