CHAPTER ONE
Prologue
Senora stopped dead in her tracks, and the smile slid off her face. Ty was standing next to the big truck, obviously waiting for Senora.
“I expected a warmer welcome, but I’ll take your reaction as a good kind of awe,” he said, reaching out and taking her bags from her limp hands as she stood there with her mouth open.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t really know. I got a call and an offer I couldn’t turn down. It wouldn’t hurt to get away from Glen Rose until things calm down. Every day, the Rangers flush out another accomplice, and I don’t really want to be around for all that. The trial will be enough of a circus.”
“So you were offered a lot of money to drive me around, and you didn’t turn it down? I thought you were wealthy?”
“I am wealthy, and money had nothing to do with the offer I couldn’t refuse.”
He opened the passenger door, and his hands went to her waist, lifting her into the cab in one seamless motion and closing the door. He ran around to the other side, swung into the cab using the handle and turned over the engine as his ass settled into the seat.
“So what was the offer that you couldn’t refuse?”
“Are you kidding? It was the chance to spend more time with you when you couldn’t walk away. We make a good team, Senora Edwards.”
“We barely survived the last case, and I spent more time trying not to die than I care to.”
“I’m sure most of our missions won’t go that way.”
“What are you, ten? They’re not missions; they’re cases. There’s a real live human being missing.”
“I know that. Why are you being so grumpy about this? I thought you would be thrilled.”
I am, she thought.
“I’m not,” she said, torn. “I work alone, and I definitely think we should avoid working together at all cost.”
He pulled onto the highway and headed west.
“Why?”
“You know,” she said.
“Because we made love,” he offered.
“We had sex,” she corrected. “We’re not romantic partners.”
He nodded, his expression amused. Senora rankled.
“I see. So, last night happened because you thought you’d never see me again?”
“Did you think we would see each other again?”
“I like how you avoid my question by questioning me.”
“Did you know we were going to be working together again?” she hissed, and his face said it all. “You jerk! You knew all along, and you just let me-”
“Let you?” he laughed. “Maybe you and I are thinking of a different night. I seem to recall you were more than willing-”
“And you knew we would be working together,” she accused.
“I thought you knew,” he said. “I thought that’s why you came back to go over the files with me.”
His last comment blew the wind right out of her sails. He was right; if he thought she knew, it made sense that she came back. Why else would she? It wasn’t like she was going to admit that she’d used the journal and the files as an excuse so she didn’t have to admit why she’d really gone back.
Ty was looking at the road, but when he turned, she could tell that her reaction to him showing up was bothering him. She let out a heavy sigh and sat back into the lush, leather seat.
“I’m sorry. I’m happy we will be working together.”
“You didn’t look excited.”
“Because I was imagining what kind of badass chick was going to be driving that truck, and I’d already formed a bond with an imaginary agent.”
He looked at her in shock.
“Are you serious?”
“Sadly.”
He let out a loud laugh that filled the cab of the huge truck.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head and laughing. “It’s just the first time in my life that I haven’t measured up to someone’s fantasy.”
“I see it’s done nothing for your humility.”
“It really has,” he said. “You have. You’ve knocked me down a peg and showed me that being a tough werewolf shifter doesn’t make me faster, stronger or smarter than you. You’re an amazing woman, Senora. And I’m going to enjoy working with you.”
“It’s only one more case, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“One case or one hundred, I’ll enjoy all the time I get with you.”
Senora groaned. Could he be any more perfect?
“It’s only one,” she repeated, but she couldn’t say for sure.
“Sounds good to me,” he said, treating her to one last smile before he dragged his attention back to the road.
Senora bit her lip, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She was in trouble, and she had a suspicion that J intended for them to be out in Odessa longer than a few weeks. She didn’t know how she was going to work with Ty and keep her hands off him, but now that he was a colleague, things were much more complicated. This was going to be a difficult case for sure.
She leaned back, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples in an attempt to ward off the stress headache that was imminent.
What had J gotten her into?