“The whole point of our being here is for him to notice us. Let’s make sure he does.”
Before Laura had any idea what he planned he took Sweetums out of her arms and she found herself holding her breath thinking: he’s going to kiss me. She’d considered that at some point over the festivities she and Clint might kiss, but she’d been sure she would know when it was going to happen and have time to prepare herself. She didn’t want to give Clint any inclination of her true feelings for him.
She took a deep breath, which steadied her nerves. She smiled at him, ready for his mouth to descend over hers and her world to turn upside down.
Her world turned upside down. She felt her feet leave the ground and found herself staring at Clint’s very attractive behind. Sweetums was decorously cradled against Clint’s chest while she was tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Laura didn’t care who heard her. “Put me down you big oaf!”
Clint slapped her backside and strode across the lobby in huge man-eating steps. Laura ground her teeth in frustration as she realized every last person in the hotel lobby—including Peter Monroe and his wife Cassandra—were staring at them. Clint pushed the elevator button. She could hear the grin in his voice as he announced to the hotel lobby, “I’ve got me a first-class filly and we’re going to have a second honeymoon. Not that the first one ever really ended.”
As Laura raised her head she saw Cassandra say something to Peter Monroe and the target of their assignment smiled as he looked at her. Then he winked at her.
The elevator doors opened and Clint strode inside, turned around and stopped the bellboy who was about to follow them with their luggage. “Take the next car. The missus and I want to be alone for a minute.”
The bellboy obeyed, his mouth hanging open, and the doors closed behind them leaving her and Clint alone in the elevator.
“Put me down.”
“If I put you down, are you going to kill me?”
“Yes.”
He shifted her weight slightly on his shoulder. “Then I can’t put you down until you promise not to hurt me.”
“You hoisted me over your shoulder like a bag of wet laundry.”
“More like flour really. You’re not nearly heavy enough or lumpy enough for wet laundry.”
“Put me down!” she demanded.
“Not until I have your word.”
“You can’t keep me on your shoulder forever.”
Clint pushed the Stop button.
“Don’t do that. They’re going to think we’re…”
“We’re what?” he drawled the question in his most obnoxious Texan twang as one hand traced a circle on her inner knee.
Laura clenched her teeth together to stop herself from moaning. She tried to kick her leg but his arm was like a band of steel across her upper thighs. “You know very well what they’ll think.”
To her surprise she found herself back on her feet. She straightened out her skirt as the blood drained from her head.
“Well, at least we got Peter Monroe’s attention,” Clint said.
She knocked him back with both hands hard against his chest. Or rather she meant to knock him back but he didn’t move. Instead he caught her hands in his and held her captive. How did this man do this to her? She was far too aware of her racing pulse. Hopefully he would account it to anger and not lust.
“I apologize,” he said, surprising her again. He let go of her hands and leaned against the wall. “If Peter Monroe really has a subconscious desire to be a cowboy, then he got a taste of what people believe Texans are.”
She sighed. “Overgrown Neanderthals who think they’re charming?”
“Yes.”
She understood all about being mistaken for your image and her anger deflated. “You do get ribbed about being a cowboy cop. Okay, maybe you did have a good idea—but no more good ideas like that without consulting me first. I don’t appreciate having my butt stuck up in the air for everyone to ogle.”
“It’s such a cute butt how could they help but admire it?”
“Don’t try to sweet-talk me, cowboy. I’m not falling for any of your good old boy routine.” She pushed the Start button. “And don’t even think about manhandling me again.”
“What about when we get to the honeymoon suite? It’s customary for the groom to carry the bride over the threshold.”
Clint stood watching her, humor lighting his chiseled face, making him so handsome she had to catch her breath. She turned away from him and pressed their floor button again, wishing she could transport herself safely behind doors and away from Clint. She put on her best frosty expression as she raked him from head to toe. “It’s also customary for the groom to live through the night. You try any funny business and you won’t.”
3
THE NEXT MORNING after an uncomfortable sleep on the couch of the suite’s living room—his mother had raised a gentleman after all—Clint followed Peter Monroe to the gym and then to the hotel barber and wondered if he should have let Laura carry through on her threat to put him out of his misery. He’d give up his best horse to be on any other assignment right now.
Last night they’d dined in the restaurant, two tables away from the Monroes, but despite the fact that Clint had worn his cowboy hat and Laura, with her hair twisted in a top knot, had worn a pastel green dress without a flounce or trim of any kind—so plain and simple he knew it had to cost a fortune—the Monroes hadn’t noticed them.
The real problem, however, was that he had noticed Laura all throughout dinner.
While Laura toyed with the stem of her wineglass, she had asked, “Do you think they really wanted a society heiress on this case or do you think Clark was just looking for another opportunity to give me a dumb assignment in the hopes I’ll quit?”
“Darlin’, working with me is never a punishment,” he teased, and smiled at her, imagining himself nibbling on her long slender neck. He took her hand and stroked his thumb over her knuckles, just in case Peter Monroe was watching them. Leaning in slightly so that he could smell her perfume he whispered, “It’s pure pleasure. Guaranteed.”
With her cheeks flaming she had snatched her hand out of his, and Clint had been surprised she could be so easily flustered. Surely she was used to flirting with the young men of her social circle. Or maybe she’d learned to exert caution when it came to cops.
He’d been surprised yesterday when he’d held her in his arms to discover a number of nice curves, but there were a lot nicer and easier women he preferred to spend time with. Since he was only going to be in Chicago long enough to get the promotion, there was no point in getting involved with anyone before he went back home. Not that an uncomplicated affair wouldn’t be nice, especially if the sex was good, but there was no such thing as an uncomplicated relationship with a woman. And Laura Carter was even more complicated than most women.
Captain Clark had given Laura the cases that demanded the longest hours and had the least chance of being solved but she hadn’t complained. Instead she had done her job. He had to admit he admired her spirit. And now that he was thinking about Laura he realized she had closed the docket on an impressive number of her cases. Her average rivaled his.
Like everyone else he’d been so caught up in her image as an ice princess that he hadn’t really paid much attention to her work. Coming from a family that had been judged by their father’s larcenous history, he had fought to be accepted for his actions, not his father. Except