Hard to Resist. Samantha Hunter

Something in his posture made the kid think twice. He and his girlfriend charged out the door, cursing. They left their pizza behind.

      Jarod returned to the table, shaking his head.

      “Unbelievable. I kept him from possibly hitting her and she defends him.”

      He sat down, eyes landing on Lacey. It was clear that something had changed. She was white as a sheet. Her irises were open and dark—a classic fight-or-flight response.

      “Hey, you okay?”

      She nodded, but when she put her fork down, her hand was shaking. Jarod reached across the table, put his hand over hers. It was ice-cold, he noticed, before she snatched it back.

      “Want to talk about it? I can be a good listener.”

      That woke her up, and she blinked, as if coming alive. “No, I don’t. I should get home,” she stated flatly, and he felt properly put in his place. Thing was, he’d been put in his place plenty of times, and he pretty much knew when he didn’t want to stay there.

      “I’ll walk you to your apartment,” he offered, throwing down a few dollars to cover the bill.

      “No!” she objected too strongly, and when she glanced at him he could swear she was afraid of him. Where had that come from?

      “I just want to make sure you’re safe, is all.”

      “I’ll be fine. I’m just tired and have a bad headache, from the wine,” she explained, standing and walking rapidly toward the door. When they got outside, she took several deep breaths and seemed to steady. He wasn’t quite sure what to do or say.

      “I’m sorry,” she said, sounding more normal, though she examined the narrow street, up and down, as if she were expecting someone. “I guess I was a bit thrown by that episode. I’m not great with confrontation. It was good of you to step in, though.”

      “It’s my job.”

      “Not here.”

      “Doesn’t matter where I am. It’s still my job.”

      She focused on his face, and studied him for a few long moments with those perfect green eyes.

      He knew he wanted her. He didn’t know how he’d manage it, but he was going to make it happen.

      “You sure you don’t want me to walk you back?”

      She paused, but then nodded.

      “I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”

      It hit him then that she didn’t want him knowing where she lived. She was afraid of him—or afraid of men, in general.

      There were only a few good reasons women had for this kind of reaction, and thinking about any of them made Jarod’s blood boil. The lady had some serious fear, and he knew he had to find out why. Then he’d make sure she had no reason to fear anything, least of all him.

      “Fair enough, then,” he said, knowing when to give in and when not to. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow for that appointment, and you can let me know more of what’s expected of me?”

      “Yes. Thanks,” she said, though he wasn’t exactly sure what she was thanking him for. He just nodded.

      She walked off without another word, and he veered off in the direction of his hotel—at first.

      Within a minute he looped back, caught sight of that hot-pink shirt and didn’t take his eyes away from her the rest of the way. He kept his distance and watched. She checked her surroundings constantly, as if the devil himself were after her.

      Jarod stayed with her until he saw her turn into a building. He waited, saw a light come on, didn’t see her come out. Walking up closer, he noted the address, the spot, and committed it to memory. Only then did he walk back through the dark street to his own place, quietly planning to find out what had Lacey Graham so spooked.

       Chapter 3

      JAROD SAT IN THE SUNLIGHT of the large hotel window, the city sprawled out below him while he perused the Net, making good use of the wireless connection that came with the room. He enjoyed touching base with law enforcement colleagues on various boards and Web sites, and he was taking an online course in further forensics study.

      He didn’t particularly want to become a forensics expert. He was more interested in chasing down perps directly, rather than investigating the mess they left behind; still, he found the material interesting.

      Mostly.

      Today, no matter how intently his eyes traveled over the words on the screen, his mind kept returning to the image of Lacey’s green eyes. He loved her eyes, and the way she pushed her hands through her short blond hair every five minutes. She had hair like corn silk, soft-looking in spite of the blunt edges of the style she wore. He flexed his fingers unconsciously, thinking about touching it. The ring of his cell phone jostled him out of his fantasy, and he recognized the number as his captain’s.

      “Hey, Cap.”

      “Jarod. How are things in the big city?”

      “Noisy. Busy. Damned good pizza, though.”

      Tom chuckled. Jarod liked him. He was a good man, no-nonsense, and had as much tolerance for political bullshit as Jarod did.

      “Thought you might be out somewhere with twenty half-naked women draped over you for this calendar thing,” Tom said lightly, razzing him. There would be no end to that when he got home.

      “Nope, no women, just eleven other guys, unfortunately, except for the photographer, and she’s pretty tough.”

      “Would have to be to deal with the likes of you.” Tom laughed again. “Anyway, I’m calling about Darren Hill.”

      “What about him?”

      “He jumped bail last night, thought you’d want to know.”

      Jarod cursed. Darren Hill was the worst of the worst, selling everything he could get his hands on to pay for drugs, including his six-year-old daughter. Jarod had intervened, and the girl had escaped serious harm in the nick of time, taken away and placed in a foster home. No one knew if she’d been born on American soil or not, but Hill claimed she was. Meanwhile, the mother was long gone. Poor kid. Jarod still felt a twist when he thought about it. Still, she had a real chance now, placed with a good family in Houston. Hopefully they would keep her permanently.

      Jarod had a feeling they needed to be looking for the mother’s body, unfortunately. Hill was scum.

      “How the hell did he even make bail?”

      “It was set high, but his drug-dealing friends must have come up with the cash.”

      “Great. That’s just great.” Jarod narrowed his eyes, peering out through the window. “Any idea which way he headed?”

      “Pretty sure he wouldn’t go back over the border—he wouldn’t take that chance. And he has a bone to pick with you taking away the kid. We wouldn’t want to ignore that.”

      “Oh, yeah, he was a really devoted father.”

      “It’s about the power and control. You know that. You damaged his rep. He might be looking for revenge. ”

      “Yeah, well, he can bring it on. I’ll get the first flight back.”

      “No, you’re out there until this calendar thing is finished—brass made no bones about that.”

      “Dammit, Tom, if Hill’s looking for me, the easiest way for me to bring him in is to be there, not here.”

      “It’s being handled, Jarod. Stay there, and enjoy being out of the line of fire for a bit.”

      “Tom—”

      “Jarod, you know