After last night, the need to make her completely his was fierce and instinctive, a deep, primitive desire that skittered on the edge of recklessness. For three years, despite the unspoken awareness between them, they’d respected the perimeters of her marriage vows, even if Anthony hadn’t. Josh was a man who strongly believed in commitment and the bonds of marriage, and would never have crossed those matrimonial boundaries.

Circumstances had changed. For both of them. Paige no longer belonged to a man who’d treated her as a possession, and there were no sacred vows or a friendship for Josh to betray.

Circumstances, as awful and devastating as they were, had brought them together, heightening emotions and desires they’d suppressed for too long. If Paige had her way, judging by the brief discussion they’d had that morning, he suspected she’d let last night become a distant memory. For him, forgetting wasn’t even a remote possibility, not after discovering the sweet, honeyed taste of her, the soft feel of her body pressed beneath his, the intimate sounds she made when he eased deep inside her…

Having her just for one night would never be enough. Even now, his body quickened with the recollection of how incredibly responsive she’d been to his touch, how hungry she’d been…how needy. He’d been just as greedy, if not more so, because he wanted more than just one night of pleasure-he wanted endless tomorrows, and a lifetime of giving her everything she’d been missing in her marriage to Anthony.

He had a job to do and would protect her with his life. But he wasn’t about to let her forget that he’d filled an emotional and physical void, wasn’t about to let her tuck the memory away and revert to simple friendship. He’d give her time to adjust to the change-she deserved at least that much-but in the meantime he refused to pretend that nothing had happened between them.

She didn’t hear him approach; he deliberately moved stealthily, determined to make her realize the kind of danger that would surround her. Moving up behind her, he grabbed her upper arm, wringing a startled gasp from her throat. She automatically jerked away and stumbled sideways, but his tenacious hold prevented her from landing on her bottom in the sand.

When she finally found her footing, she turned to face him. She didn’t appear grateful for his assistance, not when he was responsible for shaking her up. Instead, she glared, her eyes shooting bright green flames of anger.

“Dammit, Josh,” she hissed furiously, ineffectively tugging her arm from his grasp. “You could have warned me you were coming up behind me!”

He offered no leniency, nor did he let go of her. “Carranza or his men wouldn’t have given a warning.” His tone was as grim as the picture his words painted.

She hesitated for a moment, his meaning sinking past her indignant tirade. Then, she lifted her chin defiantly. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t sneak up on me that way.”

If he hadn’t been so intent on proving a point, he would have found her stubbornness amusing. But the situation was dire, her cooperation a necessity. “And I’d appreciate it if, in the future, you’d listen to my orders. I asked you to wait for me in the living room.”

She glanced back at the house, her mouth thinning in disdain. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not be in the house right now.”

He understood her aversion to the corruption filling her home, but she still needed to take precautions. “Fine. Next time tell me and either I, or another undercover officer, will escort you outside.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression reflecting her displeasure. “I resent this situation, Josh,” she snapped.

He sighed wearily, and gave her a halfhearted smile. “No more than I do.” Both of them had been betrayed by a man they’d trusted, and that knowledge cut deeply. More gently, he suggested, “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

They strolled along the beach, near the water’s edge where the wet sand made the going easier. Their walk was calming, peaceful, and just what they needed to release the stress of the past few hours.

“I’m having a hard time understanding what compelled Anthony to steal all that stuff,” Paige commented, the first to break the companionable silence that had settled between them. “I feel so violated and deceived, in so many ways.”

The pain and disillusionment lacing her voice grabbed at him, made him furious at himself because he’d been just as blind to Anthony’s traitorous activities. “I think I know how you feel.”

“Do you?” Her sharp, angry question was a search for answers. “How could I have lived with Anthony for three years, and never have known that I was married to a criminal?”

He glanced at Paige, resisting the urge to reach out and smooth away the frown lines between her brows. Touching her was becoming an obsession, and that was dangerous to his concentration. “Because you accept people at face value.”

A mirthless little laugh caught in her throat and carried on the breeze. “Yeah, well, the joke’s on me, isn’t it?”

“On all of us, actually.” He pushed the tips of his fingers into the front pocket of his jeans, keeping his stride along the beach as casual as Paige’s. “Nobody wants to think that a cop might be on the wrong side of the law.”

“So why did he do it?” she asked softly.

The answer to that question wasn’t as simple as he would have liked. Glancing out at the ocean, he thought about all the possible replies that came to mind-the same ones he’d been mulling over for the past three months-and grasped the most logical explanation. “How much do you know of Anthony’s past?”

She thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I know he’s an only child and both his parents are dead. Other than that, Anthony refused to talk about his past. And after a while, I stopped asking.” She gave him an odd look tinged with a deeper layer of suspicion. “Why? What does his past have to do with all this?”

Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. He tried to define his thoughts so they made sense to her. “You know I’ve known Anthony since we went through the Academy together.”

She nodded, her gaze avid and curious. “Yes.”

“When I met him, he was barely making ends meet. We became friends, and since he was living out of his VW Bug, I let him stay at my condo until he could afford a place of his own.”

Back then, Anthony had been unpretentious enough to appreciate the simplicity of having a roof over his head. Somewhere along the way he’d changed. “One night after a few beers, he started talking about how he was going to be rich one day because he hated being poor. He’d grown up in a low-income neighborhood and struggled to keep himself and his mother from starving or being evicted from their tiny apartment. From what he told me, he didn’t have an easy childhood.”

“I never knew. He refused to talk about his past.” She quietly digested what he’d told her, then asked, “Where was his father?”

“According to Anthony, his father left before he was born, and he lost his mother to pneumonia just before his eighteenth birthday. From there, he worked odd jobs, then joined the Academy, which is where I met him. I don’t know his initial reasons for joining the Academy, but it was apparent from the beginning that he loved the danger and excitement of the job.”

He rubbed at the back of his neck before continuing. “About a year after we were on the force, Anthony started buying things he really couldn’t afford. When I questioned him, he’d never give me a straight answer. I really didn’t think his finances were any of my business, and just assumed he’d established a hell of a whole lot of credit. This went on for years, and when he didn’t declare bankruptcy, I thought maybe he’d made some good investments that had paid off, but I never knew for sure.” He slanted her a curious look. “Didn’t you ever wonder how he was able to afford that prime piece of real estate you live in? The boat, the cars?”

“Yes, I wondered.” They came across a cluster of smooth rocks, and Paige strolled in that direction. “When I asked about the purchases, he’d tell me he got a bonus or some other excuse I couldn’t argue with. Anthony was adamant about taking care of the bills, so I never really had a good handle on our finances. And I had my own trust fund that my grandmother left me, so I bought whatever I wanted, when I needed it. That’s how I was able to afford the Wild Rose.”

He smiled, a slight curving of his mouth. “I remember.” He also recalled how furious Anthony had been that Paige had openly defied him and bought the boutique-he’ d had no control over her decision since she’d used her own money, and that fact rankled. Their marriage had seemed strained before that incident, but had gotten progressively worse after she’d opened the boutique and devoted her time and effort there. Anthony hadn’t liked his wife working, yet he’d never given Paige any incentive to stay home.

But that was a different issue altogether, one that didn’t belong in their current conversation. Paige sat down on one of the rocks and gazed out at the blue stretch of ocean. He opted to stand.

“I don’t claim to be a psychiatrist, Paige,” he said, bringing her attention back to him. “But taking Anthony’s behavior into consideration, I’m guessing that his desolate childhood drove him toward greed. Money seemed to give him a warped sense of power and control, and judging by what we’ve discovered since his death, the need for prominence and wealth totally consumed his life.” He shrugged, wishing he knew the truth about what had driven Anthony to take the outrageous risks he had-risks that had destroyed his life and put his wife’s in jeopardy. ”That’s my theory, but we’ll never know for sure.”

“It certainly makes sense to me.” Bitterness crept into her tone. “It didn’t take me long to learn that Anthony thought of no one but himself.”

Giving into the urge to touch her, he reached out and stroked her soft cheek, wanting to kiss her and make up for everything she’d lacked in her marriage to Anthony. Comfort. Understanding. Love. But she was still uncertain and wary, and he respected that even if he didn’t like it. “I’m sorry you had to go through that”

“Yeah, me too.” Her voice was sad, and she gently pulled his hand away from her face, as if his caress stirred too many memories of last night and how much she’d liked him stroking her skin. Touching her certainly brought to mind vivid, sensual images for him.

She drew a deep breath and released it slowly, as if mentally distancing herself from him. “Like my dad always used to say, ‘You live, you learn, and move on a wiser person.”’ She smiled, forcing a cheerful attitude that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That’s exactly what I intend to do.”


ONCE THE HOUSE was cleared of evidence and officials, Paige accompanied Josh to his condo to pick up clothes and personal items for him to keep at her place. On the way back, they grabbed dinner from a Chinese take-out and ate chicken chow mein and shrimp fried rice while watching a Sunday evening sitcom on TV. Both of them refrained from discussing the case, but it wasn’t far from either one of their minds.

Emotionally exhausted from the day’s events, Paige didn’t bother to smother a huge yawn. “I think it’s time for bed,” she said to Josh, who sat on the couch a few feet away from her.

“I agree.” He sounded just as tired, though he appeared wide-awake and alert. Standing, he picked up the remote, clicked off the TV, and started toward the foyer. “You go on and change, and I’ll make sure everything is locked up.”

Grateful for the security of Josh’s presence, Paige went to her bedroom and hesitated just inside the doorway. The room that had become a haven for her since Anthony’s death, a place to unwind and pamper herself, had changed since that morning-not in appearance, but in feel. The very air around her seemed tainted by a man’s ruthless quest for wealth. As she stood there and considered that the house and its rich, luxurious contents most likely had been purchased with stolen money, an ominous cast settled over the entire dwelling.

A shiver chased down her spine, cold and unwelcome. Forcing those unpleasant thoughts from her head and replacing them with firm resolve, she headed into the bathroom, pinned up her hair, and took a long, hot shower. Tomorrow, she’d begin the proceedings that would rid her of the disturbing memories this house evoked. Tomorrow, she’d make the first step toward her future, and a new life away from Miami.

Twenty minutes later she exited the bathroom wearing her favorite lavender chemise, ready to crawl in between soft, cool sheets and forget the past twenty-four hours in lieu of a good, solid eight hours of much-needed sleep.