Read Online The Private Eye by Jayne Ann Krentz, Julie Miller, Dani Sinclair - Free Book Online

struggled again, he released her. “Does
that mean you're interested in being seduced, regardless of whether or not my
intentions are honourable?”
    “Don't be ridiculous.” She stepped back quickly from
the bed. “I don't know the first thing about you. Why on earth would I want anything
more than a business relationship with you?”
    “Who knows? Maybe because I understand you better than
you know. I told you, I used to have a few things in common with you.”
    “Well, it certainly doesn't sound like we have anything
in common now,” she snapped.
    “You never know. We might be kindred souls in search of
each other.”
    “That's crazy.”
    “Life is crazy. Who would have guessed a week ago that
I'd be lying in this bed having a midnight conversation with a prim little
ex-librarian who reads too many mysteries?” Josh leaned over and opened the
drawer in the bedside table. He pulled out the notepad and pen he had stuck
inside earlier in the event that he awoke with a brilliant idea for the book.
    Maggie watched him with deep suspicion. “What are you
doing?”
    “Evening the score. Only fair that we go into this on
an equal basis.” Josh scrawled McCray's private phone number at the offices of
Business Intelligence and Security – the one that bypassed the secretary. When
he was finished, he tore off the page and handed it to Maggie. It was amazing
how many people automatically took anything that was handed to them, even if
they didn't want it. “Here.”
    “What's this?” Maggie reluctantly took the page and
glanced at the phone number.
    “You said you didn't know anything about me. Okay, I
can fix that. The man who answers that number is named McCray. He's my partner.
When you call him, tell him I said he was to tell you anything you want to know
about me. He can provide proof of the excellent status of my health – sprained
ankle and assorted bruises, aside. He can also give you my credit rating and
verify that I have no criminal record or children. He'll even tell you my shoe
size and the colour of my favourite tie, if you want to know.”
    “But I don't have any questions about you.” Maggie
angrily crumpled the paper in her hand. “At least not any personal questions.”
    “You never know.” Josh folded his arms behind his head
and watched the bright flags of indignation flying in her cheeks. “If you
decide you're interested in something more than a business relationship with
me, you might suddenly have a lot of questions. Very sensible, these days. A
woman can't be too careful, can she?”
    “Apparently not. Look what I got when I tried to do
something simple like hire a private investigator. Of all the nerve.”
    “I said the same thing when I read your letter offering
me a month's free room and board here at Peregrine Manor. Nerve is something
else we have in common, too, although I suspect I've got more of it than you
do. Nature of the business I'm in, you know.”
    “I don't doubt that you are an extremely nervy
individual, Mr. January.” Maggie turned and stalked toward the door.
    “Maggie?”
    “Yes?” She paused, her hand on the knob.
    “I'll be waiting for you to make that call. I want you
to know exactly what you're getting into.”
    “Don't hold your breath.”
    Josh smiled. “But I will be holding my breath, Maggie.
Because if you do make that call, I'll know you're personally taking down the
Keep Off signs the Colonel posted around you.”
    She stared at him. “You're not really interested in me.
Not as a person. You're feeling challenged. That's what it is. Your masculine
ego is just acting up because my friends warned you to stay away from me.”
    “They warned me to stay away unless my intentions were
honorable”, he corrected softly.
    She sniffed in disdain. “They could hardly be honorable .”
    “You won't know that or anything else about me for
certain unless you make the call to McCray. This is the modem age, Maggie. A
smart woman checks a man out before she