own boots.
“Planning to get kinky?” Her heart began pumping a little faster.
“Maybe later,” he said suggestively. Then he surged to his feet. He was a large, vital man. The basement abruptly felt isolated, locking the two of them away from the rest of the world. Rosa was just up the steps in the kitchen, but that seemed a long way off all of a sudden.
Kendra tugged off her own boots, wincing at the blister forming on the back of her left heel. She should have worn the boots more often to break them in.
“Still have your knife?”
She nodded tightly.
“I want you to come at me with it.”
“What?”
All traces of the humorous teasing had disappeared. “We’re going into a hostile environment, Kendra. I want to see just how well prepared you are to take care of yourself.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Prove it.”
Her heart pounded faster. “I might hurt you.”
“I’ll take that chance.”
It was the dismissive way he said the words. She set her jaw, stepped on the mat and started toward him reaching for her knife. His arm snaked out without warning. It happened so fast, the action was a blur. Rafe held her wrist in his grip, applying just enough pressure to make her fingers go numb.
“Lesson number one,” he said as he took the knife away as easily as if she were a child. “Never get close enough to let your assailant take your weapon away.”
“You weren’t able to take it away from me before.”
“No, I didn’t choose to take it away from you before.”
Angrily, she brought up her knee. Rafe deflected the action before he threw her lightly to the padded mat on the floor. He followed her down, pinning her there.
A wave of sensations swamped her while a spicy light masculine scent filled her head. Accompanying the annoying surge of awareness was humiliation at how easily he had defeated her.
His eyes were darkly kind, but it was his mouth, much too close to hers, that held her complete attention. Every hormone in her body leaped to unexpected life. What would it be like to be kissed by Rafe?
“Never had any judo or martial arts training?”
His breath whispered across her cheek, reminding her of the last time he’d pinned her like this. Then his hand had cupped her breast. Now her nipples rose in memory and she knew that he was as aware of that fact as she was.
“No formal training,” she agreed totally flustered as she tried to shove him off without success.
Rafe smiled, a wickedly slow, superior sort of smile. Instantly, her temper flashed.
“But I’m a real fast learner.”
And she kicked him in the shin right before she socked him in the jaw.
Chapter Three
“Kendra Kincade is exactly who she says she is,” Penny informed the meeting of the Confidentials the next morning. “Twenty-nine years old, originally from El Paso, Texas, parents, Tina and Martin Kincade.”
“El Paso was Rialto’s old haunting grounds,” Rafe muttered.
“Yes. Kendra is a computer programmer who works as an independent contractor for anyone who will pay her pricey fees and let her work from home. She must be good at what she does because she has a huge client list despite being something of a recluse.”
“Like that character in the movie where they erased her life?” Cody asked.
Penny shook her head. “Not quite that bad. Her neighbors do know her. She’s friendly, but she keeps to herself. She’s been known to travel to meetings when absolutely necessary, but most of her business is conducted through e-mail and the telephone. Her parents moved to Arizona after she graduated college, but they gave Kendra the house where she grew up. She seems close to them even though she only visits at Christmas.”
“She seldom leaves her house yet she came here,” Rafe said thoughtfully.
Penny nodded. “This trip is a total departure for her. She turned down three lucrative contracts last week, telling employers that she was going on vacation. The one I spoke with said it had never happened before. According to him, she’s as good as she claims with a computer—fast and thorough.”
“What about her assertion that Rialto had somebody close to her killed?” Rafe asked worrying about the one area that truly concerned him.
“I’m working on that.”
“Any other family?” Jake wanted to know.
“Not that I know of, but I am not a computer whiz. This kind of investigation takes time.”
“Something we have little of,” Mitchell reminded them.
“Well, as far as official records go, she’s never even had a parking ticket.”
“That’s a little too squeaky clean for me,” Brady muttered.
“Not if she seldom leaves the house,” Penny pointed out.
“Keep checking,” Mitchell advised, chomping on his unlit cigar.
“Try going back to her college roommates,” Rafe suggested. “Maybe a roommate or a boyfriend had some connection to Rialto.”
Humor sparked to life in Brady’s gray eyes. “Speaking of which, how’s the makeover coming?”
The others around the table shared grins. Rafe rubbed his sore jaw and shook his head. “She’s a stubborn little thing, but I’ll give her an A for determination.”
“Need a referee?” Cody offered.
“You’re a pal, but there’s only going to be one outcome to this bout.” He felt the weight of her knife in his pocket. “I showed her a few moves yesterday.”
Someone snickered.
“Defensive moves,” he corrected. “I’m going to take her out back today and see how she does on the firing range.”
“Better clear the ranch first,” Brady suggested. “No sense putting innocents in her line of fire.”
“I think the only one in jeopardy here is Rafe,” Cody said with a wicked grin. “And we all know innocent isn’t a word we’d use to define him.”
“Very funny.”
“Putting an ambulance on stand by only seems prudent,” Jake offered. “Rafe here seems to be the one doing the learning—the hard way.”
Rafe grinned good-naturedly. “Cute. I don’t think she’ll shoot me until she gets what she wants.”
“Excuse me, but I thought the makeover was about looks,” Penny said.
“One step at a time,” Rafe protested. “I’m doing the easy stuff first.”
Two of the men chuckled.
“Chicken?” Cody asked.
“Absolutely. You ever tried telling a woman how to dress?”
“I place a much higher value on my life.”
“Exactly.”
“All right folks, we’ve got a lot to do, so let’s get to work,” Mitchell ordered.
“And speaking of work,” Penny added, opening her notebook, “Mrs. Skerritt called here again. Something about two other dates you are supposed to keep in mind?”
Rafe