He gave her the clothes he’d ordered for her to wear to her meeting. Since the ZGT operative had to stay clear of her wardrobe warehouse and her home because they didn’t want anyone following the operative back to the hangar, they’d bought a new business suit for her with a blouse and shoes and all the trimmings right down to her bra and panties.
Looking at her now, fully dressed, Joe stopped himself from telling her she looked like a banker who moonlighted as a porn star, that she disturbed his recently overworked cock to no end. That no matter how businesslike she was dressed, the sex kitten in her roared through the paltry coverup.
“Either way, I’ll have your back, Mae.” It was all he could say. He felt the meaning in his words, heard the vibration in his voice.
“I know you will, Joe.” The absence of her ready smile was telling. She was attempting to be brave. His gut tumbled around and clenched up as if she’d stuck her fist inside him and wrenched it.
After a small pause, she asked “Did you call the cops?”
He rallied his professional demeanor before answering.
“Yes. On the flight here while you were sleeping. They’re up to speed about everything. They’re at your house processing the crime scene now.”
She looked surprised and quickly said, “I don’t want this in the news.”
“Don’t worry. We’re a low-profile kind of outfit.” He wondered why she was worried about the news. Didn’t all the Hollywood types love to see their faces on TV? But then she was behind the scenes.
“You didn’t you call the police yesterday. Why not?”
“I didn’t have a chance. Once you showed up it was all over. You took control.”
“But you had reported it to the police previously. They had you on file.”
“Yes. When I went to them they said there was nothing they could do until something bad happened. Not in those exact words, but same thing. They suggested I get some private security if I was really worried. So I did.”
“You didn’t tell them about the papers?”
“Of course I did, but they were just a bunch of love letters.” Then she smiled. It lit him up, sending a shock wave that went straight to his already stiff cock, making it jump. He kept his concentration on business with a mighty effort.
He said, “Now it’s time to tell them about the key.”
“The key.” She frowned. “It’s useless, really, since we have no idea what it unlocks or where.”
“We have a meeting at LA police headquarters after your business meeting. I’ll give them the key then.”
* * *
Joe tookthe key from his tuxedo jacket pocket. She’d never gotten the story about why he was still wearing the jacket. A wistful premonition told her maybe she never would. He’d decided to back off from her, from their attraction, from whatever they had. They definitely hadsomethingand it must scare him. It scared her too, but not as much as holding back, leaving possibilities on the table. Wasn’t this why she’d been avoiding meaningless relationships with men for all these months, after all?
Her mother would be proud of her.
Joe examined the key closely, shutting one eye, concentrating on the small imprinted text. She hadn’t been able to decipher anything useful, but then her eyes, even with her reading glasses, hadn’t been able to make anything out. It was just a key. Probably to some safety deposit box that would be impossible to find without more information.
“I don’t know. I can’t make anything out, but we have experts at HQ who live for this stuff. Before we hand it over to the police, I’ll contact the ZGT tech expert and send a 3-D picture.”
* * *
“You can do that?”
She unleashed her seductive sex-kitten smile at him and it bowled him over yet again. Helluva thing. Where was his famous indifference? Gone because too much time had passed since his last lay, most likely. He needed to call out his absent self-discipline and redouble his efforts to keep on track. This lady deserved his professional best.
Of course, because every client does.
“Let’s roll.” He opened her door to the new car ZGT had outfitted him with. He wasn’t sure he liked it. Too flashy for his style, but when in LA . . .
“Your Zero Go Team outfit must do very well to have a car like this on standby. I don’t think they charged me enough to cover this cost.”
“Don’t worry about the money. Didn’t I mention we’re a nonprofit business?”