Convincing Alex: the classic story from the queen of romance that you won’t be able to put down

“Yeah.” She ripped off the page and handed it to him. “I’d really like you to stop by.”

He took the sheet, not bothering to remind her he already had her address. “Why?”

“Why not?” She beamed at him again.

Before he could list the reasons, he heard his name called.

“Alexi.”

Alexi. Bess was already enchanted with the sound as she rolled the name over in her head. Different, exotic. Sexy. She was certain it suited him much more than the casual Alex.

Bess studied the woman bearing down on them. This wasn’t one who’d be lost in a crowd, she mused. She was stunning, totally self-assured and very pregnant. Beside Bess, Alex pushed off the desk and sighed.

“Rachel.”

“A moment of your time, Detective,” Rachel said, flipping a glance over Bess before pinning Alex with a tawny stare. “To reacquaint you with civil rights.”

“Your sister?” Bess surmised, beaming at both of them.

Alex sent her a considering frown. “How did you know that?”

“I’m really good with faces. Same bone structure, same coloring, same mouth. You have to be brother and sister, or first cousins.”

“Guilty,” Rachel admitted. Though she would have liked to know what Alex was doing with the sharp-eyed redhead, she wasn’t about to be swayed from her duties as a public defender. “Jesús Domingo, Alexi. Illegal search and seizure.”

“Bull.” Alex crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk.

“You had a search warrant?”

“Didn’t need one. He invited us in.”

“And invited you to poke through his belongings, I suppose.”

“Nope.” Alex grinned while Bess watched them bounce the verbal ball as though they were champion tennis players. “Jesús got sick. I offered to get him some water. He didn’t object. I opened the freezer to get the poor guy some ice, and there it was. Two kilos. It’ll all be in my report.”

“That’s lame, Alexi. You’ll never get a conviction.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Talk to the DA.”

“I intend to.” Rachel shifted her briefcase and began to rub her belly in circular motions to soothe the baby, who seemed to be doing aerobics in her womb. “You had no probable cause.”

“Sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down.”

“The baby does.” He yanked over a chair and all but shoved her into it. “When are you going to knock this off?”

It did feel better to sit. Indescribably better. But she wasn’t about to admit it. “The baby’s not due for two months. I have plenty of time. We were discussing…”

“Rach.” He laid a hand on her cheek, very gently. A shouted curse wouldn’t have stopped her, but the small gesture did. “Don’t make me worry about you.”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“I’m having a baby. It’s not contagious. Now, about Domingo.”

Alex gave a brief, pithy opinion on what could be done with Domingo. “Talk to the DA,” he repeated. “Sitting down.”

“She looks pretty strong to me,” Bess commented. Two pair of eyes turned to her, one furious, the other thoughtful.

“Thank you. The men in my life are coddlers,” Rachel explained. “Sweet, but annoying.”

“Muldoon should take better care of you,” Alex insisted.

“I don’t need Zack to take care of me. And the fact is, between him and Nick, I’m barely allowed to brush my own teeth.” She held out a hand to Bess. “Since my brother is too rude to introduce me, I’m Rachel Muldoon.”

“Bess McNee. You’re a lawyer?”

“That’s right. I work for the public defender’s office.”

“Really?” Bess’s thoughts began to perk. “What’s it like to—”

Alex held up a hand. “Don’t get her started. She’ll pick your brain clean before you know she’s had her fingers in it. Look, McNee—” he turned to Bess, determined not to be charmed by her easy smile “—we’re a little busy here.”

“Of course you are. I’m sorry.” Obligingly she swung her huge purse on to her shoulder. “We’ll talk tonight. Nice to meet you, Rachel.”

“Same here.” Rachel ran her tongue over her teeth, and both she and Alex watched Bess weave her way out of the squad room. “Well, that was rude.”

“It’s the only way to handle her. Believe me.”

“Hmm… She seems like an interesting woman. How did you meet her?”

“Don’t ask.” He sat back down on his desk, irked that the scent of sunshine and sex still lingered in the air.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Holly, Judd’s pretty wife of eight months, was all but hopping out of her party shoes. “Wait until I tell everyone in the teachers’ lounge where I spent the evening.”

“Take it easy, honey.” Judd tugged at the tie she’d insisted he wear. “It’s just a party.”

“Just a party?” As the elevator rode up, she fussed with her honey-brown hair. “I don’t know about you two, but it isn’t every day I get to eat canapés with celebrities.”

Ominously silent, Alex stayed hunched in his leather jacket. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing here. His first mistake had been mentioning the invitation to Judd. No matter how insouciant Judd pretended to be, he’d been bursting at the seams when he called his wife. Alex had been swept along in their enthusiasm.

But he wasn’t going to stay. Holly’s sense of decorum might have insisted that she and Judd couldn’t attend without him, but he’d already decided just how he’d play it. He’d go in, maybe have a beer and a couple of crackers. Then he’d slip out again. He’d be damned if he’d spend this rare free evening playing soap-opera groupie.

“Oh, my” was all Holly could say when the elevator doors opened.

The walls of the private foyer were splashed with a mural of the city. Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Harlem, Little Italy, Broadway. People seemed to be rushing along the walls, just as they did the streets below. It was as if the woman who lived here didn’t want to miss one moment of the action.