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Chapter 1

Lara stood before the Artifacts of Ancient Egypt case and admired her handy work She’d toiled over this particular display and it showed The intact pieces of pottery, jewelry, tools, yptian objects had been arranged to draw interest S months of work, displayed the name, date and a brief history of each ite The pieces in the collection were diverse and in re Lara longed to take an expedition and search for artifacts herself She’d always pictured herself creeping through crypts, touring to pyramids, but her existence as a museum curator wasn’t very Indiana Jones Her life in no way resee She’d experienced no adventure since graduating No adventure at all

Lara caught movement out of the corner of her eye and whirled around She expected to see Ti at her as he ont to do, but this , virile, and had the oddest expression on his handso or two about adventure The guy was sohim made Lara’s toes curl in her sensible pu else average about hiht attention (hers) to his sculpted arn had been inked on his right shoulder and he had bad boy tattooed across his forehead Not really, but he ht as well have As handsoreen eyes, and strong, kissable lips, Lara avoided bad boys as a rule Bad boys broke hearts Not that she knew that fro

The nameless hunk watched her for a moment, then bit his lip and jao pants

“How did you get in here?” Lara asked “The o”

“That’s not important,” he said “I need to talk to you, Lara”

Her brow knotted Did she know him? It wasn’t possible She’d have remembered him He had the looks of a movie star and the presence of warrior And the body of an underwearOkay, she was Why, oh why, couldn’t nice guys be this hot?

“How do you know ed to ask

He stared at her for a lanced down at her chest Yo, stud muffin, my eyes are approximately fifteen inches North

“Lara Kensington,” he read aloud, “Museum Curator”

She followed his line of vision to her na, affixed to the jacket lapel of her conservative, tan, skirt suit She didn’t quite believe that was how he knew her na—but there were otten past security? Was he a burglar? A kidnapper? Her heart raced with excitement Dread? Yeah, dread Her heart raced with dread

Lara glanced at the alar it was her duty to call for help

He grinned “You aren’t thinking of setting off the alarm, now, are you?”

Well, she wouldn’t be getting the award for “Most Subtle in a Crisis” this year Perhaps, if she distracted him, she could reach the alarm

“Who are you?” she asked

That sad look again, as if it hurt hioa t-shirt that read: My reputation doth proceed me

“My name is Reece Jericho I really need to talk to you It pertains to your i murder”