To Catch a Thief - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,49

own phone, at least temporarily,” Emma said slowly. “I know she wants to locate Bobby as badly as you do. If he thinks she’s giving up on New York and settling here, he might even risk a visit. He owes her an explanation, if nothing else.”

Rafe nodded. “That was my thinking.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Emma promised.

Rafe glanced out the window. “Now would be a good time. Here she comes.” He stood up and opened the door. “Come on in and join the party.” Once she was inside, he retreated to the chair beside the desk. He had a feeling anyplace else would put him right in the line of fire. The two women were scowling at each other.

“What are you doing here?” Gina demanded.

At the same moment Emma chided, “I thought I told you to stay away from Rafe.”

Gina shrugged. “I told you that wasn’t going to work.”

Emma looked from Gina to Rafe and back, then sighed. “Okay, here’s a suggestion,” she said to Rafe. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you promise her immunity from all prosecution on this, she can help you catch Bobby. And I want it in writing.”

“Done,” Rafe said.

Emma looked at Gina. “Okay with you?”

“We won’t be on opposing sides anymore?” Gina asked, her gaze locked with Rafe’s.

“No. We’ll be partners,” he said.

A smile broke slowly and spread across her face. “Done,” she agreed at once.

“If you decide to stay in Winding River for the time being, I also think you should consider getting your own place, at least temporarily,” Emma said. “Unless you want to put some kind of wiretap or caller ID on the phone at your parents’ place.”

“I don’t want them dragged into this,” Gina said. “I think moving into my own place makes a lot of sense. In fact, I’m pretty sure the room next to this one is available.” She glanced toward the wall and grinned. “It even has a connecting door. How handy.”

Rafe groaned. “Now, Gina, we’ve talked about this. Nothing’s changed.”

“Sure it has. We’re partners now. Where you go, I go, right?”

Emma moaned. “I’m out of here. I’ll leave you two to work out the details. Rafe, I’ll expect that agreement by the end of the day.” She gave Gina a stern look. “Until I have it, could the two of you try to keep your hands to yourselves?”

“Not a problem,” Rafe insisted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

But as adamant as he was, he wasn’t so sure about Gina. That gleam in her eyes suggested she was not above creating a little mischief just to test his resolve. In fact, right this second she was regarding him a little too cheerfully.

“This is an interesting turn of events, isn’t it?” she commented after Emma had gone.

“I suppose that depends on your point of view,” he responded cautiously.

“Well, from my point of view what could be better than getting all those nasty suspicions cleared up? Now we’re free to do whatever we want to do.”

“Oh, really? Exactly how do you see this partnership progressing?”

“Well, for starters, you could stop lurking back there in the corner and come over here.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“So we can properly seal this deal.”

He chuckled at that. “I think Emma would recommend a signed document for that.”

Gina shrugged. “Emma has her way of doing things. I have mine.” Her grin turned wicked. “I think you’ll like my way better.”

Heat shot through him. “I’m sure I would, but it’s still a bad idea. Sex can really complicate a business relationship.”

Her expression turned thoughtful. “Is that what we have now, a business relationship?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s not entirely how I see it,” she said, taking a few steps in his direction.

Rafe began to feel crowded. His resolve was starting to waver. “Oh?” he said, his voice husky.

“Want to know how I see it?”

He had a feeling he’d better know exactly what was going on in that complicated brain of hers. “Sure.”

She slid onto his lap and wound her arms around his neck. “The way I see it we’ve been given a fresh start. We’re on the same side. We’re partners. And for partners to work together successfully, they should know each other very, very well. You might even say, they should know each other—” her gaze locked with his “—intimately.”

Rafe’s breath caught in his throat as her hands slipped to his chest. She began to work the buttons of his shirt free. Each time her knuckles skimmed across bare skin, a shock jolted through him. He