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as he burst from the room, shouting jovially at some coworkers across the reception space. He hadn’t seen her, and she sighed in relief. Not allowing herself to pause again, she crept into the sitting room to find Marco studying a map tacked to the wall in the back corner.
    It would be easy. All she had to do was open her purse, take out the pistol, aim it and shoot. She would get one shot. She felt woozy but forced the nausea back down. She brought up memories of that afternoon, when he had kissed her then sent her callously on her way, to remind herself that she was only a toy to this man, to make herself angry. It didn’t work. Seeing him there, head bent in concentration, his almond-shaped eyes intent on his work, she found herself frozen in place.
    He looked up. “Grace.” He smiled warmly and took a step toward her.
    She opened her purse, the sound of the snap too loud to her ears. He stopped and gazed at her, alarm etched on his face.
    She pointed the pistol at him and closed her eyes, forcing her fingers to apply pressure to the trigger.
    The clatter of the gun on the floor startled her more than the pain of her twisted wrist as Marco disarmed her expertly. How he’d gotten to her so quickly, she couldn’t be sure. He jacked her arm behind her back, pushing his thighs against hers, walking her against the wall by the door. Never taking his dark gaze from her face, he reached out his other arm to push the sitting room doors shut then brought his hand to her face.
    “I should kill you, you know,” he whispered, his hungry gaze lingering on her lips.
    “So why don’t you?”
    Marco smiled. “Well,” he said, pinning her against the wall with the entire length of his body, “I wouldn’t want to take the life of such a lovely woman.”
    She could feel the heat of his cock burning through her dress. He lowered his head just an inch to put them face-to-face, and the scent of cloves and cinnamon radiated off him, causing Grace’s head to spin. She wrenched her wrist, testing the strength of his hold, and contemplated dipping her body low against him to drop to the floor. She glanced around the room, looking for the pistol.
    “It’s way over there,” he said, jerking his head to the left. “Even if you could get out of my hold, you’d never reach it in time.”
    “What if I screamed?”
    “You won’t.” And Marco slanted his lips over hers, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in a forceful kiss that silenced her and wiped all thought of escape from her mind.
    Grace shuddered into Marco’s warmth. One of his large, callused hands swept the skirt of her evening gown over her shoulders, leaving her clad only in lace from the waist down. Keeping her still with the weight of his lower body, he unbuttoned his dress shirt and slipped it and his coat off his shoulders then deftly switched arms so that he was still holding her wrist behind her. He allowed his garments to drop to the floor. Her breasts pressed against his naked torso, the tips grazing his skin through their satin covering, on fire at the touch. A wanton lake of desire opened within her, and she shifted, just slightly, allowing his powerful thigh to nudge hers apart. Their bodies melted together. She’d made her decision.
    She would spend these moments in the arms of this chiseled secret agent, no matter that they were on opposing sides. She’d hand in her resignation tomorrow. How could a spy go against her heart? Apparently, she wasn’t cut out for this life, and she would not be ashamed to admit it to her smolderingly gorgeous boss. Gene would have to accept it. He’d have no choice. And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t had his chance with her. Grace couldn’t have been more obvious about her attraction to the blond-haired Adonis. Weeks ago, she had thought she’d seen desire for her in his smoky blue eyes, and when he’d kissed her, her world had toppled upside down. She’d wanted to pass this test, to prove herself to him. But she’d