Page 28 of Trust No One

Mel sighed. “Unless he or she is working with Kingsley.”

“Yeah. Not ideal. But we may have no choice.”

Mel wadded the bag holding the remains of her meal into a tight ball, then slammed it into the garbage. “We can’t do anything more tonight,” she said. “When we use our computers, we’ll have to be really careful. If Kingsley’s suspicious, he’ll be watching for someone tracking him. If we google him while we’re here, it’d be a piece of cake for him to trace our computers to this hotel. We’ll have to wait until the library tomorrow to do that.

“Unless we set up a VPN,” she said. “Then we can route our computers through a foreign country and Kingsley will have no idea where we are.”

Dev leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Too late to set one up now,” he said. “We use our computers to set up a VPN and Kingsley’s all over that.” He pursed his lips, and Mel looked away as memories flooded her of his mouth on hers this afternoon. The way her body had reacted.

The wayhisbody had reacted.

If Dev noticed, he didn’t say a word. “Washington has a labyrinth of tunnels beneath it,” he finally said. “Maybe there’s one at the library. I’ll research it. If there is, it could be our escape route if Kingsley shows up.”

“Great idea.” She slid off the bed, snatched the bag with her leftover food from the tiny garbage can and took Dev’s. “I’m going to dump these in the trash can in the ice room. Don’t want to smell it all night.”

Dev grunted as he typed on his computer. Didn’t look up when she opened the door. But when she returned, he had his gun on the bed beside him.

Mel frowned. “You expecting company?”

“You never know who’ll show up,” he said. “’Be prepared’ is my motto.”

“Yeah?” Mel threw herself back onto the bed. “Never took you for a Boy Scout.”

He looked up at that, his eyes twinkling. “Do I look like Boy Scout material to you?”

“Nope,” she said. “You look like exactly what you are – former SEAL, former CIA SpecOps guy. Way too deadly to be a Boy Scout.”

He looked over and held her gaze. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ve got mad skills.”

Yeah, he did. And not just in the field. She’d thoroughly enjoyed those mad skills of Dev’s.

“What are you thinking, Mel?” His voice was the low, sexy growl that used to drive her wild.

Staring at her hands, she said, “I’m thinking it’s time for bed.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” he said with that sparkle in his eyes that pushed all her buttons.

She slid off the bed and studied him for a moment. What the hell was wrong with Dev, being all flirty and sexy? He knew she wasn’t susceptible to his charm. “Keep the door between our rooms cracked,” she finally said. “In case someone tries to break into one of our rooms.”

He raised one eyebrow. “That the only reason, Mel?”

“What other reason could there possibly be?” she retorted. “See you in the morning, Dev,” she added as she headed for her bathroom.

She closed the door firmly behind her, then slumped against it. Their little charade in the back seat of the car today had opened all kinds of doors that she’d slammed shut three years ago.

They needed to wrap this case up quickly so she could get back to her life in Montana. And so Dev could move on with his life, wherever that ended up being. The longer they were together, working this case, the weaker her walls would become. The last thing she wanted to do was fall into bed with Dev.

Actually, it was exactly what she wanted to do. But she was too disciplined to give in to it.

Instead, she spent the night tossing and turning, replaying that scene in the back of the car. Wishing it was her reality instead of a ruse to fool Kingsley or whoever had been watching them.

* * *

When the bathroom door clicked closed behind Mel, Dev stared at it for a long moment, unable to stop himself from thinking about Mel getting ready for bed behind that door. He wanted to stay in her room, crawl into bed with her and finish what they’d started this afternoon.

But Mel had made it crystal clear that wasn’t on the table, so he gathered his computer and stepped into his own room. As Mel had requested, he left his door slightly ajar, even though he was pretty sure Kingsley wouldn’t come after them tonight. The guy was too cautious. Too careful. He had to be, to survive all these years in the CIA without drawing attention to himself or his corruption.

Based on what he knew of Kingsley, Dev was pretty sure the guy wouldn’t come after them in a hotel. He’d wait until they were in a more remote setting, where he could eliminate them without any witnesses. Somewhere their bodies wouldn’t be found immediately.

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