Over the Edge

He delivered that one so matter-of-factly Mallory rolled her eyes. Her dad had never been one to pull any punches.

“Are you telling me you don’t need the help? With all the work you’ve been juggling lately…from where I’m standing, it looks like you should open a real office and hire a staff.”

“I have a real office. Just because it’s in my house doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”

“You have voice mail, a pager and a computer.”

“Okay, a small office. My space is much better put to use in the workshop.” She chanced a glance away from the wall to look at him, suddenly realizing what this conversation was really all about. “The police work is bothering you, isn’t it?”

He looked away from the wall, too, meeting her gaze with those inky-black eyes that shouldn’t have been able to look warm when he smiled, but did.

At the moment he wasn’t smiling.

“You’re worried,” she said.

“Let’s say I’m reserving judgment about your latest career move. You’ve been consulting for law enforcement.” He spoke the words as though they scraped over his tongue.

“I’m a consultant, Dad. I consult.”

He still eyed her stoically.

“I have no intention of turning down perfectly good money. Besides, I like the work. I feel like Nancy Drew solving mysteries.” She didn’t say that she also got a kick out of the police relying on her.

“You also enjoy being one of the ‘experts’ that prosecution calls on for testimony in court?”

She smiled, hoping to lighten the moment. “It makes me feel…expert.”

“I’d rather see you focus on normal jobs.”

She might have argued that consulting for Jake Trinity wouldn’t be anything resembling normal. She didn’t. Her dad didn’t need to know she’d been so preoccupied with the man that she could see him in memory without even closing her eyes.

Though, in all fairness to her, Jake Trinity had been a good-looking guy with tawny hair and a sculpted bone structure that would look handsome whether he was nineteen or ninety. Ten years ago he’d screamed clean-cut good breeding with his wire-rimmed eyeglasses and preppy name brands.

Mallory remembered thinking he’d been too good-looking to be allowed. Then again, she’d been sixteen at the time and impressionable. Had she not been so impressed with the gorgeous young man who’d popped up on the job unexpectedly, she might never been tempted to approach him.

Nope, time hadn’t dimmed that memory. She still recalled every detail of that night with perfect clarity.

The Commercial-Cam Monitoring Network Prototype.

Ten years ago this video surveillance system had been state of the art. One of Innovative’s major competitors had paid her dad big bucks to acquire the prototype before the system officially launched onto the market.

The job had been meticulously planned and about as fail-safe as any job could be—they were sort of like security systems and people, never one-hundred-percent perfect. But this particular job had been going off like clockwork, until a very handsome man who shouldn’t have been in the building showed up while she secured the egress route for her dad’s escape.

Mallory should have hightailed it back up the rope to her own egress route on the roof. She should have radioed Polish Paul and told him she’d been made, so they could have aborted the job. That had been the backup plan. They always had a backup plan. Getting out of a building was just as important as getting in, Polish Paul always said.

But Mallory hadn’t done either of those things. She’d confronted that handsome young man instead, thinking she could stall him long enough to buy her dad the extra minute and a half he needed to complete the job. And she had. Almost.

But almost hadn’t been good enough. In this instance, almost meant that Jake Trinity had gotten to the silent alarm and changed their lives forever.

Almost everyone had gotten out of the building by the time the police had arrived.

Except for her dad.

He’d lied and said he’d tripped the alarm. She hadn’t believed him, of course. Neither had anyone else. Duke Hunt didn’t make those kinds of mundane mistakes. Mallory knew he simply hadn’t wanted her to feel guilty about ignoring the backup plan. He hadn’t wanted her to feel responsible for him going to prison or for the crew being forced into retirement. And his lie hurt almost as much as knowing she was responsible.

Almost as much as watching him handcuffed and thrown into the back of a police cruiser.

Almost as much as learning that the world she’d always believed perfectly normal wasn’t normal at all. To hear the police and the child welfare people tell it, her world was an illegal and morally ugly place.

That had confused Mallory at sixteen.

At twenty-six, it still did.

She was Duke Hunt’s beloved daughter, well-loved and cared for. She’d always thought being loved was a good thing whether she’d grown up on the fringes of the underworld or not.

With maturity, she’d come to understand that the real world wasn’t quite as black and white as the authorities painted it. The real world was an unpredictable place filled with good guys and bad guys. Not the classic depiction of white hats and black capes, either, but a place where the boundaries between right and wrong were often blurry and the bad guys could be more charming and gallant than the good guys.

No, her upbringing hadn’t been conventional, but burglary aside, it hadn’t been morally bankrupt either.

Which had led to another life-altering change.

During a visit to the prison where she’d gotten to see her dad through a four-inch-thick sheet of protective glass, she’d been informed that they were all retiring from the family business. The way her dad saw it, four years in prison wasn’t such a raw deal after an illustrious twenty-odd-year career. He’d made Mallory and all of his crew promise to turn their lives around and go legitimate.

Thanks to his business acumen and foresight, he’d provided the means for her and his crew to do exactly that. Nowadays, his crew was sitting pretty with legitimate businesses. Polish Paul owned a tattoo parlor; Eddie Gibb a pawn shop. Only Opal, who’d opted to spend her share of the nest egg on a nice house and expensive plastic surgeries, didn’t own a business. She worked as Eddie Gibb’s office manager instead, squeezing work for Mallory into her free time.

All in all, life was good.

Except for this love-hate thing she had for Jake Trinity.

She loved the fact that she and her friends had gone legit. Well, reasonably legit. She hated being responsible for making the decision that had changed all their lives.

Both occurrences began and ended with a very selfrighteous man she couldn’t seem to get out of her head no matter how much time passed. He’d had a dramatic impact on her life, and Mallory had never been able to decide whether to love him or hate him for his interference. Taking this job for TSS would give her the perfect opportunity to decide which it would be.

The way she saw it, Mr. Straight-and-Narrow would benefit from being knocked on his holier-than-thou ass. And if he wound up taking a hard look at his own morals to see if they held up under temptation, then she’d be honored to provide the temptation.

“Damn.” Her dad’s voice blasted away the image of Jake Trinity quicker than a bait pack exploding in a rigged safe.

Mallory smiled, released the last handhold and tagged the ceiling to end her climb. “Hunt Junior rules the day.”

She didn’t signal her belay partner, waited instead while her dad scaled the last few feet between them, muscles bunching in his powerful arms, sweat pearling at his salt-and-pepper temples, black eyes flashing.

“Great climb, babe.”

“You, too.”

She liked that about her dad. She’d kicked his butt fair and square, and he appreciated a job well done. Although, truthfully, his chances of winning today hadn’t been good. Not only did Mallory have the advantage of thirty-plus years on her side, but her adrenaline was pumping doubletime in anticipation of her upcoming consultation.

“You will give some thought to what I said about working for law enforcement.” He didn’t ask, just leveled a steely expression her way. “Don’t let them become your full-time job.”

She nodded.

His expression softened, and she knew he was satisfied. “Shall we?”

“Let’s do it.”

After signaling her belay partner, Mallory kicked off from the wall, stomach lurching at the rush of a ninetyfoot drop. The air whizzed past her ears, and she laughed, the excitement as thrilling as the prospect of seeing Jake Trinity again.

2

THE WAY Jake Trinity saw it, Mallory Hunt owed him one and the time had come to collect. Angling his sport utility vehicle into a parking spot along the street in front of her upscale brownstone, he glanced at the dashboard.

Ten fifty-seven.

Three minutes to get upstairs and he’d be right on time for their eleven o’clock appointment.

Grabbing his briefcase, he stepped out of his SUV into the bright morning sun just as a low-slung black convertible cruised past him, the driver’s ponytail whipping out on the wind behind her. He quickly pulled in his door so she didn’t take it off as she wheeled into the driveway and came to a sharp stop with a flash of red brake lights.

Mallory Hunt.

Jake knew her name. He knew a great deal about her, in fact, mostly from his preliminary research and references from industry associates who’d contracted her services. But he’d never seen her without a ski mask.

Even if he hadn’t known her address, he’d have known instinctively that this was the woman who’d boldly kissed him ten years ago. He wasn’t exactly sure how he knew, but he did. Even with a sidewalk and a neatly kept yard between them, he felt the same awareness he had on that long-ago night, that same chemistry, as if every nerve in his body had been wired to react to her just by being in the same vicinity.

It was crazy, really, but the moment slowed to a crawl, his every sense heightening as her door swung wide and his mystery woman emerged.

A slim booted foot touched the pavement, and Jake’s gaze traveled up the very shapely length of bare leg as she stepped from the car, the shorts she wore giving him a choice shot of sleek thighs.

She was as delicate as he remembered, but that was where memory ended—the black coveralls she’d worn ten years ago hadn’t molded her curves anywhere close to the way these khaki short-shorts and skin-tight T-shirt did now. The thin—wet?—cotton hugged a trim waist and full breasts in a way that made him drag his gaze over her appreciatively.

Her hair had been pulled back from her face in a thick black ponytail that fell halfway down her back. She swung the door shut, an efficient, graceful motion that brought the memory of the sensuous way she moved crashing back in vivid detail. Then she turned to him….

Jake stopped breathing.

A decade had passed since he’d crossed paths with this woman. She’d blown into his life for a few minutes and the fallout had left him stunned for years. And yes, resentful of her intrusion into his meticulously planned life.

But he’d never had more than an impression of the woman herself, a faceless memory of bold confidence, a lithe body and sensual movements….

And those eyes.

His breath burned tight in his chest by the time she gazed over the rim of her stylish black sunglasses and looked at him with those clear green eyes.

Eyes that had haunted him for a decade.

Eyes that reminded him of…the kiss.

Just the memory sucker punched him in the gut, made him look deep for some clue whether she knew who he was, whether she remembered, too. Something about the way she sized him up convinced him that she did.

After their accidental encounter on that night long ago, he’d made every effort to find out who she was, but he hadn’t known if she’d done the same. He couldn’t predict what a woman like Mallory Hunt would do in any given situation, because she was unlike anyone he’d ever met. He hadn’t made the acquaintance of any professional thieves at the private schools he’d attended, nor anywhere in his upper-middle-class upbringing. Mallory Hunt was an enigma to him. She had been ten years ago. She was today.

Forcing himself into action, he slammed the door shut, engaged the alarm and circled his SUV, fiercely containing his reaction to this woman. He’d been down this road before and the consequences had turned his life upside down.

He probably shouldn’t have contacted her, should have realized their past history would interfere with his agenda. But contacting her had been the only logical thing to do.

His latest security system had the potential to launch his company into the big leagues. Trinity Security Services employed a staff of top-notch engineers who could only test his system from the viewpoint of top-notch engineers. But meeting Mallory Hunt had taught Jake that security systems weren’t about securing a premise, but about keeping the bad guys out, which meant he needed a bad guy to test his system.

Or a bad girl.

He stared at one right now and couldn’t help feeling as though he’d come full circle. After all, Mallory Hunt had been the reason he’d become interested in the field of security and commercial protection in the first place.

Given their history, Jake supposed he shouldn’t be surprised to find himself so curious to see her up close. She was exquisite, with features as delicate as the rest of her and a face dominated by that lush mouth and those clear eyes.

Meeting him at the corner of her driveway, she extended a hand. “Well, you’ve certainly grown up, Jake Trinity.”

He’d never heard her speak, and her voice filtered through him, richer and more sensual than his imagination could have invented, a sexy voice that fit her to a T.

What was it about her that kept bringing to mind sex?

“So have you.” There, the situation was on the table. She recognized him. He recognized her. They were on level ground.

“Are you always so punctual?”

“Yes.” He glanced at his watch as he reached for her hand. A minute to spare. “Do you always cut your appointments so close?”

“I’m always right on time.”

He supposed perfect timing would be a necessary skill in her line of work, but he didn’t comment as she slipped tapered fingers against his, and the feel of her warm skin connected.

As an electrical engineer, Jake knew about conductivity, and Mallory Hunt’s touch flowed through him like a current. They’d only touched once before and sparks had flown then, too.

He thought he saw a flicker of surprise in those thickly fringed eyes, but her expression never changed. He wanted to feel detached, professional. He didn’t. The urge to lift her hand to his lips and press a kiss to her soft skin was strong, even though such an absurdly romantic gesture had no place in a business meeting.

Especially this meeting.

If she noticed how he seemed to be drinking her in, she didn’t react, simply withdrew her hand and said, “I shouldn’t get too close. I smell like a goat.”

He laughed. Even in a sweaty T-shirt and wrinkled shorts, there was nothing goat-like about this woman. “A workout?”

“Of sorts. Come on in.”

Jingling her keys, she trod lightly up the stone steps to her front door, and try though Jake might not to focus on her gently rounded bottom and the toned muscle playing along her thighs, he found himself staring.

And wondering what she’d done to work up that sweat.

He might no longer be a testosterone-filled teen who’d gotten a hard-on from kissing a sexy thief, but his reaction to Mallory Hunt was as extreme as ever. Apparently his reaction wasn’t about being caught up in the excitement of a dangerous situation. His reaction had to do with the woman herself.

Hmm. Looked like a reassessment of his position was in order. Especially since he meant to stick very close to her while she worked to troubleshoot his system.

If she accepted the job after she heard his unusual terms.

He’d convince her to accept.

She owed him.

When she retrieved a wireless remote from her purse to disable what he imagined was a top-of-the-line homesecurity unit, she distracted him with purely professional interest. What sort of system did a security specialist with Mallory Hunt’s credentials use to protect her inner sanctum?

He presumed a woman who knew all the industry tricks would secure her place tighter than Fort Knox. Especially a home she obviously took great pride in. And one glance inside her spacious town house revealed that she lived in the same classy style she drove. Jake didn’t know much about interior design, but he did know style and upscale elegance when he saw it. It stared him full in the face right now.

Mallory Hunt struck him as the epitome of a contemporary woman, a woman who boldly managed life on her own terms. While the luxury of her home didn’t surprise him, the coziness did. With its tall windows, sunny yellow walls and sleek marble floor, Mallory Hunt’s inner sanctum possessed a charming, welcoming feel that struck him as almost…homey.

Moving past her into the foyer, he glanced at the books lying open on a coffee table in front of the sofa, more on the end table. Sheet music covered the music desk of the white baby grand piano positioned between two floor-toceiling windows in the room’s far corner. A latte mug with a red lipstick circle rested on the mantel of a hall tree, as though she’d gulped down a last swallow of coffee before running out the door.

Jake wasn’t exactly sure what he’d expected from a former thief gone legit, but homey wasn’t it.

After locking her front door, she tossed her keys down and shrugged off her purse with a move that drew his gaze to the way filmy white cotton stretched across firm breasts. Hanging her purse over the banister, she turned to him and narrowed her gaze.

“Listen, Jake Trinity. I’ve got someplace to be right after we’re through here. Do you mind if I get ready while we talk?”

He shook his head, not surprised she didn’t conduct business in any ordinary manner. In his limited dealings with Mallory Hunt, he hadn’t found anything ordinary about her. And he really didn’t care how they conducted business as long as he got what he wanted.

“Hang on a second. Let me grab your proposal….” Her voice trailed off as she headed through the living room and disappeared from sight. “I’ve written down some questions I want to ask you.”

“I think we can come up with an arrangement that will be advantageous to us both.”

“I think so, too,” she said, reappearing in the living room, carrying a glossy folder with his company’s logo.

She smiled. But this wasn’t an impersonal smile of welcome. This was a full-fledged dazzling smile that nearly blinded him.

The effect was nothing short of devastating. The muscles gathered low in his gut in a purely physical response that was absurd in its intensity. He’d come today prepared to talk business, to convince this woman that she owed him so she’d agree to the unconventional terms of his job.

He hadn’t come prepared for a full-scale sensual assault.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a damned thing to say that might reassert his control over the moment, so he simply followed her when she motioned him upstairs and led him into…“Your bedroom?”

She only nodded before pausing to flip open the folder casually and glance inside.

Okay. A business meeting in the bedroom. He’d come to this meeting today expecting the unexpected. No problem.

Her bedroom was certainly roomy enough to host a meeting. The second floor of her home boasted windows as large as those downstairs, only these windows weren’t covered with sheer draperies. Through the lattice of magnolia trees outside, Jake could see the wide expanse of green city park across the street.

The furnishings were as upscale contemporary as downstairs, elegant and minimal, yet still creating a very comfortable feel. And her bed…

He skimmed his gaze over the neatly made pewterframe bed, not at all amused by how the sight of the silk comforter and plush pillows knocked loose a few more of his brain cells.

“You brought the specs for your system, didn’t you?” she asked, not bothering to glance at him as she moved to an open doorway and flipped on a light.

“Yes.” He could always spread out the prints on the bed.

But no sooner had he formed the thought than Mallory disappeared inside an adjoining room.

A bathroom?

Jake glanced inside, watched her set the folder down on the vanity and tug the band from her ponytail. Shaking her head, she loosed a sheet of straight black hair that fell nearly to her waist, glinting like glass beneath the track lighting.

His breath caught hard. He was beginning to get an idea of her definition of “getting ready.” And he knew right then she was testing his mettle, maybe even trying to shock him. He wanted to know why.

“You want to have our business meeting in the bathroom?”

She glanced back over her shoulder, lips pursed thoughtfully. “Can you handle it?”

Ten years ago, he should have restrained this woman and sounded the alarm. For a long time he’d regretted not doing that. He’d resented that meeting her—however unintentionally on both their parts—had screwed with his whole life.

But as he met her gaze now, recognized the challenge there, he found himself responding exactly as he had back then.

He wanted to see how far she would go.

“I’ll enjoy it.”

She smiled, silently acknowledging that he’d picked up the gauntlet. Then she disappeared from sight.

Jake drew a deep breath, mentally warned his body to behave and followed.

Her bathroom was as tastefully decorated as the rest of her home, with a double vanity and a corner shower with wall jets.

He almost asked if she expected them to talk while she showered, but as she was removing fresh towels from the linen closet, he figured he had his answer.

Setting his briefcase on the floor, he leaned back against the vanity, steeling himself for her next move.

It would be a good one, no doubt.

He only hoped he could think clearly beneath an assault of this magnitude. He was barely hanging on already.

No twenty-six-year-old woman of his acquaintance had ever oozed confidence like this one. He’d recognized her boldness ten years ago and he saw it again now. Understanding the unusual circumstances of her life explained a little, but Jake didn’t think circumstances had everything to do with Mallory Hunt.

Then she dropped the towels onto the toilet lid and raised her arms to pull the T-shirt over her head and he didn’t think again. He was reduced to folding his arms across his chest and trying to look completely unfazed by the sight of pale breasts swelling above a white cotton bra.

“I read your proposal, Jake,” she said calmly, as though stripping in front of a man she’d only met once before—under very dubious circumstances—was a commonplace event. “It was pretty straightforward. You want me to troubleshoot your newest system. The…what was it called?”

“The Sentex 2000.”

Her wadded-up T-shirt sailed inches past his face to land on the nearby hamper before she propped a foot onto the toilet lid to untie her boot.

“Right. The Sentex 2000. You’re testing your prototype locally?”

“I have several in place with different clients of mine. I’m exposing it to a variety of scenarios.”

“Good idea.”

He was glad she thought so because he wasn’t convinced that standing here while she stripped qualified as one of his better ideas. Not with her breasts jiggling as she toed off a boot then stripped her sock away to reveal a slim white foot with neatly polished red toenails.