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  “What?”

  Alec cast a fervent gaze at the elevator ceiling. “Please let her be trying to seduce information out of me. Please let it be true.”

  “Oh, very funny.” The elevator doors opened at the seventh floor, and Dennie walked out carefully.

  “Wait, don’t give up.” Alec followed her out. “You can do it. Kiss me again.”

  “Drop dead.” Dennie fished in her purse for her room card and jammed it in her door. Then she stepped inside, trying to shut the door in Alec’s face, but he slipped in behind her while she was turning around.

  She had to give up daiquiris as part of her investigative technique. They made her slow. And evidently stupid. Trying to seduce Alec for information was definitely stupid. Trying to seduce Alec at all was a waste of time; he came preseduced anyway. Like a microwave entrée. You pressed his buttons, and he got hot.

  Well, she had work to do. And great kissers were … well, not a dime a dozen. But not on her agenda.

  Right. She had an agenda.

  “Leave,” she said, but Alec was already stretched out on her bed and reaching for the phone.

  “You need carbohydrate to soak up that alcohol,” he told her. “Go rinse your mouth out while I order. I can’t believe you kissed me with the same mouth that kissed him. Save me some mouthwash.”

  Dennie put her hands on her hips and glared. “You don’t need to worry. It won’t happen again.”

  “Want to bet?” He grinned at her. “You still haven’t wormed any secrets out of me.”

  “You need worming all right,” Dennie said. “You’re about ninety-five percent worm. I want a steak. Very—”

  “Rare. I know. I know everything you like.”

  Dennie winced. “God, you even sound like him.”

  “Like who? Bond? I do not.” Then room service answered, and Alec turned his attention to the phone.

  “Just like him,” Dennie said, and went to wash out her mouth.

  Downstairs in the lobby, Sherée fumed. Right, just a mark, that’s all this Dennie person was. Then why was he all over the woman like that? She’d been right not to trust him with another woman.

  Now all she had to do was get even.

  “Okay, you’re fed and at least relatively sober,” Alec said an hour later. “Let’s get back to the seducing part.”

  “In your dreams,” Dennie said.

  He was still stretched out on her bed, but she was sitting cross-legged at the foot, a whole bed length away from him.

  “I can’t believe you thought that would work,” Alec said.

  “It worked on Bond,” Dennie said. “Come on, Alec, give. He’s selling land. You’re not dumb enough to be buying from him. So you’re investigating him. What are you? SEC? FBI?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Alec grinned at her. The more she trashed Bond, the happier he got. Men were so transparent when they were jealous. Alec went on, “Do I strike you as somebody who’d work for an acronym?”

  “Then who do you work for?”

  He crooked a finger at her. “Oh, no. You have to seduce it out of me. Come here.”

  “You’re some kind of cop,” Dennie said, staying put. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. I bet Bond would know. Maybe I’ll ask.”

  Alec stopped, and then slowly sat up on the bed until he was close to her. He reached for her neck and encircled it with one firm hand. “Do not mention this fantasy to Bond.”

  “Or what?” Dennie said, unfazed. “You’ll wring my neck? Ha.”

  “Ha, yourself,” Alec said, and kissed her, pulling his hand down her neck and across her breast, his thumb tracing a pattern down the hollow of her throat and into her dress.

  It felt great, but she was too close to the truth to stop now. Dennie caught his hand as it cupped her breast. “Who do you work for?”

  “Harry Chase,” Alec said. “I’ll introduce you tomorrow. He’s busy right now. And so are you.” He dipped his head to kiss her again, and she slid away.

  “And who does Harry Chase work for?”

  Alec slid after her, rolling her under him and trapping her on the bed. “The KGB. We’re Russian spies. This is your chance to be a patriot. Seduce me witless, and I’ll tell you all my secrets.”

  “Are you a crook?” Dennie asked. Her hands were firm against his chest, and she wasn’t playing. “If you’re a crook like that slime Bond, I’m not interested.”

  “Do you think I’m a crook?” He smiled his open, honest boyish smile at her.

  “I think you could be.” Dennie stared back, unsmiling. “I think you’d probably do just about anything if you thought the reason was right. And I haven’t known you long enough to know what reasons you think are right.”

  Alec stared down at her, suddenly serious. “I’m not a crook. I’m one of the good guys. But you’re just going to have to take my word for that. Which is only fair because that’s what I’m doing for you right now, much against my better judgment.”

  Dennie felt her breath go, and not just because of all of Alec’s lovely weight on top of her. “This is the first time I’ve seen you serious,” she said. “This is really you, isn’t it?”

  Alec’s face changed, and it felt as if he’d moved closer, although that wasn’t physically possible. “Yes,” he whispered, and kissed her, and this time Dennie felt more than the old, hot physical punch of his kiss. This one hurt deep inside, breaking into a place she’d kept safe before, and she closed her eyes and held him tight and savored the pain because it was so agonizingly wonderful to feel that much about anything, and especially wonderful to feel that much about Alec. I love you, she thought, but she didn’t say it, saying it would have been stupid. She’d known him only forty-eight hours. She absolutely was not going to tell Alec “I love you.”

  Alec must have heard her anyway. He broke the kiss and closed his eyes as if he were as thrown by it as she was. Then he rolled off her to sit on the edge of the bed. “Listen, I’m not a crook. But I very much need you not to blow my cover to Bond.”

  Dennie sat up and tried to remember what they were talking about. “I won’t. I need to see Bond again, though. I’m working on a story about him.”

  Alec frowned at her, pulling away even more. “I thought you were working on Janice Meredith.”

  “I can do two things at once.” Dennie held out her hand. “But I won’t get in your way, and I won’t blow your cover. Deal?”

  Alec took her hand and held it. “No deal.” He started to say something and then he stopped, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek instead. He hesitated as if he was going to move to her mouth, and she held her breath, but then he stood up. “This thing with Bond is just about over, and it would have made a lousy story anyway, so do me a favor and forget him.” Dennie started to shake her head but he went on. “You don’t need to be there tonight, and I probably won’t see you again before I go tomorrow. Have a good life, Dennie Banks. I’ll watch for your byline in all the major publications.”

  He turned and left before she could think of what to say, and Dennie felt the bottom of her stomach plummet as the door closed behind him. It was probably all those damn daiquiris. So he was leaving. Big deal. There were other great kissers in the world. But if he thought she was giving up the Bond story, he was nuts.

  Dennie let herself slip back down into the bed. Now she could concentrate on the two greatest stories of her career. She’d certainly handled everything beautifully. Patience would be so proud. She got her laptop and began her Bond notes. It was going to be a great story. She’d really handled things well.

  Of course, Lady Macbeth had probably felt the same way after she’d washed off all that blood.

  Stupid analogy. Dennie hadn’t killed anybody. She didn’t have anything to regret.

  With a great deal of willpower, Dennie dragged her mind back to her story and began to type but it was no go. You just need sleep, she told herself, and slid down into her bed and stuck her head under the pillow and tried her damne