Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,31
“I’m gonna meet up with him next week. See what he has in mind and see if we can map out a plan.”
“And I’ll oversee what’s goin’ on here.” Reese leaned back. “What about Trey? You goin’ to talk to him?”
“What do you think?”
“About hirin’ him?” Reese was surprised Brantley even had to ask. “The guy’s got more experience with this than I do and you took a chance on me. I’m no detective, Brantley. Never have been, but I like to think I’ve got good instincts. I can hold my own. The same goes for you. If you think Trey’s a good fit, I don’t have any arguments.”
As for Cyrus… Reese was just glad Brantley had vetoed JJ’s suggestion before they’d been forced to discuss it.
“I’ll give him a call,” Brantley noted. “But I want you to interview him. See how well the two of you mesh.”
“When do you plan to have all this done?” Reese asked. “The full team in place?”
“By the end of the year.”
At least they had a little time.
Of course, that could change at any minute.
***
When Brantley and Reese left, JJ shot up out of her chair and headed for the kitchen. She needed coffee, but more importantly, she needed some distance from Baz.
Her thoughts drifted back to last night, to the dinner they had together, the conversation.
The kiss.
I will catch you. No matter how long it takes.
His words still played in her head, over and over. She had no idea why those words carried so much weight, but they did. No one had ever chased her before. No one had held out long enough to give a damn. Not even Dante.
Her heart fluttered at the memory of Baz speaking those words, so low, so sincere. Her blood began to heat the same way it had when he’d pressed his mouth to hers. It hadn’t been much different than the first and only kiss they’d shared a few weeks ago at Moonshiners when they’d all gone to celebrate the fact they’d closed their first case.
Last night’s encounter started with Baz proving he was patient and unwilling to push, then with JJ all but jumping him. Baz had then taken over, slowing things down, making her head spin with the overwhelming intensity of his kiss.
And then he’d left.
JJ spent the entire night battling the anger and frustration that erupted when he hadn’t taken things any further. It made her a damn hypocrite, she knew. She’d all but declared she had no desire to sleep with him, and now it seemed to be the only thing she could think about.
“Need some help?”
Jolted out of her thoughts, JJ jumped at the sound of Baz’s voice.
She spun around to glare at him. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” he said smoothly, stepping closer, those teal-blue eyes glowing with mischief. “I mean, you look good, but you look … preoccupied. Somethin’ on your mind?”
JJ hated the way her heartbeat took off at a gallop, her breaths became labored. It was all due to how close he was, how hot he made her. How freaking good he smelled. It pissed her off that he could play her so easily and then turn and walk away as though she didn’t matter.
The backs of his fingers brushed her cheek before pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Talk to me, JJ.”
Her attention shifted to his mouth. That oh-so-sensual mouth.
“JJ?”
When he closed the distance between them, she backed up, found herself up against the wall, trapped between it and his big, hard body. All that delicious maleness made her head spin.
“Stop lookin’ at me like that,” he warned, his voice similar to last night, dark and soothing, and laced with promise.
“Like what?” she managed, her words coming out in a gravelly rasp.
“Like you want me for dessert.”
So what if she did? It wasn’t like she would indulge. JJ was on a diet. No men, no matter how charming or sexy or…
She sucked in air when his head lowered, his breath fanning her lips.
“Tell me to stop, JJ,” he growled.
She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to.
Lie.
It was a lie she continued to tell herself to keep some distance, because she knew Baz would hurt her the same way all the men in her past had. She wasn’t special enough for anyone to put her first and she’d learned that time and time again.
“Push me away, JJ. Right now.”
Her brain warred with her body, but before she made a fool out of herself, the door