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multimillion dollar conglomerate. And she’d defended herself as deftly as she ran the Institute.
    Although she’d handled the gun proficiently, from the expression of horror when she’d pulled the trigger, he’d bet she’d never before fired with the intent to kill. If he wasn’t careful, her combination of strength, determination and foolhardiness could botch his mission, and if he didn’t assuage her suspicions, there was no telling what other crazy scheme she’d come up with. However, he wasn’t permitted to tell her anything—at least not without permission.
    “You could have killed me,” he said, hoping that if he stayed firm, she’d pull back and he’d find her less seductive. Kane liked strong women, women who knew what they wanted—but this wasn’t the time or the place for a dalliance. And he didn’t enter relationships lightly, not after his past disaster. So as appealing as he found Fallon, his talk about becoming her fantasy man had been a joke—one that had taken of a life on its own in his imagination.
    “Shooting you would have been self-defense.”
    She didn’t back down an inch and he had to stop himself from applauding. Any way he looked at her, Fallon Hanover was one hell of a woman. And he’d most definitely like to know her better.
    Perhaps coming to her home had compounded his mistake. He’d allowed her the advantage of the home ground, giving her options he couldn’t anticipate. But if he’d taken her to a public hotel, there was too much risk of a stranger noticing something odd. His enemies could read newspaper headlines for leads, notice that Fallon Hanover had disappeared, and put the facts together.
    Her lakeside home had seemed the best option. A pile of unfolded laundry on the couch indicated she didn’t expect company. She lived here alone, without servants.
    When he’d tried to give her space to adjust to her situation, she’d taken the offensive and her action was forcing him to reassess her. He couldn’t drag her around and expect blind cooperation. A woman like her needed answers.
    Perhaps her unwillingness to be a victim had altered his opinion of her. Or perhaps holding her in his arms, breathing in the vanilla scent of her hair, watching her rapid pulse beat at the hollow of her neck, feeling her firm bottom wriggling against his thighs had made him realize that his teasing to become her fantasy man had been more than a pleasant diversion to keep her distracted.
    Yet in his line of work, civilians were a hindrance. His duty was too important to let anyone distract him. Billions of lives were at stake.
    Yet while Fallon would slow him and interfere with his mission, he admitted to himself that he would savor every delicious moment. Despite his attraction to her, if he could have left her behind and gone on with his job alone, he would have. He was caught like a fly in a web—and if he wasn’t careful, she’d have him for supper.
    From the moment he’d accepted the assignment, the mission had been pure disaster. His briefing had been too sketchy, the timing off, the planning poor. Already his chance of success had been cut by a factor of four, and he’d calculated those odds without figuring in Fallon and his attraction to her. Even worse, he’d violated his sacred vows, mistakenly allowing her to see things she’d had no right to. He’d have to backtrack and feed her lies, convincing lies.
    When Kane released her, she spun to face him, her green eyes spitting poisoned daggers that made him want to stroke her like a frightened kitten. She straightened her skirt and, white-faced, glared at him.
    He wished he could kiss the distrust off her face, cup the delicate chin, explore her smooth complexion with the pad of his thumb. Her look said she needed explanations, something he didn’t have time for. Still, he’d have to justify certain actions or she might attack him again. Not that she could hurt him, but he couldn’t jeopardize his work. The greatest