He smiled. "Something we have in common."
The way he looked at her reminded her of the moment just before he'd kissed her earlier that day.
She'd had the reckless urge to lean across the table and kiss him again.
Fortunately, the waiter arrived with their food, and with the platters of sushi between them, Kate concentrated on filling her stomach and not the other hunger filling her soul.
"Do you want to come back to my apartment?" Devin asked as they finished dinner. "To look at the files again?"
She wondered why he'd felt the need to clarify, but she wasn't going to ask. She also thought ending the night and going to her brother's house was a better idea. "I think I'll grab a cab and go back to my brother's apartment. It's been a long day. We both need to rest and regroup."
"All right. I'll drive you."
"It's out of your way."
"Who cares?" he asked. "I'm sure it's not that far. I can pick you up in the morning on the way to St. Bernadette's."
"That's a good plan."
Devin paid the check, and they walked out to his car. "So which brother are you staying with? One of the firefighters?"
"No, I'm staying with Ian. He's a scientist. And don't ask me any specifics. He's very cagey about what he does."
"Sounds intriguing. I can't believe you haven't dug into it."
"I've thought about it, but I try to stay out of my siblings' business, because then they stay out of mine."
"Got it."
"You can turn right at the next street," she said, directing him to Ian's apartment.
"Whatever he's doing, he must make some good cash," Devin commented as he double-parked in front of the building. "This is nice."
"That's why I decided to stay here." She opened her door. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll come by a little before ten."
"I'll be ready. I think we'll get a new lead tomorrow."
"There's that optimism again."
"Good-night, Devin."
"Good-night, Kate," he murmured, his gaze holding hers for a long second. Then she got out of the car and shut it firmly behind her before she could decide that going home with Devin would have actually been the better idea.
Nine
Devin woke up early and went for a run before breakfast. His legs ached from the spin class the night before, but it felt good to get outside. His usual route took him through the Marina and along the waterfront to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a popular trail, especially on the weekends, but on Friday morning before eight it was fairly empty.
As he ran, his thoughts drifted back to Kate, to all her questions about his life. He hadn't answered any of them, not because he thought she was prying, but because he didn't have any answers.
It had been a long time since anyone had questioned what he was doing with his life. He barely kept in contact with what little family he had left, and his friends were scattered. There were a few guys in the city who he knew. He occasionally picked up a game of basketball at the gym or went out to a club for a drink and some conversation. But most of the time, he just had his head down, buried in a case that would probably haunt him until he died.
Which was why he had to solve it.
And it had to happen now-during this trio of fires. If he missed this opportunity, who knew when another one would come his way?
The second fire would most likely happen within the next few days, which reminded him that after they went to St. Bernadette's, they needed to focus on potential targets and decide if they could rule any out, and if not, how they could cover all the bases that needed to be covered.
He wished he had a team, five people he could send to stake out every possibility, but it was just him and Kate. Their partnership of two was going to have to be enough.
He had to admit she had proved to be incredibly helpful so far, more than he'd imagined when she'd first entered his office. But still, she was only one person.
Maybe Emma would get involved and bring some of her department with her. That was probably his only hope for getting more help.
When he reached the bridge, he slowed his pace down to a walk. For several long minutes he looked up at the bridge and out beyond it-at the Pacific Ocean. It was the first time he'd looked beyond the bridge, beyond the immediate goal in a long time, and that was because of Kate and all her damn questions about how isolated his life had become.
He didn't like that she was getting into his head. He hadn't dreamed about anything but fire in the last year until last night when he'd dreamed about her, when his brain had relived the kiss between them in excruciating detail.
That kiss couldn't have been that good, could it?
It was just because it had been a while, that was all.
But was it?
He'd never been good at lying to himself.
He hadn't kissed Kate just because she was there, and she was pretty. He'd kissed her because he couldn't stop himself.
But it wouldn't happen again. She'd said so. And while he hadn't exactly agreed, he knew she was right. He couldn't let his desire for Kate distract him from his goals.
With that thought in mind, he turned and ran even faster back the way he'd come. But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't outrun his brain, and Kate stayed on his mind through a colder-than-normal shower, a quick breakfast, and a drive across town to pick her up.
Kate was waiting outside the apartment building when he pulled up. She wore black slacks and a short-sleeved silky cream-colored top.
"Good morning," she said, as she got into the car.
"You know you don't have to dress official for me."
"I'm not dressing for you, but I'm officially on the job, so I thought I should look the part, especially if I'm going to be flashing my badge around town. Did you have any brainstorms last night?"
He could hardly tell her all of his brainstorms had to do with getting her into bed. Dammit. He shook his head. He couldn't remember when he'd been this distracted. "No," he said shortly. "Nothing."
"I was thinking we should get back into the potential target sites today. As much as I don't want to alert my family to my presence here in the city, we should go by Ashbury Studios so I can let Sean and Jessica know they should beef up their security. And what about the other places? Shall we try to warn them? I know you didn't have much luck before when you tried to contact schools, but I feel like we should do something."
"Since I have you on the team, we might get better reception," he said. "Let's see if we can narrow down the list after we go by St. Bernadette's."
"Good idea. I was also making a list of suspects this morning, and it seems to be getting longer instead of shorter. But that could be a good thing. Better to have more prospects than none. It gives us new leads to chase, new paths to take."
"You woke up with a lot of energy."
"Mental energy," she said with a laugh. "My legs are in pain from last night's spin class. What about you?"
"I felt fine. I went for a run this morning."
"Really? So you are Superman."
"Probably only in my own head," he said dryly.
"You spend too much time in your head, Devin."
He had, until about three days ago when Kate had shown up in his office. "Did you see your brother last night? Has he asked you any questions about what you're doing here?"
"He was out. A woman came by to visit him though, one of his neighbors. She was very pretty but kind of nervous. She was really surprised to see me there. I quickly explained I was Ian's sister, but I'm not sure she believed me. It was kind of odd really."
"It doesn't sound that odd. A beautiful neighbor stops by to visit your single brother-what's so strange about that?"
"I don't know. It was just sisterly instinct. I've answered the door for a lot of girls looking for one of my brothers. And there was just something a little off about this one. Oh, and she told me not to mention she'd stopped by, that she'd just see Ian later. She really didn't want me to tell him she was there."
"Maybe she got embarrassed."
"Maybe." Kate didn't sound convinced.
He looked over at her. "What are you thinking?"
"That I'd like to check her out, maybe run her name through a database."
"That's against Bureau rules, Kate."
"I wasn't thinking of using the Bureau. I happen to know a private investigator who seems to have some skills."
"You want to hire me?"
"God, no. I don't have money for that. I want you to do me a favor."
He laughed. "You're always direct. I do like that about you."
"I don't know how else to be. I hate games. A guy I used to date was very passive-aggressive. He'd agree with me on everything, then he just wouldn't do it. I wish he would have just said he didn't want to do something instead of stringing me along."
"You won't have that problem with me-not that we're dating," he added quickly.