for, the girl she’d once been who had found her way into this life for reasons they hadn’t yet uncovered.
Bianca had been headed in the general direction of the bar off the main lobby, but as far as they had been able to tell, she had not appeared in any video of the bar itself. So they now set themselves to going second by second, looking at every figure in the busy lobby, as far into the background of the video as they could see. They made notes of clothing to compare with other shots, anything that looked even vaguely similar to what Bianca had been wearing.
They studied any exchanges between men and women, taking notes again on clothing and any other distinguishing characteristics, on the theory that any man in the lobby could have been the one she connected with, and that he might have tried to pick up another woman before Bianca. And just because her message to Candace had mentioned the bar didn’t necessarily mean she’d met him in there.
She and Stefan had spoken little, but she’d found it interesting. Since they couldn’t see eye color on the videos, they’d given up trying to eliminate on that basis. Especially after, when she wearily suggested they just look at blonds for a while, Stefan smiled wryly and said, “I’ve got a cousin who’s darker than I am and has the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen.”
“I was kidding,” Daria said. “But I’ll bet your cousin is striking.”
“She’s gorgeous.”
Well, that doesn’t seem fair. Two of them in the same family? She yanked herself back to the matter at hand, although her next thought grew right out of that.
“That brings up the other issue,” she said.
“You mean her description of the guy?”
Daria nodded. Bianca had referred to the man she was meeting as handsome. They’d each pointed out men in videos to look more closely at, but after a couple of startled looks at each other over their selections, they laughed again.
“I defer to your female judgment,” Stefan said with a grimace. “Obviously I have no clue.”
“Different things are attractive to different women,” she replied. “But I’m not sure that applies in Bianca’s case. For her…job, she’d be looking for the ones who perhaps couldn’t get any woman in the room with a look.”
“You mean not the glamour guys, the movie-star types?”
“I mean,” she said, risking a grin at him, “guys who don’t look like you.”
He looked taken aback. She knew it couldn’t be at her assessment of his looks—after all, the guy had to look in a mirror now and then. He had to know he was way beyond handsome. Was it that she dared to tease him?
She shrugged. “I figured we’d been working together long enough now I could rib you a little. Sorry if I was out of line.”
“I…no. I just didn’t think you…thought that.”
It was her turn to blink. “What, you didn’t think I noticed? I’m not blind, Roberts.”
He looked at her for a long, silent moment. Let his gaze slide from her head to her toes. “Neither am I,” he said softly.
And that quickly he turned it around on her. Daria’s breath jammed up in her throat. She knew she could clean up nice, and when she took the time and trouble in, say, formal wear, she was attractive enough. But on duty she was all business. She’d set her course when she’d first been hired on here four years ago, and any guy who tried to flirt with her on the job was quickly chilled by her lack of response.
She had, with some nudging from Trey, gone out a few times with one of his closest friends, fellow deputy Keith Parker. Dates that were perfectly nice but utterly lacking in chemistry. And they had both quickly agreed they were much better off as friends, especially since they had to work together.
Which did not explain why she’d said what she’d did just now. It couldn’t be simply that Stefan was from outside the department. Or that he was quite possibly the most luscious male she’d encountered in a long time, let alone spent any appreciable time with. Could it?
Since she had no answers, and couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t get her in deeper, she simply went back to work.
On and on they went. Finding nothing. Only when her back began to ache—a rare occurrence for her, since she was determinedly in tip-top shape—did Daria finally glance at the time.
“Whoa,” she said, startled.
Stefan, who had been as intent on the task as she, looked up from the screen. She guessed, by the way he blinked, then rubbed at his eyes, that they were as dry and weary as hers were.
“It’s after eight,” she said.
He blinked again, and apparently as disbelieving as she had been, glanced at his watch.
“Damn. I’ve got to make a call.”
“And I’ve got to answer a call,” she said. “I’ll be in the ladies’.”
Her way of putting it earned her another brief flash of that grin. But when she came back, there was no sign of the amused man she’d left.
“Problem?” she asked.
“Yeah. Look, I know we’ve got a long way to go yet on this stuff, but…my sitter has to leave. And I can’t leave Samuel alone.”
“I should think not,” Daria said, imagining all the trouble a five-year-old could get into left to his own devices. “So…you want to call it a night?”
“No, I don’t, not when we’ve got so much more to get through. But…look, I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’ve got a setup like this in my home office. It wouldn’t take much to pick up right where we left off there.”
Warning bells went off in Daria’s head. No way did she want to be in a nice, homey environment with this man. But as she looked at him—once she managed to stop dwelling on his strong jaw, broad shoulders and narrow hips—she realized he was more than a little frazzled. He would likely be so worried about his boy that he wouldn’t be thinking about…what she was thinking about. And couldn’t seem to stop thinking about.
Just because you think he’s the hottest thing that’s ever walked these mountains doesn’t mean he feels the same about you, idiot. And even if he did, it would not only be inappropriate, it would be downright stupid. For you, anyway.
“Fine,” she said abruptly. “I’d like to finish this tonight.”
“Thanks,” he said, and it sounded so heartfelt she felt even sillier for her own thoughts.
And she shoved them back into that “not interested” box.
Mrs. Crane couldn’t leave fast enough. After a quick report that Samuel had refused to eat dinner or quit playing his video game or go to bed, she was gone. Stefan noticed Daria looking around the
