The P.I. Contest

The P.I. Contest
C.J. Carmichael

Kate Cooper cut all ties to her NYPD precinct and dumped her cheating fiancé.Jay Savage has gained custody of his teenage nephew and needs a stable job yesterday.When both are offered the only available position at the Fox & Fisher Detective Agency, the obvious solution is to pit seasoned pro against amateur sleuth. And may the best investigator win. But what happens when this professional competition gets personal? There's no denying the attraction between these adversaries, but they have different dreams for the future. There's more on the line than a simple career change. In this contest, they're playing for the heart.

“I’m not what you want.”

“But you could be,” Kate murmured.

Jay took a step closer and Kate found herself leaning in to him, the general warmth she’d felt earlier building.

“This doesn’t make sense. We’re adversaries. Yet around you I get this crazy impulse—”

“I feel it, too.” She lifted her head, studying the depth of his blue eyes.

His hand moved to the small of her back. And then they were kissing. Lips on lips, tender and sweet.

When they separated, she dropped her forehead to his chest. The depth of her longing was so deep she could hardly breathe. “Tell me this isn’t crazy? Do we really want this?”

Dear Reader,

Imagine you’re single, thirty-something, living in New York City. (Perhaps some of you are!) So many people all around you. But how do you find that one special someone with whom you’re meant to spend your life, and possibly raise a family? Ironically, it seems that when we’re most focused on other aspects of our lives, that’s when cupid’s arrow strikes.

This is what happens to the hero and heroine in this book. Kate Cooper has ended a relationship with her fiancé after finding out he cheated on her. The last thing she wants is another man in her life. Jay Savage is reeling from his sister’s recent death and adjusting to his new role as guardian to her son. There has never been a less perfect time to fall in love.

And yet…guess what…that’s exactly what’s about to happen as they compete for a single job opening at the Fox & Fisher Detective Agency.

I hope you enjoy their story and that you look for the final book of the series, Receptionist Under Cover, available next month. I’m always happy to hear from readers so please send me an e-mail sometime and let me know how you’re doing. Also, do check my Web site, www.cjcarmichael.com, regularly for news about my books and to enter my “Surprise!” contests.

Happy reading!

C.J. Carmichael

The P.I. Contest

C.J. Carmichael

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hard to imagine a more glamorous life than being an accountant, isn’t it? Still, C.J. Carmichael gave up the thrills of income tax forms and double-entry bookkeeping when she sold her first book in 1998. She has now written more than twenty-eight novels for Harlequin Books, and invites you to learn more about her books, see photos of her hiking exploits, and enter her surprise contests at www.cjcarmichael.com.

With love to all my friends who celebrated

the milestone birthday with me this year:

Simon, Myrna, Rhonda, Susan, Fred, Shannon,

Kate, Wendy, Lynda, Lorna, Myrna-Joy, Debbie,

Cheryl, Dennis. And Voula…your turn is

coming soon!

Cripes, but we’re getting old!

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

KATE COOPER TWISTED THE engagement ring on her finger, slowly working it over her knuckle, then into her palm. As a cop with the NYPD, she understood that the most illuminating evidence often came from the most innocuous of sources.

She hadn’t expected this to apply to her personal life, though.