Courting Danger

‘Me either,’ the detective said. ‘Rielle, can you walk us through the evening? When did he approach you? What did he say and do?’

‘I was just closing up for the night when he showed up.’ As badly as things were going, she left out the part about forgetting to lock the office door. ‘He was looking for an es– He was looking to talk to you, Nina. He mentioned his date for the event had gotten sick, and he asked me if I’d like to go.’

She shook her head. ‘He’s in there. I know he is.’

She went to turn on her computer. She had to look for herself.

‘Wait,’ the detective said. ‘Don’t touch that. We may end up needing to dust this room for fingerprints. Was he ever in the back rooms?’

‘What?’ Rielle said in surprise. ‘No.’

‘Fingerprints?’ Nina said, echoing Rielle’s concern. ‘Why would we need those?’

‘What crime has been committed?’ As confused as Rielle was, she didn’t want Mel hunted down like a common criminal. All he’d done was take her out for dinner and dancing at an incredible venue. Maybe he’d lied about being a client. Someone had to have referred him.

‘My computer is already up and running,’ Nina said. ‘Use it.’

The long ballroom dress swished as they moved down the hallway as a pack. Rielle gathered the skirt in so it wouldn’t wrap around the detective’s legs. She moved swiftly to Nina’s desk while Nina blocked Morgan’s view of her monitor. He lifted an eyebrow. He turned instead towards the display of blue glass figurines, and her boss shifted in discomfort.

When their gazes connected again, the combative clash of personalities was back. ‘There’s one missing,’ he said coolly.

‘It didn’t belong here,’ she replied.

Rielle frowned, not understanding, but the intimate rapport between her boss and the cop was suddenly strained and back to normal. It made her feel somewhat better, like she was back on an even keel. She punched Mel Summers’s name into the search box and waited for his bio to pop up. Her stomach sank when the database came back with no results. They’d told her they couldn’t find him, but she was sure there was some kind of mistake.

‘He was in here. Howard saw him, too,’ she insisted. ‘It said he was a client, and the last time we’d…worked with him was two years ago.’

The detective wandered closer to the desk, and Nina folded her arms over her chest. His lips twitched as if he found that amusing. ‘And what kind of client is that, exactly?’

There were going to have to be careful saying any more. The detective had been snooping around their agency for too long now. Rielle knew he’d focused on Nina for other reasons, even if they didn’t acknowledge it out loud. It was apparent to anyone who came within fifty feet of the two together. Nina must have been very upset to call him.

‘Maybe I accidentally deleted his file.’ Rielle began trying to retrieve it, and did her best to skirt the detective’s question. ‘It said he was an accountant.’

Although she’d questioned that from the very beginning. The way he’d carried himself…how in shape he was – and in tax season, too…and his hands…

She pressed her lips together tightly. She’d felt those hands on her enough to know they were rough. Callused. They weren’t the hands of a man who spent all day on a computer or calculator.

‘An accountant for a timber firm that has subsidiaries in Sweden.’

Her heart began to pound faster, and her palms became slippery. Who had she been out with? Who had she just kissed?

‘Have you been at the reception this whole time?’ Morgan was now ignoring Nina and focusing on her.

‘Yes.’ And it had been wonderful. A fairy tale.

A fairy tale that was now turning twisted. Her Prince Charming was changing into a villain before her very eyes. Had he hacked into their database? He had high-tailed it out of there pretty fast once he’d seen Nina. Why would he do that?

The detective cocked his head. ‘Why did you go with him? You seem like a smart girl. Why go out with a stranger like that?’

Because he was hot and deceptively charming – as intense as he was. Because she hadn’t wanted to give Luxxor a black eye. Because she’d checked him out every way she’d known how, and he’d come up aces.

‘It was a black-tie reception at the White House,’ Nina said dryly.

‘And that’s the part that’s stumping me. He must have had an invitation.’ The detective rubbed his chin. ‘Those things are planned well in advance, and invitees have to RSVP. He had to be vetted by the Secret Service and White House staffers. Maybe they’ll share information with me if I explain the situation.’

Rielle closed her eyes. She hadn’t meant to cause an uproar. Couldn’t they just drop it and have their IT staff close the apparently gaping hole in their software system?

‘The invitation was real,’ she insisted. ‘I saw it.’

She’d touched it.

That wasn’t all that she’d touched. She’d wanted to touch more. Her hands clenched to stop the sensation ringing in them. Damn him. He’d made her drop her guard, and she’d begun to fantasise.

‘I suppose Mel Summers could be his real name.’ The detective rubbed his chin, and his five-o’clock shadow rasped. ‘We could have missed one.’

Rielle spun in the chair so fast, her hair flew around her shoulders. ‘What did you just say?’

‘We don’t think that’s his name,’ he said. ‘When you remained out of contact, we tried to call him. We managed to make contact with every Mel Summers in the area, but none of them knew anything about you. That’s why we got so worried.’

‘But…’ Her heart began pumping so fast, her head got dizzy. ‘Are you sure? How do you know you called them all?’

‘He could be new to town,’ Nina suggested. ‘Or maybe he travelled here for the event.’

But he hadn’t.

Rielle didn’t know why she was fighting. She’d known his name wasn’t Mel!

She collapsed back into the big leather chair.

Who had she just spent the evening with?

‘Could you give me a description of him?’ The detective cleared his throat. ‘We couldn’t see him very well with you…uh, in the way.’

Oh, God. Could it get any worse?

She dropped her face into her hands. She hadn’t only spent the evening with him, she’d danced with him, rubbed her body against his and kissed him silly. ‘He’s tall, dark-haired and fit. Blue eyes.’

And callused hands and a devastating mouth.

She felt Nina’s hand close over her shoulder and squeeze.

She didn’t want to believe he was a bad guy. She wanted to keep her memories of going to the ball, being on his arm and sharing stories about the other guests.

Being on his arm…

She scrubbed her face and turned weary eyes on the detective. ‘They took a picture of us in the receiving line, but I didn’t get a copy.’

Yet. He’d promised to send one to her.