“Come here, little cherub,” he cooed. The little girl reacted immediately to his deep, soothing voice, all but lunging into his arms. “There now, you’re safe, Courtney. We’re taking you home.”
“To mommy and daddy?” she said in a teary voice.
“Yes. They’re waiting for you.” He moved her to his side and dug a handkerchief out of his pocket. “But we can’t let them see all these tears, now can we?”
Courtney shook her head as he gently dabbed her cheeks. She smiled tremulously at the man Paxton’s Red Reign team had been referring to as the big bad wolf.
Well, that frightening characterization just didn’t fit the ease he displayed with the little porcelain treasure. Paxton was confused at the stirring of emotions inside her as she watched this hulk of a man succumb to the innocent charms of a six-year-old. It was obvious he was smitten with the child. Neither did it fit the devil-may-care picture she had conjured of him over the past couple of months. It completely shattered that vision and replaced every thought and feeling she had about him.
She couldn’t help but reach out and brush the girl’s cheeks as Jared joined her.
“Hi, Courtney, I’m Paxton. You are such a brave little girl... oh!” she gasped as Courtney flung herself into her arms. She buried her face in Paxton’s hair with her arms wrapped in a stranglehold around her neck.
“You smell nice,” she said in a voice washed with sadness.
Jared studied Paxton as she looked at him. She didn’t understand the feeling of loss mixed with warmth surging through her. It didn’t make sense. She was already the mother of an eighteen-year-old daughter. Maybe it was just that— the loss of being needed paired with the childish passion Courtney displayed. Her only daughter, Lucy, was a free and precocious creature. She hadn’t needed any emotional comfort from Paxton for years.
“Brock, keep the Red Reign team out of the house. I don’t want this case to go sideways because of their presence, so make sure we act within the boundaries of the search warrant. Secure the perimeter. Detain every person of interest on the premises and take them in for questioning. Set up a covert surveillance team. Anyone new arrives, I want them detained and brought in.” Jared’s piercing gaze silenced the objection about to burst from Paxton’s lips at the audacity to take charge of her team. “Miss Lee and I will take the little girl home to her parents and join you at HQ later.”
He firmly grasped her elbow and guided her to a black Humvee. Usually, it wouldn’t have stopped Paxton from ripping into him for manhandling her but since she was carrying a precious little bundle, she curbed the desire to act out.
“The next one referring to my team as kitties is going to regret it.” Her voice cut through the silence as Jared closed the door behind him.
He cast an amused look her way. Her eyes sparkled with anger as she noticed the broad smile illuminated by his white teeth.
“Zip it, commander. I find your holier-than-thou attitude and overwrought mannerisms offensive.”
Paxton clamped her mouth shut from further lambasting the annoying man as Courtney turned with wide eyes to watch them. She’d already been through an ordeal and didn’t need to witness two grown-ups sniping at each other in a power struggle.
No, I’ll save my wrath for when we’re alone. Jared Bates has interfered for the last time with a Red Reign PI team assignment.
“You surprise me, Miss Lee.”
“It’s Mrs. Lee.” Paxton winced at the petulant tone in her voice. She sounded like a sulking teenager for heaven’s sake.
Jared glanced at her sharply. “You married?”
His eyes scanned her face in the ambient light from the instrument cluster. A vision appeared that had been fixed in his memory since the first time he’d come face to face with her. Drop-dead gorgeous and wicked-smart— attributes that were a natural aphrodisiac to Jared. Her forest-green eyes glinted under his scrutiny as she freed a banded tuft of hair from her dark, red mane. His enraptured gaze dropped to her full breasts that rose and fell with each breath. An errant pulse careened into his loins and jerked him out of the exquisite reverie.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m a widow and prefer the title Mrs.”
She shifted in her seat as he eased the Humvee into a bay marked, Bates. It was obvious she had no desire to elaborate. Jared compartmentalized her reaction for later.
They had dropped Courtney off and were now at the Cobra stronghold. Paxton had lived in San Francisco her entire life and owned a beach property on 25th Avenue in Sea Cliff but because she hadn’t been paying attention, she had no idea where they were. She looked around. Apart from the parking bays there was nothing but shrubs and trees. “Where are we?”
“At Cobra Headquarters at Seal Rocks Beach,” he said as he cut the engine and turned to her. “I expected you to rip into me the moment we were alone,” he offered with a smile.
Paxton shot back a look of irritation.
“I have to admit, I was looking forward to a joust with you.”
“One thing you’ll soon learn about me, Bates, is that I’m anything but predictable.” For some unknown reason, Paxton couldn’t summon forth her earlier anger. Perhaps because she couldn’t get the picture of him being protective and caring out of her mind. “Your headquarters is a bush camp?” she quipped. “I don’t see a building of any kind.”
Jared chuckled. “It’s more of a fortress behind that privy hedge.” He shrugged. “And it’s where I live.”
Paxton raised her eyebrows. “Ah, so you’re one of those.”