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15
Central Business District, New Orleans, Louisiana
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 7:45 A.M.
Coffee. Gabe rolled toward the aroma, vaguely cognizant that he wasn’t lying on his own mattress. Memory rushed back in a flash as he opened his eyes to the hotel room that was standard in every way except for the woman currently doing a kata in the small open area near the bathroom door.
She was wearing a loose-fitting pair of pants that hung low on her hips and a T-shirt that hugged every one of her gorgeous curves. He remained still, watching as she went through the moves of the kata. Her body flowed slowly and fluidly, but with visibly restrained power.
She was breathtaking.
He didn’t recognize the sequence of blocks, kicks, and strikes. The routines he’d learned in his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training were very different. This looked more like karate. She’d said she was a black belt in three different schools, and he could believe that, just by watching her move.
She was calm and strong and the most capable woman he’d ever met. Which was good, because now that he was awake and his mind clear, the blanket of dread descended once again.
He’d been much happier when his brain had been clouded and sex-drunk.
He sucked in a breath when she did a roundhouse kick, spinning in the air to land on the balls of her feet almost silently on the hotel room floor. Also good, because they were on the sixteenth floor.
He doubted the people below them would have heard even the slightest of thumps. She was agile like a cat.
Waiting until she’d placed her hands together and bowed, he cleared his throat. “Good morning.”
She smiled over at him. “Good morning to you. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
“Nope,” he said cheerfully, trying to shove the dread aside. “That would have been the coffee.”
“It’s not Choux-quality coffee, but it’s caffeine.”
Molly Sutton had looked beautiful in the dark the night before, but, if it was even possible, she looked even more so in the early-morning light.
He pushed himself up to sit against the headboard, gratified to see her gaze drop to his bare chest. His morning wood definitely sat up and took notice. “Caffeine is caffeine. I’m not picky this morning.”
“I’ll get you a cup.”
He would have argued that he could get it, but she was already walking to the coffee machine. So, he shut up and watched her round ass in those loose pants, remembering how she’d felt in his arms. Wishing that he’d been able to wake up still holding her.
“What were you doing?” he asked, noticing her laptop open on the other bed.
She turned to glance at him and it was impossible to miss the sway of unfettered breasts. Very nice unfettered breasts. He tried not to stare but couldn’t stop himself.
Not until she answered his question. “Looking at police reports of murders that happened during Katrina. I was hoping to find one that matched what Xavier saw, but so far, I’ve come up with nothing.”
Her words were like a cold shower. Okay, more like a lukewarm shower, because he was still aroused. “How long have you been awake?”
She doctored his coffee, and he was relieved to see the hotel provided real cream. That powdered stuff was an insult to humanity. “A few hours. I needed to give Val some time to sleep. She’s heading to the courthouse in an hour or so for Eckert’s arraignment. I’ll guard both you and Patty until she gets back.”
“And then?”
She set his coffee on the nightstand and perched on the edge of the bed they’d shared, her ass against his knee. “And then I’m taking you both to the office, where you’ll be safe while I take Xavier to his old neighborhood.”
Gabe frowned. “No. We agreed that we’d go together.”
She lifted her own cup to her lips and sipped, but the set of her jaw told him that they were about to vehemently disagree. “Gabe, I—”
“You’re the trained one,” he interrupted. “I get that. But you promised.”
“No, Burke promised.”
