Dare She Kiss & Tell?

As Thad placed the recorder in her hand, Carly said, “I’ll call next week to set up a time to finish.”

After a nod at Carly, Thad tossed Hunter a venomous look, and the two friends headed back down the alley toward the side door to the warehouse.

After a few seconds of watching them go, Hunter said, “You can’t be serious?”

“About what?”

“Interviewing them.”

“Why not?” Carly looked up at him, not sure if she wanted to kick his butt for insulting her tetchy interviewees or kiss him for taking them on while thinking they were a threat to her. Even with the touchy situation resolved, not a single one of his tensed muscles had relaxed—as if he didn’t quite trust it wouldn’t turn ugly. Of course, her senses were still very much in tune with every inch of his body.

And there were a lot of inches. All of them hard.

Her shoulder was jammed against a solid chest. The arm wrapped around her waist held his lean hip to hers, and his long, powerfully built thigh pressed against her leg. This was no laid-back, artsy type—her usual preference. There wasn’t a single soft spot on him. Every part was honed to perfection. And if his demeanor during a perceived threat was any indication, in a pinch his body could be used as a weapon …

With a clarity that smacked her system into heretofore unknown heart-rates, the identity of the object digging into her side suddenly became known. Ignoring the mutinous thrill, she whispered fiercely, “Is that a gun at your hip?”

It was a rhetorical question, because she knew the answer. How was she supposed to stop obsessing about the man when he showed up going all action-hero on her? And just which side of the law was he on?

Without blinking, he stared at her for a long moment, as if searching for the right way to respond. And then his lips twitched. “Perhaps I’m just happy to see you.”

After a split second of stunned adjustment, she rolled her eyes at the ridiculously old joke. “Only if there’s something seriously wrong with your anatomy.” A spark of amusement briefly lit his eyes, and she knew a comeback was forthcoming. “And forget trying to weasel your way out of my question by assuring me that there is nothing wrong with your anatomy.”

His amused tone was intentionally bland. “There’s nothing wrong with my anatomy.”

She knew that all too well, but she was also perfectly capable of admiring masculine beauty without succumbing to the appreciation. And she hoped to heaven Hunter wouldn’t wind up being the exception, because his ultra-cool aura wrapped in hard-edged alertness provided a kind of excitement no man had before. Ever.

Just remember what happened the last time you found a man intriguing and fell victim to your emotions, Carly.

She wouldn’t let her fascination sway her again. She couldn’t let her fascination sway her again. Her career was only just now recovering.

“Who are you?” She pulled herself from his grasp and turned to face him, ignoring her crushing disappointment at the loss of his touch. “And don’t tell me you’re a simple network security consultant because by the end of that show I knew you were more. And today proves my instincts right.”

He looked down at her with the intense focus that always set her on guard. “What else do your instincts tell you?” he said.

That she’d never met anyone like the enigmatic Hunter Philips. That no man had ever intrigued her so thoroughly. But mostly that he was a force to be reckoned with.

“That you could have taken those two guys down with your bare hands,” she said, staring up at him, knowing in her heart it was true.

After a long pause with no response from Hunter she debated her next move. She was dying for a visual confirmation of the object that adorned his hip, and there was only one ploy she could think of to accomplish her goal. He was decidedly more dangerous than she’d originally believed, which meant she should pass on the plan. Her palms were growing damp at the thought.

Don’t do it, Carly. Don’t do it.

Oh…what the hell.

Tamping down her nerves, she stepped even closer, his nearness providing her with a forbidden adrenaline rush. “I think you could have taken them on bare-handed without so much as wrinkling your clothes.” She began circling him slowly, not having to work hard at the sensual tone. “Not a mark on your pressed white shirt …” As she rounded his side his alert gaze followed her with a keen interest that prickled her skin. Sweat pricked between her breasts. “Not a crease in your dark pants …” She ignored his probing, assessing eyes, afraid she’d lose her nerve. “Or the classy black leather jacket …”

Heart thumping harder, she stopped in front of him and began to run her fingers down the edge of his sleek coat, as if to feel the material. What would he do when she tried to take a look?

“Am I right?” Fingers on his lapel, she risked a glance at those oh-so observant eyes, now lit with awareness, and an exhilarating rush skittered up her spine. “Would you have delivered two right hooks and emerged victorious and wrinkle-free?” Tense with anticipation, she began to lift the edge of his coat to get a peek at his hip.

Brow creased in subdued humor, Hunter pulled his jacket back in place, blocking her view. “Maybe.”

Good God, he was a tease.

She dropped her hand to her side, the disappointment intense. Damn. The more she learned, the more captivating he became—and the more she wanted to uncover.

In light of everything, an interesting possibility suddenly dawned bright. She narrowed her eyes. “Are you a former crook?” Her answer came in the form of a quizzical eyebrow. “You know …” She tipped her head curiously. “One of those high-tech, illegal hacker guys who gets caught, serves his time, and then starts a security firm helping businesses protect themselves from people like them.”

Hunter leaned back against the graffiti-plastered alley wall, crossing his arms. He seemed entertained by the question. Truthfully, he seemed entertained by the entire situation. And he appeared intent on driving her crazy by not answering, along with goading her every chance he got.

“What does your gut say?” he said.

“My gut says there is more to you than meets the eye.” Carly crossed the pavement and turned to lean a shoulder against the metal wall beside him, close enough to get his attention. Hopefully his full attention, without compromising her own.

She had to hike her chin to meet his gaze. Flirting with a man your own height was so much easier. Flirting with a guy when you weren’t sure which side of the law he fell on …?

She lifted a brow. “Are you going to answer my question?” Not one of those beautifully wrought muscles moved. His ready-for-anything aura was undeniably fascinating. “For all I know you’re a threat I should run screaming in the other direction to avoid.”

Her statement finally triggered his response. “I’m not a threat,” he said.

“Then why are you packing a—?”

“I used to work for the FBI.”

She bunched her brow, disturbed that her interest hadn’t been quelled. And neither had his electrifying effect on her. She’d hoped that learning the truth would put the kibosh on it. Help her focus again. She should have known better.

“And why is an ex-FBI agent chasing me down?” she said.

He shifted to face her, his imposing presence no less intimidating after the truth. Just like love and hate, lawmen and criminals were just the flipside of the same dangerous coin. He said, “To ask how long you plan to use your family connections to harass me.”

Stunned, she tried not to gape as a flush washed through her body. Use her family connections? Apparently he was under the mistaken impression her father was an asset to her. And any discussions regarding her dad were bound to get intensely uncomfortable.

She hiked her chin, glad her excuse was real. “Unfortunately I don’t have time for a discussion. I have another interview to get to.”

His previously amused expression had crossed into decidedly un-amused territory, making him more intimidating than before. Apparently he had no intention of letting her go so easily, and her heart sank as her attempt at escape was nixed.

“In that case,” he said, “I’ll tag along.”

CHAPTER THREE

HUNTER sat in the back row of the old theater, empty save Carly, sitting beside him, the crew, and the three naked men on stage, dancing and singing Shakespeare to an electric guitar. “Hamlet, The Musical!” was unique enough, and he supposed nudity added that extra edge needed in a town as jaded as Miami. But if there was a god, and s/he was benevolent, this would end soon and he could get back to his regularly scheduled confrontation.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably and whispered, “When are you supposed to interview Hamlet?”

Carly whispered back, “As soon as the dress rehearsal is over.”

He stared at the three actors, bereft of clothing. “They still call it that?”

“They have to do a run-through in costume. Or, in this case, in the nude.”

Hunter flinched as one of the male actors twirled across the stage, his male parts a victim to centrifugal forces. “This goes beyond nudity,” he muttered.

Her voice held more than a hint of humor. “Wednesday I’m interviewing a participant in the Pink Flamingo’s annual drag queen pageant, if you want to accompany me there as well.”

He shot her a skeptical look. “What kind of reporter are you, anyway?”

“A lifestyle journalist. I do arts and entertainment pieces.”

On stage, the actors formed a brief chorus line, and the image of the three naked gentlemen doing a cancan almost caused Hunter to throw in the towel and leave. “You’re a little liberal with your definition of entertainment,” he said dryly.

Carly leaned closer, her fresh scent teasing him, her amused voice almost…hopeful. “Are you feeling uncomfortable with the play?”

He stared down at her, not knowing which was worse: the intentionally flirty vibe emanating from her beautiful face or the monstrous scene on stage. One sight scorched his vision, and the other could leave him scarred for life.

She was a manipulator who used her charms at will, yet a part of him was impressed with her courage. A person had to be either stupid or brave to enter that alley in such a dangerous section of town. Initially he’d thought she was the first, but it was evident now that it was the second. And that hint of seduction beneath her pretense of assessing his clothes—all to get a look at his gun—had both tickled him and turned him on when it should have ticked him off. He was dismayed to realize he’d crossed the line. He liked her.

An unfortunate complication.

“No. I’m not uncomfortable with the play,” he lied, convinced she was hoping the outlandish musical would get him to bolt. But he had no intention of leaving without finishing their discussion. Like her or not, he would protect his interests. He turned his focus to the stage, hoping he had the fortitude to stick it out. “I will, however, admit I’m more comfortable in the back alley of a crime-infested neighborhood.”

“Two artistic gangsters are preferable to three actors?”

“They are when they wear clothes.”

“I suppose it makes it easier to hide their weapons if they’re hostile,” she said, obviously amused he’d misinterpreted the men’s intent.

“At least I have a concealed weapons permit. I doubt those two did. And I’m ninety-nine percent positive they were carrying,” he said. Then he nodded in the direction of the stage. “That’s a pretty hostile sight right there.”

“Just promise me you won’t shoot the actors.”

“My Glock is back in the glove compartment.” He risked a glance at the stage, wincing at an eyeful of a bouncing Hamlet dancing a Scottish jig. “Though I am tempted to retrieve it.”

“I never knew network security consulting was so dangerous it required a weapon,” she said.

Though her words were laced with her usual dry sarcasm, genuine curiosity radiated from her face, giving her amber eyes a warm glow, and the thrum of attraction settled deeper in his gut. Up until he’d pulled her against him in the alley she’d been just another beautiful woman he could ignore. After experiencing the dip at her waist and the soft curves firsthand, he was less confident. Since Mandy, and with the demands at Firewell, Inc., his relationships had been few and far between. Brief, superficial and uncomplicated worked best.

And it didn’t get any more complicated than Carly Wolfe.

Awareness burned through him, reaffirming that his vow not to touch her again was vital.

He pushed it all aside, and said, “My day is typically weapon-free. The Glock is only in my car because I visited the firing range before work.”

She shot him a look that went beyond mere curiosity. “Keeping up those skills, huh?”

Hunter’s stomach lurched and he turned to stare at the stage, grateful the increase in volume of the music gave him a reprieve from responding. His weekly trips to the firing range were unnecessary, but he couldn’t seem to let go of the last routine he’d maintained since he’d been forced to leave the FBI, leaving a massive hole in his life.

The sharp ache resurfaced and his jaw clenched. He enjoyed what he did now, but lately he’d been chafing at the monotony …

Carly must have decided he refused to respond to her indirect question. “Why did you leave the FBI?” she asked.

He turned to study her face. Though she was clearly digging for information, the genuine warmth he’d seen on the TV monitor that first day was back. What would she say if he told her part of the truth? There were bad parts he could share, and there were worse parts he could never divulge. In an effort to protect sensitive information the FBI had kept their investigation of him private. Outside of Mandy’s newspaper article about the case he’d been working on, no other information had been made available to the public.

“Off the record?” he said.

She hesitated longer than he would have liked. “Off the record.”

“I was stripped of my security clearance and put on administrative leave without pay.”

A shocked silence followed, filled with awful music, until she said, “Why?”

“I was working on a case that involved a group of hackers that specialized in acquiring credit card numbers. A branch of Russian organized crime was laundering their money.” He took a moment to steel himself for the words that followed. “I was accused of leaking information to the mob.”

The pause was painful as she stared at him, wide-eyed. “And did you?”

The words punched hard, his stomach drawing tight with anger. He’d seen the doubt in his colleagues’ expressions. The questions in their eyes. Outside of his parents and Pete Booker, no one had believed the truth—not a hundred percent, anyway. Not even after he’d been cleared. So why should she? But somehow her doubt took a larger chunk from his already ragged pride, and left him dangerously close to the edge. He leaned closer, and a flicker of desire swept through her eyes. For some reason the thought of a payback appealed. And there was no greater payback than refusing to answer a nosy woman’s question.

“What do you think?” he said.

Carly hardly knew him, and had no reason to believe in his honor. But for one terrible moment he realized he was holding his breath, hoping she would.

“I don’t know,” she said softly, the tone doing little to ease the doubt in her eyes. “Why don’t you tell me?”

The seconds that ticked by felt like minutes to Carly, and she held her breath as she waited for Hunter’s response. The news about his past had dumped a truckload of fuel on an already burning fire of curiosity, but the impassive look on Hunter’s face—so close to hers it was difficult to concentrate—revealed nothing.

And then his eyes flickered with an emotion that came and went too quickly to identify. Finally Hunter leaned back in his seat, but there was a coiled energy simmering beneath the falsely relaxed air. “I think I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.”

Carly stared at Hunter, quietly sucking in a breath. Damn, the man was determined to drive her down crazy lane. “What eventually happened?”

“The matter was investigated and dropped for lack of evidence,” he said evenly. “After that I left the force voluntarily.”

From the tone in his voice it was obvious he was done with the discussion. But his response didn’t make it clear if the charges against him were accurate, but couldn’t be proved, or if they were false. The truth lay buried beneath the impossible-to-ruffle gaze, and her mind kept drifting back to the hard, lethally cool look on his face in the alley.

She cleared her throat, trying to ease the tension. “Being ex-FBI must have helped your business.”

He shot her a pointed look. “As much as having William Wolfe for a father has helped your career.”

The statement was like an elbow-jab to the gut, and Carly’s stomach folded protectively into a knot. Her dad was her least favorite subject, and she wished the Shakespeare-singing and dancing men in the buff had driven Hunter away. Clearly he didn’t scare easily. The next few minutes were going to be rough.

Remember the mantra, Carly. Cool. Easy-breezy.

“It didn’t help as much as you’d think,” she said lightly. “My dad always insisted I make it on my own.” Which she had confidently set out to do, back when she’d believed hard work alone was enough. “When I landed my first job at one of his California papers no one learned who my father was until a year later.”

He studied her face, as if surprised. “That must have caused a few ripples.”

“My boss was certainly nicer after he found out.”

Or he had been nice up until she’d made an iffy decision and scandal had rocked her world—both personally and professionally. And, true to his word, her father had never intervened on her behalf…not even when she’d needed his help the most.

The pain sliced like a freshly whetted knife, and Carly clutched her armrest and stared at the stage, grateful the music was loud as Hamlet belted out his monologue, bare-assed and lifting Yorick’s skull further skyward with every high note. Her father’s approval had always felt unattainable. But if she earned her current boss’s confidence, and a little leeway to choose her stories again, she’d regain a bit of the dignity she’d lost after her mistake.

“California is a long way away,” Hunter said when the music died down. “Your dad must have been happy you were hired on at the Miami Insider and moved back to town.”

Carly bit back a bark of humorless laughter, staring at the stage. “You would think so,” she said. “But you’d be wrong. My father thinks a weekly online paper will fail. He’s convinced I made a disastrous career move.”

Or, more accurately, a second disastrous career move. As always, his lack of confidence in her rankled. But after his prediction she wouldn’t leave even if the Miami Insider did take a nosedive at perilous speeds. She was hell-bent on proving her dad wrong.

“As a matter of fact—” Carly sent Hunter a wry smile “—he’s probably eagerly waiting for the paper to fold just so he can be proved right.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes skeptically. “You’re saying your father had nothing to do with you winding up on Brian O’Connor’s show?”

This time there was no holding back the harsh laugh. The suggestion was so absurd it hurt. “My father would never show me that kind of favoritism.”

“Seems a big coincidence we ended up at the very station your father owns.”

“He had nothing to do with it. I contacted the producer of the show—”

“Who wouldn’t have given you the time of day if not for the family name.”

She wasn’t so foolish as to deny it. “Okay, so that part is true.” Having the last name Wolfe had to be good for something, because the parental aspect wasn’t so hot. “But Brian O’Connor is a fan of my column and was on board with the idea from the start.”

“On board for what?” he asked dryly. “Ganging up on me?”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “You handled us as easily as you handled Thad and Marcus. And you know,” she said, fed up with the entire conversation as she twisted in her seat to face him, “I asked to come on Brian’s show simply to state my beef with your app. You weren’t even supposed to be there.”

His brow creased with suppressed amusement even as his eyes remained unyielding. “Too bad for you I showed up.”

Carly’s lips pressed flat as she remembered how he’d goaded her into losing her temper. Was that his intention now?

His intense gaze was relentless as he went on. “I want you to end this public dispute.”

“Well, I want you to admit The Ditchinator sucks.”

“Fine. I admit it.”

She shook her head. “Not good enough. Which is why I’m so pleased you agreed to a second show.” She sent him her best winning smile—the one that flirted at the possibility for more. “You can go on air to admit it sucks and share the inspiration behind your app.”

He leaned close again, a spark of awareness in his gaze that sabotaged her smooth-talking abilities. “I won’t do either,” he murmured silkily.

Desire constricted her throat, making breathing difficult. She knew he was attracted to her, and God knew he thrilled her like no one had before. She could never mix business with pleasure again, but a part of her longed to know if she could ever get him to act on his attraction. “Well, then, you’d best be on your guard, Mr. Philips.”

His gaze dropped to her lips. “Hunter.”

Awareness pricking her skin and scrambling her brain, she repeated obediently, “Hunter.”

“With you around, I’m always on my guard.” His lips curled at one end. “On guard against your sharp sarcasm. The cutting words. The arsenal of charm. And …” his gaze dropped to her legs this time, kicking up her body’s response, and then lifted to meet her eyes “…the intentional flash of a little more thigh.”

“Come this second show I’m going to pull out all the stops to use that charm and get the history behind your app.”

The hard light in his gaze set her body on fire, and his secretive smile sent a shiver up her spine as he said, “There isn’t a dress short enough to pull that off.”

She bit back the genuine smile that threatened. “Is that a challenge?”

“There is no challenge.” The light in his eyes grew brighter. “I will, however, take the opportunity to beat you again at your own game.”

Despite herself, she let out a quiet laugh. The man might be tightly controlled, but she sensed a playful side in him. One he kept carefully in check, only allowing it to surface occasionally to tease and provoke her. “I’ll accept that as the dare that it is. So how about this?” she said. “If I manage to get the answer out of you, I win. And if you can resist me …” She sent him her most charming smile—the one that had always worked up until she’d met him. “You win.”

“What’s the prize?” he said softly.

Danger and desire intertwined again, leaving her body with a now familiar unsettling attraction that was uniquely his. She was traversing a very narrow line—one so thin it could double as the edge of a knife. And it was hard to focus over her heart’s incessant thumping. “I haven’t decided on the prize yet.”

“Okay, but I expect you to keep the contest fair.”

“What does that entail?”

“Leveling the playing field,” he said. “No more capitalizing on your father’s name as a resource. Which means outside our second show any and all Wolfe Broadcasting media outlets are off-limits in your effort to publically harass me into cooperation.” The man gazed at her, his eyes no less intense in the dim light, the hint of humor dwarfed by the thread of steel in his tone. “And no more below-the-belt punches.”

Intrigued, she hiked her eyebrow a little higher. “What are you going to do if I break the rules? Fit me with a pair of concrete shoes?” She leaned closer, trying to be heard over the music and desperately ignoring the sensual lips mere inches from hers. “Send me an ankle bracelet attached to an anchor and take me for a boat ride out on the Atlantic?”