Jase strode toward her. Kate spotted him, and the blood drained out of her face. For an instant he thought she was going to turn around and run back out the door.
“Hello, Kate.”
She swallowed so hard her throat moved up and down. He remembered pressing his mouth against the spot where her pulse beat frantically at the base of her neck.
“Jason...” The sound of his name on her lips sent a rush of heat straight to his groin.
“We’ll be in the conference room,” Jase said to Mindy, taking a firm hold on Kate’s arm. She resisted a moment, then let him lead her in that direction.
He closed the conference room door behind them. “It’s good to see you, Kate.”
She glanced around as if she were looking for a way to escape. “So you...you work here? You’re...you’re a private investigator?”
He avoided the question. “Is that why you’re here? You want to hire a private detective?”
“That’s right. My sister was murdered. I mentioned it...that night.”
His mind was beginning to function again, and he remembered she had told him that her sister had died. She hadn’t said the girl was murdered.
“I remember.” He remembered a lot of things.Everything. “Why don’t we sit down? You can start at the beginning, tell me what’s going on.”
She looked over her shoulder toward the door as if she still might run. “I was hoping to hire Mr. Garrett. He’s supposed to be very good.”
“I’m very good, Kate. And I know you. I want to help you.” He rolled out a chair at the long oak conference table, and she eased down onto the seat.
Jase took out a chair and sat down beside her. “So your name is Kathryn, not Kate?”
“Kathryn Gallagher. I use Kathryn in business but my friends call me Kate.”
“Kate then.” Surely they were friends. He knew the exact shape and size of her pretty breasts, the weight of them in his hands. He knew the softness of her lips and the way they tasted. “All right, Kate, let’s start at the beginning. Tell me what happened to your sister.”
She took a deep breath, but remained perched on the edge of her chair. “Her name was Christina. We called her Chrissy. Two years ago, Chrissy ran away from home. She was...she was only sixteen. The police say she was murdered, but they don’t...they don’t know who did it. They say there’s a good chance they won’t be able to find out.”
“So you want to know what happened to your sister.”
She seemed to collect herself. “That’s right. I want to hire a private detective, someone who’ll help me find out who killed her. Are you a private detective?” she asked again.
“I’m licensed. I’m also a bail enforcement agent. That’s how I make most of my money.”
Her dark blond eyebrows arched up. “You’re a bounty hunter?”
“That’s right. That’s why they call me the Hawk. I hunt criminals for a living, and I’m good at it. Very good. You want to find the man who killed your sister? Finding people is what I do.”
Silence fell. Neither of them moved. Jase was afraid if he wasn’t very careful, he would scare her away for good.
“Let me help you, Kate,” he said softly.
“I don’t...don’t think it’s a good idea. We have a certain...history. What happened could get in the way.”
He never let pleasure interfere with business. He wouldn’t do it now. Seeing Kate again only doubled the attraction he felt for her, but pursuing her could wait until the job was done.
“I won’t let anything that’s happened between us interfere. You won’t, either. We’ll find out who murdered your sister, and I’ll help you bring them to justice.”
She looked at him for several long moments, trying to gauge his sincerity. Since she could see he meant every word, Kate relaxed back in her chair.
“I believe you will,” she said. “All right, Hawk Maddox. If you want the job, you’re hired. But you have to forget that night in the parking lot. You have to pretend it never happened.”
Amusement touched his lips. “I won’t forget it, Kate. But I’ll put it aside—for now.” Color slid into her cheeks. “We’ll get this done and go on from there. That work for you?”
