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Authors: Marie Ferrarella
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met his. Well, that certainly didn’t take long.
“I’m not,” she informed him firmly.
He realized how she must have misinterpreted his offer. “Not that way,” he told her. “Interested as in interested in saving time and money. I’m house-sitting for a friend. The place is located not too far from the precinct, and there’s plenty of extra room.”
“House-sitting,” Kait repeated. That seemed to indicate that he had no place of his own, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt. “All right, where do you normally live?”
Another slice found its way to his plate. “Currently, I’m in between places. The apartment complex I was living in raised its rates. I didn’t think the place was worth the price at the lower rent, much less what they raised it to. I was looking for somewhere else to rent when a friend of mine asked me to watch his place while he was away on assignment. He’s a photojournalist and his boss was sending him to the Middle East for six months. I said yes and bought myself a little time. I know he wouldn’t mind if you crashed there.”
Since she was pursuing this case on her own time, all the expenses she was incurring would have to come out of her own pocket. This would be a way to cut a few corners, and it was tempting. Still, she didn’t like being in debt to anyone—and she certainly didn’t want to be put in a compromising situation if Cavelli took her agreement to mean she was agreeing to other things, as well.
“To be honest, I was actually planning on going back to the precinct after dinner. I thought I’d start sifting through those surveillance tapes, see if we can get a clearer picture of the guy who rented the van to pass around.”
Okay, so maybe the roundabout method wasn’t going to work so well in this case. Maybe he needed to be more blunt, Tom decided.
“You’ll be of more use to that little girl if you get some decent sleep—something that you won’t be getting with your face pressed against a desktop,” he assured her. When he saw that she’d started vacillating, he pushed his advantage. “The bedrooms all have locks on the doors and like you’ve said, you’ve got a gun,” he reminded her. “And if you need any more assurance, I don’t believe in mixing business with pleasure.”
The last part was an out-and-out lie, but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t get her to agree to his offer if she thought he might take advantage of the situation.
Not that she wasn’t attractive, but right now, he was more interested in saving that little girl than having a one-night stand, no matter how gorgeous that stand was.
Kait appeared to be mulling it over as she chewed thoughtfully on her third slice of pizza. “I suppose it would be simpler than trying to get a room at a hotel at the last minute—and I hate settling for staying in a motel,” she added. Most of the ones that were in her price range were rundown and seedy. And the rooms were little better than oversized bacteria-incubating petri dishes.
Tom did his best not to look triumphant. “All right, we can go straight there whenever you’re ready,” he told her, nodding at the slice in front of her. It was all but gone at this point.
“We can go straight there after we go back to the precinct and I get my car,” Kaitlyn corrected him pointedly.
Tom thought of that as an unnecessary step since they were both going to be heading back to the precinct in the morning. He was about to say so when his sixth sense stopped him. She probably saw the car as synonymous with independence. So rather than debate the point, Tom decided that it would be a lot simpler to just agree with her. He coupled his words with a genial smile.
“Whatever you say, Detective.”
Rising and picking up the box, he slanted a glance toward Kait. For a moment, he debated saying anything, then decided that he had nothing to lose. The worst that could happen would be for her to tell him to mind his own business.
“Mind
“I’m not,” she informed him firmly.
He realized how she must have misinterpreted his offer. “Not that way,” he told her. “Interested as in interested in saving time and money. I’m house-sitting for a friend. The place is located not too far from the precinct, and there’s plenty of extra room.”
“House-sitting,” Kait repeated. That seemed to indicate that he had no place of his own, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt. “All right, where do you normally live?”
Another slice found its way to his plate. “Currently, I’m in between places. The apartment complex I was living in raised its rates. I didn’t think the place was worth the price at the lower rent, much less what they raised it to. I was looking for somewhere else to rent when a friend of mine asked me to watch his place while he was away on assignment. He’s a photojournalist and his boss was sending him to the Middle East for six months. I said yes and bought myself a little time. I know he wouldn’t mind if you crashed there.”
Since she was pursuing this case on her own time, all the expenses she was incurring would have to come out of her own pocket. This would be a way to cut a few corners, and it was tempting. Still, she didn’t like being in debt to anyone—and she certainly didn’t want to be put in a compromising situation if Cavelli took her agreement to mean she was agreeing to other things, as well.
“To be honest, I was actually planning on going back to the precinct after dinner. I thought I’d start sifting through those surveillance tapes, see if we can get a clearer picture of the guy who rented the van to pass around.”
Okay, so maybe the roundabout method wasn’t going to work so well in this case. Maybe he needed to be more blunt, Tom decided.
“You’ll be of more use to that little girl if you get some decent sleep—something that you won’t be getting with your face pressed against a desktop,” he assured her. When he saw that she’d started vacillating, he pushed his advantage. “The bedrooms all have locks on the doors and like you’ve said, you’ve got a gun,” he reminded her. “And if you need any more assurance, I don’t believe in mixing business with pleasure.”
The last part was an out-and-out lie, but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t get her to agree to his offer if she thought he might take advantage of the situation.
Not that she wasn’t attractive, but right now, he was more interested in saving that little girl than having a one-night stand, no matter how gorgeous that stand was.
Kait appeared to be mulling it over as she chewed thoughtfully on her third slice of pizza. “I suppose it would be simpler than trying to get a room at a hotel at the last minute—and I hate settling for staying in a motel,” she added. Most of the ones that were in her price range were rundown and seedy. And the rooms were little better than oversized bacteria-incubating petri dishes.
Tom did his best not to look triumphant. “All right, we can go straight there whenever you’re ready,” he told her, nodding at the slice in front of her. It was all but gone at this point.
“We can go straight there after we go back to the precinct and I get my car,” Kaitlyn corrected him pointedly.
Tom thought of that as an unnecessary step since they were both going to be heading back to the precinct in the morning. He was about to say so when his sixth sense stopped him. She probably saw the car as synonymous with independence. So rather than debate the point, Tom decided that it would be a lot simpler to just agree with her. He coupled his words with a genial smile.
“Whatever you say, Detective.”
Rising and picking up the box, he slanted a glance toward Kait. For a moment, he debated saying anything, then decided that he had nothing to lose. The worst that could happen would be for her to tell him to mind his own business.
“Mind
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