The hell he would.
After a few more moments, Cale ended the call and stared down at her.
Emotions wanted to rip Cassidy apart right then. All of her hard work, for so long...for nothing.
“Mercer just promised me a briefing at 0600,” he said as his assessing gaze drifted over her. “You really going to make me wait until then in order to find out what’s going on with you?”
Not much time. “What’s going on is that I’m working a case, and your presence here jeopardizes its success.” Truth.
“Mercer doesn’t think so.”
That was because Mercer didn’t think she could handle things on her own.
“And you know the director...” Cale continued, rolling his shoulders as if pushing away a heavy burden. “When that SOB says jump, we’re all supposed to learn how to fly.”
Her breath rushed from her lungs. He doesn’t realize who I am. Cale had obviously decided that she was, indeed, another EOD agent.
Not quite, cowboy. Not quite. And he did remind her of a cowboy. Maybe it was that Texas drawl that slipped out every now and then. Maybe it was the hard edge that clung to him. The tough exterior.
But she was thinking of him as cowboy tough and he—he was thinking of her as the spoiled debutante. It grated, but as long as he didn’t realize exactly who she was, then his guard would stay lowered.
She’d had plenty of babysitters—um, bodyguards—over the past few years. She’d gotten pretty adept at handling them.
And dodging them.
Since Cale didn’t realize her true identity, that would make things even easier for her.
She smiled at him. A real smile.
He blinked. A furrow appeared between his dark brows.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot.” Cassidy even offered him her hand. Why not be friendly? That would help to make him feel even more at ease with her. “It looks like we’ll be...close...for the next few days, so maybe we should just start fresh.”
They’d be close until she could manage to ditch him and go after those gunmen on her own. They were in the city. Pinpointing their next attack area had been the tricky part. Now that she knew they were in the general area, she just had to track them.
Cale silently regarded her offered hand, the hand that was still hovering in the air between them. She wiggled her fingers.
His own hand lifted and finally closed around hers. Well, swallowed hers was probably a better description. Cale used his grip to pull her closer to him.
Caught off balance by that stronger-than-expected hold, she had to take a few quick steps forward.
She was suddenly way too conscious of her thin robe and of the fact that she had nothing on beneath that robe.
Had he noticed?
The gleam of awareness in his eyes said he had.
Oh, boy.
“Partners?” Cale murmured.
She nodded. He could believe that they’d be partners for a bit. A few precious hours remained before dawn and Mercer’s promised briefing. She could fool him until then, and surely she’d manage to slip away in that time.
“Partners don’t keep secrets from each other,” he continued.
He hadn’t let go of her hand.
Mere inches separated their bodies.
“Tell me about the case.”
His fingers slowly freed hers.
She took the breath that her starving lungs so desperately needed.
“I’m working on an abduction case.” Again, mostly true. And to think that Mercer believed she spent her days just spinning lies. There was some truth to her existence. Cassidy thought the best way to deceive was to use a mix of truth and lies. “Those men tonight, they took someone else a while back.”
More truth. A painful one, at that.
“Who?”
Before she did this “baring of the soul” bit, she’d really prefer putting on some clothes. If her soul was going to be exposed to him, then her flesh could at least be covered more. “Do you mind if I get dressed?” The question was supposed to be flippant.
Instead, her voice came out hoarse and soft and inviting.
She hadn’t meant it to be that way. Yes, Cale Lane was attractive—sexy and compelling in that dark and dangerous way of his—but she wasn’t interested in him. Was she?
Maybe.
Yes.
If they’d met in a different time. Different place.
Okay, maybe an entirely different life.
“You don’t have to dress on my account,” he told her. The hint of Texas was back in his voice, thickening the words.
“I’d better dress on my own account.” Because being mostly naked in front of the agent wasn’t a good plan.
Mercer would be furious.
So, what?
She held Cale’s gaze a moment longer, then scurried around him and headed for her closet. She fumbled quickly inside, grabbing her jeans and a T-shirt. “I’ll change in the bathroom and be right back.” She didn’t glance over her shoulder at him as she hurried into the relative safety of the bathroom.
She did turn the lock into place.
Snick.
Then she dressed as quickly as she could...before hurrying toward the window—and escape. She’d picked the hotel deliberately. She wasn’t staying there because of the five-star dining options or the perfect proximity to some of the main Carnival events.
She was in that hotel because it offered suites that were housed on the second floor—a floor full of balconies. And, so convenient for her, there was even an old-style lattice on the side of her building. Lattice that she could use in her bid for freedom.
Cassidy believed in the value of an escape plan. Because plans like that...they sure came in handy during situations exactly like this one.
* * *
THEY HADN’T GOTTEN their target. Ian Gagnon glared at the men around him. It should have been so simple. Those rich fools had been too afraid to fight back.
The plan had been perfect.
Slip into the party.
Grab the girl.
Get away.
They’d done the same routine a dozen times, all without any mistakes. But this time, with her, everything had gone to hell. They’d had to fight their way to safety.
Two of his men hadn’t made it out of that fire.
They’d fallen to gunfire.
Gunfire.
The party hadn’t just been filled with helpless fools. The man who’d come so quickly to Cassidy Sherridan’s rescue—her possessive lover with the glittering gaze and the gun holstered under his tux—he was a threat that Ian had not anticipated.
But the man was a threat that could be eliminated.
He would study that mysterious gentleman. Learn his secrets and weaknesses. Everyone had weaknesses that could be exploited. Ian knew that well.