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Lark came to lean over the desk. Her red curls tumbled over her forehead as she stared at the screen. “Hookers, huh? Well, you did have a lot of life before I came along.” She threw him a teasing look. “We’ll have to talk about that later, Mr. Silver Fox.”
Every time Quaide heard Clay’s girlfriend call him that, he laughed. He’d laugh now, except all sound was cut off by the fact he could barely breathe at the thought of this woman in the photo having some connection to Dove.
HisDove.
“There seem to be a lot of girls with bird names flying around here,” he muttered to himself. First Lark and now Raven, the new medical examiner.
And Dove. He’d never forget her.
“Whatwasyour assistant’s name, anyway, Livingston?”
“I really don’t know who you’re talking about, Lexis.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Oh.” He feigned surprise while giving up the ruse. “Do you mean Dove?”
Clay gave him a silent nod.
Turning his focus back to the screen, Quaide muttered, “I don’t see the resemblance.”
Lark had nudged him aside and drawn the keyboard toward herself. Her fingers flew over the keys.
He was about to ask what she was doing when her spine snapped straight.
“Guys?” Her tone grated out with an edge of worry. “You’d better find out exactly who she is.”
“Why is that? Is she next of kin to the dead guy?” Clay asked.
Lark twisted her head and looked at Quaide. “No. There’s a hit out on her.”
* * * * *
Dove tiptoed past her closet door so she didn’t disturb Rain’s sleep. Just like the old days, she thought. The time after the big family tragedy that landed her in charge of her little sister.
She padded across the thick pale gray carpet to her bed and crawled onto the big, comfy mattress. As soon as the memory foam hugged her body, she stifled a whimper of bliss. Her head hit her feather pillow, and she instantly closed her eyes.
She was exhausted in a way she hadn’t been in years and years. No wonder she was thinking aboutthattime of her life again. She was once more responsible for Rain.
Only when her sister slept could she take a few minutes for herself to let down her guard. Sometimes she watched a few minutes of video reels before passing out into a disturbed sleep. Nights like this, though…heinvaded her mind.
Quaide.
Her lover and boss.
When she drew in a deep breath, she picked up the calming eucalyptus she’d sprayed her sheets with but she was smelling Quaide’s aftershave, the one with notes of sandalwood and bergamot.
God, she loved the way he smelled. As soon as he’d enter the office and their gazes locked, he’d start seducing her with his eyes. Then all he had to do was walk past her desk for her body to wake up and start tingling in all the right places.
She hated how she’d left things. Sending him an email with her resignation letter must have gutted him. But what was she supposed to do? She needed to hide Rain. and that involved locking herself up as well. Her reason for this was twofold—Rain was too naïve about the real world to realize how dangerous this game really was. Second, she and Dove were mistaken for each other all the time. That could potentially put both of them in danger.
Though neither of them had any idea how to progress their relationship forward, they’d been discussing it. Now that would never happen.
He invaded her mind far too much for her to be anywhere near being over him.
Quaide Livingston was the real deal. The guy every woman dreamed about having a chance with. His amazing sense of humor hooked her attention from day one, but his rugged good looks lured her into his bed, against her better judgement.
The whole affair had been a terrible idea from the start. He was her boss. It was bad enough that he held a position of authority in the office, but in bed, she actuallylikedit. One thing she didn’t enjoy was Quaide’s strictly by-the-book approach to life.
