Sudden Alliance. Jackie Manning

victim who needed him.

      Innocent? Maybe the car bomb had been staged to make her appear a victim. She might have clicked the ignition starter in plenty of time without his prompting. After all, the pieces had already been put into place: the desk clerk, the story about a man finding her camera, the phone call to the funeral home. What if the car explosion was only a ploy to gain Liam’s trust?

      Damn, he’d gotten so tangled up in Sara’s bedroom eyes and long legs that he didn’t know what to believe. He wanted to reach out and rub his thumb across the skin at the corners of her eyes, smoothing it. Instead, he balled his hands in his lap.

      Brenda, the pretty, brown-haired waitress, interrupted his thoughts as she approached with two steaming mugs of black coffee. She gave Sara an assessing glance, then turned a beaming smile on Liam. “Been a long time since we’ve seen you, sweetheart,” she said, placing the mugs on the tabletop between them. “Will you be staying in town for a while?”

      “Hi, Brenda.” Liam gave her a polite smile but didn’t answer her question. He looked at Sara. “You must be hungry. How does the house special sound?”

      Sara shrugged. “Fine.”

      Liam nodded to Brenda. “Make that two.”

      When she left, Liam picked up a spoon and stirred his coffee. “I think we need to talk about what happened,” he said, noting that Sara’s gaze remained on her mug.

      She jerked her head up. “What do you want me to say? One minute I feel calm, yet when I look at my hands, they’re shaking so badly I can’t hold a spoon.”

      “Hey, anyone would feel like that considering what you’ve been through.” Get a grip, O’Shea, he told himself harshly. Sara’s innocence and vulnerability were having a critical effect on what passed for his brain. He had to find a way to put his doubts about her to rest.

      He ran a finger along the rim of his cup, choosing his next words carefully. If she was a covert operator, he knew of a way to test her. “Well, for starters, I think you need my protection.”

      Her brow furrowed. “Protection?”

      “I’m offering my professional services. This is what I do for a living.”

      “You said you worked for a security firm,” she said, as though not convinced.

      “I do. I also freelance.” When she continued to look puzzled, he added, “I take on clients who are in trouble. In your case, I’ll find out who put that bomb in your car and why. TALON-6, the security and surveillance agency I work for, will help cut through the police red tape. You’ll have protection 24/7 while we get to the bottom of this. I’m offering you something I don’t think you should refuse.”

      She took a deep breath as though considering. He expected her to act fearful and, with a bit of further encouragement from him, agree with open arms to his offer.

      Instead, she studied him cautiously, as though he were a bug under a microscope. “What if I can’t afford your rates? I might be unemployed for all I know.”

      “My rates are flexible. You can pay what and when you can.” His smile, he hoped, was irresistible enough to get her to say yes.

      He watched her consider his offer. Damn those green eyes and that yard of red hair. She was definitely his type, and that meant trouble. His vision of the perfect woman falling into his life, needing a protector. What a setup.

      Sara slanted him a glance. “What if I hire you by the day?”

      “By the day?” Where in the hell had she come up with that?

      “Yes,” she continued. “I was thinking that if we can’t find the man who drives the Cadillac with the gold hubcaps, maybe the man whose name is on my ID card, Gregory Urquhart, can help us. I think we should call him.”

      Liam had no idea what to make of her. “Okay, and then what?”

      “Let’s take this one day at a time.”

      Damn, just when he thought he was beginning to figure her out, she threw him another curve. “Okay, you’ve got yourself a protector. For one day.”

      She smiled as though satisfied, then the smile faded. “One more thing.” Her cheeks grew pink and she lowered her lashes. “Our relationship must remain professional.” She shifted position and fiddled with her napkin. Finally her lashes rose and that green gaze shot straight through him. “Just because I’ve hired you doesn’t mean that I’m going to…sleep with you.”

      Bull’s-eye. Arrow straight through his male ego. “What gave you the idea that I wanted to—” Then it hit him. The kiss. Of course. “I’m sorry if I acted inappropriately,” he said, not meaning a word of it. “But as I remember, you kissed me, too.”

      Her full lips twitched as she studied him. “Well, now that our curiosity about each other has been satisfied, we should have no more problems sticking to business.”

      So she was only satisfying her curiosity, was she?

      He refused to acknowledge the sting of disappointment he felt. Well, he’d never begged a woman before, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.

      Liam forced a smile. “No problem whatsoever.”

      She leaned back, her mouth curved into a tight smile of her own. “Then I accept your offer. But I feel guilty for taking you away from your family.” She sat up suddenly. “What time is your niece’s christening?”

      “Not until one o’clock. Don’t worry. I have plenty of time. Maybe you’ll be able to lie down and rest while my family is in church.”

      “What about you?” Sara’s voice softened with concern. “You must be exhausted.”

      “I’m fine,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, I don’t need a lot of sleep.”

      “I’m really sorry,” Sara said, her voice soft as her gaze fell to his ripped jacket, the scratches on his hands and wrists. “You keep rubbing your shoulder. Are you sure you’re all right?”

      Before he could answer, Brenda returned, carrying two plates filled with bacon, eggs, toast and fried potatoes. The appetizing aroma made his mouth water. After she left, he watched Sara stare at the mound of food in front of her.

      “Is everything a blank, or can you remember if you like bacon and eggs?” Liam asked.

      She smiled faintly. “A blank, I’m afraid. But this food looks delicious.”

      At this moment he believed her. If she was acting, then heaven help him, he was a goner.

      “Should we call Gregory Urquhart?” she asked in between bites. Liam noticed that she had placed beside her plate the photo of the smiling man Liam had found inside the lining of her bag.

      He pulled out his cell phone and set it in front of her. “No better time than the present.”

      She glanced at the phone, then back at him. “I’d rather you spoke to him. Do you mind?”

      “Are you sure?” He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice. “Maybe if you heard his voice—”

      “I don’t know why, but I’d rather you spoke to him first.”

      He shrugged, then took the ID card from her fingers. He recognized the area code as central Massachusetts. He punched in Urquhart’s number, watching her as she stared out the window at the rolling breakers.

      The connection went through and a woman answered on the second ring. When she called Urquhart to the phone, Liam heard children’s laughter and a dog barking in the distance. Obviously Urquhart was a family man.

      What if he was cheating on his wife with Sara? Was that why she wanted Liam to call? In case the wife answered, a man asking to speak to her husband wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

      “Urquhart,” a baritone