3 Bad Guys Get Caught by Marie Astor Page A

you and
they’ll know who you are.”
    “All they will be able to see is that I
worked for the Treasury. So what? I could’ve been an accountant there.”
    Dennis sighed. “An accountant? I would
give Kovar’s people a little more credit than that. This is crazy. What’s
gotten into you?”
    Suddenly, Janet felt her eyes welling
up. Maybe Dennis was right; maybe she was crazy and reckless, the very
qualities she so often accused Dennis of. All she wanted to do was show him
that she could hold her own, but instead she had made one hot mess. “I’m
sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to jeopardize our cover. I just wanted to
help the case. It was supposed to be a surprise for you ...”
    “Hey, it’s all right. I’m the one who’s
sorry.” Dennis wrapped his arms around her, his protective warmth calming her.
“I didn’t mean to come down on you like this. It’s just that if anything ever
happened to you, I’d go crazy.”
    “Nothing is going to happen to me. I
have you to protect me.”
    “That you do. You don’t make my job any
easier by poking your nose into places where it might get chopped off,” Dennis
grumbled, but Janet could see that he was running out of steam.
    “So, do you want to hear what I learned
today?” she asked proudly.
    “I’m all ears.”
    Forcing herself to ignore her fatigue,
Janet summarized what she had found out during her shift at the Panther
restaurant.
    “Wow,” Dennis whistled after Janet
finished. “So Kovar has his kin run the place for him. That’s good, that’s real
good. One of them is dating the hostess, even better. What’s her name again?”
    “Mila, Mila Brabec.”
    “I’d like to meet her. You could
introduce me as your cousin …”
    “Yeah, sure. We can talk about all of
that later, but right now I’m beat. I would kill for a hot bath,” Janet
concealed her annoyance with a yawn. Sure, she wanted to get the dirt on Kovar
and Libby, but her work dedication only went so far. Mila Brabec looked like a
super model, and there was no way in hell Janet was going to introduce her to
Dennis.
    “You just stay here.” Dennis dashed off
to the bathroom.
    Janet heard the sound of running water
and leaned back in her chair. Even the thought of taking off her clothes seemed
exhausting. If she could just be magically transported into the hot water … She
heard Dennis’s footsteps back in the kitchen.
    “I can’t move,” Janet groaned.
    Dennis kneeled beside her and took her
foot into his hands. His strong fingers began to knead the sore muscles. “How
does that feel?”
    “Ohh, that feels orgasmic!” Janet
exclaimed.
    “Well, if I knew you were that easy to
please,” Dennis chuckled, starting to work on her other foot.
    Janet closed her eyes. This was heaven
indeed.
    “Come on, time for your bath.” Dennis
helped her to her feet, undoing the zipper on her dress and sliding it off her
body. Then he undid her bra and slid off her panties, lifting her into his
arms. “Here we go.”
    He carried her to the bathroom as though
she weighed nothing at all. Gently, he lowered her into the water.
    The water was just hot enough to
pleasantly tingle her skin. “Ahhhh,” Janet inhaled the scent of the lavender
bath foam. “You are an angel,” she murmured.
    “An angel with ulterior motives,” Dennis’s
voice grew husky. “You’re looking mighty sexy in that bath, my lady.”
    “Dennis!” Janet groaned. “Not tonight.
I’m too exhausted. I can’t move a single muscle.”
    Dennis shook his head. “So that’s how it
starts.” By the tone of his voice she knew he was kidding.
    “I’ll make it up to you in the morning,
I promise,” Janet laughed. Their relationship hardly suffered from a lack of
sex.
    “I’m counting on it. Enjoy your bath.
I’ll be back in a few to make sure you don’t fall asleep in the tub.”
    “An angel,” Janet murmured. She closed
her eyes and drifted away, lulled by the relaxing lavender scent.
    Janet was not