Heat Of The Night

He looked directly at her. “I’m not saying anything.”

She sighed. “Will you be at the press conference?”

“You seem to have that covered. I don’t need to be answering questions that are better left unasked until I have more information.” He pulled his chair out, signaling that their meeting was over.

Erin jotted a few notes on a notepad, then slid it back in the satchel she had slung over her shoulder. “Thanks, Brady.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re the one that has to deal with the wolves this afternoon.”

“Why is it I think you’re starting to like this division of labor?”

“Did I say that?” How did she do that? He’d been all business, then she pulled a smile out of him with seemingly little effort.

“I’m beginning to realize it’s what you don’t say that a woman should pay attention to.”

“I beg your pardon?”

She laughed. “That’s one thing that hasn’t changed about you, Brady. I could never make you beg for anything.” She turned and he knew he’d been sucked in too deep, because he watched her move and angle that shapely body of hers past each and every desk on her way to the door.

She turned at the door, catching him watching her. “I’ll call you when the conference is over and give you an update.”

He could only nod. When she was gone, he sat down heavily in his chair. He closed his eyes, but he could still see her face, the sharp intelligence fairly glowing in those green eyes of hers, the delighted little twinkle that surfaced when she teased him. She might be a knockout, but it was the self-assurance she wore, as perfectly tailored as those hot little suits she shrugged into each morning, that was the more potent aphrodisiac.

Make him beg? Oh yes. She’d been back in his life less than twenty-four hours and he already wanted to beg her for mercy. But mercy in what form?

4

ERIN STRODE into her office and dropped her briefcase onto her desk with a thump. She dropped into her chair with similar enthusiasm.

Her business partner and best friend, Gina Briggs, walked in a second later. She was as short as Erin was tall, but no less bold. She had thick, dark hair worn short and spiky around her face, her eyes were a vivid blue and her mouth was wide and expressive. Mainly because it was usually moving. Today was no different.

“I’m sorry, I missed the news. I was tied up trying to get Tony out of a fix with the news director.” Tony Hallman was a popular local anchorman who had recently hired Mahoney and Briggs to beef up his public profile in hopes of getting a bump to a bigger market. Women loved him and his ratings were good. Unfortunately, women loved him because he was gorgeous and had a sexy deep voice, not because he was a particularly good journalist.

Erin groaned, glad to have something to think about besides the disastrous press conference she’d just hosted. “Don’t tell me. He ad-libbed his own questions again?”

Gina nodded. “He thinks he’s showing his ability to be flexible and hard-hitting,” she said with a sigh. “But he comes off looking like a moron. Ever since he heard he was up for the possible pickup in New York he’s been an egotistical nightmare.”

Erin raised an eyebrow. “Like he wasn’t before?”

Gina laughed easily. “Oh, his ego has always been healthy. But he controlled it, understood his strengths.”

“Yeah, big white teeth and a voice that would melt chocolate.”

“Exactly. Now he thinks he’s Tom freaking Brokaw. If he doesn’t watch out, not only will he lose his New York slot, but he’ll be looking for a new market outside Philly as well. Today his news director hit the roof, and chewed out Tony big time.” She shook her head. “What is it with men?”

Erin must have given away her own current view on the opposite sex because Gina instantly forgot all about Tony and perched attentively on the edge of the desk. “So, was Detective Hunk at the press conference?”

Erin glared at Gina, who was entirely unrepentant.

“Hey, I’ve checked him out.” Gina shook a hand in front of her. “Talk about melting chocolate. I say we should work with Philly’s finest more often. And I do mean finest.”

“Enough already.” But there was little heat in Erin’s rebuke. She’d known Gina since their first day of college, and because they’d shared everything ever since, she’d already let it slip that Brady O’Keefe was flying in under her hormone radar way too often for her peace of mind. Let alone her peace of body.

Gina tapped a pen on Erin’s desk. “I don’t see any reason, when this isn’t all over, why you two shouldn’t just burn each other out of your respective systems.”

“What I need is help getting through right now. I can’t worry about after.” She let her head sink to her desk. “Of course, that might not be a problem after the mayor fires me.”

Gina tugged at Erin’s arm. “What?” She hopped off the desk. “Now Tony really owes me. I can’t believe I missed this. What happened? You had this totally under control. Did the hunk ruin it? I know you said he wasn’t thrilled you were his media mouthpiece, but he wouldn’t intentionally jeopardize—”

Erin held up a hand to halt the onslaught. “I don’t know that Brady was even there.”

Gina’s eyes twinkled. “Brady, huh.” She motioned with her hands. “Go on, just commenting here. Continue.”

Erin leaned back in her chair. “I need coffee. And aspirin. And a shot of something really strong. Not necessarily in that order.”

Gina gave her a wicked look. “Or a few hours in bed with the mighty fine detective. That’ll perk you right up. Or make you not give a damn. Either way.” She fluttered her lashes and sighed.

“I shouldn’t have said anything.” Her rueful smile faded. “Not that I have anything to worry about at this point. I imagine he isn’t wasting any time recommending my dismissal to his commissioner, who will run right to the mayor.” She shook her head.

“For God’s sake, what happened? What went wrong?”

“I underestimated the power of sex.”

“I never underestimate the power of sex.” Gina was as well versed in how to get things done as Erin, perhaps even more so. “And neither do you. So what gives?”

“I thought I had it under control today, Gina. But it was awful. Like an ambush. I should have been prepared for the chance that the information would leak.”

“Uh-oh. They found out about the pink tutu, huh?”

Erin groaned and nodded. “And the leather mask, the bustier, even the handcuffs. The only thing that didn’t leak was the feather whip.”

“I thought they’d kept that info locked tight.”

Erin rubbed her temples. “Well, something that sensational, someone just couldn’t keep his or her mouth shut. I should have been prepared. I was ready to handle the inevitable questions on the location. But the clothes… I knew it was going to come out eventually, but I’d hoped to have already pumped up Sanderson’s importance to the community and how devastating his loss will be to so many charitable organizations. That way, when the inevitable cavalcade of demands for all the sordid details hit, we’d already have a solid foundation in place. I honestly didn’t think it would come out this fast.”

Gina swore under her breath. “Well, that sucks.”

“It was madness out there, Gina. They were rabid. Worse than a pack of wolves.” She rubbed her arms. “I feel unclean.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse then when we handled that shock jock, Harold Seaman’s, account.”

Gina winced and whistled. “Wow, that’s pretty bad.”

“I tried to maintain our position, but they wouldn’t even listen. You wouldn’t believe the kind of stuff some of those guys asked me. Right there on the steps of city hall. And I consider myself a fairly cosmopolitan kind of girl, but honestly they shocked even me.”

“Men are pigs,” Gina said matter-of-factly. “They’d live with their minds in the gutter all the time if we women didn’t demand at least the veneer of civility from them. But I’m telling you, Erin, that’s all it is. A veneer. Underneath it’s always about big boobs, nice butts, how long those legs are and won’t they wrap just fine around my waist. It’s sex. That’s what drives them all.”

“I believe just moments ago you were the one urging me to rip the veneer off and take one of those pigs out for a spin.”

Gina grinned, shameless as usual. “Well, as long as you’re in control of things, they can be useful. I mean, just because they’re pigs doesn’t mean we should have to make do without them. Why should our needs suffer?”

Erin just shook her head. She and Gina had had this talk many times. Both of them had been through several pretty rocky relationships and despaired of ever meeting Mr. Nice Guy. Gina had since decided to enjoy a string of Mr. Right Nows. She seemed happy enough. After Erin’s last breakup, she’d seriously wondered if her best friend didn’t have the right idea. And now, while they were working so hard to build their new business, it was just as well that neither of them got serious about anyone anyway. Not that this was a problem for either of them at the moment.

Blue eyes and a cocky smile flashed through her mind.

“Well,” Erin said, pushing that image right out of her mind, “it gets worse. I got a message about five minutes after I managed to escape that the mayor wants to see me in his office in two hours.” She looked at her watch. “That was three Alka-Seltzers and forty-five minutes ago. I was hoping to get to Brady first, make sure he wasn’t already on the warpath to get me fired.”

“You should stick it to him over the leak. I’m betting it was the police. Those guys can’t keep anything sealed.” She laughed dryly and held up her hand. “No, don’t even go there. I know I left myself wide open on that one.”

Erin merely sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m too upset to be a smart-ass at the moment.”

Now Gina did look concerned. “You don’t really think the mayor would drop you. It’s not your fault those guys dug up the dirt. You ran your plan by the mayor and he approved it.”

“Still, I should have seen it coming.”

Gina didn’t bother to argue. They were both too stubborn. “Fine. So let’s stop beating ourselves up here and focus on a solution. Did you call Brady? You could set up a meeting on the way to the mayor’s office. Or at least confirm he’s not out there trying to tear you down.”

“I tried on the cell on the way back here. He’s out on the case, didn’t respond to my call. Or the messages I left.” She blew out a deep breath as she spun her briefcase around and opened it. “I guess I’d better figure out what I’m going to tell the mayor that will save our butts.”

“You’ll figure something out. You always do.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks for all the help.”

Gina grinned as she headed for the door. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks.” She paused in the doorway. “Besides, I’ll have my hands full trying to figure out a way to keep Tony from blaming me for what happened with his news director. Did I mention I hate insecure men?” She rolled her eyes, then ducked back to her own office.

The space they’d rented was pricey, so it was small. Just enough for their two offices, a small reception area and a tiny file room that doubled as their break room. Gina had managed to negotiate a good enough deal to get them into the trendy section of town, but the rent still sucked up all their overhead allocation. So they dealt with not being able to hire a secretary, file clerk or receptionist.

Actually, it wasn’t so bad and they both equally pitched in. Ever since the first day they’d realized they both dreamed of careers in public relations, Erin and Gina had spent endless hours planning this business, right down to the carpeting and watercolors on the wall. After eighteen months, things were moving along well, but they knew they had a good two or three more years of growth before they could safely say they’d realized a solid foundation to their dream.

Both were willing to give a great deal to make that dream a reality, and give they did, often at the expense of anything resembling a real life. But they were having the time of their lives building a dream. And that was a pretty good life in and of itself, wasn’t it?

“Most days anyway,” Erin muttered. No one liked the down days, but this one bugged her more than most. This job for the mayor was the first time they’d been given such a high-profile opportunity to showcase their talents. And she was this close to ruining it.

She had just rewound her mini-recorder and was set to relive those lovely, excruciating moments on the city hall steps—hoping to find something, anything, to save her butt with—when a light knock on the door made her jump. She quickly stabbed at the off button, but not fast enough.

“What, you didn’t get clobbered badly enough the first go-around?” Brady strolled into her office space. Space that became increasingly smaller with every step he took. It wasn’t that he was such a huge man, although he did fill out the shoulders of that jacket without additional padding. He just had…presence.

“I don’t remember you being a glutton for punishment,” he continued, then smiled. “Unless you were the one dishing it out, of course.”

“I’m not,” she said curtly, too on edge to banter with him. “So if you came here to rub my nose in it, don’t bother. Mayor Henley will be taking care of that little chore shortly.” Erin tried not to roll her chair backward as he came right up to her desk. She hated being caught off guard like this. If by some miracle she survived losing the mayor’s account, she was definitely going to find the money to hire a receptionist.

“I didn’t come here to gloat,” he said. “That street brawl masquerading as a press conference pissed me off every bit as much as I imagine it did you.”

That steadied her. “So, the leak is from your end?”

“I have no idea. I won’t pretend we haven’t had a problem in that area before, and I’m already looking into it. I put a call in to the mayor and blasted an aide of his, making damn sure it didn’t come from them. I couldn’t get any promises from him that it didn’t, so you have that little bit of leverage.”

If she looked startled, it was because she was. “And you came here to tell me? I thought I was the enemy.”

“Right now the enemy are the thirty-some odd reporters and half-dozen television camera crews staked out at city hall and the station house. I don’t have time to play with them. I figure that’s your job.”

“Oh, so now that they’re being a pain, you want them dumped on me.”

“They’re always a pain. But now that they have more details than they were ever supposed to have—”

“You yourself said you didn’t know how long the seal would hold.”

“I know, but, like you, I’d hoped for at least forty-eight hours to get some of the initial canvassing done, so I’d have some answers to those questions.”

“What you’re saying is, you needed me out there today as much as the mayor did.” She didn’t smile when she said it, this was too serious a problem for her to make light of. Needling him just seemed to come naturally to her. As did honesty. “Which means I let you both down.”

He looked at her for a long moment, then shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure I’d have handled it any better.” His lips quirked. “In fact, I’m pretty damn sure I’d have made it a lot worse. I don’t have much patience for that kind of crap. You handled them about as well as anyone would.”

She covered her heart with her hand. “A compliment?” She lifted her recorder. “Can I get that on record?”

“Don’t let it go to your head. There’s still a major problem to be dealt with here.”

“So, what do you want from me?”

“I’ve got an investigation to complete and until I’m convinced it’s not a homicide, I’d appreciate you keeping the bloodhounds off my back.”

“That may not be my concern in about, oh—” she glanced at her watch “—an hour from now.”

A gleam entered his eyes. The gleam a predator got when he thought about his prey. She ignored the little shiver it sent over her. And there was no pleasure in this one. She realized right then that she’d hate to be the one Brady was hunting when he was on the job.

Off the job…?

It surprised her that her mind even went there. Right now their little hormonal two-step should be the last thing on either of their minds. And yet, she realized it was never more than a beat away from surging to the surface. Something she’d do well to remember.

“I know you,” he said bluntly. “You’re not going to let the mayor walk all over you. No way are you walking away from a high-profile job without one hell of a fight.”

“True,” she said, glad he understood that. A lot of men were put off, intimidated, by a woman who knew what she wanted and set out to get it. Brady wasn’t. If anything, she thought he actually respected that aspect of her. But then, that was one thing they shared, their drive. He was only annoyed by it when it got in his way.

“So why are you here? For the pep talk?” She knew better. “I don’t think so. You have something for me. What is it?”

Brady sighed. “I hate it when you do that.”

“What? Figure things out before you can make a point?” She felt herself relax. Well, not relax exactly, but focus. The adrenaline was pumping again, and oddly enough, that calmed her. “I can’t help it if I’m faster than you.”

He walked around the side of her desk and perched on the edge of it, much in the same place Gina had moments earlier. Only this felt nothing like when Gina invaded her personal space. She allowed her chair to lean back about one click, just enough so she could hold his gaze, not enough to be perceived as a retreat.

“I’m not slow,” he said evenly. “I’m methodical. And thorough.” He leaned closer, spoke more deliberately. “Less mistakes are made that way.”

She tried not to swallow too hard, certain he’d notice. “Are you saying I’m rash?” She felt rash. All of a sudden she felt very rash. And hot.

There was only business in his voice, but she swore there was something else going on just behind those eyes. That something that made her want to squirm in her seat…amongst other things.

He ignored her question, but nothing else. “When you replay those questions, listen to the guy from the Examiner. He kept pounding at you on one of Sanderson’s recent business openings. The Soap and Suds. I’ve looked into it. It’s a Laundromat that serves beer and has a jukebox.”

“You’re kidding.”

He shook his head. “Not kidding. But I can find no obvious link from that to where and how Sanderson was found. Someone else manages it and runs it. Mort’s press release back when he opened it touted the place as a way to help establish small, independent businesses downtown.”

“Sounds like him,” she said. “He liked to take credit for single-handedly rejuvenating the entire urban-renewal project.”

“Right. He owns a number of small businesses and has also sold a number of them to the people managing them. I just can’t find where anything else was going on in this particular one. But obviously the Examiner guy does, or he wouldn’t have quizzed you on it to see what we knew.”

“I don’t remember anyone quizzing me about a Laundromat beer joint.”

“Just listen back over the tape. You never responded to him, but it didn’t keep him from asking about it, several times. He got lost in the roar.”

She looked at him. “But you heard it.”

His eyes twinkled. “I am a detective.”

“So you want me to what? Shake him down for you?”

Her television cop-show lingo drew a smile from him, one that did nothing to help her stabilize her heart rate.

“I want you to use your public relations skills to see what you can dig out of the guy. I figure you’re close enough to his line of work that maybe he’d grant you a favor.”

She batted her eyelashes at him. “You mean, if I ask real nice and say pretty please? I think I can handle it.” She flipped open her folder for the notes she’d taken down after the press conference was over. Somewhere in there she’d listed the names of—

Brady shoved a business card under her nose. “Guy’s name is Bradford Pitts.”

“Brad Pitts?” Erin laughed. “Poor guy.”

Brady just looked at her. “Anyway, that’s his office number.” He flipped the card over. “That one is my private number. Call me when you get something.”

She took the card. “Thank you,” she said, and meant it. She also liked his faith in her, but she kept that to herself. “I’ll call him right after I get done groveling to Henley.”

“I would pay to see you grovel.”

One lethal grin and her nipples went rock hard. How did he do that anyway?

He strode to the door. “You might want to call Bradford, there, first. It might give you something to pass on to the mayor, even if he won’t like hearing the information. At least he’ll know you’re working on it.”

Erin frowned now, forgetting about hard nipples. For the moment anyway. She had a feeling she’d be remembering them about as often as she remembered that grin. “You really think this guy is onto something dirty that Sanderson might have been involved in?”

“Define dirty.”

That made her pause, then smile. “Well, I was referring to dirty business practices, but I can see your mind was on leather masks and feather whips.”

She swore his gaze shifted down right to the front of her blazer. It was such a brief flicker, she couldn’t be sure. No way he could have known about her nipples.

His eyes steady on hers, he said, “My mind is on whatever connection Sanderson might have had to his possible killer. He was found handcuffed wearing satin and leather. Just because there was no sexual intercourse doesn’t mean Morty didn’t naturally get his kicks from dressing up like a slutty ballerina.”

Erin choked on a laugh. “Yeah. Okay.” Then she couldn’t help herself. “Maybe he’d have been better off opening a dry cleaner. Must have been hell keeping those tutus clean.”

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