Check Mate Read Online Free Page A

tossed them into the dryer, she asked herself why she was rehashing old information. Her life had been on a steady, straightforward track since she'd graduated from college and chosen her profession. Having witnessed her parents' strong, happy marriage, she had secretly hoped that by now she would have found a man with whom to share her life. It wasn't as if she didn't date, although she'd been dating less and less these past few years as she'd concentrated on advancing her career.
    Be honest with yourself, Marian's inner voice demanded. You've given up dating because every suitable man you meet is either too awed or too intimidated by you to be a true partner. Most men like less aggressive women. Women who can't whip their butts. Women who can't outsmart them and outshoot them on a firing range. But Marian refused to lower her standards. If she couldn't find a man with whom she could be an equal partner, she'd stay single and unattached for the rest of her life.
    Marian scolded herself. Now was not the time to be thinking about her sex life—or lack thereof. She was on an assignment. Lives were at stake. The security of U.S. citizens was at risk. So why had she allowed her unwanted attraction to Jake Ingrain to send her libido into overdrive and her thoughts wandering into forbidden territory? Yes, the guy was drop-dead gorgeous and masculine to the n th degree. So what? He was a key player in her assignment, not a potential lover.
    She groaned silently. Don't even go there! But her mind had already painted a rather vivid picture inside her head—
    of Jake Ingram naked, aroused and dragging her down onto one of the twin beds upstairs. Great, just what she didn't need, a mental image of her being ravished by the man the Coalition expected her to break down mentally by slow, precise degrees until he cooperated fully and could be reprogrammed to do their bidding.
    "Damn," Mariah cursed quietly under her breath.
    "Got a problem, Doc?"
    ABC Amber Text Converter Trial v ersion, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.html
    Gasping, Mariah turned and glared at Lester, who stood in the hallway outside the laundry room. "Don't ever sneak up on me like that again."
    "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Burgess sent me back here to see if you need us for anything—" he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling "—up there."
    "No, thank you." Mariah punched the timer on the dryer. "Mr. Ingrain is taking a shower and shaving. I plan to carry his supper upstairs to him and then have a preliminary talk with him tonight."
    "Aren't you going to start screwing around inside his head tonight?" When Lester grinned, a bit too lasciviously to suit Mariah, he revealed a set of crooked yellow teeth.
    Mariah breathed deeply. This man was an idiot. "Mr. Ingram will respond more positively to my hypnosis therapy if he's well fed and well rested. I'll begin my brainwashing of the patient in the morning."
    "Brainwashing, huh? I thought Burgess said you were supposed to reprogram him. But I guess it's all brainwashing, isn't it?" With one hand braced against the door frame, Les leaned into the laundry room, his gaze traveling from Marian's face to her breasts. "I'm sure glad you aren't going to be messing around inside my head. But if there's any other part of me you'd like to mess with, I'd be more than obliging."
    Mariah pursed her lips tightly, just barely controlling her rage. She'd love to tell this moron exactly what she'd enjoy doing to him, but since he was working for the Coalition, it was in her best interest not to antagonize either him or his partner. But stroking this man's ego wasn't part of the deal.
    "Look, Lester, we're both here to do a job," she told him, "And if you don't stop harassing me, I'll report you to our superiors. Do I make myself clear?"
    "Yeah, honey, I get what you're saying. We're both working and you don't go in for any hanky-panky on the job."
    She could correct him, but she didn't. Instead she gave him a cold, calculated glare.