SocialPreyAllRomance by Trista Ann Michaels Page A

then grinned. “Get the hell out of my way.”
    He nodded and chuckled. “All right.”
    She moved away from the door allowing him to leave, but then stopped him. “Oh, wait.”
    He turned to look at her questioningly. “You change your mind?”
    “Actually, I need your help. One of the women James is talking to is local.”
    Scott shook his head. “Kiley, no.”
    “Why?”
    “If you go talk to her, which is what I’m thinking you want to do, you could screw
     this whole thing up. If she’s in love with him, whatever you say, she’ll try to confirm.
     It could alert him that we’re onto him.”
    Her shoulders sagged in defeat. “You’re probably right. I just can’t stand the thought
     of another woman being played.”
    “That’s why you have this program running. If she takes off to Peru, we’ll be right
     behind her. I promise.”
    “Have you talked to the authorities in Peru?”
    “We don’t know the authorities aren’t in on this as well.”

    “We can’t go down there and take out their cartels without giving them some sort of
     warning.”
    “Yeah, we can.”
    “Scott—“
    He smiled and chucked her under the chin. “Trust me. I have all the necessary cards
     in play.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You went to the D.E.A.”
    He shifted and leaned against the doorjamb while holding the door open with his free
     hand. “Is that a bad thing? They want them. We can get them.”
    “So when it’s finished we just hand them over? That will never work. They didn’t get
     them through legal channels.”
    “They’re our way in without having to go through the locals,” he said. “We’re not
     just rescuing someone this time. We’re bringing in the bad guys. We need someone to
     bring them to.”
    Kiley glanced toward the ceiling in frustration.
    “Did you think we were just going to go round them up and drop them off at the local
     jail?”
    “To be honest, I didn’t know what we were going to do with them.”
    “The D.E.A has been watching this group for a while. So far they’ve had two undercover
     agents killed trying to infiltrate the cartel. The D.E.A wants them bad, Kiley. Bad
     enough to give us free reign, while at the same time backing us up.”
    “Which means if anything goes wrong, it’s your fault not theirs and they deny ever
     being involved.”
    “It’s not the first time we’ve played this game with them, Kiley, and I’m sure it
     won’t be the last.”
    Kiley bit at her lower lip again. Scott reached for her hand and wrapped his fingers
     around hers. When he tugged her forward she didn’t resist. She moved to stand in front
     of him, her hand in his, her beautiful gaze locked on his own.
    “We know what we’re doing.”
    “I know.”
    “Then trust me,” he whispered.

    He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. He absently rubbed his thumb over the back
     of her hand, enjoying the feel of her skin beneath his touch. He wondered what the
     rest of her would feel like. Would she be as soft everywhere?
    Her lips twisted slightly. “You’re real big on this trust thing, aren’t you?”
    “Trust is important in any relationship.” He dropped her hand and turned to leave.
     “Especially in our line of work.”
    “Touche,” he heard her say just before the door closed behind him.

Chapter Eight
    Kiley walked into her house and flipped the light switch by the door, bathing the
     living room in light. She sighed and set her purse and keys in the chair by the door.
     Some people had a coffee table or kitchen table they set things on. Kiley used the
     chair. It was something her brother always teased her about.
    Even when they were kids, she was so anxious to be rid of all the crap she carried
     home from school, she would drop it into the first available spot. That was usually
     the chair by the door and the habit stuck.
    The ringing of her cell phone cut through the silent house and she quickly retrieved
     it from her purse.
    “Hello,” she said without looking