Deadly Deception by Alexa Grace Page A

disappearing acts?  She was almost to her closet when she heard the knob turn in her front door.  Lane was definitely ghosting again.
     
    Still wrapped in a towel, she walked into her living room at the same time that Anne burst into the room and Lane, in boxer shorts, arrived from the kitchen holding out a steamy cup of coffee.
     
     Anne looked at Frankie in the towel then Lane in boxers and gasped.  "Oh, my God!  This is so not a good time.  I'll come back later.  I'll call first."  Her face crimson, Anne backed up until she reached the open front door to escape to her car.
     
     
     
    Frankie turned to look at Lane who by now had bolted to the kitchen.  She rushed to her bedroom, threw on her blue terrycloth bathrobe, and went to the kitchen.
     
    "I thought you'd left."
     
    "Why would you think that?"
     
    "You had no problem shooting out of here like a rocket the last time you stayed over."
     
    "I'm sorry about that, Frankie.  I hope someday you'll forgive me."
     
    "Why are you walking around my house half-naked?"  Her eyes scanned his body and her temperature shot up.  Christ, he was ripped and undoubtedly the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.  Her insanely stupid heart was beating out of control.
     
    Lane pointed his thumb to the clothes dryer. "My clothes aren't dry."
     
    She closed her eyes and grimaced as she remembered soaking him the night before with her vomit.  Could this get any more embarrassing?
     
    She sat at her breakfast table and he brought her the cup of coffee he'd had in his hand when Anne burst into her living room.  He poured a cup for himself then sat across from her.
     
    "I'm not going to be one of those women who drink too much and pretend the next day not to remember anything.  I remember it all, including the getting sick part and you taking care of me."
     
    "You remember everything?"
     
    "Yes."  She eyed him suspiciously.
     
    "So you remember when you told me that I made you hot."
     
    "Okay, that part I don't remember.  Are you making that up?"  Amusement flickered in the eyes that met hers.
     
    "Nope.  Do you want me to turn on some slow music so we can re-enact the moment it happened?" 
     
    Visualizing the two of them slow dancing dressed as they were with him in boxer shorts and she in her robe ignited a need deep in her that she fought to douse.  Luckily, she was saved her dryer bell announcing the completion of Lane's clothes.
     
    Apparently modesty was not in Lane's skill set because he started pulling pieces from the dryer and dressing right in front of her in her kitchen.  Their gazes met and a spark of heat passed between them.  She decided she needed to get this man out of her house before she made the monumental mistake of dragging him to her bed.  Again.
     
    "Let's talk about your undercover op."
     
    Instantly she had his attention.  He stopped buttoning his shirt and moved to the table to sit down again. 
     
    "When I talked to Uncle Tim yesterday, he said you promised him you'd treat me as you would any other law enforcement professional.  He said you knew better to let things get personal in an undercover operation with a female partner.  Is that true?"
     
    "Yes.  By the way, it would’ve been nice to know that my boss, the sheriff, was your uncle."
     
    "I haven't seen you much the past six months."  She shot him an icy glare.
     
    Okay, he was moving her away from that discussion.  "So have you decided to do the undercover operation?"
     
    "Maybe, as long as we work together to create some rules."
     
    "What kind of rules?"
     
    "We need to have a clear understanding before I agree to do this."
     
    "Okay, I'm open to that.  What do you have in mind?" 
     
    "Rule number one, things between us are professional not personal."
     
    "I agree." 
     
    "Rule number two, you stay out of my backpack."  She waited for his response, challenging him to disagree.
     
    "Okay, that's a tough one because I know you hide my favorite