Before she could move, Steele took her chin in his hand. His look changed from anger to one of heated passion. His dark eyes traced the lines of her face as he moved ever so slightly closer to her.
That look was so hot that she could feel that gaze like a human touch. It made the skin of her face tingle. Made her lips long to taste his.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have the sexiest mouth this side of a movie screen?"
Syd swallowed at his deep voice. Every nerve ending in her body stood at attention as desire coiled through her. "Excuse me?"
"It's true," he said, his tone breathless. "If I had you alone for five minutes..."
"What?" she asked, dying to know.
His gaze turned instantly back to anger as he released her chin and returned to his beer. "I'd probably beat the crap out of you for calling the cops on me."
Her own anger flared. "You bastard!"
He glanced sideways at her. "You didn't really think I was serious, did you? And I did that without practicing a single syllable. Like I said, you suck at lying."
Syd seethed. She hadn't been this stung since the guy she had a crush on in high school had ignored her. "You better be glad I need you, or I'd shoot you myself."
He snorted. "I should be so lucky."
Syd turned to look at Joe and Tee, who were laughing together. If not for their presence, she'd be out of here by now. But Joe would probably make her return to her seat.
More people started coming in as an awkward silence fell between them.
Steele had to shift as a man and woman stepped past him. When he did, it brought him close enough to Syd that he could smell the sweetness of her perfume. It went through him like a jolt. He was suddenly so hard that he could barely breathe.
There hadn't been nearly as much acting with her as he'd wanted. The plain truth was that, even though she'd stabbed him in the back, the male part of him was still attracted to her.
Syd frowned. "You okay?"
"Fine," he said, even though the odd thought went through his mind--could a man die of blue balls?
"You sure? You look kind of...strained."
That was a good word for it. "Fine. Really. Fine."
Her gaze dropped to his lap an instant before her eyes widened and her cheeks turned bright red.
"Yeah, you're a great actor," she murmured as she quickly turned her attention to the stage below them.
Fighting the urge to say something caustic, Steele rubbed his hand over his eyes as complete embarrassment hit him. He might as well be fourteen again and called to the front of the room for a presentation.
The lights dimmed.
Thanks a lot. Why couldn't they have done that three seconds ago and saved him the humiliation?
Syd cleared her throat as she forced herself not to look at Steele at all, but it was hard.
Not as hard as he is.
She had to press her lips together to keep from laughing at that. Jeez, Syd, you're awful! No doubt he was embarrassed by it. He'd been in jail going on two years now. It was bound to happen.
But the worst part about it was the curiosity that was begging for her to look again.
No!
She'd sooner have both her eyes poked out and die. Okay, that wasn't true. But she couldn't look. The man was a total jerk. He irritated her. Mocked her.
She didn't even like him.
From the corner of her eye, she could see him take a swig of his beer.
His jerkiness aside, he was a gorgeous man. There was something about Steele that was absolutely delectable, and she didn't say that about most men. His dark hair was brushed back from a face that was intrinsically masculine. His cheeks were dusted by shadow, adding a rugged quality to him.
In spite of her ire, a wicked part of her wanted to reach out and trace that sculpted jaw.
And then an even more wicked thought went through her...he'd been in prison. She wondered how many fights he'd been in with other inmates who thought he was cute too.
Most of all, she wondered if he'd lost any.
Don't go there, Syd. But she couldn't help it. It must have been awful to be that good-looking in jail. She couldn't imagine many things worse.
At least, not until the music started. She tried to listen with an open mind, but this was so not her taste. She grabbed her purse from the floor to pull out Tee's iPod. It wasn't until she had it on and playing Papa Roach's "Getting Away with Murder" that she could breathe again.
Ah, that was so much better.
She glanced up to find Steele glaring at her. "What?" she asked, pulling one of the tiny earphones out.
His gaze narrowed. "You're something else, you know that?"
She honestly couldn't imagine what she'd done now to irritate him. "I'm not doing anything to you. So sod off."
Unfortunately, he didn't. Instead, he grabbed her iPod and took it from her.
"Hey!"
"Sh!"
Syd cringed as the people next to them gave her a sinister glare. "Give me that back," she said from between clenched teeth as she lowered her tone.
"No."
He was an evil bastard. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared sullenly at the stage while Pam Tillis told stories about how her father, Mel Tillis, had placed her in his guitar case backstage at the Opry when she'd been nothing more than an infant.
And as she listened, a part of her became charmed by the stories.
At least until the singing began. Syd cringed, wanting to leave. Just when she was sure she couldn't stand it anymore, Steele did the most unexpected thing of all. He offered her one of the earbuds.
Startled by his actions, she looked up at him.
"I'm not as cruel as you are."
She wasn't sure if she should be grateful or ticked off. But as she moved closer to him so that they could share Tee's playlist, her ire at him melted. Their faces were so close that they were practically touching. She could easily feel the heat of his skin. His warm, masculine scent permeated her head as she became acutely aware of his muscled biceps pressed against her upper arm while they listened to Papa Roach sing "Tyranny of Normality."
They stayed that way until the curtain closed and the musicians took a break.
Steele tilted the iPod in his hand. "How long do you think the batteries will last in this thing?"
"I don't know. How long is this show?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea. But I'm thinking jail was better. At least there cruel and unusual punishment can get the warden sued."
She laughed.
Steele tensed at the pleasant sound of her laughter. But more than that, the gesture softened her face and made her seem almost kind. A sudden impulse to kiss her came over him, but he quickly squelched it.
And in the back of his mind was the thought that even though he didn't like the music and wasn't fond of the woman, this moment was the best one he'd had in over two years.
He wanted his life back like it had been before he'd been arrested.
He wanted to live.
Syd's breath caught as she saw the look on Steele's face. Gone was the hatred and suspicion. His expression was completely unguarded and open. And something in it reminded her of a boy.
For the first time, she understood what had made Joe so angry. She had tampered with this man's life. Used him like a pawn.
She really was no better than the people they were after. Dear Lord, she'd pushed Steele's back against the wall, and for what? She had no right to put him in this kind of danger. No right to interfere with his decisions.
Suddenly ashamed of herself, she touched his arm. "Look, Steele, I really am sorry if I offended you earlier. I tend to be a little overzealous sometimes."
Steele frowned as he heard her honesty for the first time. He wanted to maintain his anger, but in spite of himself, it melted.
She was making an effort to lay the matter to rest. And he'd never been the kind of man to carry a grudge...much.
"It's okay."
"No," she said, her eyes burning him with their intensity, "not really. If you want to go back...well, I can't lie and say I like it. I don't. We really do need you, for a multitude of reasons. But there are a lot of things in this world that are bigger than me and my ego."
He doubted that.
She hesitated, and even though she was trying to hide her vulnerability, he saw it plainly. "I would really like for you to help us. I can prep you if you're willing to do the job, and if you want to go solo...I won't get in your way."
Steele could sense how much those words stuck in her craw. Yet craw and all, she'd said them. He had to admire that.
"All right, Sydney. If you agree to listen to me and do things my way, I'll do it."
She actually smiled at him. It was an honest, open smile that struck him like a blow. It was precious and sweet, a total antithesis to the hard-nosed agent she'd been so far.
"Thank you, Steele."
He inclined his head to her.
She turned to look back up at Joe before she pulled the earbud from his ear. "Since we're on the same team now, why don't we blow this gig and do some real work?"
He glanced behind them to the seats where Joe had taken his hat back and looked to be fussing at Tee as he adjusted the brim of it. "Think the boss will shoot us on our way out?"
She laughed again. "Only one way to find out."
They got up and headed up the aisle.
Joe arched a brow at them as they started past him. Syd pulled Steele to a stop.
"You're not leaving so soon, are you?" Joe asked her.
Syd wrinkled her nose. "No offense, it's not really my cup of tea. Besides, we're going to go over some details back at the office."
Joe looked to Steele. "So he's in?"
Steele nodded.
"Good man." He pulled a wallet out from his back pocket, then handed it over to Steele. "By the way, I charged the tickets to you."
Steele scowled. "How? I don't have a credit card."
Joe indicated the wallet with a tilt of his head. "Look inside."
Syd narrowed her eyes at Joe's arrogance. "Come on. Be honest, you had to have some doubt about whether or not he'd join us."
"None whatsoever. I wouldn't have brought him to the offices if I'd thought there was any chance he'd opt out."
Just once, she would love to see Joe be wrong about something. But at least this time, she was grateful he understood people so well.
Syd indicated their vacated seats with her hand. "Since we're leaving, you two want our seats?"
Joe looked delighted, while Tee had a look of ultimate distaste.
"You two have fun," Joe said as he brushed past them to head down the stairs.
"They will," Tee muttered as she moved toward them. "Meanwhile I'll be in hell."
Syd shook her head at Tee's dire tone before she handed Tee the iPod.
"Bless you," Tee said gratefully as she took it.
"Why did you come if you hate it so much?" Syd asked.
Tee looked at Joe, who was walking down the stairs. When she spoke, it was the perfect imitation of a Southern drawl. "I might not like the music, but that there's the best view in town."
Syd laughed at Tee. "One day, my sister, you have got to tell that man how you feel about him."
Tee gave her a meaningful stare. "I can look, but we both know I can't touch. Work is work, and pleasure is pleasure."
It was true. She more than understood Tee's feelings about work and play. Unlike Tee, she'd been burned enough to know exactly why work and play didn't mix. It was a lesson she'd more than taken to heart.
Giving her a quick hug, she left Tee to move closer to the stage with Joe.
Syd followed after Steele, who tossed his drink and popcorn into the garbage can. She followed suit before they left the auditorium and headed for the parking lot outside, where she'd parked her Honda.
While they walked, she noticed that Steele was holding the wallet like a lifeline. His grip was tight and, at the same time, almost loving.
"What did Joe give you?" she asked.
"My life back," he said in a reverent tone. He handed the wallet to her.
Syd opened it to see what had gotten into him. As soon as she saw the contents, she fully understood.
There was a Tennessee driver's license with his name and picture on it, two credit cards, and a little over a hundred dollars in cash. It looked just like any other guy's wallet, and that was probably what had struck him most about it.
How long had it been since he'd been just another normal guy on the street?
She smiled at Joe's thoughtfulness. "We take care of our own."
Steele didn't say anything as she returned the wallet to him and he slid it into his back pocket. Not since his initial arrest, over two years ago, had he felt this human. With what Joe had given him, he could leave and never look back. It was a lot of trust.
He wasn't about to betray it.
And in that moment, he realized something. Joe was right. For the first time ever, he understood what it meant to live. To have a life. He could eat when he wanted, leave when he wanted. Do anything and not have to answer to anyone. There were no armed guards eyeing him nervously right now. No isolation chamber when he stepped out of line. No one to fight for everyday necessities. No gangs to deal with. Nothing.
God, it felt good.
"You okay?"
He glanced down at Syd and offered her a hesitant smile. "Yeah. I think I am." He paused in the parking lot and pulled her to a stop.
And then he did something he hadn't done since the afternoon he'd taken that shot at his CO...
He acted on pure impulse.
Pulling her close, he dipped his head down and kissed that full, lush mouth of hers that had been beckoning him since the moment he first saw her. Steele closed his eyes as he tasted her for the first time. It'd been way too long since he'd last held a woman, and he couldn't remember any tasting better than this one. Her mouth was salty and sweet from her soda and popcorn, but most of all, it tasted like Syd.
Passionate. Fiery.
Most of all, it tasted of lust.
Syd fisted her hand in Steele's dark hair as she inhaled the innately masculine scent of him. Maybe she should be offended by the way he'd kissed, but she wasn't. Part of her had been wondering far too long what he tasted like.
Now she knew.
He was all man and all skill. No one had ever kissed her like this. And it made her wonder what else he was good at...
He pulled back with a most unabashed grin. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself."
"I thought snipers never acted on impulse."
"That's only when we're after something we intend to kill." He brushed the hair back from her face, then cupped her cheek in his palm. He traced the contour of her bottom lip with his thumb.
"I thought you did want to kill me."
"You have your moments...but this isn't one of them."
Syd wanted to melt at the gentleness of his touch. But even as she softened, a long-buried memory leapt forward, reminding her of why she couldn't allow herself to ever consort with her coworkers.
She pulled back immediately. "We need to start prepping you on the details of the case."
Steele wanted to curse as he felt the wall come up between them. It was arctic and irritating.
Damn.
Just go find another woman. All you need is a one-night stand.
Even as that thought went through his mind, he knew better. Sex might take the edge off him, but he didn't wanted sex with just anyone. His body was aching for Syd-the-viper. How stupid was he? The last thing he needed was to trust a woman who had already shown herself to be less than trustworthy.
What was wrong with him? Had he lost all reason?
He sighed irritably as she approached a silver Honda Accord. The car was extremely sedate and practical, which, given what she probably made a year, said a lot about the woman.
"Not a speed junkie, huh?"
She lau
ghed evilly. "As they say, looks are so often deceiving."
He opened his door. "How so?"
She slammed the door shut, then buckled herself in. "This little baby has four-fifty horsepower under the hood and will go from zero to sixty in about two-point-two seconds. She's not even street-legal."
He was impressed by that. "Really?"
"Oh, yeah. She's souped up and ready for just about anything. Drecker and Norbert are our official mechanics. They can make a car do just about anything you can imagine. I'm sure Joe will have them hook you up soon enough."
Steele didn't speak as he fastened his seat belt and Syd started the car.
He studied her in the dim light. She was confident and quick, but even so she seemed an odd choice for a federal agent. Not that he was an expert on them by any means. There was just something about her that seemed like it would be more at home in another line of work.
"So what made you decide to become an agent?"
"March twenty-third, 1992. Eleven a.m."
Steele frowned as those words went through his head and he couldn't peg the time or a place. "Should I know that date?"
"No," she said quietly, "most likely not. It barely made more than the local news." She sighed as if that thought hurt her. "My mother always called such events Darwinian moments. You know, those crystal-clear times in your life that change you forever. When I was a little girl, she used to talk about being in her classroom the day Kennedy was assassinated and how she remembered every detail of it. March twenty-third is that way for me. I remember everything I had on, every detail of that morning..." Her grip tightened on the wheel.
It was the only reaction she gave.
"What happened?"
She took a ragged breath as she stopped at a traffic light. "I was in my poli-sci class, bored out of my mind, counting the minutes until it was over. Then a woman from admin came into the room to speak with the professor. He pointed at me, and my heart sank. Two minutes later, I was out in the hallway while she told me that my brother-in-law and nephew had been killed that morning in a boating accident."
Inwardly, he cringed at that. It must have been hard to hear something like that at such a young age.
She ground her teeth and cursed. "My nephew, Chad, was only five years old. My sister had taken my niece to the doctor that morning, and her husband, Bobby, had volunteered to watch Chad while she was gone. Bobby was a lobster fisherman in Maine and had taken Chad out countless times with him--his dad owned the boat, and it was a family business."
Steele's frown deepend as she spoke. He knew it had to be something more than a simple accident. Her anger was too raw, too bitter all these years later.