“I couldn’t sleep.” Moonlight poured in through the upper rafters, highlighting her pretty face. “Lying to my dad is a bad idea. He always finds out the truth.”

“We don’t have time to ease him into the truth,” Raider countered, unable to stop himself from running his hands down her arms to warm her. “Force’s intel says that Coonan has something big cooking up, but we don’t know what. We have to get in there, and now. Maybe your dad will make the introduction if I agree to dump you.” He would love to see her smile.

She rolled her eyes. “You’d never dump me. I’d do the dumping. My dad knows that.”

Cute. Adorable, even. And she was getting used to his touch. It was unfortunate for him that he liked touching her way too much. She was smart and sweet, and stubborn as all get-out. It showed what a deviant he was that that fact turned him on. He brushed the hair off her shoulder and slid his knuckles over the smooth skin of her neck.

Her eyes darkened. “What are you doing?”

Something he definitely shouldn’t. “We have to be more natural with each other to fool anybody.” Could he be any more full of crap? Leaning in, he brushed his lips against her temple, inhaling the sweet scent of her thick hair. Honeysuckle and vanilla. The dual scent was always around her, and it had drawn him since the first day they’d met. “You’re getting used to me.”

She slid her hands up and over his chest. “I’ve wanted to touch you for a while. Not because I like you.” Her hands continued their exploration, and then her knuckles brushed up both sides of his neck. “You’re just so hard and angled that I’ve been curious. When I saw you fight the other day, you moved so gracefully.”

His body went from alert to full-on burn. Her touch was going to kill him. This was an assignment, and he had to keep that thought in his mind. Another thought, one from the back of his brain, spiraled forward. Was she manipulating him? Not once had she hidden her intention to protect her father. If she was working him, she was doing a damn good job of it. Maybe it was time to see how far she’d go. “I’ve wanted to touch you, too.” He tangled his hand in her hair like he’d wanted to for so long.

Her gasp was involuntary and honest.

He liked that. “You can touch me all you want, but I won’t abandon the job.”

“I know that.” Her gaze tracked her hands as she slid them down his chest and over his flat abdomen.

He sucked in air, his jeans becoming way too tight. “What are you doing?”