“I’ll see you later.” He walked her across the lobby, couldn’t resist leaning down to brush a kiss over her lips.
He ran a finger down her cheek. “I don’t like seeing you with filth like that. I wish you’d let me work the case on my own.”
She just shook her head. “Not gonna happen, big guy. Besides, look what an education I’m getting.”
He liked that she could bounce back from trouble the way she did. He still wished he could convince her to let him handle things.
Since he knew her mind was made up, he just nodded. “Later,” he said, turned and walked away.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kate’s cell phone rang as she walked through her apartment door that afternoon. She smiled at the her friend’s name on the caller ID, her dark mood lifting. She pressed the phone against her ear.
“Hey, Cee, how are you?”
“I’m fine, but Lani and I have been worried about you. I knew you were taking a few days off to handle the...um...arrangements for your sister, so I was hoping you might be at home. If you can handle some company, I’m only a few blocks away.”
“I’m home. Just walked through the door. I’d love to see you. Come on up.” Kate ended the call, then used the intercom to let the front desk know she was expecting a visitor. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Kate hurried over to welcome her friend.
Cece leaned in for a hug. “It’s so good to see you. I’ve really been worried.” She was several inches shorter than Kate, with shoulder-length dark brown hair cut in a bob, and moss-green eyes. “How are you holding up?” She was pretty, with a fabulous figure.
“I’m doing okay.” Kate led her farther into the apartment. “A lot’s been going on. How about a Diet Coke or a glass of iced tea, or something?”
“Diet Coke sounds great.” They went into the kitchen and Kate pulled two diet sodas out of the fridge. Filling glasses with ice, she joined Cece at the breakfast bar and set the glasses and cans on the counter.
Cece poured Diet Coke into her glass, sending up foamy bubbles, eyeing Kate over the rim as she took a sip. “You seem a lot better than the last time I talked to you.”
“If I seem better, it’s because I’m doing something to find my sister’s killer. I hired a private investigator...well, he’s actually a bounty hunter, but he’s also a detective. His name is Jason Maddox.”
One of Cece’s dark eyebrows went up. “You hired a bounty hunter?”
“That’s what he does most of the time. Either way, he finds people, which is the kind of help I need. We met kind of by accident at the Sagebrush Saloon. I ran into him again at The Max. It’s a security company. Maddox sort of took a...um...personal interest in my sister’s case.”
Cece sipped her drink. “Has he made any progress?”
“Things are moving along. I insisted he let me help with the investigation. We’re going out again tonight to interview a prostitute who might know something about the murder.”
Cece knew that Chrissy was a runaway who had ended up on the streets. She studied Kate with speculation. “You’ve been spending time with this guy, Maddox, right?”
“I told you we’re working the case together.”
“So this bounty hunter slash detective? What’s he look like?”
Kate could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks. “Well, he’s...”The sexist man alive?“Jase is a good-looking guy, but I wouldn’t have hired him if I didn’t think he could help me.”
Cece grabbed her purse and whipped out her cell phone, started digging around on the internet.Jason Maddox, she typed, her fingers flying. She glanced up. “Middle name Hawkins?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh, my God—that’s him?” She turned the phone around so Kate could see the photo she had pulled up.
Jase, of course, looked amazing. You could even see his gorgeous blue eyes. “That’s him. Hawk Maddox.”
Cece’s gaze remained on the photo. She pulled up a couple more, one that showed him next to a swimming pool in a skimpy Speedo swimsuit. “Wow! That dude could definitely liftmyspirits.”
Jason in a swimsuit. Kate took a good long look herself. Long, powerful legs, sculpted chest and amazing biceps. Heat scorched through her just looking at him.
Cece’s gaze swung back to Kate. “Just how well do you and Mr. Hot Bounty Hunter know each other?”
