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little pressure as possible, moved her until she stood near the opening to the room with her back against the wall. “Stay right there.”
    “Where else would I go?”
    She sounded almost exasperated with his suggestion. She did everything but snort. He had to smile at her spunk. She’d been manhandled and threatened, seen men shot and attacked. Still, she stood there and handled it all. Not bad for a woman who sat behind a desk all day.
    Aaron dragged the attacker by his ankles from the hallway and dropped his body next to his partner by the stall. After a check of the leader’s pockets, Aaron unloaded the weapons, littering the floor, pocketing the all the ammunition and dumping the guns in the toilet. He kept the leader’s secondary gun in case he needed an extra.
    He had one last problem as he glanced up at Risa. “Any chance you have any rope?”
    She lifted her arms. “Not on me.”
    “Thought it was worth a shot.”
    “There are cables and those sorts of things around as part of the construction.”
    That meant a trip around the building looking for supplies. He doubted they had that sort of time, not when Royal had gone silent. “We’ll block the door and trust they’ll be out long enough for us to get downstairs and out of the building.”
    “And if not?”
    He stood in front of her, his gaze locked on hers. “I can’t be that unlucky.”
    “You’re saying that as a tax attorney, of course.”
    He didn’t try to hide the wince. He’d hoped he’d have another few minutes before the need for an explanation caught up and smacked him in the face. “What makes you think I’m not a lawyer?”
    She eyed his hand. “The gun.”
    “I can explain.”
    Her head dropped to the side. “Are you going to?”
    “Not right now.”
    “Normally I’d insist, but since I want to leave this place right now—ten minutes ago, actually—we can save the I-lied-to-you-about-everything conversation for later.”
    Not exactly a bullet dodged. “I’m not really looking forward to that.”
    “Imagine how I feel.”
    “Good point.”

Chapter Four
    Risa slipped into the hallway behind Aaron, never easing up on her double-fisted grip on his jacket. This close, pressed against his back, she felt a subtle minty scent tingle her senses and block out the smell of new paint. She leaned in, almost touching her nose to his rich brown hair, and drew in a hint of his shampoo. Fresh, clean and nonfussy.
    Until he showed up waving a gun around, she’d viewed him as uncomplicated and easy. When he’d dropped into the seat across from her at the coffee shop that day they first met, she’d found him to be handsome and smart, with an open smile that lit up his face.
    She loved his slightly crooked nose, which he explained got banged up in a college lacrosse game. During their dinner dates, he’d wait until dessert and then slip his hand into hers. Leaving the restaurant, he’d press his palm against the sensitive small of her back. But at every point she thought he’d move their relationship forward, he pulled back.
    She’d started to wonder if the attraction only sparked one way. Now she knew something much bigger was going on. He had a secret life. Since she needed his protection and the gun he seemed to handle so well, she didn’t hold his other life against him at the moment. There would be time for that later…she hoped.
    “Risa?”
    “Yes?” She matched her whisper to his as the bathroom door slipped shut behind her.
    “I can’t breathe.”
    “What?”
    He reached around and touched his fingers to hers. It wasn’t until that minute she realized she’d pulled his jacket and dress shirt so tightly that the collar was choking him. His skin turned red and puckered from the force of her grip.
    She dropped her hands and stepped back. “I’m so sorry.”
    He winked at her over his shoulder. “You are more than welcome to undress me later. For now, I need the clothes on and in place.”
    Then he was off. He eased