Rarities Unlimited 02 - Running Scared

in the number-two clean room.”
    Without missing a beat, Risa matched her boss’s long-legged stride. If it strained the hem of her knee-length fitted skirt, too bad. No way a man was going to have her at a disadvantage. “What was the guy mad about?”
    “He had a tray of Roman cameos he wanted appraised,” Shane said. “Turned out most were pretty good forgeries. He didn’t like it, so he started yelling and cursing. Niall showed up real fast and escorted the client out. The client didn’t like that either. Said he was going to send someone to teach Niall some manners.”
    “Dumb, dumber, dumbest.” She shook her head at the client’s lack of insight. Not to mention simple smarts. “Niall isn’t as big as Jersey, but he’s a lot tougher.”
    The corner of Shane’s mouth kicked up, and his eyes gleamed with sardonic humor. “Meaner, too. And I’ll bet on mean every time.”
    “No argument here.” Risa knew better than most people just how far mean could go. Growing up cockroach poor taught you all about the difference between mean, tough, and merely big. You learned to size up men and situations fast—and accurately—or you paid in pain.
    Shane slanted a speculative glance at his curator. She was very businesslike in her dark tailored skirt and loose, jewel blue jacket, her hair a sleek black cap, her makeup understated, her curvy figure all but hidden, and the kind of mouth that could make a man forget all the reasons he shouldn’t bite it. He almost hadn’t hired Risa because of her body and those sin-with-me lips. Then he had measured the unflinching intelligence in her eyes and remembered the ambition that had fairly radiated from her résumé.
    Risa was everything he had wanted and more than he had bargained on getting when he asked Niall to help him find a trustworthy gold curator who would agree to live in Las Vegas. Niall had sent Risa.
    Knowing that he would probably regret it, Shane had hired her. Then he had kept as much distance as possible from his new curator.
    Given the nature of her work, it wasn’t enough space for comfort. Getting ready for his upcoming “Druid Gold” show had had them stepping on each other’s shadows for months. More than once he had thought about finding another curator so he could have sex with this one. But he needed Risa’s expertise and her fierce intelligence more than he needed an affair, so they just kept circling each other like strange dogs that didn’t know whether to bite or lick.
    Most of the time Shane was thankful that Risa put up as many go away signs as he did. The rest of the time it irritated him that she was every bit as wary of him as he was of her. He couldn’t help wondering why she kept backing up. Certainly not out of fear of losing the only good job around. In the past year a well-known private museum and two wealthy collectors had offered Risa employment. He knew because he had bettered their offers in order to keep her.
    And his common sense told him that he should have let her go. She was the kind of trouble he really didn’t need.
    Risa tapped on the door of the number-two clean room, so called because it was a safe, neutral territory where buyer could meet seller and not fear fraud or outright robbery. In this case Shane was the designated buyer. At least that was what Rarities’ client hoped.
    “Sorry I’m late,” Risa said to Dana and Niall, who were going over some papers on the long metal table that ran down the center of the room. “Security hold in Vegas, and then a gas tanker truck flipped on Sepulveda.”
    “You two should be honored,” Shane said.
    “Why?” Dana asked, looking up.
    “I’m her boss, and she didn’t apologize to me.”
    Risa’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t say a word.
    Niall cleared his throat. Shane and Risa had been at sixes and sevens from the first day they met, but lately the air was beginning to smoke whenever they were in the same room. With a mental sigh he decided to start looking for a new opening for Risa; if she didn’t quit pretty soon, Shane would fire her. On the plus side, Shane was noted for his generous severance packages. Maybe she was holding out for that.
    “Why should she apologize to you?” Dana asked, stacking the papers with brisk motions. “Rarities is paying for her time at the moment, not you.”
    “Ouch,” Shane said.
    “One day you’ll learn, boyo,” Niall said, grinning. “The lady could teach cutting to a sword.”
    Shane cocked a dark brown