Secret Agent Seduction by Maureen Smith Page B

clinging to the hard, sculpted muscles of his thighs and buttocks.
    Did the infuriating man have to be so damn sexy?
    â€œAs you can see,” he murmured, “I’m very much alive.”
    â€œYes, I can see that,” Lia snapped. She holstered her weapon, glaring at him. “What the hell are you doing out here by yourself, anyway?”
    â€œI wanted to watch the sun rise. It’s a simple pleasure I haven’t enjoyed in over a year.”
    Something in the quiet admission made Lia feel guilty for yelling at him. Which only angered her more. “Yeah, well, I hope it was worth risking your life for,” she said testily.
    â€œOh, it was, believe me. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time.” Gazing at her, he added huskily, “Second only to you.”
    Her heart thumped, and she swallowed with difficulty. Refusing to yield to the jagged need suddenly flooding her system, Lia returned his gaze steadily. “In the future,” she said, her voice carefully controlled, “please refrain from leaving the cabin unattended. My job is to protect you, but I can’t do that very well if you insist on wandering off alone.”
    Magliore inclined his head. “Fair enough.”
    â€œThank you.”
    Slightly mollified that he’d acquiesced so easily, Lia made her way across the wide porch to join him at the railing. She felt his eyes on her as she took a deep breath of cool, clean air, scented with pine and cedar and the soft perfumes of a dozen wildflowers in late-summer bloom. In the distance, the sunlight spilled over the shoulders of the Catoctin Mountains like liquid gold. Halfway up the side of the mountain range, an eagle soared above the tops of the Douglas fir and pine trees, wings outstretched as it climbed higher and higher in the air.
    Lia watched in silence, letting the peace and beauty of her surroundings seep into her, if only for a few moments.
    â€œJust for the record,” she murmured, “it was a breathtaking sunrise.”
    Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Magliore smile at her. “You watched it, too?”
    â€œYes. I watched it from a window in my room. I believe yours has one, too. A window, I mean.”
    He chuckled softly. “Touché.”
    â€œI don’t even know how you slipped past me,” Lia grumbled irately, unwilling to drop the subject. “I’ve been up for over an hour. I didn’t hear you get up or sneak past my door.”
    He flashed a mischievous grin. “I can be very stealthy when I want to be.”
    Lia frowned. “That may be true, but what about the security alarm? The control panel is supposed to emit a signal every time someone leaves or enters the cabin.” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously on his handsome face. “I read in your dossier that you’re very adept at taking things apart and putting them back together. Did you do something to that alarm?”
    Again he chuckled. “I assure you, Miss Charles, I didn’t touch the alarm.”
    Lia’s frown deepened. She’d secured the cabin before going to bed last night, and the alarm had been working just fine. Had someone else tampered with it? She and the other three agents were the only ones who had access to the cabin, and she couldn’t imagine any of them sneaking over in the middle of the night to disable the security system.
    Don’t overreact, Lia. Maybe there’s a simple explanation for what happened. Maybe one of the wires had a short circuit.
    â€œLet’s go back inside,” she said to Magliore, who was watching her intently. “I can make some coffee before we walk down to the lodge to have breakfast in an hour.”
    â€œSounds good,” he murmured. Gently he cupped her elbow and steered her toward the open doorway of the cabin, the warmth of his strong fingers penetrating the thin cotton of her blouse. Lia was too distracted by the mystery of the