Secret Agent Seduction by Maureen Smith

before.”
    Lia gave him a look that told him, in no uncertain terms, just what he could do with his unsolicited feedback. Armand swallowed a bark of laughter.
    â€œIf Dad could see me now,” she grumbled, glaring at her fishing rod as if it were the source of all her troubles, “he would disown me.”
    â€œOh, I doubt that very seriously,” Armand drawled, reaching into the cooler on the floor beside him and pulling out two frosted beers. He twisted the cap off each bottle, then held one out to her. “Why don’t you take a short break? Sometimes all you need is a little time to regroup before getting back on the horse.”
    Lia eyed the proffered beer for a moment, then, with a resigned sigh, she set down her fishing rod and came toward him.
    Their fingers brushed as she took the cold bottle from his hand. Heat shot through his veins at the satin warmth of her skin. His body stirred with desire.
    Oblivious to his reaction, Lia plunked down on the seat beside him, lifted the bottle to her lips and took a healthy swig of beer.
    Armand studied her profile with a knowing grin. “It kills you, doesn’t it?”
    â€œWhat?” she mumbled sullenly.
    â€œNot being the best at something. It’s eating you up inside, isn’t it?”
    She scowled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
    â€œI would. You’ve got steam coming out of your ears. Ouch! It just burned me.”
    Her lips twitched, fighting the tug of a grin. “All right, so maybe I am a little annoyed.”
    â€œJust a little,” Armand said, smiling.
    Lia huffed out an indignant breath. “We’ve been out here for over an hour, and I haven’t caught anything!”
    â€œWhat’s the rush?” Armand murmured. “The day’s still young. We’ve got all afternoon.”
    â€œAt the rate I’m going,” she grumbled morosely, “it’s going to take us all night. ”
    Armand took a long sip of his beer, thinking of at least two other things he’d rather be doing with Lia all night. Fishing was not one of them.
    â€œI don’t understand what the problem is,” she continued in exasperation. “I’ve never had this much trouble before. The first time I went fishing with my father, I was only seven years old, and I caught plenty of fish the first hour we were out there! Same as every other time we went fishing. Now I’ll be lucky if I catch just one before we leave.”
    Armand leaned back on his elbows, a soft, whimsical smile playing about the corners of his mouth. “Maybe I’m the problem,” he mused. “Maybe I’m bringing you bad luck.”
    Lia shot him a dark look. “Now that you mention it, the same thought had occurred to me.”
    When Armand roared with laughter, Lia grinned at him. With her long, black hair scooped into a ponytail, she looked so much like the spirited young beauty who’d captivated him all those years ago that for a moment he almost forgot they weren’t back in Muwaiti. But the sight of the Glock 9mm sidearm holstered at her waist served as a sobering reminder that things were not the same as they had been eight years ago.
    In more ways than one.
    Determined to keep reality at bay, at least for a while longer, Armand smiled gently at Lia. “When was the last time you went fishing with your father?”
    â€œSix years ago,” she answered. “He and my mother took me on a two-week cross-country trip the summer I graduated from college, before I started my job at the Secret Service. Dad said it would probably be a long time before we could all go on another vacation together, so he wanted to make it really special.”
    â€œAnd was it?”
    Lia nodded. “Most definitely,” she said, smiling at the memory. “We rented an RV and drove from our home in Arlington, Virginia, all the way to California. Along the way, we visited just about every national