Miranda didn’t move for a long minute after he disappeared through the door. Her heart pounded and her skin prickled with heat—but that was probably just the shower. Except it was cold now that the water was off and the air was wafting over her body.

Whatever. She was not ashamed if a man saw her naked. Hell, she’d gone topless for the job before. Worn a teeny tiny G-string and danced on a bar—not only when she was eighteen and stripping for cash, but also as an undercover agent. She had no problem showing her body. Never had.

So why the heat of embarrassment now? Lord have mercy, she wanted to clap her hands to her cheeks and see if they were as hot as they felt.

And she knew why she was hot, didn’t she? The way he’d looked at her—and the way she’d responded when he did. The heat. The sizzle in the air. Whoa and damn. If nipples were capable of standing up and saying Howdy, stranger, then hers sure had. Not only that, but she’d felt the slickness of arousal between her legs.

He’d been aroused too. She hadn’t missed that. How could she? My God, he was huge. The outline of his hard cock against his jeans had been impressive. She’d wanted to see more, but thank God she had more sense than that. She was capable of casual sex for sex’s sake—wouldn’t be the first time—but this wasn’t the right time for it. She needed to keep her wits, not lose her mind over a Hollywood-handsome SEAL with a big dick.

She almost laughed. Earlier, she’d thought he probably had a little dick just because that’s the way the world worked. But of course he didn’t. Every inch of him was perfectly appealing.

And she had no business thinking about it.

Miranda toweled off, unclipped her hair from on top of her head—thank God she’d found a hair clip in the drawer—and slipped into the jeans and T-shirt that had been waiting for her in the Dodge. Too bad they hadn’t thought about providing her with pajamas.

She’d searched the drawers and closet in the bedroom and they were empty. Well, except for sheets and blankets. She could have wrapped one of those around her instead of getting dressed again, she supposed.

She stared at herself in the mirror, at her red cheeks and bright eyes. Lord, what was Cody going to think if she walked out there like this?

She turned on the cold water and doused her cheeks. It helped somewhat. She took a deep breath and went out into the small living room. The house was tiny with a galley kitchen, dining nook, and microscopic living room. She hadn’t explored beyond the first bedroom and bath she came to, but she hoped like hell there was another. Because if she had to share with Mister Tall, Dark, and Sinfully Sexy— Well, it didn’t bear thinking about.

Cody looked up from where he sat on the couch, his gaze gliding coolly over her form. She couldn’t help but glance at his jeans for evidence of that hard-on—but it was gone. She didn’t know whether to feel relief or disappointment about that.

“Everything okay?” he asked. As if he hadn’t just seen her naked. As if he hadn’t had wood.

“Fine. You?” She sank onto the chair opposite and pulled her knees up. She should probably go to bed, but she was too keyed up.

“The CIA says you’re a rogue agent.”

And that took all the fight right out of her. Her chest felt as if someone had wrapped a hand around her heart and squeezed. “What?” She barely got the word out.

“That’s what they told my commander.”

Her throat ached and her eyes stung. “It’s not true.”

“Why would they say that, Miranda?”

She had no idea. “I don’t know. I told you the mission was top secret—I was supposed to infiltrate Victor Conti’s operation. I was going in through the porn side.”

His eyes flashed and his jaw tightened. “The porn side? Just what were you planning to do?”

She swallowed. “I wasn’t going to be an actress if that’s what you’re thinking. I was, uh, someone who could get girls for the films. Fresh, new faces.”

He looked fierce in that moment. “A talent scout? How the fuck do you know he wouldn’t have wanted a performance from you just to prove you knew what you were doing?”

Her pulse quickened. “I didn’t know that at all. Maybe he would have.”

“You were prepared to fuck him? Or fuck an actor on camera?”

She pressed her hands to her temples. “I was prepared to make him think I’d fuck him—or an actor, yes. It wasn’t going that far though. I wasn’t going to let it.”

“Jesus.” Cody swore long and hard. “Is that what the CIA does these days? Pimp their fucking agents to porn purveyors?”

“I volunteered.” She licked her bottom lip. “It was the only way in. We’ve tried other ways—they didn’t work.”

An understatement considering Mark was dead.

“You must want to see him taken down pretty badly.”

Miranda closed her eyes and bit down on the inside of her cheek. How much could she say to this man? On the other hand, what could she lose? Her own people said she was a rogue agent. She took the burner phone from her pocket and flipped it open. Then she dialed Badger’s number.

“Mandy, thank God.”

“Is it true?” she demanded. Her gaze met Cody’s. He was watching her sympathetically, and that made her breath quicken a fraction.

“Is what true?”

“I’m a rogue agent now? I need to be taken down and handed over before I do any damage?”

“Shit.” She heard him blow out a breath and she knew he was smoking. “I’m trying to fix this, Mandy, I swear.”

“What’s there to fix? Someone betrayed me to Conti. Someone wants me brought in. What do you think the chances are I’ll come out of it alive if I’m taken now?”

“It’s not like that. I swear it’s not. Come in and we’ll work on it together. Show good faith and it’ll all turn out right.”

Her eyes stung. Good faith? “’Bye, Badger. Give my love to Susan.”

She ended the call with his voice fairly screaming through the line. But there was nothing he could say. No way he could convince her. She dropped the phone and put her fingers against the sides of her head, pressing as if she could stop the pain from growing any worse.

“You okay?”

She couldn’t look at him. “No.”

He blew out a breath. And then he was moving. When he sat beside her and dragged her against him, she stiffened for a second. But he didn’t do anything inappropriate. He held her loosely, allowing her room to escape if she desired.

She did not want to escape. Instead, she turned her face into his broad chest and breathed him in. He smelled good. Clean and masculine. It had been so long since she’d let a man hold her. So damn long.

“Why don’t you believe what they’re saying about me?” she asked, her voice muffled against the fabric of his T-shirt. Really, this was completely wrong and so not her—but it felt too good, and she was at such a low point that she wanted someone else to be strong for a moment.

His fingers stroked over her hair. The touch was light, but it went deep into her soul for some crazy reason.

“Maybe I’m wrong, but rogue says to me that someone no longer plays by the rules. That they have an agenda beyond the official agenda and they are willing to do anything to get it. Would someone who’d turned against the CIA care whether or not her hostage lived? Or would she kill him as soon as he’d served his purpose?”

She sucked in a breath. “She’d let him live if there was no point in killing him. And there wasn’t. You got me out of the Venetian. That’s all I needed.”

“Yeah, well, you could have forced me into the parking garage and into a vehicle and then dumped me along the way.”

“You took my gun. I couldn’t do any of it.” She sniffed.

He chuckled softly. “True. But let me have my fantasy, okay? So you didn’t shoot me then—and you didn’t take any of the opportunities you’ve had since I returned your clip to leave me for dead.”

She twisted her fingers into the fabric of his T-shirt. It was much too intimate, but she liked it. “I’m biding my time,” she said. “You’re still useful.”

He laughed out loud this time, and a wave of relief washed over her that he’d found it funny. Yeah, she was a smart-ass and sometimes it went too far. Maybe she shouldn’t have said it at all—but he’d been amused, and that was a good thing.

“I live to serve, baby.”

She pushed back enough that she could see his face. He was so close, so damned appealing, and warmth flooded her. Eyes the color of the desert sky stared back at her.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth. Those lips begged to be kissed. They were firm, smooth, and sensual. She imagined them against hers, imagined how they would feel and taste.

“Miranda.”

She snapped her attention to his eyes again. They were still blue, still clear—but now they gleamed hotly, their depths intense.

“Yes?” She tried to make the word innocent, clueless.

“I just saw you naked. I’m not likely to forget that sight anytime soon. And while I didn’t come over here to be a douche and make a move on you while you’re upset, if you keep looking at me like I’m something you’d like to saddle up and ride, I’m going to oblige your curiosity.”

Her heart was in her throat, fluttering away like a moth’s wings beating against the jar someone had trapped it in. She didn’t know this man at all, and yet a part of her very much wanted to go there with him.

Crazy.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pushing away from him even more.

He took his arm from around her and put his hands together in his lap. “Don’t apologize. I like the way you look at me. But I’m only human, Miranda. And I’m pretty sure this isn’t what you really want right now.”

“I don’t know what I want,” she admitted.

He pushed to his feet and went over to the tiny kitchen where he pulled a beer out of the fridge. “How about one of these?”

“Sure.”

He got another one out, popped the tops, and brought them back. After handing her one, he took the seat opposite her again. And yes, she glanced at his dick to see if it was hard. It was, which only made her wetter.

“I don’t think you’ve gone rogue,” he said, propping a foot on the coffee table. Hiding the evidence of his arousal, sad to say. “But you’re in over your head, that’s for sure.”

“Do you think this is something HOT can sort out?” Because she was done believing in the agency. Done believing that even Badger could do anything for her this time. She was on her own for the first time in years, and she didn’t quite know how she was going to get out of this mess without help.

He took a sip of the beer. “I think it’s possible, yeah.”

She played with her bottle but didn’t drink it. “I hope you’re right. Because I think if you don’t, I’m a dead woman.”

His eyes flashed. “Not on my watch, babe. Promise.”