Page 7 of Phoenix Rising

Reese was waiting for her when she left the bedroom, sitting at the kitchen bar and drinking a bottle of water he’d found in her fridge. He’d made himself at home, and darn if that didn’t excite her. The thought of sharing the apartment with him almost made her giddy with desire.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “How did you get inside the complex? That’s not a simple thing to do.”

“A federal badge opens doors.”

“No, seriously. That wouldn’t impress anyone here.”

He chuckled. “Good to know. I talked to your bosses before I arrived. Tucker, the head of security, escorted me to your door.”

“Why didn’t you call me first?” She tried not to sound hurt, but it upset her more than she wanted to admit that he’d gone around her.

He studied her before he spoke, and she felt as if he was looking into her soul. “I didn’t think you would want to see me.”

Was he kidding? It was all she dreamed about. “Why would you think I wouldn’t want to see you?”

Reese rubbed his chin, drawing her attention to his kissable lips. “Audria, I’m sorry about Miami Beach. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Audria knew precisely what he was talking about, but hearing him apologize for it utterly pissed her off. She decided to play dumb. “What . . . oh, you mean the kiss?” She waved a breezy hand. “It was nothing. We’d closed a major case. Adrenalin high. That’s all. I’d forgotten about it already.”Liar, liar, pants on five-alarm fire.

He was still staring at her with that intense gaze. She schooled her features, hoping he couldn’t tell she was a big, fat fraud.

“Well, okay. Glad that’s out of the way.” He glanced at his watch. “Your bosses are expecting us.”

He sure seemed to accept her denial of the importance of the kiss relatively easily, hadn’t he? It had rocked her world like a category-five hurricane but apparently meant nothing to him. Not even a tropical storm ripple. Good. Great. Over and done with.

A thought struck. Maybe she was a lousy kisser. He was letting her down easy because he hadn’t enjoyed it.Ugh,now that was all she would think about. Obsess over it. As Kai Costa would say, shiitakes.

Now in a glum mood, Audria motioned for him to follow her downstairs and outside. They could take her golf cart, but it was a beautiful day for a short walk.

Reese glanced around. “This place is incredible. I’d love a tour.”

“I’m sure someone will take you around after we meet with the bosses.” It wouldn’t be her. What if he didn’t like what she showed him? Audria mentally rolled her eyes. When had she reverted to a sullen, sulky teenager? She was a grown woman who could handle anything life threw at her—even tall, gorgeous heartthrobs who hated her kisses.

Audria tamped back her annoyance, pulled up her big girl panties, and pointed out buildings as they made their way to the office. They were almost run over by a pack of children racing to the playground after arriving home from school.

“Hey, Audria.” Kai Costa broke away from the pack to greet them. “I didn’t know you were back.”

“We arrived a couple of hours ago. Kai, this is Supervisory Special Agent Reese Reneau with the FBI.”

Kai shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. Hey, I heard the FBI arrested a piece of celery last night.”

Although Reese didn’t know Kai or his sweet personality, where he memorized jokes to tell people, he didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, they did, did they? It sounds like something my colleagues might do.”

Kai nodded seriously. “Yeah, they busted him for stalking.”

Reese laughed and met her eyes.Oh my. He was already handsome, but when he smiled, he was devastating. Kai spoke a few minutes longer and then took off to catch up with the other kids. Audria filled Reese in on Kai’s background while they entered the office.

Reese stopped. “I remember reading those stories.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “That was him?”

“In the flesh.”

“Wow. I thought the name sounded familiar. That kid is a hero.”

“That he is,” she agreed as they started walking again, passing the exquisite aquarium that took up a large section of the main level of the building. Once they arrived on the top floor, Audria escorted Reese into a conference room where Luke Colton and Logan Bradley were waiting. Luke and Logan were tremendous leaders, and she respected them unequivocally. Audria considered herself extremely fortunate to work for them. She glanced at Reese, feeling the same about her past career with him.

After introductions and handshakes, Reese explained the case. As expected, Luke and Logan readily accepted it and gave the okay for Audria to assist. It was decided—not by Audria because it would be unmitigated torture—that she and Reese would pose as a married couple to investigate Paige’s disappearance in Arizona.

Logan called one of their pilots to prepare the company jet. Audria silently thanked Genevieve for not having to fly across the country in coach. They departed the conference room with assurances to keep her bosses updated. Since Reese couldn’t use the FBI’s resources, they headed to the department that would produce the documents they needed, including driver’s licenses and credit cards. Reese stuck close to their names, so they were now Ross and Amy Green. Married couple. Ugh.

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