04 A Killing Touch (2 page)

“So you admit to some limitations.” Aidan widened his eyes in mock shock. “Impressive.”

“You’re projecting your impressions of journalists on the wrong person.” Whatever woman or reporter screwed him over had done a great job of it. One day Lana may dig into his background to figure it out, but that was low on her priorities list. “I know my limits.”

“Says the woman I dragged out of a burning building with a bullet in her.”

“Oh, come on! One of your own team had to be dragged out of there.”

“She’s a federal agent. You’re a journalist.”

“Which would suggest I would be the one in danger of getting captured rather than her. And don’t forget, it was my lead that led your team to that case. Think of all the good that came from it. Kieralyn found Ian. Ian found the truth about his father. You guys found a way past the chip on Kieralyn’s shoulder which made you a better team.”

“Yes.” Anger like Aidan rarely displayed boiled in his voice. “The two of you nearly dying was a silver lining.”

Lana fisted her hands in her lap in an attempt to not remind him about the second time she’d helped his team. Reminding him reminded herself and she’d function better if she could forget about that night in February. Specifically, she functioned better if she could forget about what had happened between her and Aidan after they’d arrested The Killing Cupid.

“Aidan, I feel it in my bones. These deaths are not random. These victims are not random. My theories are not random.”

“So you’ve thought this out. What exactly do you want my team to do? Gather the intel, solve the case and hand you an exclusive?”

“I would want to be the one to break the story yes, but this is…” She paused for a moment, formulating the words to make him believe her. “There’s more at stake here than a front-page headline.”

“Right. Like one you could use to become an anchor?”

His condescension, though she knew it was his way of minimizing his interest in her story, was a backhand she should expect, but still it stung her cheek as viscerally as if he’d struck her. She’d done nothing to deserve his low opinion, and it irritated her that it irritated her. She’d been raised to recognize her own strengths and to fight for her beliefs. “Aidan, you have ambition. Without it you wouldn’t be second in command of the Specialized Crimes Unit. You work with strong women who have ambition, yet you have no problems with them.”

“They know where the lines are. I don’t have to worry that they’ll taint evidence so it’s inadmissible in court.”

She wouldn’t justify her career choices to him. He wouldn’t believe her even if she tried convincing him she had no interest in television journalism. “Tell me one time I’ve crossed a line. Tell me one thing I’ve done that has jeopardized a case or endangered a life other than my own.”

“The time you got shot.” He leaned forward, elbows braced on the table. His jaw twitched twice before he got his anger under the control he rarely lost. “Kieralyn wouldn’t have gone into that building if you hadn’t been in there.”

“That you think that shows how little you know her. She would go into that or any other dangerous situation if it meant saving a life.”

“It’s a move she won’t have to repeat, because she’ll never again feel like we don’t have her back.”

“Regardless, it’s a decision I appreciate her making, but it was
her
decision.
I
did not endanger her life, though for some reason you’re set on thinking different.” Rage rose within Lana, bubbling in the hollow of her chest and swelling her veins.

The meeting was turning down the path she’d known it would take. They’d been getting along well enough until it had come time for him to help or take a step back. Now Lana only wanted to fight. Well, that wasn’t all she wanted to do. She wouldn’t mind finding a bed and having him in it, but arguing was the safer choice.

“So what? I have goals. We all do. My goals aren’t what you seem to think they are.”

“You’re telling me you would pass on the chance to move from newspaper to TV if it came your way?”

Suddenly she didn’t have to research his background to know what had happened to form his view of journalists. Whoever he’d trusted had done just that. They’d made the leap from print to TV and he’d somehow been buried in the process. The insight didn’t make his attitude easier to tolerate. “Reading about a story from a teleprompter is way the fuck down on my no-thanks-and-go-to-hell list.

“If you’re not open to helping then say so.” She didn’t wait for Aidan to respond before she grabbed her purse. “I’ll figure this out on my own.”

He propped his booted foot on the bench beside her, blocking her like she had him, and jerked his head toward a waitress. “We’ll eat lunch and then decide what to do next.”

“I’d rather eat slop with swine.”

“And I’d rather not see Kieralyn worry about you when you get your fine ass in trouble again.” He angled his big body in the booth and kicked his other leg up beside her, crossing his ankles and settling in.

The man confused her. Made her want to scream. From the moment he’d picked her up in that club’s back room and carried her to the ambulance he’d run arctic and fiery.

Tender when she was hurt, a little playful while she shared Kieralyn’s hospital room. A jerk when she’d helped them bring down a serial killer on Valentine’s Day. A passionate lover with glimpses of tenderness while making love to her that night. A jerk again when the next morning dawned with him acting glacial as he claimed the encounter was an aberration.

An aberration. Just what every woman wants to be told the morning after multiple orgasms. But he’d walked out right after saying it. They hadn’t spoken more than three words at one time since. Until today. And today, just like their morning after, his attitude left her feeling battered and bruised.

Kieralyn was going to pay. She knew what had happened between them. She’d have known Aidan was the last person Lana wanted to deal with. Kieralyn could have sent Tyler, or even Liam. He was Aidan’s brother, but he was consistently kind and open-minded.

“What can I get you two lovebirds?” A red-haired, pale-skinned pixie of a woman sat two glasses of water on the table and then stood with a sweet smile.

“We are not lovebirds,” Lana corrected. “And I’ll have a mushroom Swiss cheeseburger. Medium well. All the toppings, but with the mayo and mustard on the side. Oh, and garlic fries.”

Aidan laughed. “I hope you don’t want anyone to kiss you after that meal.”

“You worried about who’s kissing me?”

“Hell no.” He turned to the waitress and ordered a cheeseburger and regular fries.

His jaw twitched just a tiny bit, like maybe he had it clenched against frustration. Did he think about who was kissing her? Did he wish he were? The idea held appeal. More appealing was the desire to use it against him.

The waitress left and Aidan shifted his attention back to Lana. His deep brown eyes bored into her. Arousal buzzed at a low wattage in her belly and spread through the rest of her. She lifted her glass and took a drink of the cold water. If she didn’t cool off, her entire body would be as red as a fire engine.

“Okay, Lana.” Aidan’s voice dropped to an almost whisper on her name while his other words stayed at a conversational tone. “Tell me why you want the team’s help and what else you know about the doctor.”

“It’s my job to write stories. It’s yours to stop killers. I’d rather not do yours even if mine leads me to one.”

“Fair enough.”

She took another drink and set the glass down. He almost sounded as if he respected her response. “As for the doctor, he’s local. After suffering with allergies most of his life, almost to the point he couldn’t leave his home, he decided to find a cure. Part of his approach is that he gets his products from a local organic farm.”

“So, as an altruistic humanitarian, the good doctor set out to rid the world of allergies. To cure the suffering masses.” Aidan spoke as if he doubted that anyone could truly be motivated by a need to help others. Wasn’t that why most people in law enforcement were there? To make a difference?

“Wow.” She sat back and shook her head. “I knew you could be harsh, but you’re just plain jaded.”

“Realistic.”

He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it gingerly between him and the wall as if it were a precious commodity. Hell, he showed that jacket more affection than her. No. Not affection. Courtesy. Affection was the last thing she needed from Aidan Burgess, but she wouldn’t mind some civil courtesy.

“Come on, Lana. You’re keeping secrets.”

“Actually, I’m not. I tried calling the doctor for an interview, but he’s…unresponsive.”

“Can’t say I blame him.”

Again, she ground her back teeth to stop herself from launching into another argument. “I think he’s hiding something.”

“Other than his privacy?”

It was as if Aidan thrived on baiting her into a fight. “This is never going to work if you can’t stop lumping me in with every morally deficient journalist only out for a story. Many of us do have ethics.”

“Until they get in the way of your story.”

“Forget it.” She pulled a twenty out of her wallet and tossed it on the table. After shoving his feet to the floor, she grabbed her bag and slid out of the booth. “I’m not doing this with you.”

She pivoted on the ball of her shoe and headed to the front door. Aidan caught up with her three strides later, grabbed her wrist and spun her back to face him.

“You only willing to play with me if you can call the shots, Lana?” He pinned her in place with his gaze, moved in close, got in her face. So close his hot butterscotch and coffee scented breath rushed over her lips. Sex oozed along the seductive syllables of his words and her body was ready to listen.

“I’m not playing games here.” She refuted his question and the suggestion in his tone, but her body wanted whatever he wanted. Her panties grew wet. Her thighs trembled. “You’re not going to admit you’re wrong about me. I have no desire to continue defending myself.”

“Fine. I will try to stop giving you a hard time.”

The time he gave her wasn’t the only thing hard at the moment. His erection pressed against her hip and awakened memories best forgotten. Memories of him in her hand. In her mouth. In her.

The things they’d done that night went far beyond casual sex. At least for her. “Does that include admitting I might have some useful information? And that I’m not as bad as the slimy scum on the bottom of a boat?”

“I never said that about you.”

She wanted to push him back. They were drawing attention from the other patrons and the waitress was headed toward their table with the burgers. Lana wouldn’t give him the pleasure of knowing how profoundly he impacted her.

She schooled her voice to her practiced professionalism. “Maybe not verbally.”

“I never thought it.”

“I have no way of knowing that. And our lunch is ready.” She would endure his company a little longer if it meant enlisting his team’s help. If the deaths were freak occurrences she would write it that way. Every journalistic instinct in her body told her differently.

The deaths were connected, and they were not accidental. A murderer needed to be found.

Chapter Two

Aidan pulled his cell phone from his pocket and watched Lana’s swaying curves seduce men as she walked away. Her suit was elegant and business-like with the skirt hitting just above her knees. The slit reaching to her mid-thigh revealed her powerful legs, which revived mental images too persistent to remain buried. Images of those legs wrapped around his waist or thrown over his shoulders or, God help him, locked behind her head as he buried himself in her.

She’d been as flexible as she was adventurous in bed. He’d told himself they were falling prey to the need to reaffirm something good after facing a killer. Every time he considered reaching out or trying to go back for seconds he’d repeated the excuse to himself. Every time he saw her with Kieralyn or Ava, the newest member of their team and another person to love Lana instantly, he found it increasingly difficult to suppress his yearnings.

He was hard on her. Maybe harder than some thought necessary, but the woman was a detriment to a man’s mental stability, not to mention his libido. She also attracted trouble, and as sure as her blonde hair was genuine, he knew she was heading for trouble. He just had to figure out what she would do next and stop her.

Turning toward his car, he dialed Kieralyn. It went straight to voicemail, which meant one of three things. She was out of range, which was doubtful given their service area, or she was in an interview. Or she was ignoring him.

He’d guess the last one.

She wouldn’t succeed long though.

Within five minutes he was back at the Bureau building. Lana promised to hold off on her investigation, yet if he knew her like he thought he did, the promise would expire in a couple of hours. He didn’t have much time to pinpoint her next move.

Jogging up the stairs rather than waiting for the elevator, he headed to their floor and his desk. Kieralyn stepped out of Breck’s office, met Aidan’s gaze and turned in the opposite direction.

“Freeze.” He didn’t have to work to infuse frustration into his command and she didn’t pretend he was talking to someone else.