Page 42 of Live a Little!

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JAKE WOKE SUDDENLY and completely,a loud and unfamiliar noise jarring him out of a deep, dreamless sleep. He blinked and shook his head, confused. Then he heard a groan and an arm flapped across his body, the spread-fingered hand banging futilely in the direction of the buzzing alarmclock.

It occurred to him that Cynthia was not a morning person. She looked like a woodland animal coming out of hibernation and deciding it was too early for spring. Her eyes stayed shut as her hand flailedaway.

Taking pity, he punched the snooze button for her, then grinned, watching her burrow back down in the covers. She wiggled until she found the right spot, then curled intoherself.

He breathed deeply. He felt lighter than he had in months, and he knew he had Cynthia to thank for that. He hadn’t wanted to talk about Hank, and the guilt he’d always carry. The best therapy Jake could imagine for getting over his grief would be to catch the bastards who’d killed his friend. But Cynthia had given him comfort, too. More than comfort, a deep sense ofpeace.

He wished he could let her sleep longer—she’d had three hours at the most—but she shouldn’t draw attention to herself if she was going back to Oceanic. So long as she kept her promise to stay away from snooping, she’d be safe, and he’d still have eyes and ears inside thecompany.

They hadn’t found a thing last night, so chances were the place was clean, anyway. He couldn’t keep this one-man operation going much longer. He knew that. Adam had given him more time than he’d expected, but it couldn’t last much longer. He’d have to acknowledgedefeat.

Maybe it was time to accept that Hank wasgone.

A mutter drew his attention to the warm, naked woman beside him. He kissed her awake. “Sorry, babe, but you slept through youralarm.”

Her eyes opened, blank and sleepy. Then she focused on him and her smile lit his world. “Morning.”

He kissed her again, taking his time, filling his hands with her sleep-warmed skin while his body suggested all sorts of great ideas for starting the day off right. “I can never get enough of you,” he mumbled against herlips.

“Good,” she replied, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing up againsthim.

The snooze alarm made another attempt, and with a cry of horror, Cynthia pushed herself up to a sittingposition.

She batted his hands off her breasts and jumped to her feet. “Stop it. I’m going to belate.”

He had the indefinable pleasure of watching Cynthia race through her morning routine, still with the sleepy, half-dazed expression on her face. She ran into the shower, raced back out, naked and damp, and he wanted heragain.

Sex was obviously the last thing on her mind as she scrambled around drying her hair and doing her makeup at the same time, tossing panties and bra on the bed. “What are my jeans doing on thefloor?”

Their eyes met, and damn if the air didn’t sizzle. If he stood there, staring at her, while they both thought about last night, he was either going to catch fire or make her really, really late forwork.

“I’ll get the coffee started,” he said abruptly, and escaped before he got them both introuble.

“MMM,”SHE SAID DREAMILY as she took her first sip of coffee, her eyes closed and a blissful expression on her face. She was wearing a long sweater that he’d assumed she’d put jeans under, but instead she wore it like a dress, over dark stockings and ankle boots. He loved the expanse of leg he saw as she leaned her elbows on her granite breakfast bar. “You have a standing invitation to make my morningcoffee.”

He loved the way she could make drinking coffee seem so special. In fact, he loved a lot of things about this woman. “I may take you up on that offer—if I get a night like last night thrown into thebargain.”

Her eyes stayed closed, but a dimple peeped in her cheek. “Deal.” She opened her eyes and popped two pieces of grainy bread into the toaster. “What are you going to dotoday?”

Before he could answer, his cell phonerang.

“Wheeler.”

“Jake, it’sAdam.”

Jake’s good morning mood evaporated along with the fragrant steam from the coffee. If the special agent in charge was calling, it probably wasn’t to wish him a goodmorning.

“Any progress on the Oceanic investigation?” Adamasked.

Jake closed his eyes and leaned against the kitchen counter, knowing he was about to lie to a man he respected. “I’ve found something, yeah.” He fished the chopstick pieces out of his pocket. In the daylight they looked even less exciting than they had last night. “I’m sending a sample into the lab today for analysis.” That would buy him several days of extra time, and he sure as hell better come up with something bythen.

Or he’d be bombarded with lame jokes involving Chinese food when he returned to thebureau.

“Whatis—”

“Look, I can’t say rightnow.”

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