“What envelope?” she said, sticking her chin out at him. Jerk. Clearly he was used to getting his way, even if he had to run innocent investigative reporters off the road.
And make them horny.
He stopped scanning the room and looked at her. “Come on, you know what I’m talking about. The white envelope you had in your hands when you ran into the deli. It’s mine and I need it back.”
Reese wondered where he kept his gun. Everything looked so hard, solid, like she could run her hands across his chest and find nothing but rippling muscle and toned flesh. Was it tucked in his pants? On his leg?
“Sorry. Can’t help you.”
He stepped towards her. “We can do this the easy way. Or the hard way. The easy way is you give the envelope to me. The hard way is I get a search warrant andthenyou give the envelope to me.”
There was no doubt in her mind he would, either. The thought of forcing him to leave and come back had a certain appeal, but she wanted to get cracking on studying those documents. If she gave him the envelope, he’d be none the wiser and she could print out the pictures she’d taken and start picking through the evidence.
She wasn’t sure if there was enough to go to press on in the envelope and she would have to do some research on the parties involved. All on her own time, before and after the stupid wedding that all of Chicago’s movers and shakers would be at tomorrow.
“Don’t get all threatening and cop-ish, Knight. Maybe I have it and I don’t know it. Let me look around.”
Putting her hand on his arm to brush past him, she squeezed a little. Ooh, very nice. A cheap thrill ran through her. Too badshe had better things to do than engage in a rip-roaring affair with a Fed.
Like try to pretend she had a career and a life.
FIVE
Derek watchedReese saunter over to the bed like she had all the time in the world, plus a day to spare. This was unreal. If he had been thinking with his brain he would have gotten the warrant first or called for backup. She wouldn’t have the nerve to play this game with him if he wasn’t alone.
Of course, that would have meant admitting to someone else in the bureau that he had screwed up. Again. He had thought intimidation would work, after all, withholding the envelope from him was illegal. And there wasn’t any good reason Reese would want it.
Unless…
Her rental car slip had listed her employer as theNewark News.Unless she was a reporter who had smelled a story.
She turned and handed him the envelope with wide innocent eyes that were as fake as his mother’s fur. “Is this it?”
It was, and it had been ripped open. Dammit. Not only had he lost the stupid thing in the first place, he’d lost it to a freaking reporter. Who was hotter than hell and half naked.
“It’s been opened.” He yanked it from her hands.
“It fell open when I dropped it.”
Yeah, Tyvek was known for flying open. Usually he just about needed a knife to pry the stuff apart.
He stared at her with a scowl, trying to scare her into the truth. Instead, her lip twitched like she was going to laugh and right then he was more concerned with the way she kept tugging at her robe than this case.
She was minutes out of a shower, and her auburn hair was still damp, clinging to her head and neck, little wisps of hair trailing down her cheeks. A heady smell of peaches and mint clogged his nostrils and made the room seem smaller than it was.
When was the last time he’d been with a half naked woman? Long enough to make him sweat now.
He had a good head start on a boner, too.
“Why do you keep tugging on your robe? What have you got on under there?”
The semi-smirk fell off her face. “My bra, my panties, and thick flannel pajamas.”
He bent over and picked up a satin bra that was lying on the bed. Sliding his thumb across it, he said, “Then what’s this?”
“I have more than one.” She let her hands drop from the robe and land on her hips. “Now if you’re done fondling my bra, can you please leave? You’ve got your envelope.”
He also had a major problem. “Look, Reese, I know you’re a reporter. I know you looked in the envelope. Now I need you to promise me you’re not going to release any of that information. You could jeopardize the whole case if you do.”