Charmed and Dangerous (6 page)

That was why she had worn Cassie’s ridiculous high heels and her outlandish straw hat. The heels had been an excuse to lose her balance. The hat had been to camouflage his view of her larcenous hands.

And it had worked.

Her intention had been to get David detained long enough for her to make the flight and for him to miss it. Once she’d turned him in to security, she had slipped over to a different terminal to check in and had gone on to board the plane.

She knew David could unsnarl the tangle she’d wrapped him in pretty quickly, but all she’d needed was a head start. If she could get to Grand Cayman before he did, she would have a few precious hours in which to find Cassie. She intended on rescuing her sister from Shriver and bringing her home before the hard-assed Officer Marshall got his hands on her.

By the time David caught up with them, Maddie would have hired the best lawyer she could afford. She would even take out a second mortgage on her condo if she had to. Anything for her sister.

The brightness of the sun reflecting off the field of white clouds floating below the plane’s wing hurt her eyes. And the weary, dogged sound of the engines made her feel oddly alone. She burrowed in her handbag for her drugstore sunglasses, slipped them on and wondered if David was already on another flight.

David Marshall. Mister My-Way-or-the-Highway.

Hmmph. Imagine. That irritating man telling her she couldn’t go search for her own sister. Like he and what army were going to stop her?

She would have given a month’s pay to be a fly on the wall when he had tried to flash his badge for airport security and found it gone. She grinned at the idea, but then she immediately felt contrite for taking pleasure in his misfortune.

She wasn’t a malicious person. She’d only absconded with his ID badge because there had been no other way around him. She’d given him a legitimate chance to take her along and he had refused.

Idly, she wondered about him. Was he married? He didn’t wear a ring. But who cared? It wasn’t as if she was interested in him. He was far too annoying and bossy and pigheaded. The guy had the personality of a steamroller. Plus, he actually seemed to enjoy locking horns with her.

Who needed that kind of aggravation? Certainly not she. Cassie created enough commotion in her life.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re making our approach to George Town and the pilot has switched on the seat belt sign. Please remain seated for the duration of the flight,” the flight attendant announced over the intercom.

Fifteen minutes later they were on the ground. Relieved to be out of the sky, Maddie retrieved her carry-on from the overhead bin, thankful she didn’t have to go through baggage claim.

She had packed lightly on the outside hope she would be bringing Cassie home in record time and also because she had an innate distrust of baggage handlers. She’d once seen one of those hidden camera investigative news programs where they had secretly videotaped sticky- fingered ramp workers rummaging through suitcases. One tasteless employee had even stolen a female passenger’s panties. Creepy.

Once inside the terminal however, she paused in confusion, not knowing what to do next. She was uncomfortable at not having hotel reservations or an itinerary to follow. She never traveled without detailing every eventuality.

She spied a sign directing her to ground transportation and followed the arrows out of the concourse. So far so good, but where did she go from here?

Argh.

She was miserable at this spur-of-the-moment stuff. Where was Cassie when you really needed her?

A balmy breeze licked her skin and the air lay heavy with the provocative scent of ocean and coconut and sugarcane. She stood waiting for inspiration to strike.

And then there he was.

David Marshall hailing a cab not twenty feet away.

Impossible! How had he gotten to Grand Cayman ahead of her?

Apparently, her sneak attack hadn’t worked. Well, never mind, she had a new plan. Stick to him like glue.

“David!” She hollered and waved, but the slamming of the car door must have drowned her out. Either that or he was purposefully ignoring her.

Not that she could blame him for being angry, but she’d be damned if she’d let him out of her sight.

His cab pulled away from the curb.

Maddie rushed to the taxi stand and flung herself into the back seat of the next vehicle in line. The dark-skinned, dimple-chinned driver turned to beam at her over his shoulder.

“Where to Miss?” the man asked in an odd accent that was both British and island lyrical.

She gestured frantically at David’s taxi careening through traffic. “Follow that car!”

David checked into a low budget motel several streets back from Seven Mile Beach. The FBI frowned on agents squandering their expense accounts on high-end beach resorts.

Then again, they also frowned on their agents recruiting citizens as informants when they’d specifically been told not to. Especially when those informants went renegade and turned into suspects. They also weren’t thrilled with agents who got pickpocketed by a suspect’s identical twin sister.

At the thought of Maddie, David blew out his breath. He was still steamed over her stunt at the airport. It was damned unsettling having his badge stolen by a beguiling woman so distracting he hadn’t even noticed she had pinched his identity.

For about the ninety-ninth time since it happened, he ground his teeth at his own stupidity.

Luckily for him a federal air marshal, who’d once worked with David, had been transporting a prisoner through the terminal. The marshal had spied him getting frisked by the Dallas PD and he’d intervened, vouching for him.

Contrite over detaining an FBI agent, security had gotten David on an American Airlines flight leaving for Grand Cayman thirty minutes after the Delta flight. Actually, it turned out to be a better deal. The Delta flight stopped in Atlanta, whereas the American flight went straight through.

But dwelling on his glaring
faux pas
wasn’t going to help him catch Shriver. And thinking about Maddie would only agitate him. He had to focus on the task at hand and forget about her.

David had no sooner accepted his key from the desk clerk, returned his credit card to his wallet and bent to pick up his carry-on when he caught sight of a very familiar pair of jaunty red sandals.

Oh no.

He groaned inwardly. He wasn’t in the mood for this.

His gaze roved from cute feet to shapely ankles and on up divinely curved calves. He appreciated the tanned knees, the firm thighs and those rounded hips. He visually traversed her flat belly, narrow waist and nicely rounded chest before reluctantly finding himself face-to-face with Maddie Cooper.

“Get an eyeful?” She sank her hands on her hips and glared.

Audacious woman.

He was the one who should be glaring. David shrugged. Hell, he was only human and she was some tall, cool drink of water. Nothing wrong with looking. If she didn’t want him to stare, she should wear a snow parka.

“I should have known,” he said.

“Known what?”

“That you weren’t the type of woman to give up without a fight.”

In spite of himself, David found his respect inching up a rung or two. She’d followed him, tracked him down and he’d never once suspected she was behind him. He made a mental note never to underestimate her again.

“This is where you’re staying?” She scanned the lobby of the bare-bones accommodations.

He shrugged. “I’m a government employee.”

“I’m not exactly flush with cash myself,” she said. “I’ll stay here too.”

“You know Peyton and your sister are probably living it up at the Hyatt.”

That pissed her off. He could tell by the way her eyes flashed a brilliant emerald green and how she drew herself up tall and squared her shoulders. She could have been a swimsuit model with her height and that amazing figure.

“Think what you will, Agent Marshall, but I know my sister. Which is why I’m here. To make sure you don’t falsely imprison her.”

Man, but she sure had an unerring talent for ticking a guy off.

She turned her attention to the desk clerk who’d been openly eavesdropping. “I’ll take a room for the night, please.”

The thin young man flashed her a row of white teeth and held out his palm for her credit card. David had seen enough. He had to leave before he said something he would regret. He picked up his suitcase and headed for his room.

“Wait,” she called. “Wait for me.”

He ignored her.

Five minutes later an angry rapping sounded at his door. He’d just taken off his coat and tie and was unbuttoning his shirt.

“What?” he demanded, flinging open the door, his fingers twisting at the second button.

“That was rude of you,” Maddie said. “Running off and leaving me when I asked you to wait.”

“I thought we’d already established the fact that I’m a rude guy.”

She forced a smile. “Call me optimistic, but I had high hopes for your rehabilitation.”

“Don’t you get it, lady?” he snapped. “I don’t want you along.”

“It’s not about what you want.” She blithely trailed over the threshold. “It’s about what’s going to happen.”

“Excuse me?” he bellowed.

She couldn’t have picked a more inflammatory tactic, waltzing into
his
room, trying to take control of
his
investigation. She must be a glutton for punishment. What was the matter with her? Was she one of those women who liked to be spanked?

Well, it was time to turn the tables. He took an intimidating step toward her and undid another button. He wanted to see how long it would take her to run from the room.

He undid another button and then another.

His ploy failed.

She pretended not to notice what he was up to and instead sauntered over to the sliding glass door. She opened the curtain, freeing bright late afternoon sunlight into the room.

Then she spun on her heels to face him. “You’re going to make me your partner on this investigation.”

He snorted.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know what schoolgirl fantasies you’ve got bouncing around in your head, but this isn’t a James Bond movie, kiddo.” He undid the next to the last button and took another step closer. “And I can’t make you an honorary member of the FBI.”

“You recruited Cassie to work for you. Why not me?”

“That was different.”

“How was it different?”

“I get it,” he said. “Severe case of sibling rivalry. You’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” she denied and her voice went up just enough to let him know he’d nailed her insecurity dead on. “Why would I be jealous of my twin sister?”

“Because she’s not afraid to grab life by the throat and live and you are.” He undid the last button and now he was standing just a hand’s breadth away.

Anxiously, she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.

Something about that nervous yet unintentionally sexy gesture gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Who says I’m scared of life? I’m not scared. I hopped on a plane and flew to Grand Cayman without a day’s notice, didn’t I?”

“Yes, and it’s making you a nervous wreck.”

“I’m not a nervous wreck.”

“Then how come your thumbnail is gnawed to the quick and you’ve got a Rolaids wrapper dangling out of your purse?”

Frowning, she tucked the errant wrapper back inside her shoulder bag and then jerked her ravaged thumb behind her.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re following Shriver and I’m following my sister so we’re always going to end up in the same place. Wouldn’t it just be easier for you to let me in on what’s going on?”

He could tell she was trying not to look at his chest but every so often she would sneak a peek at the expanse of skin revealed beneath his open shirt. She raised a hand to her cheek and he saw she was blushing pink.

Gotcha.

“Are you trying to blackmail me?” he asked, stripping off his shirt and tossing it onto the bed.

“No more than you’re trying to intimidate me.”

“Am I?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Question is, do you like it?” he asked.

The air in the room seemed miserably hot even though he’d twisted up the controls on the air conditioner when he’d walked in. Or maybe it was the heat of his blood rushing through his veins.

“Nobody likes being intimidated.”

“Don’t be so sure of that. Ever heard of a submissive?”

“I’m not a submissive,” she denied. “Far from it.”

“You sure? You entered a man’s room while he was getting undressed.”

“That doesn’t make me submissive. If anything, I’d say I was dominant.”

“You dominating me?” The notion was so foreign, so utterly ridiculous that David burst out laughing.

His derision incensed her. She stabbed an index finger in his direction. “Maybe you’re the one who’s longing to be submissive.”

“Oh yeah?” Swiftly he covered the remaining distance between them.

She backpedaled until she ran smack dab into the wall. David grabbed both her wrists, pinned her hands above her head and swiftly shoved one knee between her legs, completely hemming her in with no way out.

“This look like submissive to you, darlin’?” he growled.

They were both breathing hard, their lips almost touching.

“For your information I’m a third degree black belt in karate,” she said.

“Bring it on. I’m fifth degree.”

“You don’t threaten me.” She gulped, belying her own bravado.

He saw the column of her throat muscles pump hard and he knew he’d succeeded in intimidating her, but still she held her ground. She might be scared, but she was too damned proud to run away.

Dammit. Why did her bravery in the face of her fear turn him on so frickin’ much? He was one sick puppy.

His gaze locked onto hers.

She raised her chin. She was so close her body heat set him on fire.

They stood there a long moment, neither of them blinking, neither wanting to be the first to back down. He forced himself not to think about how nice she smelled or how her chest rose and fell in cadence with his own raspy breathing or how much he wanted to kiss her at that very moment.