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"Have you been a bounty hunter long?"

She shook her head "I cashiered at a department store before this"

Hell, he hadn’t expected that "Sold merchandise?" he asked in disbelief

"No Cashed employee payroll checks, took pay licenses, and gift-wrapped merchandise at Christmastime until we hired a professional wrapper for the season"

Wrapping up mobsters in Christ did she have? Trying to get his disbelief under control, Jake frowned, hoping that he wasn’t ju to conclusions and that she had been a bounty hunter for a nuerous cri that would have made her see have you been a bounty hunter?" He kept his voice even, without a thread of eonize her Or at least he tried to

She raised her brows just a hint "Since a few runt of disbelief quickly enough and revealed his true feelings The knowledge that she hadn’t been doing this long filled him with rife incredulity The woun?" He ed to cut off the "at least" part of his stateh they had been on the tip of his tongue

At that point, the tension fairly sparked between them Alicia’s hackles raised as her whole body stiffened beside hi around it Her faerous and perilous her job could be and warned her not to take part in such foolhardiness He couldn’t i seemed so at odds with the kind of job she was deter it

But then she visibly relaxed Her whole deer because he was prying into her business and questioning her ability to do her job In that instant, he sensed a disconcerting vulnerability With her jaw set and her eyes exah

He would bet the ho forced into this venture And he intended to find out why and stop it before she got herself killed

Jake Silver was the kind of dangerously excitingup--and damn if she wasn’t drawn to hi shade His masculine touch made her fantasize about all kinds of carnal pleasures

She loved how he had spied her, becoued with her, and had ultiht have been forced to call the local police Which she didn’t want to do Hoould it look if she couldn’t face these guys on her own?

And she didn’t have a choice It was her life or theirs Si her abilities with regards to bounty hunting She’d been fingerprinted and had her background checked She had never couys--and she’d co, which was necessary to becoent, she’d arrested several fugitives in the past few h none that were Mob-related But the others had only been practice before she went after the ones that really counted

Trying not to sound waspish, she said, "Sure I kno to use a gun My first…" Alicia paused She had not intended to talk about that mistake

The look on Jake’s face was one of rabid curiosity She was about to tell a secret, and he was dying to know the truth She sighed She’d already let the proverbial cat partway out of the bag "My first husband taught e He was in the ar, too," she said defensively, then was annoyed with herself for explaining her qualifications to him as if she owed that to him

Jake’s frown didn’t fade "What did you kill?"

She looked down at her hands, now strangling the linen napkin in her lap "Nothing Irvin was lousy at hunting We never could find anything"

"So Irvin was your first husband?"

"Um, no" She hadn’t planned to let on that she’d had two, but hed, first, indicated she’d had h she’d meant to say ex-husband

Jake raised his brows She had not planned on telling him her whole blasted life story "My second husband," she said, in way too small a voice

Jake’s lips curved up just a hint "Is that all of theave him an annoyed look "Yes"

"You can’t be all that old"

"Twenty-seven"

"And what happened to the husbands?"