Maddox’s lips twitched. “You’re not wrong. Benson’s definitely a dick. I still need to talk to him, see what I can find out.” They continued for a while, Maddox asking questions about Chrissy, anything she could remember that might help him. He asked her to get him a photo, the most recent one she had.
“I’d like to get started on this,” he said, rising from his chair.
Kate stood up, too. “I want to help. I’ll take some time off so we can work on this together.”
“You can trust me to handle this, Kate. You don’t have to get involved.”
She straightened her shoulders. “That’s not an option. I failed Chrissy before. I won’t do it again. I’m going to do everything I can to help find her killer and bring him to justice.”
Maddox studied her face. She could almost see his mind working behind those intriguing blue eyes. “All right, we can do that. As long as we’re just digging up information and following leads. But if things get dicey, I take over and you stay out of it.”
Kate didn’t argue. Arguing hadn’t worked with Benson, and she had a hunch it wouldn’t work with Maddox. It didn’t matter. Whether he approved or not, she wasn’t stopping until Chrissy’s killer faced justice.
“You parked in the front or the back?” he asked.
“I’m out front.”
Maddox walked her to the front door of the office. “I’ll need your contact information.” A corner of his mouth kicked up. “Just Kateisn’t going to work this time.”
A memory arose of those lips moving hotly over hers, and desire clenched low in her belly. It was ridiculous. She tried to tell herself it was just that she hadn’t been with a man in over six months, not since her breakup with Andrew. But the truth was, she was wildly attracted to Jason Maddox.
She forced herself to concentrate. Pulling a business card out of her purse, she turned it over and wrote her personal information on the back, including her address and cell phone number. She handed Maddox the card.
“‘Gallagher and Company Consulting,’” he read. “Owner and Management Analyst.” He glanced up. “What’s a management analyst do?”
She smiled. “We study a company’s efficiency, its systems, that kind of thing. Then we recommend ways to increase productivity and make it more profitable.”
“Sounds useful.” He pulled out his cell and punched her number into his contacts. “Your turn,” he said, then rattled off his number and waited while she added it to her phone.
“I researched your rates and how all of this works,” Kate said. “Don’t you need money up front? A retainer of some kind?”
A smile lightened the blue of his eyes. “Are you good for it?”
“Of course, but—”
“I’ll call you as soon as I talk to Benson. With any luck we can meet up again tonight.”
Her breath caught.Meet up again tonight?She hadn’t thought that far ahead, but she hadn’t imagined seeing him again so soon.
“If I have something, that is,” he added. “Like I said, I’ll call you.” Maddox pulled open the door, and waited for her to walk out onto the sidewalk.
Kate headed for her car and didn’t look back. For the first time it occurred to her that what had happened with Jason that night in the parking lot wasn’t the problem.
It was the temptation he posed in the days ahead.
Jase left the office still reeling from the stroke of good fortune he had been handed. Kate Gallagher was more than just a hookup that hadn’t actually happened. She was a successful businesswoman. She was beautiful, smart and determined. She appealed to him on a half dozen different levels, attracted him in a way few women ever had.
She wanted to help with the case. Letting her work with him would give her a chance to get to know him.
Which was good news and bad.
Jase wanted Kate in his bed—no question about it. He wanted to have sex with her for hours on end. Make that days on end, possibly weeks.
But he wasn’t a relationship kind of guy, at least not for any length of time. He led a hard, fast life and always had. There was no place in that kind of life for a woman.
He shook his head, amazed he had gotten as far as even thinking about it. But with her sister dead, Kate already had more than her share of trouble. She didn’t need more from a guy like him.
On the other hand, Kate needed his help. She was determined to find the man who had murdered her sister, and Jase didn’t believe she’d give up until she did.
