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Davidson
who is said to be a firewall expert. Can you confirm that much?”
    He
glanced toward the bag in her lap. “If you’ve turned that recorder back on I’ll
have you arrested for trespassing.” He held out his hand. “Hand it over. Now.”
     

Chapter
Two
     
    Julianne
pulled out the recorder and handed it to him. She hadn’t turned it back on, but
the urge to do so had been strong. He glanced at it, and to his credit, looked
guilty. “I owe you an apology.”
    “ No, you don’t. I’d have thought the same thing if I
was you. Keep it on your desk in plain sight so we both know it’s not on.”
    The
suspicious look was back. “Do you have a back-up recorder in that bag?”
    She
dumped the contents of her bag on top of his polished mahogany desk. “Look for
yourself.”
    He
eyed her makeup, key ring, and sunglasses, and then he glanced up with a look
of mischief in his eyes that sent her heart fluttering. “Are you wearing a
wire?”
    Holy shit. She hesitated no more than a
second or two, and then stood, holding his gaze. Julianne undid one button on her top, and
his eyes glazed over. His jaw went slack after the second one, and after the
third, which exposed the front of her bra, he held up a hand.
    “ Okay. I believe you.”
    “ Are you sure?” They stared into each other’s eyes for
long moments. Julianne’s pulse raced, and her pussy grew wet. “I might have it
well hidden.”
    She
saw him swallow. “You’re not going to get me to divulge classified information
by seducing me again, Julianne.” His voice belied the words. He sounded hungry and
desperate, and her heart soared.
    She
refastened her buttons but said nothing. Once she’d taken her seat again, he
pushed a button on the control panel built into his desk. “Agnes, bring me an
iced tea please.” He raised his brows and glanced toward Julianne. “Would you
like something to drink?”
    “ I’ll have the same. No sugar.”
    “ Make it two, Agnes.”
    “ Right away, Mr. Bannerman.”
    Tiny
droplets of sweat dotted his hairline, and his face was flushed. “Um … I really
do need to discuss this with the other Weathermen first.”
    “ Which means there is something to discuss.”
    “ Julianne, try to understand my position here. You
lived above ground for how long?”
    “ Twenty-two years.”
    “ I was thirty-four when I came underground. We both
remember what it was like before. I know we both want the same thing. To take
back our planet.”
    “ Everyone wants that, Kane. That’s why they
need to know there’s hope.”
    He
shook his head. “They don’t need to know it in such intimate detail. It will
harm our efforts, not help them.”
    “ Then find a way to let me tell the story that won’t
harm your efforts.”
    “ Why should I?”
    “ We’ve been through that already. I’m not the same
person. What I did to you was wrong. I apologized to you publicly, I got them
to print the retraction, and now I’m apologizing in person. How long will you
hold the same grudge?”
    He
was about to speak again, but there was a soft knock on his door. Julianne
remembered Agnes from five years ago, and apparently Agnes remembered her, too,
because she gave her a stern look. “Forgive me, Mr. Bannerman. I was away from
my desk when Miss Wallis was brought up from reception or I wouldn’t have let
her into your office.”
    She
plunked down the tray with a pitcher and two glasses on top of Kane’s desk, and
he tried to suppress a smile. “It’s all right. Julianne and I are discussing
our shared past. I’ll let you know if I need anything else.”
    “ Yes, sir.”
    Once
she left the room and closed the doors, harder than she needed to, he grinned.
“How did you get past her to make the appointment? She never would have let you
do it.”
    Julianne
shrugged. “I told you I made the appointment under my name and credentials. I
don’t know why she didn’t see it.”
    He
poured two glasses of iced tea. “I thought you had friends