The Private Eye (15 page)

“Right. Phone me as soon as you've got the report.”

“This case turning into something?” McCray sounded
interested.

Josh thought of the water-pipe incident. “Looks like
it. Probably just a malicious-mischief situation. Any word on that Lucky, Inc.
stock?”

“Company went bankrupt years ago. Looks like it was a
scam from the beginning. The mine's a worthless pit.”

“So much for any possibility that someone's after Mrs.
Hawkins's stock,” Josh mused. “I was fairly certain that was a dead end. Just
wanted to check it out. By the way, McCray?”

“Yeah?”

“There are a couple of things I want you to put into
the mail for me tomorrow morning.”

McCray listened as Josh told him what he wanted. Then
McCray howled with laughter. “You're kidding. You want me to put together a
file on you? What the hell for?”

“Just do it, okay?”

“You got it. I'll have it in the mail tomorrow morning.
Should reach you in a day or two. Mind telling me why you want to know your own
credit rating, blood type and marital status?”

“None of your damn business, McCray.”

“Wait a second. Let me guess. You've fallen for the
client, haven't you? Ever since you told me she wasn't exactly elderly, I've
been suspicious. Well. I'll be damned. You want some advice, January?”

“No.”

McCray ignored him. “If I were you, I'd give her
flowers rather than a file on yourself. Much more romantic, you know? I've been
meaning to talk to you about the way you deal with women. I hate to hurt your
feelings, pal, but the bottom line is that you're not all that good with them.
You don't understand how they think. As evidence, I submit the fact that you
spend far too much time working.”

“McCray, I urge you to keep in mind that I am the
senior partner at BIS.”

“Yes, sir.” McCray was still chortling as he hung up
the phone.

Josh replaced the receiver and sat quietly for a long
moment. Then he got up and shrugged out of his dress shirt. He took off his
shoes and trousers and padded barefoot across the room to the closet. He found
his jeans, stepped into them, then went over to his portable computer. He
opened the case and locked the screen into the upright position. Then he sat
down and went to work.

As had been happening more and more frequently of late.
Josh was soon lost in the story he was creating. The mystery flowed for him in
a way that real life never did. He was in the process of having his lead
character, Adam Carlisle, walk into a trap while checking out a suspect, when
the knock came on the door.

“Josh?”

The sound of Maggie's voice, soft and tentative,
brought Josh back to the real world as nothing else could have done at that
moment. Something was wrong.

He got to his feet and crossed the room in two long
strides that sent only a few twinges through his left ankle. He yanked open the
door and found Maggie on the other side. She was dressed for bed and wearing
the quilted robe she had worn that first night. She looked nervous but
determined.

“What's wrong?” Josh demanded, automatically glancing
down the halt behind her. All was quiet.

“Nothing's wrong. I just, well, I was wondering if
you'd like to kiss me good-night. That's all.” She smiled tremulously and
clasped the lapels of her robe more tightly together.

Relief poured through him and with it a shot of anger
for the moment of alarm she had obliged him to endure.

“Kiss you good-night? Hell, lady, I thought something
had happened. Don't ever do that to me again.”

She winced and took a step back. “Look, if it's too
much trouble, forget it. Damn, this is embarrassing. I was afraid it would be.
I should have talked myself out of it.” She gave him a bright, brittle little
smile as she took another step back. “Sorry about this. I'll see you in the
morning.”

Josh scowled as Maggie turned and fairly leaped toward
the door of her own room.

Chapter 7

MAGGIE HAD HER HAND on the doorknob when Josh's fingers
closed forcefully around her wrist.

“Hold it. Where do you think you're going?” His voice
was very soft as he pulled her around to face him.

Her face aflame, Maggie turned reluctantly and saw that
he was smiling now—a slow, sensually menacing smile that did wild and wicked
things to Maggie's insides. The sight of him bare to the waist filled her with
a pervasive longing. She wondered if she were actually melting somewhere deep
in the pit of her stomach. The warmth was amazing.

“I didn't mean to scare you,” she muttered, thoroughly
embarrassed now, and wishing she hadn't given in to the impulse of a moment earlier.

“I was working.” Josh tugged her closer. “When you
knocked on the door my mind was on something else entirely and I overreacted.
Ask me again.”

She was very close to him now. The heat of his skin
flooded her senses. She put her hands on his shoulders and luxuriated in the muscled
strength she found there.

“I can't ask you again. I used up all my nerve the
first time.”

His mouth curved as he tipped up her chin with his
forefinger. “How about if I ask you?”

She smiled. “Okay.”

“Will you kiss me good-night?”

“You really want me to?”

“I really want you to,” he assured her.

She frowned worriedly. “You're not just saying that?”

“No.”

“You're not just trying to make me feel less
embarrassed?” she persisted.

“No.”

“Because I wouldn't want you to do me any favors, you
know. I mean, if you're not as interested in this as I am, just say so up
front,” she said firmly.

Josh swore softly. “At this rate we're going to waken
the chaperons.”

Obviously he just wanted her to get on with it, Maggie
told herself. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and stood on tiptoe. Then
she raised her face to his.

Nothing happened.

“Josh?” She opened her eyes and found him studying her
with laughter in his eyes.

“I'm waiting,” he explained.

Annoyed, she braced herself with her hands on his
shoulders and brushed her mouth quickly and rather awkwardly across his.

“You call that a kiss?” he asked with interest.

“It doesn't work if you don't cooperate,” she muttered.

“Ah. So cooperation is what you want. Damn. You should
have mentioned that earlier.”

Before Maggie could think of resisting, he caught hold
of her wrist and pulled her into his room.

Then he shut the door and crowded her back against it.
He loomed over her, his hands placed on either side of her head.

“Now, then, let's try this again.” Josh brought his
mouth very close to hers. “Kiss me.”

Maggie swallowed a small, choked laugh that was part
relief and part anxiety and put her arms around his neck. She gave herself up
to the heat of his kiss with blissful enthusiasm. She could get addicted to
Josh January's kisses, she thought. There was certainly nothing the least bit
cold about the man in this department.

Josh moved in closer, sliding his bare foot between her
slippered feet. She could feel the hard thrust of his leg all the way up the
insides of her thighs. When he slipped his hand down her back and cupped her
buttocks through the fabric of the robe, she sighed against his lips.

Her robe had parted and the movement of his leg caused
her nightgown to ride up. With a thrilling shock, Maggie realized that she
could feel the heat of his body burning hers. She clutched at him, feeling deliriously
pagan.

“Maggie,” Josh whispered thickly. “Maggie, sweetheart,
you really want me, don't you?” He sounded dazed. “It took a lot of nerve for
you to come here like this.”

She turned her face into his shoulder. “Yes.”

“It's okay, love. It's okay. Why are you shivering?
It's all right. Everything's going to be all right. I want you, too. Very, very
badly.”

He swept her up into his arms and started toward the
bed.

“Josh.” Maggie was horrified. “Your ribs. Your ankle.
Put me down. You'll hurt yourself.”

“We're not going far, Maggie. I think I can make it.
Just remember to be gentle with me when we get there.”

There was sensual laughter in his voice as he carried
her the few steps to the massive, canopied bed. She studied him anxiously as he
set her down on her feet and pulled back the covers. “You really shouldn't be
lifting anything heavy in your condition. Are you sure you're all right?”

“You'll find out shortly, won't you?” Josh deftly
loosened her fingers, which were clutching the edges of her robe again.

“Josh?”

He paused and looked into her eyes. “It's your choice,
Maggie. If you'd rather wait, we'll wait. I'll understand. It's the way I had
planned things in the first place. I don't want to rush you.”

She took a breath and shook her head. “No. I don't want
to wait.”

“I'm glad,” he said simply and slid the robe from her
shoulders.

Maggie trembled when Josh started to lift the nightgown
over her head.

“Relax, sweetheart. This is going to be very good. For
both of us.” Josh dropped the nightgown onto the floor and stood looking down
at her. He plucked tenderly at first one budding nipple and then the other.
“Don't be nervous.”

“It's not that.” She hugged herself, shielding her
breasts from his inspection. “I'm cold. That's all.”

“Then why don't you get under the covers?” Josh lifted
the quilt, inviting her into the cozy warmth of the big bed. “I'll build a
fire.”

She tingled under the heat of his gaze as he watched
her scramble into bed. She pulled the sheet up to her chin. Maggie wanted to be
nonchalant about it but she knew her swift dive for cover only betrayed her
tension. She wasn't accustomed to having a man warm her naked body with his
eyes alone, the way Josh had done.

Safely ensconced under the covers at last, she watched
as josh went over to the stone fireplace, knelt down on one knee and expertly
lit the kindling beneath the logs. Flames crackled to life.

Josh stared into the fire as it began to burn. “You're
beautiful, Maggie,” he said at last without turning his head. “Did I tell you
that?”

“No.” She was curiously touched. The sincerity in his
voice was bone-deep. Josh was not one to hand out compliments lightly. “Thank
you.”

Josh got to his feet. “I just wanted you to know.
Someone told me once that I wasn't very good with women. I'm not romantic
enough, or something.”

Maggie swallowed heavily. “I think you're the most
romantic thing that's ever happened to me.”

Josh studied her for a moment and then he smiled
slowly. “You mean that?”

“Yes.”

“I'm glad.” He flipped off the wall switch, plunging
the room into intimate shadow. The light from the fire bathed the bed in a
soft, golden glow.

Silhouetted in the firelight. Josh unfastened his jeans
and peeled them off. His gaze never left Maggie as he kicked off the briefs he
wore underneath and walked to the bed.

Maggie looked up at him, transfixed by the evidence of
his arousal. He wants me, she thought. The knowledge filled her with sensual assurance
and a glorious feeling of her own power as a woman. She stopped clutching the
sheet and held the covers back.

“I only came here for a good-night kiss.” Maggie smiled
at Josh as he slid in beside her.

“It's going to be one hell of a kiss.” He put his hand
on her bare shoulder and stroked slowly down her side to her hip.

Everywhere he touched her. Josh's fingers burned her
skin. The fire pulsed through her, sending her senses spinning with a restless,
excited energy.

But then Maggie relaxed completely as Josh pulled her
close. The last of her tension and lingering uncertainty vanished, to be
replaced by a growing passion.

This was right, she thought as her head fell back
across his arm. This was what she had been waiting for all her life. Josh was
the hero of her dreams.

She gazed up at him from beneath her lashes as he
leaned over her. With questing fingertips she explored the muscular curve of
his shoulder and the strong planes of his chest. She loved the feel of him, loved
the power and the strength of him.

Maggie kissed Josh's throat and heard him groan in
response. Then his leg was sliding between her thighs again and this time there
was no denim to get in the way.

“So beautiful,” Josh muttered, his lips on Maggie's
breast. “So full of heat. I need your fire to warm me. Sometimes I think I've
been cold forever.” His hand slid down over her stomach and then lower still.

His fingers threaded through the tight curls. “Open for
me, sweetheart. Take me into your warmth.”