New York's Finest Rebel

‘I’d tell you I won’t share it with anyone else,’ he replied in the same low tone.

‘Why should I believe you?’

‘A man is nothing without his word.’

‘Tell me why you need to know.’

He wondered when she thought he’d handed over control of the negotiation. Dragging his gaze from mesmerizing eyes, he considered what to tell her. She was right; they could do this all day. Until one of them bent a little nothing would ever change. Of course knowing that meant he had to ask himself if he wanted their relationship to change. But since it felt as if it already was …

‘I recognized what I saw in your eyes before you closed the door this morning.’ He looked into them again as he spoke. ‘I’ve seen it before.’

‘What did you see?’ she asked in a whisper, forcing him to lean closer to hear her.

‘Resignation.’

She stared at him and then blinked as if trying to bring him into focus. ‘If you knew me as well as you like to think you do, you’d know …’

‘I’d know?’ he prompted as she frowned.

‘Why I don’t want to talk about it.’ Dropping her palm from her chin, she leaned back and swiped a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘People keep secrets for a reason.’

When she reached for her computer, Daniel felt the lost opportunity as keenly as he sensed she wasn’t just talking about herself. But if she knew the reason he wasn’t sleeping, why hadn’t she pushed the advantage? Lifting his coffee cup, he looked out of the window and questioned what he would have done if their places had been switched. The exact same thing was the honest answer. It was what he was doing already. He knew there was something wrong and was giving her an opportunity to tell him. In turn, she was refusing to open up.

Number four on his list: nothing in common.

So much for that one …

‘You want another coffee?’ she asked.

He looked at her cup from the corner of his eye. ‘What did you do, inhale it?’

‘Figured if you were planning on digging in, I may as well top up on supplies.’

Since sitting still for any amount of time inevitably led to reminders of his sleep deprivation, Daniel shook his head. ‘Think I’ll head down to the station and look through mugshots for Jack before my shift starts.’

Jo sighed heavily as he stood up. ‘Dig all you want. I’m telling you now there’s only one way you’ll find out and that avenue isn’t and never will be open to you.’

‘And there you go challenging me again …’

Taking a step forward, he set his coffee cup hand on the table by her computer and the other on the back of her chair. As her chin lifted he leaned down, smiling the same kind of small, meaningful smile she’d aimed at him when she’d pulled her little stunt with the boots.

‘When I want something, nothing gets in my way,’ he told her in a deliberately low, intimate tone. ‘Make it difficult for me, I’ll want it more and work twice as hard to get it. So feel free to keep doing what you’re doing, but don’t say you weren’t warned.’