Dance with the Devil by Cherry Adair Read Free Book Online Page B

meet.”
    â€œWhy’s it so important to you to get married? The sex was outstanding, we’re compatible as hell…. Why blow something that amazing for some pie in the sky license? What does a bit of paper matter anyway?”
    She flashed him a quick look over her shoulder. “See Jack? That piece of paper means the world to me. You don’t get it? Fine. I’m looking for someone who will get it.”
    â€œWhy isn’t it enough to have someone—me—who wants to be with you?”
    â€œBecause I want forever, not just today.”
    â€œYou know as well as I do,” he said, his voice a tight cord of need, mingled with frustration, “in our business, there isn’t always a forever.”
    â€œGod, Jack,” she said on a sigh as she leaned her forehead on the still closed safe, “ no one gets a guarantee. An accountant could wake up fine and be dead by sunset. What I want is the commitment to try for forever.”
    â€œDarling…” He trailed one finger down her bare back and Mia shivered from both his touch and the endearment she’d missed for eight long months. “You know I…” His voice trailed off.
    She laughed shortly, quietly, heartbreak coloring the sound. “You can’t even say it.”
    â€œFine,” he snapped. “I’m a dog. What are you going to do? Pick one of your blind dates and ask him to marry you?”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œAren’t you running out of guys?”
    â€œDC’s a big place, I haven’t even gotten started. Thanks to urban sprawl, I can work my way from Metro Center out to Crystal City. If that doesn’t work, I can head up the 270 corridor all the way to Pennsylvania if necessary. I have time.”
    â€œThought you were getting married this summer?”
    â€œPlenty of time.” Mia said shortly. Four, five months should be plenty of time. Plenty of time to get Jack Ryan out of her system, meet a new man and arrange the wedding.
    Who was she trying to fool? Herself? Or Jack?
    â€œSo you’d choose some as yet unknown blind date over me and amazing sex?”
    â€œSee, Jack? That’s why you earn the big bucks. Because you’re so clever. Now be quiet and let me get this thing open and this night over with.”
    â€œBy all means, go for it.”
    The last tumbler fell into place and Mia swung the door open. How nice of the lady of the house to be so neat and organized. Her jewelry was in slender black leather cases, each labeled clearly with its contents. Her emeralds had a shelf all their own.
    A few papers had been slipped sideways next to the boxes. Mia withdrew them, careful to keep everything in the same order. The disk was tucked into a legal envelope marked Insurance. “Got it. Here.” She shoved the disk into his hand. “Thanks for a lovely evening. Don’t call me, I’ll call you. Bye—Uh-oh!” she whispered. “Someone’s coming. Hit the li—”
    The small room went charcoal-gray as Jack simultaneously hit the light switch and pulled the double doors shut.
    Bars of light sliced across them from the bedroom. While the closet was large, it wouldn’t be large enough to hide two adults if someone decided to open the doors.
    Mia glared at Jack. “Didn’t you lock the door?” she mouthed silently.
    Looking through the slats of the door, he nodded, then jerked his head to indicate the man and woman who’d entered the bedroom. The couple, holding onto each other like shipwreck victims in a storm tossed sea, still took the time to relock the door behind them. They had a key.
    Mia’s eyes widened. A married senator from California and her young—good Lord! very young—boyfriend. This couldn’t be happening! Surely they weren’t going to…Oh crap! They were!
    The couple didn’t so much flow together as they attacked each other like wild animals, falling onto the