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“You had a few calls this morning,” she said, waving the pink message slips she held in her hand.
“Thank you.” Jo accepted the notes and glanced through the messages, penned in Melodie’s neat, efficient handwriting. None were urgent or important, thank goodness.
Apparently in no hurry to leave, Melodie settled into one of the chairs in front of Jo’s desk and crossed one leg over the other. “Who would have thought that an escaped felon could be sooo sexy and charming.”
There was no mistaking who she was referring to. “Dean isn’t an escaped felon.”
Melodie grinned in satisfaction. “Ahh, that may be true, but you didn’t deny that he was sexy and charming.”
She shot her friend a direct look. “And your point is?”
“I’m going to ask what no one else in this office has the nerve to,” she said, displaying a gutsiness that surprised Jo, since Melodie was normally so reserved. Too bad she couldn’t bring herself to use that bold assertiveness on Cole who could use a good dose of his own medicine from his secretary.
Jo shuffled through the paperwork and reports she’d left on her desk last Friday to attend to when she returned to the office. “And what question is that?”
Melodie leaned forward, her eyes alight with anticipation. “Is there something going on between you and Dean?”
“What makes you ask that?” she asked without missing a beat.
“Aww, come on, Jo. You might have done a decent job at avoiding the attraction between the two of you out in the reception area, but judging by the intimate way Dean kept on looking at you it was obvious that something’s going on.”
Jo inwardly cringed. If Melodie had seen and sensed the sensual connection between her and Dean, then no doubt so had her brothers. However, she wasn’t about to admit to anything.
Melodie continued. “And since I can only dream of my own fantasy man looking at me that way, let me live vicariously through you.”
Unbidden, images flashed in her mind, of Dean dragging ice over her breasts and belly and following the cold trail with his heated mouth, his strong body moving over hers, in hers, slow and sure, coaxing her surrender which she’d given him willingly. Numerous times.
Jo shook her head, as much to dismiss Melodie’s question as to clear her mind of those provocative and very private scenarios she had no intention of sharing with anyone. “Sorry, but there’s nothing to tell.”
Melodie regarded her for a few extra seconds. “I think you’re holding out on me, but just so you know, I’m here if you need to talk.”
Jo said nothing more, and just then the phone rang, saving her from any further response. With one last encouraging smile, Melodie hustled out of her office to take the call at her own desk.
Dropping into her chair with a heavy, soul-deep exhale, Jo leaned back and closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax. Much to her relief, everyone left her alone for the rest of the afternoon to answer emails and work through her abduction cases on the Internet, until Noah returned with Dean a few hours later.
Saving the document she’d been typing up on her computer, Jo watched as Dean sauntered into her office with an easygoing grin that made her pulse flutter and need coil deep in her belly. No matter how much she wanted to give in to her desires when it came to this earthy, sexual man, she struggled to squash the sensations. She was determined to keep things between them platonic from here on out. Another couple of hours, and he’d be long gone. No sense complicating matters by giving in to the temptation he presented.
“How did it go?” she asked, closing the open file folder in front of her.
“Your brother didn’t interrogate me too badly.” He winked playfully at her.
She winced, not wanting to know what they’d discussed, especially if it pertained to the two of them and their recent road trip. “I meant how did it go down at the station?”
She expected him to sit in one of the chairs, but instead he rounded her desk, came to a stop next to her, and perched his hip on the edge of the sturdy walnut surface. “A set of fingerprints proved my identity and that I’m not the guy in the mug shot you showed me. I was cleared of any charges, but unfortunately there’s still some guy out there assuming my identity, and until he’s caught I’m forced to share my name with a felon.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, truly feeling bad about that.
“Yeah, the whole situation is frustrating as hell,” he agreed.
She inhaled and forced a bright smile. “At least you’re now free to head back to Seattle and get back to that vacation I interrupted. I’d be happy to drive you to the airport.”
The leg closest to her swung back and forth, brushing against her thigh and stirring up a restlessness she’d thought she’d put a tight rein on. “Actually, I was thinking about sticking around for a few days.”
She blinked in surprise. “You were?”
He shrugged casually. “The last time I was in San Francisco it was all business and I didn’t have much time to check out the sights. Besides, I think it would be kinda fun to celebrate my thirty-third birthday on Friday in the city, rather than alone in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. And before you start worrying, I won’t interfere in your work or make demands on your time,” he assured her with a charming grin. “In fact, on the way back to the office I had Noah make a stop so I could get a rental car and check into a hotel a few miles away from here.”
“Oh.” He had everything under control, and he wasn’t asking her to spend time with him. She’d wanted the distance and had been the one to establish it, yet she’d never expected to feel a sting of rejection at this unexpected twist in Dean’s plans.
