So much for control. Dylan slid further into the abyss of need and longing and Sera's lips were the ones dragging him down.

Fortunately for him, he was a professional and his brain beat back the raging need with the one thought that dragged Dylan back to the present. If you fuck this up, there will be no going home for you. No New York. No BAU.

That did it. He released her. Never mind his body's furious protest, or the breath that he gulped in like a suffocating man. Finally back in control and not a second too soon. He'd been charged to protect her, not maul her. This wasn't him. He didn't do shit like that. This girl was dangerous. Too dangerous for him to make the mistake of touching her again. But hell if he didn't want to.

Her lashes fluttered as she opened her eyes. He didn't know what her reaction would be when he mentioned her mother. They needed to get the hell out of there before he told her.

Leaning in close, he whispered, "Want to go talk somewhere?" Those beautiful, dark eyes were hazy and unfocused and she licked her lips before gently grazing her teeth over their plump fullness.

"I-I…" She hesitated.

Damn, he didn't have time for this. "Just talk. Swear." Oh, they'd be talking all right. Just not about what she thought.

"This talking, is it anything like the talking we were just doing in the middle of a crowded dance floor?"

A smile tugged at his lips. "I planned to use words." Dylan inclined his head toward her table. "Go on, tell your friends so they don't worry."

"You realize Taj will come after you if you plan to chop me into little pieces."

"Understood," he said with a laugh. As soon as she went to find her friends, he used her absence to cool himself off. Get it together, D2. New rule. No more touching Sera. Yeah, good luck with that. To pull off being her boyfriend, he'd have to eventually touch her.

When she came back, he took her hand and led her outside to the quiet parking lot to the side of the bar.

"So what did you want to talk about?" She leaned into him and looped her hands around his neck.

Dylan clenched his jaw in an effort to ward off the slam of desire. He dipped his head and spoke directly into her ear. "I'm Dylan Donovan. Your mother sent me."

For a long, charged moment, neither of them moved. Then Sera was shoving at his chest. "Screw you."

The irritation flared immediately. "I know you'd like to, but not going to happen." Damn it. Why had he said that? He was supposed to be keeping her calm.

Sera whipped around and stomped away as she called out, "Hate to break it to you, but you came a long way for nothing. I'm not going back with you."

Dylan narrowed his eyes. "Do you mind not shouting?"

Sera flipped him the bird and kept walking. This was no time for a tantrum. He needed her on board as quickly as possible. With three long strides, he caught up to her, picked her up easily, and tossed her over his shoulder. The walk back to his car was full of curses and promises to end his career and life.

Placing her gently on the passenger seat, he handed her his phone before engaging the child lock. "Call your mother."

He closed the door, then glared up at the sky. Something told him this wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Sera gripped the phone tight, fury making her body shake. “Why would you do this?" Dylan drove in silence as she screamed at her mother.

"Serafina, calm down."

"You send in some Fed to scoop me up and I need to calm down?"

Her mother sighed. "Mr. Donovan is there to keep an eye on things and make sure you are here in DC for my official announcement."

"You can't do this. I'm not going to be part of your political bid."

"This is important, Serafina. For Malcolm."

She hated when her mother invoked her brother's name. "You can send all the toy soldiers you want. But I'm not coming home."

"Let's stop acting like you have a choice. You've been living this happy existence away from Washington because I allow it. You said you didn’t want security and I allowed it. I keep the press away from you. I keep you out of the media spotlight, Sera."

"I never asked for anything from you."

"But you enjoy the freedom my interference affords you. You will fall in line or it's all gone. One call from a staffer and you'll have press camped out in front of your office. And just to drive the point home, let me point out that I am now the proud owner of a little bungalow in Coronado, overlooking the beach. I'm your new landlord. Your job—one word from me and you'll be unemployed. Do not test me, Serafina."

Her stomach sank. "You wouldn't."

"Let's not pretend like I'm not capable. You will deal with Mr. Donovan as a babysitter. He'll keep you out of trouble so you don't do anything to jeopardize my bid. You will keep this arrangement to yourself. I don't want any media leaks. I'll continue to keep the press away. And you'll keep on going on with your life until the anniversary. It's a win-win, Sera. Now, I'm at a benefit, so we'll discuss this later."

Her mother hung up and Sera stared at her phone. All this time she'd thought she escaped. But she was in a luxury prison of her mother's making. Shit.

Dylan spoke beside her, his tone wry. "So is this the part where you call me roomie?"

Numbed confusion was the best Sera could come up with in this situation. Be like Malcolm. She forced herself to take long, deep breaths. Getting angry wouldn't solve her problem. She knew how to deal with her mother. She'd been doing this for years.

Wait. Bide your time. On the outside she'd do what was expected, but eventually she'd get out from under her mother. Either that, or her mother would learn it was in her best interest to let her do her own thing.

With a final deep breath, she relaxed her shoulders. She hadn’t made it this far without learning the game. If Tall Dark and Screwable thought he was staying, he was in for a rude awakening. He was not the first way her mother had tried to control her. It was pretty simple. Make things uncomfortable enough for him to encourage him to leave.

Sera shook her head even as she slid him a glance across the car's armrest. His profile was nearly as amazing as the full-frontal look and she snapped her gaze back to the road. "I'm the fourth bungalow on the left."

She could practically hear him grinding his teeth. "That's not what I meant and you know it. Besides, I know where you live. I've been tracking you since yesterday."

"Of course you have, like some kind of creepy stalker."

The moment he parked, she was out of the car, not waiting for him. The last thing on earth she wanted was to spend another minute in his presence.

When he'd dragged her out of the Exchange, away from her friends, who had waved her off with knowing glances. Freaking traitors. She was going to give Taj the verbal ass-handing of a lifetime tomorrow morning. Except you can't. Not if she wanted to keep her life.

Dylan followed her out of the car. "I'm sorry about the bar. Just so you know, that kiss, in the bar, it was cover. So your friends don't ask too many questions when I follow you around everywhere." He shrugged. "Your mother wants everything kept quiet, so we'll keep up appearances."

"You realize no one is going believe this. I don't do asshole." At least not anymore.

"Well, I'm the asshole you're stuck with."

"You're a fixer, right? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

He sighed heavily as she turned the lock. "At present, apparently not."

When she tried to let them in, he stayed her hand. "I'll go first."

He was too close. She could smell his cologne and she barely managed to keep from inhaling deeply. You. Are. A. Moron. Do not sniff your mother’s watchdog.

"Before we go in, I have to warn you, I wasn't expecting you, so my place is a little untidy and—"

As he put a hand on her shoulder and a zap of electricity jolted her out of her thought process. It surprised them both. He cleared this throat. "I'll go in first and check it out."

"Oh, I promise you, you don't need to. I have an alarm system that lets me know if anyone is inside."

Not listening, he went in ahead of her and then halted right in the doorway. "So much for that alarm system. You've been burgled."

"What?" She shoved past him, then frowned. "No. Like I said, I wasn't expecting company."

"You did this?" He asked as he glanced around.

"Jesus, it's not that bad."

His expression said differently. "Fine." She pointed toward the kitchen. "Kitchen's over there. This is the living area. The bathroom is straight ahead. And your bedroom is on the right. I'm across the hall."

When he didn't move she walked ahead of him and kicked her heels out of the way. She'd been dead on her feet last night and had left them right where she'd taken them off. Walking down the hall she opened the second bedroom door for him. She never used this room. When she first moved in she’d planned on a roommate, but she enjoyed living on her own. It was nice not to have to be on when she walked into the house.

Dylan followed her then dropped his bag right inside the guest bedroom door. She never used this room, so it was relatively uncluttered. Shoot, the bed was even made. Some of the tension rolled out of his shoulders. "Thanks."

The simple thanks shouldn't have made her skin tingle. But that voice. Maybe Taj was right. She needed to get under someone else, and pronto. How are you going to do that with Robocop on your tail? Well, she had to do something, because being in his presence was messing with her equilibrium. "Your bathroom is in the hall. The walls are paper-thin, so be aware. And in the morning, I like to sleep late. You seem like the dawn-riser type."

"I am."

Sera shook her head. "Of course you are." She sighed, because she recognized she was just this side of shrill. "Look, I'm sure you're very good at your job as a professional babysitter. You wouldn't be here if my mother didn't think so. But we don't have to do this. How about you use this time as a vacation and I’ll show up to smile next to my mother at her announcement. I promise, I'll be there."

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'm staying. I prepped a file so you can learn about me. Things like coffee likes and dislikes."

She sputtered. "Oh my God. That's super cute, she sent me someone delusional. Honey, I don't even own a coffee machine."

"It's just for the cover so people will buy that we are dating."

"Don't you need to learn about me?"

"Your mother already sent me a file."

Sera laughed humorlessly. "Oh really? Then you're in for a world of hurt, as she doesn't know anything about me."

"You could fill me in. It'll help if this looks real. Everyone needs to believe I'm your new boyfriend for this to work."

Sera laughed. "I'm sorry? You want me to go quietly into the night? As far as I'm concerned, this is a hate-fuck situation."

"You seemed okay with kissing me. I'm sure we'll manage somehow." Heat suffused her skin. His lips twitched and he took a step into her personal space. "What's the matter, I'm not your type?" He narrowed his gaze and raised a brow.

Holy fuck. Any more of this eye sex situation and she was going to fuck him. Right here in the doorway. "N-no. You're fine."

The bark of laughter filled her living room. "Fine?"

When he laughed he looked sweet and completely approachable and damn it, was that a dimple? Hold fast. You will not fuck the hot fixer. Do you hear me? Sera cleared her throat. "Damn it, you don't need to fish for compliments. What I mean is you're clearly some kick-ass type, and everyone who knows me at all knows I refuse to be with anyone who courts danger. It's kind of my only rule."

"Well, chemistry is a funny thing. Don't worry, the cover will hold."

"It would hold better if I liked you."

"Oh, you like me." His lips tipped into a half smile.

No, she didn't like him, but she did want to rub her body all over him…so there was that. "No. I don't—" A tinny whining sound stopped her short. Shit. The damn sprinklers were still on their timer. No matter how many times she followed the landlord's directions to disable the damn thing, they went off every damn night at seven. And since California was in a serious drought, that earned her hate looks from her neighbors. Her mother might be her new landlord, but the HOA was separate. And she would be the one paying. "Damn it." She ran for the door.

She didn't hear Dylan behind her so much as she felt him. Damn, he was quick. "Sera, where the fuck are you—"

There wasn't time to explain. There was no way in hell she would pay the damn HOA another fifty dollars. In full sprint, she vaulted herself off the stairs, determined to get to the main valve at the side of the house. Too bad the stupid sprinkler had other plans.

The first spray hit her face, and she gasped in surprise, stopping her short as she sucked in a mouthful of water. Robocop behind her had excellent reflexes, managing the jump off the stairs with more grace than she had, but he was bigger than she was, so stopping was more difficult, and he slammed into her.

Bare feet on wet grass: Not. A. Good. Combo. Water hit her shirt and she shivered as she skidded on her heels, getting wetter and wetter as she fell and slid.

Dylan moved to pull her up, but then he caught a spray of water in the face. Okay, she'd admit it, seeing his surprised irritation was almost worth the next blast of water in her hair. Almost.

He cursed as he grasped her arm and tried to pull her up. All his assistance did was make her slide even further and take out his legs.

Echoed curses of, "God damn it," and, "Fuck me," filled the evening quiet. Scrambling over Dylan's prone body, Sera reached for the valve and turned off the system. Breath coming out in choppy pants, she hung her head and held back the hysterical shriek of angry laughter. Of course this would happen. "Fuck my life."

"Are you all right?" he groaned beneath her.

"No. I'm not. I've got the dude from Hitman as my new roommate and supposed boyfriend, mud in my hair, grass stains on my ass, and I'm pretty sure I'd make a half decent entry in a wet t-shirt contest right about now."

Dylan's lips twitched and he muttered, "First place, hands down." His gaze dipped briefly to her breasts then quickly darted back to her eyes.

What the—? "Did you just look at my boobs?"

"Sorry. They're sort of hard to ignore right now." An unapologetic smile broke free. When he fully smiled, a dimple appeared and his sculpted lips tipped into a smile, showing even, pearly teeth.

It was probably for the best that he didn't smile that much. There would be a trail of wet panties left in his wake. She glanced down at her t-shirt and groaned. Her shirt was plastered to her breasts, showing off, in full detail, her black lace demi-cup bra and the hard nipples beneath. "Well, at least I have nice boobs."

He chocked back a cough and a laugh sputtered out of him. "Can't argue with you there." He stood fluidly and put out a hand to help her up.

It was entirely possible that her ovaries just contracted. "What are the chances you'll go on your own?"

"Slim to none; you're stuck with me."