Dangerous Disguise by Marie Ferrarella Page A

voice trailed off.
    “‘Just’ can be very pleasant if you give it half a chance.”
    Suspicion entered her eyes. Kirk had lied to her, time and again. Who was to say that Jared wasn’t cut out of the same cloth? That he hadn’t done this to get her to rush down here and be alone with him now?
    “Did you really get locked in there, or was this just some kind of elaborate scheme to get me to feel sorry for you?”
    The grin was as innocent as a two-day-old child. “I’m not that devious.”
    The hell he wasn’t, she thought. She stopped rubbing his hands. They’d warmed up a little, but he still looked cold. “I don’t know that for a fact.”
    Jared crossed his heart, for the first time hating what he was doing. Knowing it was necessary. “What you see is what you get.”
    She wasn’t about to tell him what she saw. A man who could easily bring her to her knees. A man who awakened things inside of her she didn’t want awakened. The way she’d driven at top speed to the restaurant just now had shown her that.
    He made her feel vulnerable by being in the same room with her. She turned on her heel. “Come upstairs, I’ll make you some coffee.”
    He wasn’t about to turn that down. Besides, she’d been avoiding him the past two days. This afforded him an opportunity to talk with her. To create a better atmosphere between them.
    To pump her for information, a small voice inside of him whispered. But it was what he’d been sent to do. To gather information from the inside.
    “That sounds great,” he told her with feeling, falling into place behind her as she led the way upstairs.
    She waited with her next question until they were in the kitchen. “Why didn’t you call the police?” Dissatisfied with the low level of lights now, she switched on the main one in the kitchen. Maren tossed her coat over the back of a chair and crossed to the urn. “Getting locked in a walk-in refrigerator constitutes an emergency in anyone’s book.”
    Inserting the filter, she turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Most people don’t think of their boss when they’ve done something dumb.”
    He cut the space between them until he was at her elbow. “I wasn’t thinking of you as a boss.”
    She wished he’d stop standing so close to her. Stop making her feel this itch she couldn’t allow herself to scratch. “You have to stop talking like that.”
    He leaned against the long, sleek counter. “It’s after hours. You just came to my rescue. I’m afraid I’m having trouble thinking of you strictly as a no-nonsense boss.”
    “Well, you should.” She tried to sound all business. Funny, usually she had no trouble assuming the persona, especially with a difficult employee. But right now, it wasn’t working. “It might be better for both of us if you did.” She measured out just enough coffee and water for two cups and within minutes the coffee was brewed. She opened the spigot and let the liquid fill the glass pot. All the while, she kept her back to Jared. The less she looked into his eyes, the better.
    “How do you take your coffee?” She moved two cups into position.
    “Black.” His voice wrapped itself around her even though he didn’t move a muscle toward her. “Like velvet.”
    Black velvet. The words were better suited to the man standing behind her than to the coffee she was pouring. He made her think of black velvet. Dark, luxurious. Sensual to the touch. Her eyes almost fluttered shut.
    Maren made a conscious effort to seal away her thoughts. Carrying both cups to the small table on the side, she set them down and took a seat. Jared slid into the chair opposite her. Lifting the cup, he held it between his hands. Warming himself, she thought.
    Concern slipped back into the mix. Here she was, thinking about her reaction to him and he might very well need some kind of medical treatment. “Do you want me to take you to the emergency room?”
    He shook his head. “No, I’m beginning to thaw out.