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dinner.”
    Mia stood too, and even though the sane, rational part of her was telling her to keep her mouth shut, she ignored it and said, “Have dinner with me. We can pick each other’s brains about our cases.”
    His look of “I’d rather eat sawdust than say yes” didn’t exactly make a girl feel all warm and gooey inside. However, he surprised her and said, “Fine. Where do you want to go?”
    Hoping she’d figure out exactly where these new masochistic tendencies were coming from later, she said, “Follow me.”

three
     
    Jared tailed Mia Ryker’s black Ford Explorer. The woman continued to surprise him. Chattering away like a monkey on speed and then turning into a cool, knowledgeable professional in the blink of an eye. And the dinner invitation had shocked the hell out of him. Other than Lucas and McKenna, and a couple of other LCR people, when was the last time anyone had invited him to dinner?
    Chicago traffic was heavy this time of day, but she zipped in and out of jams as well as any race-car driver. And apparently she expected him to keep up with her. He kind of liked that.
    Half an hour later, the Chicago skyline no longer visible, she pulled into a curved paved drive in front of a two-story rock and brick house with a giant porch. Homey, middle-class, and comfortable. And it sure as hell wasn’t a restaurant.
    Jared pulled his rented SUV in behind her. Apparently, bringing home a stranger for dinner wasn’t a big deal for her. Was she married? He hadn’t seen a ring, but that didn’t mean anything. Lara had objected to wearing even a simple band, saying it got in the way when she was working. Jared had been stupid and bought the rings as a set. He’d ended up shoving them in a drawer.
    Aware that Mia stood waiting for him on the brickpathway leading to the house, Jared headed toward her. The smile she gave him told him there was no hidden agenda, but he also saw a bit of defiance. Her next words proved that.
    “I figured if I told you we were going to my house, you’d give me all sorts of excuses about why you couldn’t come.” As she turned away, she added, “I’m a good cook.”
    Though the last thing he would have expected to be doing today was eating a meal at Mia Ryker’s house, he didn’t comment as he followed her up the steps.
    She unlocked the door but, before she pushed it open, looked over her shoulder at him. “Get ready to be attacked.”
    Jared tensed. What the hell?
    The door opened and a menagerie of fur sprang toward them. Dogs of all sizes and shapes barked, yelped, and jumped gleefully. With a joyous laugh, Mia dropped her purse, went to her knees, and let them “attack.”
    Jared didn’t like to be thrown off balance, but once again this woman had managed to do just that. Being able to read people and predict their behavior was important, not only for his job but also for his life. He’d known Mia Ryker for barely two hours and she had already caught him unaware more than any person in recent memory.
    Mia rose to her feet, and only then did the dogs suddenly notice that a stranger was in their domain. Tails wagging, eyes gleaming, they surrounded their owner but made no effort to approach him. Their demeanor indicated that even though he was a stranger, they didn’t see him as a threat. If she’d gotten them for watchdogs, they sucked at their jobs.
    He noticed that Mia lowered her right hand. Apparently this was a sign from her, because the largest one, an Old English sheepdog, who seemed to be the leader, ambledover to him for the first sniff. Jared held out his hand for inspection. The dog evidently approved and somehow signaled that information to the others; one by one, in a much more polite fashion than they’d greeted Mia, they came up to him—all five—and did their own sniffing.
    “You’re not allergic, are you?” Mia asked.
    “I don’t think so.” It’d been years since he’d been around an animal. He’d had a lover, years ago, who’d had