Read White Heat for Free Online Page B

dossier. So I figure the role is subject to interpretation. I’ve got to sell it, make it real.” She moved to the next toenail. “And the way I picture her is sort of sweet and naive and madly in love with her nice but none-too-bright husband.”
    He shot her a dark look. Where was she going with this? “Did you say ‘none-too-bright’?” he grumbled, but it was really the “madly in love” part that disturbed him. He didn’t want to get anything started.
    â€œIt’s just a role.”
    â€œI don’t mind playing dumb as long as you remember I’m the boss here. Milt’s sending me with you for a reason.”
    â€œI think Milt is sending us together because there’s safety in numbers, not because he expects you to exert your authority while we’re there.”
    â€œHe doesn’t need to specify that because I’m already your boss.”
    â€œAnd I’d never question that.” She gave him a saccharine smile to take the edge off her sarcasm, and he seemed to accept the statement at face value.
    â€œGlad we’re on the same page.”
    â€œBack to that incomplete dossier.” She waved one hand rapidly over her toes. “What was Milt thinking, being so vague?”
    â€œHe said he didn’t have a lot of time. He thought we could finish strategizing today while we drove.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear I’ll have some input, because we need to come up with ways to seem more like a real couple.”
    What was she up to? He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, speculating on what it could be. “Such as…”
    â€œI don’t know. Something that makes it appear as if we’ve been together for more than, say…a day. ”
    He decided to go along with her. “Like what? Like…getting my name tattooed on your neck?”
    She didn’t argue as he’d expected; she frowned in contemplation. “Exactly. Only…not on my neck. That’s too…overboard. But maybe my arm.”
    â€œNo way! I was joking, and you know it. There’s no telling how long we’ll be there. A fake tattoo might wash off.”
    â€œWhich is why it would have to be a real one. Right here.” She indicated her deltoid. “Nathan’s woman.”
    She was pushing his buttons. After the way she’d avoided him the past several months, it seemed out of character, but now that they’d been forced into this situation, he wondered if she was overcompensating. “That might be just the thing,” he said, refusing to take the bait.
    â€œAs long as it’s designed to be turned into something else when this is all over,” she murmured. “I’ve been meaning to get one, anyway—maybe a skull to impress the drug dealers I usually work with.”
    His name—turned into a skull? The kiss of death. The image hit far too close to home. But, of course, she wouldn’t know that. “Tattoos take time to ink and to heal. And they hurt. Are you sure you want to go through all that pain just to put your manager’s name on your arm for one assignment?”
    â€œI could use it afterward. The skull, I mean.”
    â€œRight. You mentioned that.”
    â€œBesides, they can’t hurt too badly if everyone’s getting them.”
    He slung one arm over the steering wheel. “They hurt badly enough. Why put yourself through it?” And mar that soft skin, he added silently.
    â€œGood point. Since you’re so tough, you should get the tattoo— my name on your arm.”
    No way would he etch a woman’s name on his skin. The permanence of that scared the hell out of him and she knew it. That was partly what told him this was a setup. “Sorry, ain’t gonna happen.”
    They reached the highway, and he accelerated as they headed toward Interstate 10, which would eventually take them through Riverside and into Arizona, almost all the