The Danforths: Marc, Tanya & Abe: The Laws of Passion / Terms of Surrender / Shocking the Senator. Leanne Banks

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      Dana couldn’t quite believe she’d made such a rude and nosy remark. On the other hand, she’d learned on the job that asking a surprise personal question could occasionally elicit a surprise honest answer.

      Marc took both mugs to the sink and moved behind her chair. He leaned over to whisper, “Maybe I just need someone like you to inspire me. I’m sure you figured out last night that it’s not a physical problem. There’s no way you didn’t feel the truth of that.”

      He came closer and nibbled on her earlobe. “Want to volunteer to be the first to break my abstinence?”

      His voice gave her the shivers and his kiss sent heated bolts of sensual wanting through her body. She remembered quite well how hard his body had become when she’d plastered herself against it. The memory was burning gaps in her mind and causing other searing physical needs she hardly recognized. How could he turn a simple interrogation into something so sexy?

      She stood and backed away, determined to wrest the upper hand back from him. “We’re going to be working closely together for the next few weeks. I think we’d better not mention last night again. It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

      He smiled at her, but didn’t say a word. The silence sparked the air around them.

      Dana cleared her throat and found her voice again. “You’re just trying to make me forget the question.” She took another step back. “So let me repeat, why haven’t you been with a woman in over a year?”

      Marc pressed his lips together. “I’m going to take a shower. We have a lot of plans to make today.”

      “Are you too chicken to answer me?”

      “It’s nothing, Dana. No big deal. I’ll tell you all about it sometime when things get dull.” He tugged his sweater over his head and headed for the master bedroom.

      Left in the silence, she wondered if this assignment would end up being her worst nightmare. Not due to the cartel. Or because of the cocky, rich man’s son she was forced to work with. But because of the way her body was bound and determined to betray her whenever Marc came near.

      Five

      He’d had just about all he could take. Marc spent a long grueling day, first watching Dana inspect the SUV, and then watching an FBI technician install bugging devices on his phones. It was so boring that he’d been nearly ecstatic when Uncle Harry called to invite them to Crofthaven for a family dinner meeting.

      Normally, a summons to his father’s home would’ve been depressing. But today he was grateful for the diversion.

      If he hadn’t had so many truly god-awful days in his lifetime, he would’ve been tempted to call this one the worst day of his life. As it was, the most he could say about today was that it was frustrating.

      He wanted to do something to prove his innocence. And he needed to get moving—so he wouldn’t be tempted to obsess over wanting Dana in his arms.

      Her FBI boss had asked him to go about his business as usual until a plan to draw out Escalante could be developed. Marc’s style would’ve been more along the lines of breaking into the cartel’s den and beating the truth out of them. But he held back for Dana’s sake, and managed to sit on his hands while she went about her job.

      She was so competent and so obviously physically fit that the energy fairly rolled off her well-toned body in waves. He appreciated her intensity about the job and her professionalism—almost as much as he appreciated her lean physique. The more he drooled over her exquisite body while he watched her work, the more determined to keep his hands off of her he became.

      Finally, Dana relented and agreed he could drive them over to Crofthaven in his SUV. Behind the wheel, he felt useful and a lot less ineffectual than he had all day.

      “Do you go home often?” she asked as he drove them down the narrow highway. Her words were plain enough, but her smoky tones sent electric impulses through his veins and destroyed his resolve.

      “Home? You mean Crofthaven?” He felt like a horny teenager whose hormones had turned him into an idiot.

      He thought she must be nodding in the affirmative, but he’d decided against trying to catch a glimpse of her while he was driving. Keeping his mind off her body and his eyes on the road seemed like the best bet at the moment.

      There were plenty of things for him to regret in his life. Causing an accident because he was ogling an FBI agent wouldn’t be the best thing to add to the list.

      “Uh…I don’t exactly consider Crofthaven home,” he said with a croak in his voice. “Actually, I doubt that any of my siblings do, either.”

      “But weren’t you raised there? I thought I read that in your file?”

      “We had rooms in the house. There’s a world of difference between that and thinking of someplace as home.”

      He turned off the highway and headed down the country road that meandered along the Atlantic coast. “I suppose when I was very small and my mother and grandparents were still alive, I thought of Crofthaven as a wonderful home. The grounds are extensive, there’s a private beach and lots of places for a kid to play. But all that changed after Dad came back from Vietnam and then Mother died in a car crash.”

      “How old were you when your mother died?”

      “Almost five.”

      “That must’ve been hard on all of you.”

      Marc heard the sympathy in her voice. “It was a long time ago, Dana. Dad hired nannies and then packed us all up and sent us to boarding schools. On holidays and vacations we spent most of our time at Uncle Harry and Aunt Miranda’s house, downtown in Savannah’s historic district. If I thought of anywhere except the farm as home now, it would have to be their house.”

      As he drove the SUV closer to the Crofthaven gates, Marc began to notice cars parked along the sides of the roadway. Odd. It looked almost as if someone was holding a big party and more cars had shown up than the parking lot would hold. But that could never happen on a place as vast as Crofthaven.

      When he finally realized what was going on, it was nearly too late to do anything about it. “Oh, hell! The local tabloids have arrived. Scrunch down in your seat, Dana.” He stepped on the gas pedal. “I know a secret entrance that the gardeners use. I’ll blow past the reporters and double back. But in case they recognize my SUV, you probably don’t want to be seen with me.”

      Her quick shift in position was nearly automatic. “This wouldn’t be a problem if you’d let me drive,” she ground out through gritted teeth from her spot under the dash. Less than thirty seconds later, the SUV slowed. “Are we past them?”

      “Yeah. I don’t think they noticed us at all.” Marc took a left and she sat back up in the seat. “The gardener’s gate is on a combination lock. I’ll have to get out to open it.” He pulled in between two rows of dense shrubs and stopped.

      “Leave the car running and the door open,” she ordered before he jumped out.

      While he was gone, she dug around in her backpack for the FBI-issued SAT phone. Connecting immediately to the special task force that her boss had set up to assist in the investigation СКАЧАТЬ