“Trust me, Dan, I’m really not in the mood to relax.” She was so mad her skin felt like it was burning. She craned her neck. “Where’s Jonas?”
A muscle flexed in Daniel’s jaw. “Jonas works the stiffs. We don’t need him on a vandalism case. And it’s just vandalism. I don’t think anything was taken from your office.”
Not taken. Just destroyed. “I need him.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jonas muttered from behind her.
Daniel swore.
She whirled around and found Jonas sauntering back from her lab area. As he came closer, she noticed the redness on his jaw. “Jonas?” She hurried back into the hallway, nearly toppling only once in her shoes. “What happened?”
“Must be something about your office,” he told her, his lip curling a bit. “Makes folks want to assault cops.”
Her fingers skimmed his jaw. “What?” His words sank in and her eyes widened. “Charles? Did he come back? Did he do this?” He’d actually hit Jonas? Had he been the one to trash her office, too?
“Nah, not him, not this time.”
“It was me.” Daniel’s arm brushed hers as he came to her side. “I punched the asshole.” He glared at Jonas. “And he didn’t punch back.”
Jonas inclined his head. “Didn’t arrest you either. Guess it’s your lucky night.”
Daniel rocked forward. “You’re screwing my sister!”
Oh. Ouch. Christie slammed her hand on his chest. “No.” She kept her voice quiet and cool. A real effort, but the new and improved Christie could manage that effort. “Your sister is screwing him.” She didn’t even stutter when she tossed that out.
Daniel’s eyes bulged.
“And if you try to take a swing at him again…” Because that really pissed her off. She wasn’t sixteen. She didn’t need him fighting her battles anymore. Fighting her battles or her lovers. Hadn’t she told him that enough times? “If you swing at him again, I’ll punch you.” Her right hook was even better than his.
Daniel blinked. “Christie?” He asked like he wasn’t sure he was talking to his sister.
She kept her hand on his chest.
“I told you she could handle a little stress.” This came from Jonas.
More than a little. She’d been handling stress all her life. Try being thirteen in a room full of eighteen-year-olds—stress much?
Daniel’s gaze bored into her. “Christie, you know what he’s like.”
“He’s your best friend. He’s had your back for years. Yes, I know.” She bit out the words. “He’s strong and loyal and—”
“Not when it comes to women.” Daniel caught her hand and tried to tug her away from Jonas. She wasn’t in the mood to be tugged. “When it comes to women, he’s just like me.”
She shook her head. “You’re—”
“No commitment, Christie.”
Jonas rolled his shoulders.
“When’s the last time I brought someone home for you to meet?” Daniel pushed.
Never.
“Sex is great. Sex is fucking fantastic.” Daniel huffed out a breath. “But I’m not looking for forever right now.”
Neither is Jonas. The words hung unspoken in the air.
She took a moment to make sure her voice wouldn’t waver. “I’m not a kid who needs looking after anymore.” She licked her lips and did the hair-toss she’d seen other women do, the move that made them look like they were confident and in charge. “I’m a woman who knows what she wants.”
“Damn right.” Jonas sounded pleased, almost proud.
She ignored him. “I don’t want forever.”
Daniel’s eyes slit so much he seemed to squint.
“Men aren’t the only ones who just want—what did you call it? Fucking fantastic sex.”
Daniel’s jaw dropped.
“Jonas and I understand each other. What’s happening is between us, not you.” Christie glanced at Jonas. His eyes were on her, and his expression—well, crap, what was wrong with him? He was glaring at her.
Glaring when she was trying to stop him from getting into another fight with her brother.
“Uh, Ms. Tate?” the uniformed officer called out tentatively.
She’d forgotten about the other cops. Oh, fabulous. Had they heard everything? How fast would this little conversation get repeated at the station? No wonder Jonas looked pissed.
She cleared her throat and looked at the cop.
“Since you’re here, ma’am, we need you to do a sweep and determine if anything was taken.”
“Right.” She sucked in what should have been a cleansing breath. It wasn’t. Christie stepped back and pointed at both Jonas and Daniel. “You two going to behave?”
Glares were her response.
“Fine.” She shifted her focus to Jonas. “Feel free to arrest him if he swings again, or if you want to punch back, we both know he’s got a glass jaw.” With that, she left them, aware that her strong front was about to shatter.
Her knees shook as she headed back toward her office. The damn heels twisted beneath her and she almost went down hard. Only a quick grab of the wall saved her, the wall and—
Jonas’s hand, catching her under her elbow.
“Sexy as hell, baby,” he breathed the words in her ear and she realized her coat had come open to reveal the green dress. His gaze dipped to her cleavage. “Sexy as hell,” he whispered again, “but those shoes could be lethal.”
He bent and ran his hand over her calf. A soft, sensual caress that had her breath catching.
He eased off her high heel. The left shoe, then the right.
Her stocking-clad feet touched the soft carpet.
“Watch your step,” he told her, and for an instant, she couldn’t move because the warning in those words was too heavy. The man wasn’t just talking about walking. So about what? Them? The attack in her office? She forced her shoulders to straighten and she pushed away from him. She grabbed the heels, clutching them too tightly, and even though she was tempted, Christie didn’t look back.
“I don’t know what kind of game Christie thinks she’s playing.” Daniel spoke only after Christie disappeared with Officer Piner. “But
