His Private Pleasure(24)

Dylan had finished with Stubbs for the time being and was using Henry’s office to place a page to Quin. Now all he had to do was hope Quin was wearing his pager. The phone rang a moment later. “What the hell happened?” Dylan snapped as soon as he heard his voice.

“I don’t know, man. I’m tracking it. I thought we were in the clear.”

“Obviously not. Everything okay?” Quin would know he meant Pearl.

“Yeah, I’m taking care of things.” Meaning he had Pearl with him.

“You got help?”

“Yeah. We’d planned for that. We just had to put it into motion a bit sooner than scheduled.” They’d have known she would need a safe place to stay until trial, once Dugan was finally arrested.

“Will it fly now that the cat’s out of the bag?”

“It has to—she’s all we have. Listen, we need to do this thing ASAP. I can’t make a move until I have the information.”

Dylan paused, sighed. It was too late to wish he’d never met Pearl Halliday, but it didn’t mean the sentiment wasn’t there. Meeting in Canyon Springs was out. But now with the fire, the town would be in a tizzy, plus the fiesta was coming up. “I’ll come, but it’s going to be an in-and-out.” Meaning he’d fly in on a private charter, do the interview and fly out. “Your boys will be picking up the tab.”

“Not a problem. Page me the info. I’ll see you there.”

“I’ll have it set up shortly.”

“Great. And…thanks. I wouldn’t have contacted you like that if I’d known—”

“I know, I know. Just make sure you have things closed down tight.”

“We do. Did you find our favorite little firebug?”

“Yeah, I’m down in Dona Ana County now working out getting him sent back up to Canyon Springs.”

“Have anything that will stick?”

“No, but I can jam him up for a while before he’ll get cut loose. Listen, any federal interest in this yet? Anyone who can put some pressure on Stubbs for me?”

“Dugan’s still ours and I plan to keep him that way.”

Dylan knew what he meant. It had happened enough times on other cases. They’d bust their asses to put the whole thing together, then the feds would waltz in and take over in the eleventh hour. Dylan wasn’t worried about garnering glory, but it rankled not to be the one to finish what he’d started. His thoughts switched to Liza. As they had far too often this night. Another thing he’d started that he wouldn’t be able to finish. As it was, he’d have to hurry to take care of her and set up the flights in and out of Vegas.

“Yeah, well, we’ll put a nice fat bow on it tomorrow. Just keep it out of my town from here on in.” He ended the call with Quin, thanked the captain for his assistance, finalized the details on transporting Stubbs the next day, and got back on the road. A quick look at the dash clock told him he’d be at the hotel by eight. He only hoped Liza wasn’t an early riser. He wanted to catch her before she headed back to his house.

No point going there now.

He worked hard to focus on the glorious sunrise…and not what could have been taking place in his bed this morning. As stunning as the morning colors of the sky were, it ran a poor second to images of Liza tangled up in his sheets. Blue eyes, tawny skin, a tangle of dark hair.

Maybe, he thought, when this was all over, he’d work it out to contact her, see her again. His laugh was harsh and hoarse from his going a night without sleep. “You were a side trip, Jackson.” Once Liza Sanguinetti tooled out of town in that hot rod of hers, she wouldn’t be passing his way again.





12




LIZA WAS STEPPING OUT of the shower when someone knocked on her door. “No housekeeping needed,” she called out. “Thanks.”

The knock came again, more insistent. She wrapped herself in a towel and dripped out to the door. “No house—”

“It’s me, Liza.”

She froze. Dylan. “I thought we agreed I’d come up to your place. I know I was running a bit late, but…” She peeked out of the peephole, then yanked the door open a second later and pulled him inside. “You look terrible.”

He smiled, though it wasn’t the full voltage grin she’d gotten the night before. “Thanks. I try.”

“You haven’t gotten any sleep at all, have you?” She guided him into the room and pushed him down on the edge of her bed. “Don’t worry,” she teased, trying to conceal her concern. “I don’t plan to take advantage of an unarmed man.”

His smile did flicker to a grin. “I am armed.”

“Oh. Well.” What was it about this whole cop-with-cuffs thing that turned her insides into libidinous jelly, anyway? She tried not to be obvious with the little shiver of pleasure that intruded, along with images of what they’d been doing with those cuffs the night before. Gauging from the flare of interest in his oh-so-tired eyes, she failed. “I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Okay.” He snagged her wrist and dragged her into his lap. His mouth found hers a second later and she forgot to be mad about his heavy-handed, take-what-he-wants-when-he-wants-it attitude and— Oh dear God, but he tasted good in the morning.

“You taste like sugared coffee,” she murmured, when he trailed his lips down to her chin, nipping it as he had the night before. She really liked that, she decided, that little chin nip.

“Elixir of life,” he said, his voice all hoarse and raspy. A shame it was from fatigue and not passion, although he was doing a pretty decent job of getting her worked up. “Of course, this isn’t a bad second,” he mumbled, then pulled her mouth to his again.

She thought about kissing him back, turning it up a notch, taking over…but his lips were soft, not hard and demanding like last night. And his arms seemed to cling to her, rather than lock her into place. It made her want to…well, take care of him.

This was a role she was used to, albeit usually professionally rather than personally. But being caretaker also afforded its own balance of power, and she thought it might be a good idea, strategically speaking, considering how weak-kneed one kiss had already left her, to gain any leverage she could early on. Shore it up for later, when she might need it. He slid his tongue past her lips, pulled her more deeply into his need for her…and she forgot all about strategic campaigns and simply relaxed in his arms and let him kiss her. She’d worry about control issues later. This was…nice. And a little scary, if she let herself think about why it was so nice. So she didn’t.

But just as she was sinking under, he was surfacing. “I’d better stop here or we’ll be crawling under the sheets.”

“And?” she said, shifting just a bit in his lap. Yep, he might be tired, but he was ready.

“And I’d embarrass myself by tucking you against me and falling dead asleep on you. Not the morning either of us had in mind, I’m sure.”

She was shaking her head, but mostly because she was trying to deny just how incredibly appealing that suggestion had sounded to her. And she was the one with a good night’s sleep under her belt.

Liza was typically not a snuggler. She was an action girl, then she liked unencumbered space to sleep. Bless the soul who had created the king-size bed. Because a well-rested Liza was a happy Liza in the morning, when adventure and acrobatics could continue. Her partners tended to appreciate her all-fun, no-work attitude. No awkward physical entanglements that led to messy emotional entanglements.

Not that she was emotionally entangled here. Yet, her little voice whispered. She hadn’t even had sex with him. Which, of course, when she thought about it, made her sudden yearning for snuggling even odder. Since when was sex not the priority?

“I shouldn’t have started this,” he said apologetically, but made no move to get her off his lap. “I hadn’t planned to.”

See? Messy entanglements already. She should have just shoved him back on the bed and taken away whatever little willpower he might have had left in him. Not much, judging by the ragged look of him. He clearly hadn’t shaved and was still wearing the same henley and jeans he’d left in last night. Why he looked so endearingly sexy, all rumpled and tired, she had no clue. She liked her men sharp, well dressed and most definitely alert.

And look where that got you, her little voice piped. Enough, already. It was too early and he had her too confused to deal with this…this libido bait-and-switch. What should have been about mind-blowing sex was suddenly seeming like it was about something else entirely. He’d just said he hadn’t meant to start something. Well, she could help him out with that, too.

She pulled away and stood, clutching her towel to keep it on. “So I take it that was a goodbye kiss?” Fine, she was cool with that. Only instead of shrugging it off and waving him out the door, she heard herself ask, “What changed your mind since last night?”

Ack! She didn’t want the answer to that question. No woman did. Which was why she never asked. Actually, she never had to, being the one who usually ended things first. Maybe she’d been prodded to say it because, while his mind might have been changed, his body was clearly still on the same page as hers. And, dammit, she hadn’t finished with him yet. She hated not finishing what she started.