Dangerous Curves by Karen Anders Page B

you a deal,” he said, pulling back the curtain and snagging towels.
    He dangled one in front of her with a smile and she grabbed at it, stepping onto the bath mat. Max slipped a towel around his waist and secured the end. “What would that be?” She reached for a smaller towel and began squeezing the water out of her hair. She felt satisfied, drowsy and contented, and hoped that the mood between them would stay that way. She’d like this fantasy she was experiencing to go on just a little bit longer.
    He whipped the towel out of her hands and nudged her around so her back was to him. He rubbed at her hair to get out the excess water.
    She felt too comfortable in this intimate role. To alleviate the tension she suddenly felt building in her stomach, she pulled the towel out of his hands and wrapped it around her head.
    Max was just too easy to be with. He bent down and kissed the curve of her neck.
    Dangerous thinking, but that’s what Max Carpenter did to her.
    She sighed and leaned back into him, knowing she could so easily trust this man. She shored up her defenses.
    “How about room service?” Max said, lifting her hair and kissing her nape, sending a delicious tingling sensation skittering over her skin. “And I’ll see what I can do to relax those mystery muscles later.”
    If only it were that simple: playing house in the vacation capital of the South Pacific.
    A cozy, intimate dinner in their room? Not something Rio could handle right now, especially given how vulnerable he was making her feel. Dammit, he wasn’t going to do this to her. She would stay in control. She would complete her mission to keep him occupied. She had a job to do and she would start thinking about that.
    “I’d rather dine in the dining room.”
    “I don’t know, Rio. The fact that you think you saw someone you recognized has stayed in the back of my mind. It might be safer here in the room. After all, I’m here to keep you safe.”
    They had only been in Maui for about five hours and staying here and losing more of the battle with herself wasn’t a smart move. But his words brought back the memory of being in the lobby when she thought she’d recognized the man going into the elevator. A flash of a cheekbone, large fists slamming into her sides, bones cracking and she pulled in on herself. Suddenly, she wondered about her competency. Had that man been one of the goons who had pummeled her and kept her captive?
    “What is it you’re not telling me?” he asked.
    Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t admit to herself she wasn’t competent to make a call about theman she thought she’d seen. The DEA and making Fuentes pay were all she had. He’d taken Shane.
    Then Max slipped his finger beneath her chin and turned her gaze to his when she looked away in a vain effort to regroup. “Is something wrong?” he asked, never more sincere, real concern outlined in every inch of his handsome face. “Tell me and we can deal with it together.”
    For a split second she wanted to unburden herself and tell him everything, lean on him and trust him. But after everything she’d lost, she couldn’t take that chance with Max. She didn’t do together anymore. Believing in other people was for suckers. She was strictly a solo act now. “No,” she said flatly and pointedly extricated herself from the tight space he’d cornered her into. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself, but thank you ever so kindly for your concerns. In fact I want to go to dinner and I want to wear the cute white sundress the DEA so generously provided. I’m not helpless or one of your normal assignments, Max. So let’s go.”
    She didn’t wait for him, but stepped out of his arms and through the bathroom door with a deliberate calm that cost her more than he’d ever realize.
    Less than two weeks with him and it was going to be an internal battle for her all the way.
     
    M AX STOOD IN THE now-empty, steamy bathroom, wondering what in the hell