Quinton Mann is CIA through and through. Mark Vincent is WBIS for life. There is no way they could end up as anything other than adversaries -- and yet, Quinn takes Mark out to dinner on his birthday -- the one no one is supposed to know about -- and gives him one hell of a present in the restaurant's restroom. Mark, not to be outdone, has decided to escalate this game, because it has to be a game, right? There's no way it can be anything else.<br><br>But as the game continues, as Quinn shows up to a WBIS funeral, as a friend of Mark’s penetrates the CIA computer network to get information on Quinn, as Mark breaks into Quinn's house and gives Quinn a very interesting encounter, both Quinn and Mark realize that this is becoming the most real thing in their lives.<br><br>Can they find a way to do their jobs and keep this surprising, intriguing connection?

Houseboat on the Nile

“Still doesn’t matter. Do you have them in his size?”


“From your description, I believe a 36 Average would fit him.”


I didn’t tell her that Mann might be any number of things, but average wasn’t one of them.


She stuffed the first pair back into the drawer and pulled another pair out. “If you’ll come with me?”


I followed her to the corner of the store where the cash register discreetly resided.


“Will this be cash, or would you prefer to put this on your Beau Brummel’s card?”


“Cash.” This wasn’t a purchase I wanted to leave a paper trail on. I reached for my wallet and handed her three hundreds and a fifty.


“I assume you’ll want this gift wrapped?”


“Definitely.” That would really throw Mann off. First, he wouldn’t know who the “gift” was coming from, and second, when he realized it was from me, he wouldn’t know if there was anything more to it than simply replacing a pair of pajamas. He was going to wonder why I’d gone to so much trouble.


Chapter 68