Slow Burn by Michelle Roth Page B

this, I was MP in the military before I got shot. It tore up some muscles in my back and destroyed a knee.”
    Her eyes widened and she said, “Jesus! That's awful!”
    “Yeah, lying in a hospital bed got me thinking maybe I needed a safer career, so I went back to school.”
    While his entire story wasn't true, there were grains of truth in it. It happened when he was twenty-three. And he'd been a cop with the City of Detroit. The thing he found in doing undercover work like this was that it was much easier to tell a warped version of the truth than to make things up completely.
    She considered him briefly and asked, “Why Cynertex?”
    “Why not,” he asked. “I'm actually looking to join the forensics lab when I'm through with school, but I really wanted to have some practical experience under my belt. I think I may be relegated to stapling though.”
    Tessa rolled her eyes and said, “Marty's a little bit of a hard ass. He'll wanna show you who's boss. You're probably right.”
    “If all else fails, I can fall back on secretarial skills, I guess.”
    In the time since they had started conversing, they made their way to the parking lot. When she stopped by a little red hatchback, she said, “This is me. Night, Rick. Welcome to Cynertex!”
    “Thanks. Have a good night, Tessa,” he said with a wave.
    He headed toward his own car, completely regretting the fact that he was undercover right now. He'd be very interested in getting to know Tessa. She was completely his type.
    Tessa was tall, but not lanky. He really loved a woman with curves. She had long brown hair. Her face hadn't been covered in makeup. He hadn't even been sure she was wearing any at all. She had warm brown eyes and a beautiful smile.
    He figured she was in her mid-thirties. Which meant she might be a little too young for him, or maybe he was a little too old for her. But none of that mattered anyway, because he wasn't here for social hour. He was here to find out who was selling company secrets.
    Hopefully tomorrow would be more fruitful. Today the only thing he discovered was that he was more into mousy women than he thought and that his boss was a dick. Tomorrow he'd need to start scoping things out.

Chapter Two

    Tessa rolled her yoga mat out, then sank down and moved into the cobbler's pose. As the instructor began calling positions, she let her mind drift and her body flow effortlessly from position to position. Today had been a long and very annoying day. She was more than ready to zone out and put it in the past.
    Well, not everything had been annoying. She'd been a little bit surprised by the new intern. He was a giant. He even made her feel small, which, at almost six feet was difficult to do. Honestly, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt dainty. It was kind of nice.
    He had mentioned being forty-eight. He was in damned good shape for that age. For any age, really. Tessa could tell he took care of his body. She had seen his biceps straining against the fabric of his dress shirt. He had dark hair that was graying at the temples and silvery blue eyes. Yeah. There was no way around it. Rick Dante was hot.
    She frowned. Not that it mattered. She needed to stay focused on work. Marty, creep of the universe, had called her into the office this afternoon because she'd been late from her afternoon break. By three minutes. He'd stated his concern over her tardiness. Then he'd tried to give her a shoulder massage because she'd seemed tense. She'd wanted to punch him in a mouth.
    Not a very Zen-like thought for yoga, she realized. As she slid into the next position, she tried to empty her mind but found it difficult. Even as her muscles stretched, she could feel the rest of them tensing. Marty was a problem. Maybe Rick was right. Perhaps she should report him.
    She had always been of the 'it's my problem and I'll deal with it like an adult' school of thought. This was a little much though. It wasn't an off color comment. He'd touched