He looked up from his plate and met her earnest eyes, filled with genuine concern and fear.
“I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“But you know there’ll be more than one of them.”
“There always is. I’m used to the odds. Besides, I’ll have the immeasurable advantage of surprise. I’ll take them down with the least amount of violence possible. I’ll have plastic ties and Detective Harvey’s number on speed dial. I’ll keep them on ice until Harvey gets there.”
“You’ll be wearing one of those bullet-proof vests, right?”
He nodded.
“And you want me to wait patiently, wondering what’s happening.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as something happens. Right after I call the police. I promise.”
She squared her shoulders, having the double effect of highlighting her magnificent breasts and highlighting her bravery.
“It’s a deal. I’ll have to trust that you’re as badass as you say you are, but I’m confident that you know how to take care of yourself.” She picked up her fork and knife and sliced into her steak with vigor. “In the meantime, we should build up our strength.”
“Build up our strength?” His heart lightened at her brave determination to trust him. His mouth quirked to one side as he waited for her explanation with that special edge of excited anticipation, the kind laced with sensual awareness.
“Yes. We’ll need it for tonight. For your send-off celebration.” She hit him with the full force of her sex-kitten smile that reached her eyes and seem to take over her entire body, creating an irresistible invitation.
His chest went tight and his blood raced, heating him up, stiffening his alert cock in record time. Though he’d found that in her presence he was ever ready. Damn. How the hell was he going to turn down this invitation? Everything in him was tense with conflict, desire versus professional ethics and emotional intimacy versus intelligent detachment.
He stabbed a piece of steak and shoved it in his mouth, chewing with the fierceness of the only outlet for his pent-up tensions.
He shouldn’t, but God help him he watched her because he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she ate her food with the same sensual invitation in every come-hither movement.
He threw his napkin on the table, leaving a chunk of steak there because his appetite for food had deserted him, replaced by an unrelenting sexual desire.
“I need to call Harvey. Let him know I’ll be going to the house. Make sure the yellow police tape is gone. Make sure he doesn’t have any men still watching the house.”
She nodded. “Whatever you say.” She didn’t saybig boy, but her tone implied it. He was in so much trouble. Didn’t she know she was an enormous distraction he couldn’t afford?
He slipped his phone from his pocket and punched in the detective’s number.
“Detective Harvey here.”
“This is Joe. I’ll be going over to Mae—Ms. Monday’s house tomorrow.”
“Don’t bother pretending you have a formal client relationship withMs. Mondayon my account. Why do you need to go there? It’s still a crime scene.”
“Don’t be an ass, Harvey. You’ve been finished with that place for two days. Take the yellow tape off it and send your men to watch the studio.”
“Why shouldn’t we watch the house?”
“For one, Mae isn’t staying there. Even Sal and his boys know that now. They know the police have processed the house and that whatever was in it is gone. As far as Sal’s concerned it’s a contaminated site. They’ll be looking for her at the studio. It’s their only sure bet. It’s been in the trade papers that she’s the costume designer for the pilot of the new Beachcomber Investigations series.” Joe watched Mae watching him. He managed to stay focused by remembering it was her skin, her very lovely skin, that he was protecting. The pause was long, even accounting for Harvey being an ass, but Joe was patient.
“You’re probably right.” He heard Harvey shuffling some papers. Multitasking. “But don’t let it go to your head. And you see anything out of the ordinary at the house you’d better call it in right away. I find out you engaged any of these peckerheads and your weapon will be confiscated—connections or no connections.”
“I’m only going to pick up a few things. I’ll be in and out.”
“That’s what she said just before the bed broke.”
Joe did his best to pretend the old man hadn’t said that, and found himself caught somewhere between an eye roll and a smile. Found himself looking into the same exact expression on Mae’s face. She’d heard every word of the conversation. Both sides.
When he ended the call, Mae said, “If Sal’s not going near the house because of the police, are you sure he’s going to make a move on you there? Are you sure he’s even going to follow us there?”