The Black Sheep and the English Rose Read Online Free PDF

means to get what he wanted. Certainly not from her, at any rate. “But continuing here, given our past, don’t you think there might be a wee problem with trust?”
    â€œWe were opponents then.”
    â€œTo a degree, we still are. We each want the stone, and there is only one to be had.”
    â€œI only ask for one thing.”
    She arched a brow and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Which is?”
    â€œUntil the sapphire is in our hands, we operate as a team. No secret maneuvers, no hidden agendas.”
    Her whole life was a hidden agenda. Well, half of it anyway. “And when we have the necklace? Then what?”
    â€œSee? I like how you think. When, not if.”
    â€œWhich doesn’t answer my question.”
    â€œI don’t have an answer for that. Yet.”
    She laughed. “Oh, great. I’m supposed to sign on to help you recover a priceless artifact, in the hopes that when we retrieve it, you’ll just let me have it out of the kindness of your heart? Why would I sign on for that deal?”
    He turned more fully and stepped into her personal space. She should have backed up. She should have made it clear he wouldn’t be taking any liberties with her, regardless of Prague. Or Bogota. Or what they’d just done on her bed. Hell, she should have never involved herself with him in the first place. But it was far too late for that regret now.
    â€œBecause I found you tied to your own hotel room bed and I let you go. Because you need me.” He toyed with the end of a tendril of her hair. “Just as much, I’m afraid, as I need you.”
    â€œWhat are you afraid of?” she asked, hating the breathy catch in her voice, but incapable of stifling it.
    â€œOh, any number of things. More bad clams, for one.”
    â€œTouché,” she said, refusing to apologize again. “So why are you willing to risk that? Or any number of other exit strategies I might come up with this time around? You’re quite good at your job, however you choose to label it these days. Why is it you really want my help? And don’t tell me it’s because you need me to get close to our quarry. You could just as easily pay someone to do that. Someone who he isn’t already on the alert about and whose charms he’s not immune to.”
    â€œMaybe I want to keep my enemies close. At least those that I can.”
    â€œAh. Now we’re getting somewhere. You think that by working together, you can reduce the chance that I’ll come out with the win this time. I can’t believe you just handed that over to me and still expect me to agree to this arrangement.”
    â€œI said maybe. I also said there were myriad reasons why I think this is the best plan of action. For both of us. I never said it was great, or foolproof. Just the best option we happen to have at this time.”
    â€œWhy should I trust you? Why should I trust that you’ll keep to this no-secret-maneuvers, no-hidden-agenda deal? More to the point, why would you think I would? No matter what I stand here and promise you?”
    â€œHave you ever lied to me?”
    She started to laugh, incredulous, given their history, then stopped, paused, and thought about the question. She looked at him, almost as surprised by the actual answer as she’d been by the question itself. “No. No, I don’t suppose, when it comes down to it, that I have.” Not outright, anyway. But then, they’d been careful not to pose too many questions of each other, either.
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œYes, I know we’ve played to win, and we’ve done whatever was necessary to come out on top. No pun intended,” he added, the flash of humor crinkling the corners of his eyes despite the dead seriousness of his tone. “But we’ve never pretended otherwise. And we’ve never pretended to be anything other than what we