Chances Are - By Christy Reece Page 0,16

figured he’d be doing a lot over the next few weeks. Whatever Angela’s reasons, it was a done deal and was going to happen whether he liked it or not. Best thing he could do was make sure she was adequately equipped to handle whatever came her way.

They were hunting a remorseless killer, something, as far as Jake knew, LCR had never done before. As a cop, he’d seen more than his share of evil people and had apprehended quite a few. Two he had shot to death.

This assignment would be the toughest he’d ever had for a whole different reason. Finding a serial killer would be hard enough and keeping Angela safe would be priority one. However, he had a feeling one of his biggest challenges would be keeping her at arms length.

Chapter Five

LCR Training Facility

Paris

Hands on her knees, Angela stayed low as she concentrated on pulling air evenly through her lungs, then exhaling slowly. She had to focus. Jake’s presence wasn’t the least bit helpful. For every assignment Dylan had given her, she had known Jake was on the sidelines, his eyes sharply assessing…judging. She was in excellent shape, but so far, she’d probably given both men serious doubts that she could handle this mission.

“You okay?” Dylan asked.

“I'm fine,” she snapped.

“He's only being tough on you to save your life.”

In an instant, Angela straightened and turned to glare at the non-sweating, gorgeous man a few feet away. Jake’s condescending words were infuriating. Knowing she smelled like a dead skunk certainly didn't help. “I don't expect him to take it easy on me. I don't need easy.”

“Then what's your problem?”

Shouting that he was the problem would get her thrown out of this mission and rightly so. If she couldn’t handle Jake staring at her, how was she going to strip down to almost nothing in front of a crowd of strangers, many of them ogling her and making all sorts of sexually explicit comments? She’d always had the kind of confidence to carry on no matter what was happening around her. The opinions of others had never really fazed her, mostly because she was sure of herself and her abilities. She knew who she was. But this was different. She had to prove to Dylan that she was capable and could do this job. And she had to prove it to her partner, too. It couldn’t matter that her partner was also the man she fantasized about every night. She had waited years for this opportunity. Her libido would not stop her from fulfilling her dream.

“It's just taking me a while to get into the swing of things. I'll be fine.”

“The killer isn't going to wait for you to “get into the swing of things.””

Jake’s sarcasm was not only unappreciated, he used his fingers to make quotations of her words. She hated when people did that.

Whirling around, Angela faced Dylan again, who’d stood watching and waiting silently as she and Jake argued. The gleam in his green eyes told her he knew she was pissed; the slight smile on his face told her he was pleased. Realization came quick. They had played her and she’d fallen for it. She mentally shrugged. It had worked. They were all in this together. This wasn’t some arbitrary test set up to anger her or destroy her confidence. This was a test most operatives had to complete…she was no different.

Now to show them what she was really made of. Focused on her target, Angela went after her opponent with everything she had.

Dylan blocked every punch she threw. Angela hit hard and low, surprising him with a punch to his gut. She barely got the chance to appreciate his huff of air before he grabbed her arm, whirled her around and threw her to the mat.

Back on her feet in an instant, she warily watched Dylan circle her. The man on the sidelines no longer existed. This was a fight for survival. It was she or Dylan. He struck again, this time coming at her with what looked like a knife. She kicked the weapon from his hand, grabbed his forearms to jerk him around and slammed him face-first onto the mat. Jumping on top of him, she grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back. “Gotcha.”

Laughter burst from Dylan; the man watching them remained strangely quiet. It wasn’t easy but she resisted looking up to see his reaction.

“Okay, I give,” Dylan said.

Angela jumped to her feet and backed away. Dylan went