“Yeah, I figured that out,” Bran said, careful to keep his eyes on her face. She thought it was probably a guy thing, not wanting to ogle the woman who was with his friend.
“Thanks for what you did back there,” Kate said. “If it hadn’t been for you and Jase, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“Glad I could help,” Bran said. He was only an inch or so shorter than Jason, maybe six-three, with wide shoulders and what appeared to be a lean, rock-solid, V-shaped body. Clearly both men stayed in top physical condition. Bran was ridiculously handsome, might have even been pretty if it weren’t for the hard, edgy look in his eyes, which were a more intense blue than Jason’s.
Maddox’s deep voice rumbled to life. “I don’t even want to think about what could have happened to you,” he said. “Maybe you’ll listen to me next time I tell you it isn’t safe.”
Her chin went up. “We got a lead, didn’t we? We got the name of a woman who knew my sister.”
Maddox’s expression softened. “I’ll admit you did good in there. Better than good.” His mouth edged into a smile. “You’re a real wildcat when you get riled up.”
Kate returned the smile, though her cheek still stung where the guy in the bar had slapped her.
“How about a beer?” Jase asked. “I could sure as hell use one.”
“I could go for that,” Bran said.
“Me, too,” said Kate, and they all headed into the kitchen. As Kate and Bran sat down at the pine table, Jase took three Lone Stars out of the fridge and passed them around.
“So you got a lead?” Bran asked, getting back to the subject.
Jase nodded. “Kate got the name of a woman who knew her sister.”
“Lollie’s her name,” Kate said. “She’s a prostitute who works out of the gas station next to Mean Jack’s. We need to talk to her.”
“I’lltalk to her,” Jase corrected. “I’ll follow up on it tomorrow night.”
“I’m going with you. I know you don’t want to hear that, but we both know it’ll be easier if I’m there.”
Jase started to argue, but Bran cut him off. “She’s right, and you know it. She’s Chrissy’s sister. If Lollie was Tina Galen’s friend, that’ll mean something to her. Way better odds the woman will open up and give you something you can use.”
Jase cast him a hard glare. “With friends like you, who needs enemies.”
Bran laughed.
Kate reached over and touched Jase’s arm. Hard muscle bunched beneath her hand. “We won’t be going into Mean Jack’s tomorrow night, and I won’t be dressed the way I am.”
Jase’s eyes drifted down to her cleavage. He blew out a breath. “I don’t know why you bothered to hire me. You’re the one making all the decisions.”
“I hired you because I need your help. I wouldn’t have even known about Mean Jack’s if it weren’t for you.”
He rubbed the bruise on his jaw. “Yeah, and look how that turned out.”
“Thank God you were with me tonight,” she said. “I know things got a little rough, but it was worth it.”
Their eyes met and held.
Finally, Jase nodded. “All right, tomorrow night we go back and find Lollie.”
Relief washed through her. “Thank you,” she said softly.
When they finished their beers, Bran headed for the front door. “Let me know if you need backup.”
“Will do,” Jase said. “But we should be all right. Like Kate said, we’re not going back to Mean Jack’s.”
Bran waved over his shoulder as he left. Jase closed the door behind him, and went back to Kate. “You want another beer?”
What she wanted was to do was drag him upstairs to his bedroom, do what she had almost done in the backseat of his Yukon. It wasn’t going to happen, though. Not yet.
