Game On by Nancy Warren Page B

sexy, vulnerable. He almost wished she hadn’t shared the awful details of her childhood. Knowing where she’d come from and how brave she’d been only made him feel more committed to keeping her safe. She hadn’t known enough of that in her life.
    He didn’t have time for this. Not for lust or soft feelings. Not when she needed him to be fully alert to any danger.
    He’d experienced a bad moment when he’d heard movement in the cottage, thought her supposed safe house had been breached. He wasn’t a violent man—had fired his piece maybe three times in his career. But he’d known as he’d taken his firearm in hand that he’d seriously hurt anyone who tried to injure Serena.
    She sighed in her sleep and her arm reached around him, resting on his belly as though they were used to being wrapped together. It had been a long time since he’d felt this. Wanted this.
    He punched down the volume on the movie. Settled back and held her while she slept.
    One useful aspect of his frequent bouts of insomnia was how much time he could spend in the quiet hours of the night working on cases. Serena’s case was more difficult in that she was being secretive with facts he needed to know. Like the names of her clients, for a start.
    If only she would trust him.
    He glanced down at the top of her head, all shining hair, the tip of one ear just visible. He had no idea what was going on in that maddening control-freak head of hers but obviously it was not easy for her to trust.
    From the beginning he’d sensed a wariness about her that made him suspect her toughness was a defense she’d learned at an early age. Probably under difficult circumstances.
    Now he knew her story, and all the wariness, the glimpses of steel, made sense. This soft woman beside him had not only survived a bad childhood, she’d managed to put it behind her and thrive. He admired the hell out of her.
    * * *
    M AX PHONED AT seven-thirty in the morning.
    “Good news. The office is clean. No surveillance equipment anywhere.”
    “Okay. Thanks.”
    “I’ve installed a pinhole camera that catches the office entrance and part of the assistant’s desk. One more that covers the entrance to Serena’s office. Figured she’d freak if I put a camera right inside her inner sanctum.”
    “You’re probably right. Get back to me when you’ve checked out her rez.”
    “Will do.”
    He relayed the information to Serena, who sat at his kitchen table eating granola and yogurt. She was back in her skirt and blouse from the day before, the suit jacket neatly hung on the back of the chair.
    “That’s good news, right?”
    “Mixed. Means nobody’s been spying on you in your office but also means we’ve got nothing to go on. So in that way, not good news.”
    In spite of the couple of hours of sleep she’d caught curled up against him, there was a strained look around her eyes that was part stress and part sleep deprivation. “I think I’d rather it was my office than my home. I really hope I haven’t been starring in my own reality show for some pervert who hid cameras in my apartment.”
    “Yeah.” He couldn’t even think about her starring in some perv’s private movie without wanting to hit something.
    “What time do you have to go to work?”
    “Later.”
    She stood up. Cleaned up her stuff and put it in the dishwasher. “I really need to get to the gym. And then the office.” She said the words assertively, as though she knew he was going to argue with her. Which he did.
    “Let’s wait until we hear from Max.”
    “But my office is fine.”
    “I know. Let’s just figure out what we’re dealing with. I’ve seen you. You can work anywhere.”
    “I hate this,” she muttered. “I want to work out.” But she didn’t argue with him, simply went to her briefcase and hauled out her laptop. Within minutes, she was settled at his desk, tapping away at her computer, her phone near to hand.
    He made another pot of coffee. Put a mug in front of her