Clair wasn’t sure she could take an all-nighter. But then he kissed her temple, and when he spoke, his voice was a rough whisper.
“For you, I’d make it last.”
Okay, so maybe she could take it. Clair started to wrap her arms around him, but Harris held her off. His smile looked pained, and his muscles were taut with restraint. He kissed her nose again—and sat up.
“But since you’re playing some strange game here and I can’t quite figure out the rules yet, I think I better call it a night.”
She didn’t want him to go now, darn it. She wanted...
Harris touched her cheek, smoothed her hair. “When we sleep together, Clair—and we will, so don’t deny it—I don’t want any miscommunication or regrets. We’ll both be in agreement, and we’ll both enjoy it. Okay?”
A little numb, Clair nodded.
When Harris pushed to his feet, she sat up and quickly located her glasses. She felt more self-assured with the visual barrier in place. “Harris?”
He smiled down at her, giving her a sense of déjà vu, but with her in the wrong position. In the park, she’d done this to him—led him on, then walked away.
He tipped his head toward her.
“Thank you.”
A smile warmed his expression. “For waiting?”
“And for understanding. I...I guess I’m not a hundred percent sure what I want yet.”
“Between us?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I don’t think you are either.”
“Now there’s where you’re wrong. I know what I want—and I know I’ll get it. That’s the only reason I can be so patient now.”
Clair blinked hard. Had she finally made some serious progress?
“Good night, Clair,” Harris said, and his expression was warm, intimate. “Sweet dreams.”
CHAPTER FOUR
EVEN WHILE HE HOVERED next to Dane, waiting to see the results from the information he’d supplied, Harris kept listening for Clair to get to work. He was curious about the mystery woman still, no two ways about that. When he’d seen a dark-haired woman flirting with him, all his senses had gone on alert. He’d made note of her license plates, and now he waited to see if she could be the one. He hoped so. The suspense was killing him.
But even while he waited in tense silence, more than half his attention was on the door, anticipating Clair’s arrival. The way that girl kissed... Hell, she was so hot, he probably should stay in uniform when with her. He needed the fireproof protection.
She was the same Clair he enjoyed so much, but she acted different with him now. He liked the changes, the feminine layers to her personality. The teasing. Like refined foreplay, Clair’s advance and retreat kept his excitement very close to the surface, ready to explode with little provocation.
“Her name is Melody Miles.” Dane, with his hand over the receiver of the phone, glanced up at Harris. “Miss Melody Miles—so she’s single.”
Somehow, that didn’t thrill Harris as much as he’d thought it might.
“Alec says up close, she doesn’t look the same to him.”
“None of the photos show her face.”
“He didn’t mention her face.” Dane shrugged. “He was talking about her body. She’s a little heavier than she seemed in the snapshots, but that could be due to a time difference between when the pictures were taken and now.”
The door opened and Clair strolled in. She was smiling—until she saw Harris. Then she snapped to a standstill; her back slowly straightened.
Harris barely heard Dane still talking. Today Clair wore narrow, rectangular glasses that added an air of supreme intelligence to her appearance. Her dark glossy hair was a little windblown, proving she’d ridden to work with her car window down. Beneath the short hem of a navy-blue jumper, her long legs were bare. White sandals matched her white T-shirt. She looked adorable.
He was so glad to see her again. “Clair.”
Her mouth flattened. “What are you doing here, Harris?”
Dane hung up and stepped out from behind her desk. “He thought he might have found the mystery lady.”
Clair crossed her arms and thrust out a hip in an arrogant pose. “Do tell.”
Clearing his throat, very unsure of her mood, Harris said, “Yeah, well. She was flirting with me at this coffee shop where I stopped this morning. I realized I stop there a lot, and that could be the connection. You know, where she knew me from and everything.”
“Have you ever met her?”
“No.” Clair sounded so...accusatory. “But she could have heard my name from someone. I’ve been in there with the guys a few times too. Occasionally in uniform, so she’d know I was a firefighter.”
“Assuming she hangs out there as well.”
“Yeah. Assuming that.” Harris wished Dane would offer a little help. He’d acted enthusiastic about the possibility of the woman being “the one,” yet now he just stood there and grinned, enjoying Harris’s plight.
“Ever notice her before?” Clair asked.
Feeling harassed, Harris said, “No. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t noticed me.”
“Obviously she has if she’s flirting with you.” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “Did you ask her if she’s the one?”
“No, of course not.” Sheepishly, Harris admitted, “I followed her so I could get her license plate number.”
“Oh gawd.” Clair flounced the rest of the way into the room and dropped her purse on the desk. “A stalker, that’s what you’ve become.”
Dane laughed. “No one saw him, Clair, and the plates paid off.” Then he turned to Harris. “But as I said, Alec doesn’t think it’s her.”
At the moment, with Clair glaring at him, Harris didn’t really care. “All right.”
Though he hadn’t asked, Dane explained. “Body shape isn’t the same.” He pulled out the larger photos they’d created. He put the one of the woman’s derriere on top of the stack.
Clair made a choking sound, but when Harris glanced at her, she didn’t seem to be paying them any mind. In fact, she was busily arranging and rearranging things on her desk.
“Your woman—”
“His woman?” Clair repeated with mocking disbelief, her desk and its clutter forgotten.
“—has a heart-shaped behind.” Dane shrugged. “The woman you saw in the coffee shop is rounder. Or so Alec tells me.”
“Then it must not be her,” Harris agreed.
“He’s not positive,” Dane said, “so he’s going to check her out a little more. But he said not to get your hopes up.”
Clair started laughing. Loudly. When Harris frowned at her, she put her face on the desk and covered her head with her arms. She roared with hilarity until her shoulders were shaking.
“What,” he demanded over the awful noise she made, “is so damn funny?”
Gasping, wheezing with her humor, Clair straightened. She had tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks. “You three,” she gasped, apparently including Alec, though he wasn’t present. “Tracking a woman by...the shape of...her ass.” She burst out