totally thinking X-rated thoughts about you.”
* * *
O F ALL THE WOMEN Russ shouldn’t want, Penny Hennings charged him up like no one he’d ever experienced. She drove him out of his mind with the snarky comments and her general distrust of law enforcement. And he still wanted her. Seriously twisted. “How X-rated?” he whispered.
“Russell!”
“Is it triple X or just single?”
Penny slapped her palm against her forehead. “I wasn’t thinking that detailed. It was a few seconds. That’s all. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Hey, these things are good to know.”
She shook her head. “But I shouldn’t be thinking that way. We’ve got a lot going on here and the distraction won’t do anyone any good.”
“Can I fill you in on something?”
“Sure.”
“It’s probably a reaction to your string of incidents over two days. I’m the lucky guy here when it happened.”
“Says the man who had an erection yesterday?”
He closed his eyes. She had to bring that up.
Finally, he opened his eyes, kept his gaze focused and steady. “Part of it was adrenaline, but part of it wasn’t. The part that wasn’t is the problem. I’m close to bringing this guy down and your client can make that happen.” He ran a finger down her cheek and over her jaw. Something he’d wanted to do every day since he’d first seen her from the witness box.
“Russell—”
“Shh. From the day you shredded me on the stand, I’ve thought about you. You’re beautiful and sexy and mouthy and—freak that I am—that’s a huge turn-on. Except the risk is too high.”
But, yeah, he wanted to roll in sheets with her. Naked and sweating and exploring.
His presence in her life revolved around Elizabeth Brooks and Colin Heath. Getting emotional about a case created no issues, but he wanted it to be the right emotions. The ones where he went to the wall to lock up the bad guy. Penny in his bed wouldn’t make that happen.
Sam’s voice sounded from the upstairs hallway and Russ boosted off the table. “We shouldn’t talk about this now.”
Penny glanced at the staircase, then tapped three fingers against her forehead. “You’re right. I’ll check on Elizabeth and Sam and we’ll get started.”
It took twenty minutes for Russ to bring Elizabeth Brooks up to speed. It was all fairly simple. Penny would take the Colin Heath heat while Elizabeth and her son stayed in the safe house, under the protection of U.S. marshals. During that time, she would share with the FBI everything she knew about Heath’s pump-and-dump scheme.
Penny, sitting next to Elizabeth on the sofa, touched her hand. “Are you okay with this? If not, we’ll figure something else out.”
Uh, no. They wouldn’t.
If Russ had to go to war with Penny, no matter how physically attracted to her he was, he’d do it and it would be bloody. He’d busted his tail getting his superiors to sign off on this operation, one that would cost the U.S. taxpayers a nice chunk of change, and he wasn’t about to let the lawyer blow his case for him.
“There’s nothing else to figure out,” he said.
Slowly, Penny angled her head toward him, her nostrils flaring only enough that, had he not studied her body language since the day he’d met her, he would have missed it. That look? The Killer Cupcake look.
“I need a minute with my client,” Killer Cupcake said.
Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s not necessary. I’ll do it. Whatever I need to do to get us out of this, I’ll do it.”
“She gets immunity,” Penny said. “I don’t care how the FBI thinks they can implicate her. She gets a pass.”
“My superiors have signed off on that. The paperwork is being drawn up.”
“You’re not questioning my client until everything is signed.”
Now I’m done. If she wanted to pull this defense-lawyer bull on him every time, they’d be here awhile. He stood, jerked his head toward the kitchen. “A minute, counselor. Please.”
“Of course,” she
* * *
O F ALL THE WOMEN Russ shouldn’t want, Penny Hennings charged him up like no one he’d ever experienced. She drove him out of his mind with the snarky comments and her general distrust of law enforcement. And he still wanted her. Seriously twisted. “How X-rated?” he whispered.
“Russell!”
“Is it triple X or just single?”
Penny slapped her palm against her forehead. “I wasn’t thinking that detailed. It was a few seconds. That’s all. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Hey, these things are good to know.”
She shook her head. “But I shouldn’t be thinking that way. We’ve got a lot going on here and the distraction won’t do anyone any good.”
“Can I fill you in on something?”
“Sure.”
“It’s probably a reaction to your string of incidents over two days. I’m the lucky guy here when it happened.”
“Says the man who had an erection yesterday?”
He closed his eyes. She had to bring that up.
Finally, he opened his eyes, kept his gaze focused and steady. “Part of it was adrenaline, but part of it wasn’t. The part that wasn’t is the problem. I’m close to bringing this guy down and your client can make that happen.” He ran a finger down her cheek and over her jaw. Something he’d wanted to do every day since he’d first seen her from the witness box.
“Russell—”
“Shh. From the day you shredded me on the stand, I’ve thought about you. You’re beautiful and sexy and mouthy and—freak that I am—that’s a huge turn-on. Except the risk is too high.”
But, yeah, he wanted to roll in sheets with her. Naked and sweating and exploring.
His presence in her life revolved around Elizabeth Brooks and Colin Heath. Getting emotional about a case created no issues, but he wanted it to be the right emotions. The ones where he went to the wall to lock up the bad guy. Penny in his bed wouldn’t make that happen.
Sam’s voice sounded from the upstairs hallway and Russ boosted off the table. “We shouldn’t talk about this now.”
Penny glanced at the staircase, then tapped three fingers against her forehead. “You’re right. I’ll check on Elizabeth and Sam and we’ll get started.”
It took twenty minutes for Russ to bring Elizabeth Brooks up to speed. It was all fairly simple. Penny would take the Colin Heath heat while Elizabeth and her son stayed in the safe house, under the protection of U.S. marshals. During that time, she would share with the FBI everything she knew about Heath’s pump-and-dump scheme.
Penny, sitting next to Elizabeth on the sofa, touched her hand. “Are you okay with this? If not, we’ll figure something else out.”
Uh, no. They wouldn’t.
If Russ had to go to war with Penny, no matter how physically attracted to her he was, he’d do it and it would be bloody. He’d busted his tail getting his superiors to sign off on this operation, one that would cost the U.S. taxpayers a nice chunk of change, and he wasn’t about to let the lawyer blow his case for him.
“There’s nothing else to figure out,” he said.
Slowly, Penny angled her head toward him, her nostrils flaring only enough that, had he not studied her body language since the day he’d met her, he would have missed it. That look? The Killer Cupcake look.
“I need a minute with my client,” Killer Cupcake said.
Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s not necessary. I’ll do it. Whatever I need to do to get us out of this, I’ll do it.”
“She gets immunity,” Penny said. “I don’t care how the FBI thinks they can implicate her. She gets a pass.”
“My superiors have signed off on that. The paperwork is being drawn up.”
“You’re not questioning my client until everything is signed.”
Now I’m done. If she wanted to pull this defense-lawyer bull on him every time, they’d be here awhile. He stood, jerked his head toward the kitchen. “A minute, counselor. Please.”
“Of course,” she
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