Harper quickly dropped her hand and raced around the building to the sliding door she’d left slightly open, shaking off the power swelling inside her body.

Harper was just slipping inside when she saw the Bug come to a halt only feet from her. Peering through the flat windshield, she spied Rome’s striking, narrowed blue eyes staring crossly at her.

She was busted.

Slinking back out, she mustered the most sheepish look she could manage. Maybe there was a way to spin this so he wouldn’t be too upset with her. Then again, he was supersexy when he was angry. Maybe she could get him madder instead.

Rome had barely stepped out of the car before he went on the offensive. “What the hell are you doing out here?”

“I needed some air.” She gave him a half grin. Well, it was the truth.

“How?” He stiffly gestured toward the sliding door with a wave of his hand. His kissable lips were tight with frustration.

“I altered the code.” She held up a placating palm. “Don’t worry. I’ll reset it.”

“Altered the code?” His anger turned to intrigue.

“I told you, I’m a programmer. It’s what I do.”

Rome didn’t really have anything to say to that, but his gorgeous face, bathed in the fading daylight, cracked the most admiring and alluring smile she’d ever seen.

He walked over to her, stopping just inches away. She flushed. She could see every blue swirl in the eddy of his eyes. Smell every spice of his lingering soap. Feel every breath that brushed her face.

“Show me,” Rome whispered as he leaned in. His mouth was so very close to hers. He licked his lips. She wetted her own. Harper almost closed her eyes, just waiting, desperately wanting the touch of those lips against hers once again.

Then she was flat on her back on the ground.

Well, that was fast.

“Somebody’s here.” Rome’s whisper was nearly silent, just a tickling breath away from her ear.

Rome covered her body with his as he frantically searched the area. His intense blue eyes at such close range were a sight to behold. Stay here, he mouthed, rolling off her body easily and moving into a crouch, gun drawn. Wow, she hadn’t known he was even carrying one.

Creeping around the dented front bumper of the Bug, Rome disappeared from her sight. She sat upright and tried to listen for whatever had startled him. And stopped their imminent kiss. Darn it. Her lack of trust in him hadn’t diminished his allure. Double darn it.

After counting to sixty without hearing a sound, Harper decided to check things out herself. Rome should know by now that she was no good at waiting. She used the car for cover and took a quick peek out toward where Rome had vanished. She felt a little strange with all this creeping around, hunkering down like a spy or something.

Another minute went by with no sign of danger. What could he have heard?

Then she saw him walking her way. His shoulders were stiff and he kept looking around as though ghosts swirled around him, prickling every one of his senses.

“They’re gone. We’d better discuss our next move,” he said without preamble. “I’m not sure we have much more time here.”

“Okay.” Harper caught his grave tone and altered her mood. Kicking herself, she realized she had to remember this wasn’t some weekend fling with a hot guy. This was her messed-up life that she needed to right somehow, and he was the only person who could help her. “Did you get the flash drive?”

“Yeah, it’s in the car,” he answered, moving to the driver’s side. He opened the door and popped the hood.

Harper moved to the front of the Bug. Inside was a black duffel bag. She reached in, unzipped the bag, and pulled out a slim laptop. She shoved it under her arm and poked around inside for the small drive. Rome must have brought extra clothes, because she had to fish around for the drive through layers of soft fabric. When she found it, she quickly checked to make sure it was indeed the flash drive she’d asked for.

“Why that?” His close voice made her jump. She hadn’t seen or heard him step beside her.

“C’mon, I’ll show you.” Harper reached to close the hood, then had to slam it a couple times before it latched. She turned around and sat on the concrete with her back resting against the front bumper, then booted up the computer. Rome joined her on the ground with a grunt, their thighs lightly touching.

“We should go inside,” he said as he turned his head, alternately looking at her and their surroundings.

“I need some air,” she countered, shifting the screen slightly to lessen the angling sun’s glare. A password request popped up once the computer finished booting.

“By the way, how did you alter the code and get out without setting off the alarm?” Rome asked, peering at the laptop screen while she typed in a few commands.

“Kind of like this,” she answered absently while she hacked into his computer, bypassing his imposing password protection schemes in under a minute.

Giving him a sideways glance, she noticed his slackjawed expression. His mouth moved, but no words came forth. Smiling, Harper patted his rough cheek and continued to peck at the flat keyboard.

Once she was in, she plugged the drive into the USB port and waited.

“What are you doing?” Rome finally found his voice. “That’s a blank drive.” He leaned closer so that their shoulders brushed. She noticed that his astonished look had morphed into one of confusion.

“It’s not blank,” she had to admit quietly, relishing the warmth where their bodies touched.

“I don’t understand.” He covered her hands with his own to still her fingers. He sounded outraged, perplexed, and fascinated all at once. “What aren’t you telling me, Harper?”

She closed her eyes. Here it goes. The one secret she had kept from him. Here was where he got furious with her. Lost his trust in her. Maybe even took her back to the bad facility.

No, he wouldn’t do that. But she needed to tell him the truth. Harper took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She opened her eyes and squarely met his gaze.

“Before Bobby died, he hid a flash drive for me,” she began, watching for a reaction from him. There was none. Yet. “I found it, but I had to break it apart, so that it wasn’t taken from me by the people who are after me. They thought it was destroyed, but I kept the data chip. When I was at your condo, I found your flash drive and replaced the chip inside with mine.”

Rome blinked and looked away. After a few moments, he shook his head slightly, and then returned to meet her gaze.

“Impressive,” he said with a wry grin. His blue eyes softened. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“If I had, we probably wouldn’t have it anymore,” she replied seriously. Most likely Rome would’ve handed it over to his boss when he dropped her off. And they both knew it. “I wanted your help. But I wasn’t sure I could trust you.” Pain flashed in his eyes for a split second, and then it was gone.

“I guess I can’t blame you for that.” His quiet tone scraped at her heart.

Harper was silent. She had no idea what to say. She couldn’t trust him. Yes, he was helping her, but she wasn’t about to put her life in his hands again. She couldn’t chance that he’d take care of it this time.

“So what’s on this thing?” he asked a little louder, probably trying to break the heavy tension. Trying to brush over her silence.

“I have no idea,” she answered with a lopsided smile. “But it’s time to find out.”

Harper opened a code-authoring application and quickly wrote a scanning program for the flash drive to make sure it was intact. Pressing the Enter key, she watched the program read the little drive and caught Rome squinting at the screen while he did the same. She quickly explained what she’d done.

“Damn, if you’re half as good a swimmer as you are hacker, I’d be surprised if you didn’t win every medal at the Olympics,” he said offhandedly.