She opened her eyes slowly and rolled on to her back, her stare going to the ceiling. She knew the truth and she wasn’t trying to fool herself; Raul didn’t really love her, and she didn’t love him. They had come together in the heat of passion and nothing more. She was a fool to think there might be a possibility for something else. She didn’t even want it to be more, she told herself. There was no place in her life for love, other than that for her children. All her energies had to go in that direction. Yet, for just a moment-

She abruptly cut the thought off. He didn’t love her, but there was something there, something that made her desperately want to tell him about Kelman. But what could she say? She wasn’t even sure that the man was trying to bribe her. And what if he was? Handling the problem was no one’s responsibility but her own. She shook her head, her hair whispering against the pillowcase. She was losing it. Sleeping with a client was bad enough; talking about another one with her lover was even worse. She draped an arm over her eyes as if to blot out her thoughts with her vision. A moment later, she felt the mattress move. She jerked her arm away to find Raul sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her. She hadn’t even heard him return.

From the open bathroom door, a thin shaft of light fell on part of his face, illuminating his cheekbone and the line of his jaw. The rest of his face remained in shadow. Emma looked at him and thought about what she’d done, how she’d let this man into her life-into her bed-even though he was almost a complete mystery to her. She’d only seen a sliver-like the pale yellow beam-and she knew nothing of the rest.

He seemed to sense what she’d been thinking. “Regrets?” he asked.

“No.” She answered quickly-and truthfully-despite her thoughts.

“Good.” He leaned down and kissed her. Pulling back slightly, he raised one hand and plucked a lock of her hair from the pillow to rub between his fingers. “You’re a beautiful woman, Emma. Inside and out. I’d hate it if you felt this was a mistake.”

“That only happens when one person expects more than the other can give,” she said. “That’s not the case here.”

He looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She rose to support herself on her elbows. “We aren’t in love,” she said bluntly. “This means no more than it needs to-for either of us.”

He leaned closer to her, his black eyes inches from her own. “Are you a mind reader?” he asked. “How do you know what it means to me?”

His words threw her off, confused her. “I…I’m just making things clear,” she stammered. “I know you aren’t looking for a long-term relationship. And I understand that. I’m not, either. I just wanted to let you know that was okay.”

“But what if I was?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You aren’t.”

Their eyes locked. “You don’t know that for sure,” he persisted. “You don’t know what I’m looking for.”

She tugged the sheet higher, suddenly cold. “You’ve never been married. Never had children. You told me yourself you liked it that way. I assumed you meant it.”

He shrugged. “You’re right,” he said carelessly. “But things can change. Just because a situation is one way right now doesn’t mean it’ll always be that way.” He turned, the light now gleaming on his shoulder. “Things can change. People can change.”

His words were curious, but to press him would be useless. She could tell that just by looking at the stiffness of his back. She’d touched a nerve, and she knew exactly how painful that could be. Raising her hand, she traced a pattern down his back, her fingers smoothing the ridge of his spine.

“What kind of lawyer were you back in Washington?” she asked quietly.

“I practiced family law.”

Nothing could have surprised her more. “Family law?” she repeated. “You mean, like divorce…and custody battles? That sort of thing?”

He nodded. “I worked for a big law firm. The cases were heartbreaking. It wasn’t work I enjoyed, but I usually felt as if I was doing some good.”

“Why did you leave?”

“It was time,” he said cryptically. Turning to face her once again, he leaned down and kissed her before she could ask anything else. And within a few seconds, she didn’t care that he said no more.

TUESDAY MORNING, when Emma crossed the lobby to give Christopher the report on Raul’s account, she again briefly considered telling him about Kelman. Just as quickly she dismissed the idea for several reasons. One, bosses hated problems-potential or otherwise-and telling Christopher about it now, after the fact, would do nothing but make him think she was second-guessing herself. It’d make her look weak and inefficient. She’d taken care of the problem and there was no reason to tell him about it. Besides, the bank paid her to handle her accounts, and that was what she’d done. She’d handled it. Kelman might not think it was over, but she knew otherwise.

As she approached Chris’s office, she knew there was another reason she didn’t want to bring up Kelman’s name. It was going to be hard enough to get through the meeting just talking about Raul. She wasn’t sure she could do it and not give away what had happened between them. She had to, though. There were no rules about sleeping with clients, but Emma wanted nothing of her private life to enter the realm of her professional one.

She knocked on the door to Chris’s private area, then opened the door.

Glancing up from the reports he’d been reading, Chris regarded Emma with a neutral expression.

She nodded toward his desk. “I see you got the news. The Santos account was funded last night.”

“I looked at it first thing this morning.” Tapping the file with his pen, he shook his head and sighed. In his fifties and balding, Christopher Evans did his job and did it well, but he was only passing time in Bolivia, just like everyone else. It wasn’t a place he’d aimed for, but circumstances had brought him here.

“I checked the account last night,” Emma said.

“I certainly didn’t expect to see the funds, but they were there when we came in.”

“We?”

She licked her lips. “I asked Mr. Santos to meet me last night so we could discuss the problem. He was positive the funds had arrived and insisted we stop by and check.” She held out her hands. “And he was right. They were there. Maybe there was a glitch in the system.”

He looked skeptical. “A glitch? I don’t think so.”

“I don’t, either,” she confessed. “But the money was there when we looked. I imagine our draw beat his deposit-that’s the only explanation.”

“The main thing is, it’s there now,” Chris answered. “And it’s a good account, Emma. Congratulations. You did well for the bank by landing it.”

The praise was unexpected, and Emma smiled, albeit nervously. “Thanks. I was glad to get it. The money will certainly come in handy.”

“I’m sure it will.” He paused. “But stay on top of it. That’s a pretty big balance. We don’t want to get involved in something sticky. Things are different here, but we still have rules. Make sure he fills out an F-Bar.”

The F-Bar was a report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account, and Chris’s reminder was purely routine. Any U.S. citizen holding more than ten thousand dollars in a foreign account had to file this report with the IRS. Hidden assets were something the feds didn’t care for-they couldn’t tax what they didn’t know about. Yet Emma’s pulse took an unexpected jump. If Chris felt he had to warn her about Raul’s account, what would he say about Kelman’s offer?

“I’ll keep an eye on it,” she answered thickly.

Making her way back to her office, Emma threw a glance at the vault as she passed by its stainless steel doors. Kelman’s briefcases were locked inside, but she knew they were there, like a snake waiting to strike.

She’d made plans to have lunch with Reina, so she worked until a little past two, then headed out, stopping at Felicity’s desk to explain where she was going. “I’ll be back in an hour. If Mr. Kelman comes by, tell him I won’t be gone long.”