And yet, when April walked into the tiny kitchen wearing nothing but the T-shirt she’d had on the night before, all he felt was a shot of lust that made him instantly hard, and a fierce urge to protect her.
She cast a glance his way, probably feeling the kind of nerves he usually felt, poured herself a cup of coffee, wandered over and sat down across from him.
“Hi,” she said.
His mouth edged up. “That the best you can do?” Leaning across the table, he kissed her. “Good morning.”
April relaxed and her lips curved into a smile. “I wasn’t sure about...things.”
“This wasn’t a one-night stand for me, April. I hope it wasn’t for you.”
Her smile slowly faded. “Last night was wonderful, Jonah, beyond wonderful, but...”
One black eyebrow went up. “But...?”
“I don’t have good luck with relationships. I always seem to pick the wrong men.”
He leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out in front of him. “Maybe your luck has finally changed.”
“I don’t know...maybe.”
“You don’t trust me? Or men in general?”
“I see the way women look at you. I’ve been in that situation before.”
“I see the way men look at you, April. And I think, if someone cared about me enough, other men wouldn’t matter.”
“And you’d be right. I’ve never cheated on a man in my life. I never would.”
Since he had no idea where their relationship—or lack of one—was headed, and April clearly wasn’t ready to think about it either, he let the subject drop. He got up and refilled his mug, brought the pot over and refilled her cup.
“Last night was truly spectacular,” she said. “But someone still wants to kill me. What are we going to do?”
He sat back down and took a drink of coffee. “The trap we set went sideways, but we can be pretty sure one of the people who you talked to last night called in the hit. Probably Rutherford or Watt. Which means one or both of them were involved in Dean’s murder.”
“How do we prove it?”
“We find out why he was killed. That should tell us what makes them desperate enough to want you dead. Once we know that, we’ll be able to find the evidence we need to stop them.”
“Where do we start?”
“I talked to a friend the day we met at the café, someone who works for Chase. Her name’s Tabitha Love.”
“Tabitha Love? Seriously?”
His mouth edged into a smile. “I called Tabby earlier this morning. Looks like she’s got something for me.”
“Did she say what it was?”
“I’ll find out when I get there.” He set his mug down on the table. “There’s a catch to this, April. The kind of stuff Tabby digs up falls into a gray area. She doesn’t tell us how she gets her info and we don’t ask. Can you live with that?”
April’s pretty mouth thinned. “These people are trying to kill me, Jonah. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect myself.”
He relaxed back in his chair. The lady had grit. He had seen it from the start and admired her for it. “I was hoping you’d say something like that. Since I don’t want to leave you here, you’re coming with me.”
April flashed him a smile, apparently glad to be taking some sort of action. She rose from the table. “I need to finish getting dressed.”
Jonah’s gaze went to her soft breasts beneath the cotton T-shirt and the long, shapely legs showing beneath the hem. An image flashed in his head of sliding up her T-shirt, bending her over the table and easing the lust he’d felt since she walked into the kitchen.
