His dry tone relieved her. Dealing with emotional family members could take valuable time away from an investigation. “Good. We’re agreed, then. When you called these other numbers, did you ask those folks how Jessie seemed, or what she said, exactly?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Okay. That’s your next step. Especially with her friends. If they’re close enough, they might have picked up on anything unusual. It’s worth another check-in.” She got to her feet and pulled out her phone. Marigold would have to pick her up here instead of at the inn.
“Where are you going?” He stood up too.
“I’m going to follow up on another angle related to my client.” She sent Marigold a pin to let her know where to go.
“Shouldn’t we stick together?”
“Why?” Working a case with a civilian would be awkward enough, but when that person was an extremely attractive TV star, the distraction factor would be off the charts. “Like I said, I have a client who deserves some confidentiality. We can reconvene when the time is right and compare notes.”
“Wait.” He hurried to put his body between her and the door, which meant he was only about a foot away from her.
Talk about distraction. Goddamn. She could actually feel drops of sweat spring to her forehead.
“Just ask your client if we can work together. It makes perfect sense if we’re looking for the same guy.”
She couldn’t deny the logic of that. Time to play dirty. “I’m a professional. You just play one on TV.”
His eyes narrowed to slits of utterly gorgeous silvery gray. “Don’t underestimate the skills you have to develop to be a successful actor. You could use some of them yourself.”
“Like what?” She frowned, offended.
“Like not allowing an attraction to affect your decisions.”
Tina didn’t ordinarily blush, except when she drank wine, when her face invariably turned a dusky red. But now she felt heat flash across her cheeks. “I’m not attracted to you.”
He lifted one eyebrow skeptically, and she decided there was no point in hiding it.
“I’m attracted to Denver Black. That’s very different. And unfortunately, I keep seeing him when I look at you.”
6
The indignant expression on Chen’s face nearly made Jack burst out laughing. She seemed to be furious with him for being the person who brought Denver Black to life.
What if she knew that he had helped create the character, that he and his buddy Kip, the other executive producer, had crafted the show and pitched it to a network, never imagining that he would actually play the character? The only reason he’d gotten the role was that their first choice had dropped out, and no one thought the show would last. Out of desperation, Kip had pushed Jack to take it on.
Best to avoid all such explanations.
“Take it from me. The more time you spend with me, the more you’ll see that I’m not Denver Black and any residual attraction will just,” he snapped his finger, “evaporate. I’m just a guy trying to find his sister.”
He deployed his best self-deprecating goofy grin, the one he used to disarm people intimidated by the fact that he was semi-famous. He disliked that part of his life. If he could have been on the show without anyone recognizing him, that would have been his preference. That was one benefit of the over-the-top scar.
Tina Chen whooshed out a breath. “Well, you’re irritating enough that you’re probably correct.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
“See that you do.”
That stern stare of hers really did something to him. He pushed back a stir of interest. His job here would be to avoid any and all hints of attraction that might turn Chen against him. For Jessie’s sake, he’d try to lean into “irritating.”
“But even if we’re working together, that doesn’t mean we’re joined at the hip,” she went on. “I do need to discuss this with my client, and you can probably handle those phone calls on your own. Ask them if they noticed anything unusual during their conversations with Jessie, and if she mentioned anything specific about her upcoming plans or who she was spending time with.”
“Hang on, can you repeat that?” He pulled out his phone, pretending to record. “I don’t want to get any words wrong.”
As soon as she realized he was joking, she shook her head and muttered something about “irritating,” then disappeared out the door.
