“We will both refrain from giving hints. It will pit your wits against that of your girlfriend, Mr. Grange.”

Ethan laughed and shook his head. “Not a chance. We both know Beth has a better sense of direction than I do. I’m relying on her to get me through the maze as it is.”

“Beth, you must convince your boyfriend to agree.” There was a core of steel in Prescott’s tone, a subtle warning not lost on Beth.

Her boss was attempting to order her to do this. She wasn’t sure if he wanted her to believe her job might be on the line if she refused, but he definitely wanted his way.

Before Beth could answer though, Ethan’s arm settled around her, his hand curving to her waist and pulling her in tight against him. “I’m not a man who lets my woman tell me what to do, Mr. Prescott. Beth will be going in with me.”

There wasn’t anything subtle about the threat in Ethan’s voice and it was directed right at Prescott. It fit his role well and Beth saw the wisdom her dad and Ethan had shown in creating this particular type of role for her partner. Prescott might get annoyed, but after the way Ethan had reacted to being told he could not escort her right to the door for her interview and the number of calls he made to her during work hours, his reaction now would not be suspect in the least.

They were the third couple into the maze. Ethan immediately started leading her away from the rustle of movement and low voices of the other guests.

Beth pulled on his arm. “I thought I was going to take the lead,” she whispered.

He shook his head once, making no sound as he took turns as if he knew exactly where he was going. A minute later, he pulled her to a stop and just listened.

Two voices came from the other side of the hedge. Both spoke low, but the words were understandable.

“I do not know why you bothered to come. He’s not going to sell the information to your people. His country is at war with yours.” It was the stocky Russian/Ukrainian.

“Men like Prescott have no country. He cares only for the number of zeroes after the dollar sign and we are prepared to offer many.” The man spoke with the cultured tones of the English, but Beth guessed he was the Arab who had sat near Ethan during dinner.

She’d spoken only briefly to him, an introduction from Prescott before dinner, but noticed the man’s impeccable accent at the time.

“There are things besides money a man like Prescott craves.” The dark promise in the Russian/Ukrainian’s voice made Beth’s stomach clench.

Somehow, she did not think the man was talking about power or prominence.

“There, too, you will fall short of what our people can offer,” the Arab said, showing he knew exactly what the other man was referring to.

Or he was bluffing. It didn’t matter which. Something about the conversation was making Beth nauseous.

“You would like to think so, I am sure.”

“Rudi, will you stop talking business and help me find the center of the maze?” a feminine voice whined from farther away.

The Arab’s companion was silent until the other couple moved on. “You risk a great deal talking with that man,” she said in a voice both cold and hard.

“I risk nothing.”

“You have no way of knowing which guests are buyers like we are and which are blinds he has planted to gain information, or play his little power games with.”

“The stupid Russian spoke to me first.”

“If he is here, he is not stupid and his speaking first is no guarantee he is not working for Prescott as a spy.”

“Do not correct me.”

“Do not be tedious. I give correction when it is needed. We both benefit if your people win the bid, but we both lose if you muck the deal.” The woman’s voice was definitely American and while she had seemed quiet during dinner and before, she was obviously no brainless bedmate brought along to even out numbers.

“You have no more loyalty to your country than Prescott.”

“And you have a brain the size of a pea if you think you are safe in continuing to bait me, but I guess that means we both have our little deficiencies we must learn to live with.”

Ethan stiffened beside Beth, but made no noise.

With a sound of disgust, the man moved off.

“Pig,” the woman hissed under her breath before following him, her tread so quiet, Beth barely heard her move.

She looked up at Ethan. His brows were drawn together in a frown and he looked at the hedge almost as if he could see through it and was watching the two people move away.

“What is it?” she asked quietly.

He shook his head again, indicating silence. Beth obeyed. The other couples passed by on the other side of the hedge, some talking, some quiet, but none saying anything nearly as interesting as the original foursome.

Ethan looked down at his watch, looked up at Beth, and said, “Come here.”

That was all the warning she got before he kissed her so expertly, her toes curled in her high-heeled sandals. He tunneled his fingers into her hair and devoured her with his mouth until she was panting and hot with arousal, rubbing her body against his and holding his head to her with desperate hands.

A chime sounded and he jerked away from her with a curse. “That damn near got out of hand.”

She would have agreed if she could have breathed to do so.

He didn’t say anything else and she had no idea why he had kissed her, only that it proved she was still dangerously susceptible to him. Something she had known, but would have been happy forgoing another object lesson on.

She figured out why he’d done it when they were the last couple to find the center. Prescott and several others looked at Beth with knowing expressions and she realized she looked as disheveled as she felt. Ethan looked a little worse for the wear, too. She’d mussed his hair and he had a smear of her lipstick near his mouth.

She indicated it discreetly and he smiled that devil’s smile he used sometimes, then pulled a white handkerchief from an interior pocket on his blazer and wiped the evidence from his face. Everyone would think they’d been lost to passion rather than lost in the maze.

No one would guess they were the last couple to find the center because they’d been busy spying on the others. It was smart, but Beth felt used. Her reaction to Ethan wasn’t part of the case, but he wasn’t above using it as a blind. She knew that made sense and told her susceptible heart to chill out, but there was an ache inside her that would not go away.

Prescott served champagne to his guests and congratulated the first couple to find the center before leading them out of the maze and back to the house, where dessert was being served.

The rest of the evening was uneventful and always mindful of Ethan’s warning about talking in the car, Beth waited until they were back at the cabin with everything secure before bringing up the odd conversation they had overheard.

She slipped her shoes off and curled up on the sofa, her frothy cocktail dress flowing around her and sliding silkily against her stocking-clad thighs. For once, the kittens did not come to join her. They slept curled together in the center of the daybed in the spare room. They’d lifted their heads and blinked big kitty eyes at her when she’d gone in to check on them, but gone directly back to sleep.

She wished at least one of them had followed her into the living room. She could use a diversion from the tension that had nothing to do with the case shimmering around her and Ethan. “He’s getting ready to auction something off.”

Ethan stripped off his blazer and kicked off his shoes, his green eyes burning with something besides interest in the case. “Definitely, but we don’t have a clue what. There’s not even a whisper about it among my contacts.”

She adjusted her skirt over her legs so nothing showed except her toes peeking from beneath the two layers of chiffon. “He’s careful.”