BAD Beginnings Read Online Free PDF Page A

occurred. In fact, the moment she’d moved toward him—he normally turned away.
    She stood looking into dark eyes with tiny golden flecks of color and the testosterone-laden smell of his cologne put all sorts of stupid ideas in her head. Ideas that involved unbuttoning the starched cotton and squeezing her fingers over the tattoo again while reading words she’d briefly glimpsed. She blinked and bit into her lip to stop from salivating. For crying out loud, he was her boss—and her suspect.
    “Um, I was getting a cup of coffee before going back to the office. Want some?” As if to punctuate her words, a steaming cup was plopped on the counter behind her.
    He shook his bushy hair and the bangs fell softly into the gold flecks. Another urge to reach up and brush them aside hit her. “I just needed a short breath of air. The walk is over, want to go back? You can show me what I missed while I was out—and maybe tell me what the schedule for the week is. I’ve completely lost all concept of time and work.”
    She gnawed on her lip again and the slight taste of the coconut lip-gloss mixed with blood startled her. Not only had she lost complete focus and lacked progress on her case, now she was getting hormonal over the main suspect. It was stupid.
    “Sure, let’s go.” Still, she might as well take advantage of the time while he allowed it. She didn’t know when he planned to crawl back into that shell and cut off communication. Maybe she’d find something worthwhile to move the case forward. Or see him out of that shirt again. She frowned—get a grip and stop thinking like that.
    Logan whipped out a hand, reached toward the counter and snagged a napkin. “You’re bleeding.” For a second he leaned closer and looked at her mouth. She thought he was going to wipe the blood and dammit, she feared she’d lean her face into that hand if he tried.
    Instead he put the napkin in her hand and backed away. The air between them had been suffocating and she was glad to breathe again. Was it possible to be disappointed and relieved at the same time? She sipped the hot coffee, not even noticing it burned on the way down. “I think we should get you to Chaco’s before we return. I know. I know. Don’t get mad, the hair looks good—but with your mom coming and the meetings later this week, you won’t have time later. Okay?”
    She half-expected him to blow up—or just say no. He didn’t, he shrugged. “Whatever you say. You’re the boss.”
    She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
    “You’re a caffeine addict, you know. You should taper off, it’s not healthy. Judging by your muscle tone, I gather you care about that.”
    She raised a brow. He was telling her about health? The man with addictions that made hers look like a kid’s fetish with candy? She kept silent, mainly because he wasn’t aware she knew. As much as he’d been careful to lock everything up and keep her at a distance, there had been one time he’d slipped. He was in a hurry or maybe too hyped up, she wasn’t sure. She said nothing—no need to start an argument that might get her fired. She had put too many hours in this case and needed progress. That tiny bit of information into his character was a start.
    She’d been able to dig enough to find his source and from there had started looking for more information. Her mind jolted back to the present when he took her arm and pressed her toward the door. “Lead on. You obviously think I need cleaning up so let’s get to cleaning.” His voice was gruff, but his face glinted with—something she’d never seen before. She swore if she didn’t know better, she’d think he had been brainwashed while away.
    “Was that another joke?”
    “Uh-oh. Two in one day. Will the joke police come swooping in now? Are you going to have a heart attack?” His fingers burned against her arm—something that really pissed her off. She was an officer of the law and he was the lead suspect in a series of missing person