“Oh? Then how will you know who’s right for you?”

“Are you asking me to describe my perfect woman?”

“There’s no such thing as a perfect woman.”

“Sure there is,” he said.

“Oh? What does she look like?”

Their arms were touching, and neither one of them moved away. “She has dark hair.”

“Yes?”

“And blue eyes. The color of violets. Incredible blue eyes.”

He was leaning down toward her now, and she thought he might kiss her. She hoped he would.

“She’s got a great body.”

“Of course she does.”

“Are you mocking my fantasy woman?”

“No,” she said, smiling. “Go on. What else? Does she have magic powers?”

He leaned a little closer. “It’s gonna be magic when we’re together.”

Oh, God, he was going to kiss her. She held her breath.

“And long legs,” he said, his voice whisper-soft now.

His knuckles gently trailed down the side of her face. She had to force herself to stay still and not lean into the caress. Why wouldn’t he kiss her? What was taking him so long?

“Does this perfect woman have a brain, or is not having a brain what makes her perfect.”

“Of course she has a brain. She’s very intelligent, has a quick wit, and she makes me laugh. She’s got this wonderful combination of vulnerability and stubbornness. And that, Regan, is my perfect woman.”

His mouth was just inches from hers. She closed her eyes and waited.

He tweaked her nose. “Got to go.”

She blinked. “You… what?”

“Got to go.”

He had his tennis shoes on, his laces tied, and was halfway to the door before she had her wits about her.

She stood, grabbed the bowl of popcorn she’d forgotten was in her lap, and put it on the coffee table.

“You have fun teasing me, don’t you?”

He was tucking his T-shirt into his jeans. “You make it easy.” He opened the door and stepped out into the hall. “Come here, Regan.”

The way he was looking at her made her stomach flutter. She walked over to the door. “Yes?”

“Let me hear you flip the dead bolt.”

“Oh. Yes, okay.”

He pulled the door closed. “Night.”

She could have sworn she heard him laughing as he walked away.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Regan awakened Saturday morning to another foul-weather day. There’d been so much rain in the past three weeks, she thought she might start sprouting mold. Her allergies were driving her nuts too. She sneezed at least five times before she’d even gotten out of bed, and when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, she grimaced. Her eyes were so bloodshot she looked as if she’d tied one on the night before. Tonight there was a large, formal charity event, and she hoped she could get her allergies under control, otherwise everyone would think she’d been crying.

A hot shower helped, but not much. She still had to use eye-drops, nasal spray, and her inhaler after she got dressed. She hated being dependent on medicines to control her allergies, but at least it wasn’t an all-year thing. Spring was the worst, then fall, but she managed to function without any medication in the winter and summer.

She put her hair up in a ponytail and was ready to go.

Detective Wincott had insisted that Alec take the day off, and when she left her suite to go downstairs to her office to tear through more files, she was accompanied by one of the new security guards Aiden had hired, an ex-policeman named Justin Shephard. Wincott approved because Justin used to be a cop and knew the job. She spotted Detective Wincott sprawled in a chair that faced the elevators. He stood and adjusted his tie as they walked closer. From his ragged appearance, Regan assumed his baby girl had kept him up yet another night.

“It’s Saturday,” she said. “You should be home with your family.”

“I just put the family on a plane to go see my wife’s mother, but if she were home, she’d have me fixing things, and I’m no good at that kind of stuff.”

He stepped back as the elevator doors silently opened. “I’m filling in for an hour,” he explained. “The officer who was supposed to hang with you today couldn’t do it. His wife went into labor. I’ve got another man coming in.”

Regan was dressed in jogging clothes, and Wincott frowned as he gave her the once-over.

“I thought we had an understanding,” he said. “We’re letting you go to that country club for the hospital thing, but running outside… that just can’t happen.”

The poor man looked as if he was bracing himself for an argument. She realized that if she insisted on running outside, the detective would have to run with her. From the shape he was in and the loafers he wore, she guessed he would have lasted about ten minutes tops.

“I don’t plan to go outside at all today. We have a gym upstairs with a brand-new track, so when I do work out, I go up there.”

He looked relieved. “Where are we headed now?”

“My office.”

“Do you work every weekend?”

“I really don’t have much to do, but since I’m stuck in the hotel, I’m reorganizing the office. This is our slow period. The charity projects and the work on the grants start all over in August.”

“Bet that’s a lot of hard work.”

“Not really. Henry could do the grants blindfolded. As soon as he graduates from Loyola, he’ll be taking over my job and working on his MBA. He’ll hire someone to help, of course.”

“And what will you do?”

She smiled. “I’m going global. I want to set up our programs at all the hotels.”

They reached the first floor and crossed the lobby to another bank of elevators. There was a security guard stationed in the alcove. Regan nodded to him as she walked past. She stepped into the elevator, inserted her key and pushed the button for the third floor.

“Do you think all of these extra guards are necessary, Detective Wincott?”

“Hey, if you’re calling Buchanan, Alec, you can call me John, and I’ve got mixed feelings about the guards. If they don’t get in our way, I guess they’re okay.”

The hallway was quiet, the doors to the other offices locked. Regan led the way into her office. Like Alec, Wincott immediately went to the sofa and made himself comfortable.

She grabbed another stack of files, dropped them on her desk, and sat down. Wincott had spotted the remote on a tray on the table and picked it up. She watched him look around.

“Hey, Regan…”

“Top button,” she said as she opened the first folder.

He didn’t understand her instructions. “Push the top button on the remote.”

The second the panels began to move, Wincott whistled. “Holy heaven. Did Alec know about this?”

She laughed. “Yes.”

“No wonder he didn’t want to share this detail. With this television and…”

“And what?”

Wincott shook his head. And “you,” he was going to say. “The sofa. It’s nice and soft. And this TV. It’s bigger than my house.”

“My brother Spencer had it installed a couple of months ago. He can’t be in a room without a television blaring.”

“I bet I’d like your brother.”

“I’m sure you would. Spencer’s the easygoing one,” she explained.

“And he hangs out here when he’s in town?”

She nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Will the noise bother you while you’re working?”

“Not at all.”

Her computer screen was on and she immediately noticed a little square light blinking in the corner. Had she forgotten to turn it off? Or had someone else turned it on this morning?

She drummed her fingers on the mouse pad while she thought about it. Melissa, the computer tech from the police department, had told Alec that she had removed Regan from the loop.

Melissa had given Regan her card. She found it in her desk drawer and called the station. She didn’t expect Melissa to be at her desk, but she wanted to leave a message asking her to call her Monday.