The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents 6)

Finally, Cooper’s head lifted. His eyes held hers. “The case has nothing to do with what is happening between us. Right here, right now, it’s only about you and it’s about me.”

She wished that things could stay this way.

Because as she gazed up at him, cloaked in the shadows of the room. Gabrielle realized just why his betrayal had hurt her so much.

And why, even despite the secrets he’d kept, she hadn’t been able to turn away from him.

I’m falling in love with Cooper.

No, not falling.

She was already in love with her secret agent.

His mouth pressed to her cheek. He kissed the tear that she’d shed. And then he held her close.

Fear snaked through her because she liked the way his arms felt around her. She liked it too much.

The case had brought him to her.

Would the case also take him away?

* * *

RACHAEL MANCINI WAS exhausted. She’d just pulled a twenty-hour shift at the EOD’s headquarters, and she was due back on duty at 0900. She shut her apartment door behind her, threw the lock and seriously thought about collapsing right there.

Into a very unglamorous puddle on her floor.

She lifted a weary hand and raked it through her hair. She’d crash in bed. After all, she was about 50 percent sure she could make it to the bedroom. After a few hours of refueling, she’d meet up with Dylan again.

He’d dropped her off, and the team leader had said he’d be back to pick her up so they could head in to the EOD together.

She shuffled away from the door.

Ten minutes later, she was just climbing into the haven of her bed when she heard knocking.

What the hell? She glanced at her clock. No one should be coming to her place at this hour.

Rachel grabbed her gun and padded, barefoot, for the door. She glanced through the peephole.

The Dragon waited on the other side of that door.

Her hands trembled around the weapon.

Thomas “Dragon” Anthony was a martial arts expert. He’d worked with the EOD since she’d been brought on board. The guy was quiet, dangerous—and he made her nervous. She’d heard too many tales about just how deadly he could be.

In the EOD, all of the agents were lethal. But Thomas was in a category all by himself.

She curled her fingers around the weapon and opened the door a few inches. Rachel kept her security chain in place, not that it would do any good at keeping someone like Thomas out.

Not if he wanted in.

“What are you doing here?” Rachel demanded as she kept her gun close.

His golden eyes glittered at her. “I was worried about you. I heard about the profile that’s developing for the killer.”

A profile that indicated the rogue was going after couples, killing one victim to make the other weaker.

“You don’t need to worry about me.” She and Thomas weren’t close. Actually, as far as she knew, no one was close to the Dragon. He didn’t let anyone close. But...