Barenaked Jane. Deanna Lee

not weak.”

      “No. You aren’t.” He leaned against the side of my desk, reached out, and tilted my face up until our gazes met. “You’re also quite priceless to me, Ms. Tilwell. Remember that.”

      I sat back in my chair and watched him walk out of my office into the bull pen. He’d knocked the wind out of my sails. “Damn it.”

      “What a dirty mouth you have.”

      I looked up and offered my friend and boss, Mercy Rothell, a smile. “Hey.”

      “So, GI Jane, I’d lecture you if I didn’t know James had already done it.” She glanced out into the bull pen where he was talking with Mathias Montgomery. “You also gave him quite a scare.”

      “It was a stupid thing to do.” I held up my hands in a sign of defeat and then relaxed back in my chair.

      “Granted.” She sat down in the chair that James had abandoned. “So, just how long did the two of you tumble around on the floor?”

      I flushed and then bit down on my lip. “Mercy.”

      “What? So you weren’t sprawled underneath him for several minutes?”

      “You make it sound tawdry.”

      “I was just hoping.”

      “I thought he was a criminal.”

      “A pretty fine criminal, I’d say.” She grinned. “The good thing is that James is so rattled that he’s agreed to upgrade the security in the building and get us a new security firm contract.”

      “I wasn’t sprawled.”

      “Sure sounded like you were.” Mercy laughed when I glared at her.

      I glanced out toward the men. “He is pretty.”

      “I’ve come to think all the Montgomery men are.”

      “Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” Well, that sounded childish. I hated being whiny; it totally conflicted with my internal image of myself.

      “I didn’t know. If he’d told us he was coming to do it tonight, we might have altered how we do things. An honest assessment of the business was important to determine our security needs.”

      An honest assessment. “In retrospect, he’s not a very good burglar. He made enough noise to wake the dead.”

      She laughed. “That can hardly be a detraction.”

      “When you and Shame talked about him, neither of you mentioned how arrogant he is.”

      Mercy grinned. “I sort of like arrogant men. He spent four years in the army and six in the FBI before he went into the private security sector, so maybe there is an aura about him. As if he knows how capable he is.” She stood. “Now, I’m going to go home and crawl into my bed. I’ll see you on Monday.”

      At least I had the weekend to recover. I glanced out toward the bull pen just in time to see James wave good-bye. “Hey, I’ll walk out with you.”

      Mercy laughed. “Actually, I think your burglar isn’t quite finished with you.”

      I watched, exasperated, as she greeted her future brother-in-law with affection and swished away. They’d left me alone with him. It was obvious that I needed to choose friends and employers more carefully in the future.

      Careful not to look in his direction, I picked up my purse and headed toward my office door. He was standing just outside of it and let me get just about a foot past him before he took my arm and brought me around to face him.

      “Mr. Montgomery, I assure you that I’ve been manhandled about all I can handle this evening.” I looked pointedly at his hand and then met his gaze. “I think it might be best if you gave me some space.”

      He released my arm. “I owe you an apology. I’m not normally so rough with women.”

      “I was trying to hit you in the head.” I ran my fingers through my hair and then met his gaze. “Is my hair really too short?”

      “Shamus seems to think so.” He touched my chin gently and tilted my head. “But it suits your face.”

      I took a step back; his touch was pleasant and far too distracting for my peace of mind. “I should be going.”

      “Let me walk you to your car.”

      “I can take care of myself.” I lifted my chin and met his gaze with all the determination I could muster. Just because he’d tossed me around like I weighed five pounds and made it abundantly clear that I was no match for him didn’t mean that I was going to admit to any kind of weakness.

      “I know.”

      I glared at him briefly. “Are you being condescending?”

      “No, I’m not. I outweigh you and I put up more of a fight than you anticipated. I’m actually quite sure you could have taken down someone else. I spent too much time with a badge to have slow reflexes.” He moved toward me and paused when I straightened. “I’ve really put you on edge, haven’t I?”

      “It’s not every day that a man takes me down, pins me to the floor, and straddles me without even breathing hard.” I crossed my arms over my breasts. “I’m not some pansy girl, you know.”

      “I know.”

      “I’ve taken kickboxing lessons for five years.”

      “Yes, and trust me I’ll feel the repercussions of those classes for a few days.” His hand drifted to his left side.

      “I parked in the parking garage down the street.” I went to the coatrack located near the top of the stairs and grabbed my coat. My fingers curled into the wool briefly, and then I pulled it on.

      I wasn’t weak and I shouldn’t have been relieved that he was going to walk me to my car. All of that aside, I was relieved. As far as I knew, he wasn’t the only criminal watching the place and monitoring my habits. How long had I been so lax about my own personal security? Why hadn’t I noticed Mathias watching the gallery?

      I hadn’t been a cop for more than six years, yet I’d been more attentive to my surroundings before I was a cop than I could account for now. My job had softened me up in a lot of ways, I knew that. Not being exposed every day to the criminal element had a way of blunting the violence of the world to the average person, and it had done it to me.

      For a long time I missed being a cop, but over the years, that feeling had drifted away and left me with a strange sense of relief. Relief that I could go to work every day and not really worry all that much about dying. And that relief had made me stupid and unobservant.

      2

      I opened my car door and tossed my purse inside. “Thanks.”

      “No problem.” He glanced around the garage and then shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. “I guess I don’t need to tell you that this isn’t the safest place to park.”

      “No, I’m aware of it. I’ve complained a few times.” I shrugged. “The city won’t care until someone important gets jacked up in here.”

      “Politics aren’t pretty.”

      “I know. I try to stay away from them as much as possible.” I crossed my arms over my breasts and looked down at my shoes. “I suppose that Mr. Brooks will be hiring your firm?”

      “I’ll be allowed to submit a bid,” he admitted ruefully. “I didn’t expect anything different, honestly. I know enough about James Brooks to know that even when he’s pushed into a situation he’ll make a careful and considered decision.”

      I laughed. “Well, he’s also a very frugal man when it comes to the Holman Foundation.”

      “I’ll keep