In Hot Pursuit (3 page)

Lexi twirled the handcuffs around her finger, watching the silver rings spin under the flashes of colored light. Did the woman ever sit still? She was a riot of nervous energy even when her feet stopped moving. Maybe that's why Josh couldn't seem to take his eyes off her and her sequins tonight.

Yeah, right.

On instinct, Josh reached out and snatched the handcuffs off her finger, halting her motion for a moment. Lexi's startled gaze moved over him, her mouth forming a surprised “O” with her lips.

Josh had an image of her in his bed, her body still beneath him in the moment before a climax hit her. She would look just like this.

Too soon, she resumed her flurry of movement, yanking her handcuffs back and spinning on one high heel.

“I'll thank you not to steal those, Mr. High-and-Mighty Detective.” She stuck her tongue out at him as she secured the lock on the cell door. “You'll have to find your own handcuffs to play with.”

The sight of that small, pink tongue would torment him the rest of the night. “But where will I find my own captive?” Josh could hear Alec the linebacker chuckling in the background.

Lexi flipped her hands out, palms up, in an exaggerated shrug. “Since you blew your chances with all the ladies here tonight, it looks like you're stuck being my prisoner.”

He crooked his finger at her, beckoning her closer.

She hesitated for a moment, then boldly stepped forward. Josh had the feeling this woman wouldn't back down easily.

She waited just outside the cell bars, her black sequins close enough to touch. She tapped her foot on the dark commercial carpet, unable to stand still for a minute.

Josh reached one finger through the bars to trail
down her bare arm. He watched, fascinated, as a path of chill bumps appeared in his wake.

“I don't mind being your prisoner, honey, but couldn't we play this out somewhere else? Like your place, maybe?” He kept his voice low enough that only she could hear. What did it matter if he let himself get a little distracted by Lexi now? He sure as hell wasn't going to gain anything for his investigation from inside this cell.

Maybe she thought about it. She stilled for a moment and watched him with a predatory interest that made him want to rattle the damn cage.

Then she folded her arms over her chest and stepped back. “Sorry, I don't fraternize with the inmates. Especially not the ones who refuse to play the game.”

“Lex, I'm ready to play whatever games you have in mind.”

He couldn't be sure in the dim light, but he thought he actually made her blush.

“I don't need you to play
those
kinds of games, wise guy. I needed you to turn that sexy charm on any one of the umpteen hot and bothered ladies who filed past your cell tonight. You couldn't have done your part to help the homeless?”

Words escaped him. She looked seriously offended.

“Sorry, Lexi.” He couldn't exactly explain to her his reasons. At least, not now. How had the dominatrix gone from turning him on, to making him feel like the world's biggest heel in ten seconds flat? “Let me ransom myself to make up for it, and I'll buy you a drink.”

She frowned. “Too many drinks made me cuff you in the first place. Why don't you just cool your heels for a little longer and maybe I'll ransom you, if you can remember not to snarl at anyone else.”

He smoothed his tie and straightened his lapels. “I'm working for time off with good behavior, honey, and I'll pay you back for your trouble.”

A ghost of a smile played around her lips. Josh found himself eager to see that saucy grin again.

“I'll be sure to collect, Winger.”

She sauntered off with a definite swing to her sequined hips.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who noticed, because his cell mate emitted a long, low whistle.

Josh bristled. “The wiggle was meant for my eyes, Jack.”

The linebacker shook his head, grinning. “It's Alec. And sorry, man, but I'm not blind.”

“Don't you have a wife around here somewhere?” Josh wondered if he could keep his word about not snarling.

“Yep. She's probably too busy dishing about Lexi to come bust me out of here, though.”

Josh frowned. “What do you mean?” Lexi might be a little flirtatious, but she didn't exactly seem like the home-wrecking type.

“You know, all that garbage they said about Lex in her magazine today. The women can't get enough of it.” Alec shrugged his big shoulders and pulled a face.

Protective instincts roared to life. “A magazine article about Lexi?” Josh knew how it felt to have his
personal life splashed all over the headlines—most of it untrue. Had Lexi been subjected to that?

“She's not your girl?”

“Not yet.” The words sprang forth before Josh had the chance to consciously form them. He definitely wasn't in the market for a relationship. Then again, he couldn't picture not seeing Lexi again. “But we seem to have…hit it off.”

“You know that fashion magazine she reviews for?” Alec slumped against the cell bars.

Josh didn't, but he nodded. He didn't want to seem like some joker hitting on Lexi without knowing a damn thing about her.

“Well, the magazine ran a letter to the editor today that trashed Lexi's column and suggested she's out of date, out of style, whatever.” Alec shook his head. “A bunch of catfight-type stuff. The women are gossiping about it a mile a minute, all gunning for Lexi. It's all I've heard all damn night.”

“Catfight stuff—but not anything serious, right?” The cop in him snapped to alert as Josh realized he might be in over his head in the fashion world. The waters were murky for him, and now that his partner and his socialite fiancée were taking off for a motorcycle trip this weekend, Josh would be losing his only insider information for a few days.

“Nah. The woman who wrote the letter isn't even here tonight. Besides, this isn't exactly the sort of crowd to take potshots in a dark alley. They do their mud-slinging right in the public eye.”

Before Josh could thank the man, Alec sprang to
his feet and smoothed his hair back, his gaze focused outside the cage.

Josh turned to see a scowling blonde barreling toward them, her snappy walk at odds with her elegant white gown. No doubt, Nina had arrived.

Josh mulled over Alec's words as the man's wife ransomed him and the couple left together. As the crowd in the bar thinned out and the dance floor began to clear, Josh wondered if Lexi had attended the fund-raiser with anyone or was here by herself.

Like it or not, he wouldn't allow her to leave the bar by herself. No matter what Alec said about the fashion world slinging their mud in public, Josh didn't like the idea of Lexi being the target of mean-spirited comments. No telling when professional jealousy could get out of hand.

An image of Tonya Harding flashed through his mind, along with the Texas cheerleader's mom. Lexi could be at risk, for all he knew.

He'd just make sure she got home okay, then he would leave.

Unless, of course, he could lure out the
other
side of Lexi—the sequined spitfire who had handcuffed him earlier.

Josh had the feeling that if he tangled with her again, he wouldn't leave until they'd uncovered every erotic possibility of handcuffs.

S
HE COULDN'T
put it off any longer.

Last call had come and gone. Wendy sat at the bar, reviewing the final bill with the property manager. The house lights would probably switch on at any moment.

Lexi had to free her last captive.

Her gaze skittered over to the jail cell where Detective Winger sat on the cage's lone bench. His jacket was draped over the seat beside him, his white shirt stretching over shoulders that delineated mouth-watering muscles. His elbows were propped on his knees, and his silver-gray tie fell forward, the knot loosened long ago.

Lexi didn't need to see his eyes to know the tie matched their color. She'd caught his hungry stare enough times tonight to remember the precise shade.

Squeezing the key to the cell padlock in her fist, she debated her approach. She'd flirted outrageously with Josh all night. Did he expect to cash in on that flirtation? Or would he flag a cab and disappear?

Lexi wasn't sure which idea bothered her more.

She desperately wanted to test her feminine wiles on this man—to assuage the fear that she was as out
dated and boring as the scathing letter to her editor had claimed.

But if she went home with him, she needed to make it clear
she
was in charge. She didn't need a man in her life to mess up the comfortable niche she had finally managed to carve for herself. Lexi had struggled for her independence, her self-reliance. As long as Josh understood that, as long as he let her take the lead, everything would be fine.

Lexi hitched up her sequined bodice, fluffed the few tendrils of hair around her face, and approached the jail cell.

Her steps faltered when Josh stood. He topped her by nearly a foot. The reminder of that height, those big shoulders, did funny things to her insides.

He scooped up his jacket and slid it on again. “Am I free to go?”

Lexi swallowed in a fruitless attempt to cure her suddenly dry mouth. “You're getting your time off for good behavior.” She unlocked the cell door and stood back to allow him out. “I haven't seen you snarl in at least an hour.”

He didn't step past her, however. He stopped right in front of her and startled her with his direct gaze. “I can be well behaved if the situation calls for it.”

She felt the blush starting, and resisted the urge to fan herself. The man wreaked havoc on her internal cooling system.

And amazingly, rendered her speechless.

She wasn't sure if she wanted Josh to be well behaved or not, but the idea that he would be “good”
if she wanted him to, left her mute for an agonizing moment.

He reached for her. But instead of pulling him toward her for the kiss she sorely wanted, he gently tugged one of the fallen tendrils from her upswept hair. Slowly, he wound the long strand around his finger.

He studied her with restless gray eyes. “How are you getting home?”

The question jarred her out of her reverie. She didn't know how to respond to his blunt question, especially since she'd rather hoped to go home with him. Still, she didn't want to look too eager.

“I can walk from here.”

She lived just around the corner, but her place was off-limits. The two times she had worked up the courage to proposition a man—the only one-nighters she'd ever had—she'd made sure they went to his place.

Josh frowned. “You can't walk.”

Lexi bristled. Josh might be gorgeous, but he was not in charge here. “Of course I can walk. I live nearby.”

He steered her forward with a gentle hand at her waist and looked as if he hadn't heard her. “Where's your coat? I'll take you home.”

She stopped in her tracks. “I don't think so.”

“I'd try to talk you into coming home with me, but my apartment is in the middle of being repainted. We can't go there.”

Heat bothered her cheeks. “Of course not. I didn't
mean to suggest we would. I'll be fine heading home on my own.”

His mouth set in a straight, hard line. For the first time, Lexi noticed a scar on his cheekbone, a thin white line that seemed more prominent when he scowled.

“Lexi, I'm a cop. You're a half-dressed woman ready to roam the streets of New York at two in the morning. Sorry, but I'm pulling rank here.”

She felt her jaw slacken and promptly snapped it shut. “You, sir, are obviously blind. Don't you dare suggest that wearing a Bill Blass original is anything less than being completely and flawlessly dressed.” She'd sooner crawl home than allow anyone to cast one more aspersion on her character today. She'd deflected jibes and gossip this evening like a damn mud flap.

Josh scrubbed a hand over his chest before sliding his palm down the length of his silk tie. “You took a lot of crap here tonight?”

She stilled. “What would you know about that?”

“Alec told me about the magazine piece.”

Great. Now the stud of her dreams felt sorry for her. “A letter to the editor by some disgruntled designer is not the end of the world.” Or so she told herself. Repeatedly.

He shrugged. “I don't keep up with the fashion magazines, I guess. But I don't like the idea of you taking off by yourself after being the target of so much slander here tonight.”

Slander.
Yes, she rather liked the ring of that. She
sniffed. “I guess it wouldn't hurt if you walked me home.”

“Great.” He headed toward the cloakroom. “What does your coat look like?”

“Black pashmina.”

His brow furrowed, but he ducked into the room and out of sight.

Damn. Now she wouldn't be able to seduce him. There would be no night in Josh's arms to chase away the cold loneliness she'd felt all day because she would
not
let him in her apartment…would she?

Of course not. What would all her pets think? They wouldn't want to share their mama with some strange man. And she'd always promised herself not to spoil the sanctuary of her home by allowing a man inside. It had been different to sleep in someone else's bed. Impersonal. Easy to distance herself the next day.

But Josh would be a difficult man to walk away from, in the first place. She sure as heck couldn't let him into the private world where the
real
Lexi lived.

“Is it a black blanket?” he called from the cloakroom. He stepped out with her pashmina in hand, a frustrated glower on his face.

“That's me.” Laughing, she walked to the bar and tugged her purse from a shelf the bartender had allowed her to use.

Josh closed the distance between them in a flash. “Why didn't you say so?”

His gruff manners soothed her as he wrapped the cashmere shawl around her and tugged the ends tightly shut.

“How the hell do you wear this thing?”

Smothering a giggle, she flung one end over her shoulder in demonstration.

Josh muttered an oath under his breath and tried to tuck the other end under her arm. Having secured every loose corner of the shawl, he nodded. “There. Don't move.”

“How am I going to walk home?”

He grinned. “Guess I'll have to carry you.”

Warmth pooled low in her belly at the thought of her body tucked up against his. Part of her longed to assume her flirtatious guise and maneuver more sexy talk with him. But some of her daring had faded along with the buzz from that last cosmopolitan. Even worse, she liked Josh more by the minute—a fact that rendered a one-night stand less appealing. A torrid night with Josh practically guaranteed she'd never see him again.

She shook loose his handiwork and rewrapped the shawl. “I don't think that's the best idea.”

He snorted. “Let's look at who's coming up with the good ideas here tonight. You think it's a good idea to traipse around New York alone at 2:00 a.m. I think it's a good idea for us to leave together. You think it's a good idea to put me in jail. I think it's a good idea for us to explore the possibilities of being—”

She hurried to cut him off. “I get the picture.” She definitely didn't need reminders of his earlier provocative suggestion. Handcuffs had never seemed so appealing. But she needed to put some distance between her and Josh before he got the wrong idea. No matter how much her hormones argued the fact, she could
not sleep with Josh in her apartment. “But I'm not conceding the point. I still think my ideas have been very sensible.”

Sensible.
The word resounded in Josh's mind, at odds with everything he thought about Lexi Mansfield. “Is that what you want, Lexi? Sensible?”

She deftly unfastened the diamond collar around her throat and slid it into a tiny purse she carried. “See that? Sensible. I may occasionally carry handcuffs and go manhunting on the posh New York club scene, Josh, but I'm not crazy enough to wear Harry Winston out in public.”

Josh stared at the long, smooth column of bare neck the diamonds had just vacated. She suddenly looked less like his five-foot dominatrix and more like a vulnerable woman.

“I never suggested you were crazy.” Josh curled his arm around her back and ushered her toward the door. Lexi flung good-nights and smiles at the few remaining people they passed on their way out. He hoped the high color in her cheeks had something to do with his touch.

As he held the door for her, she looked up at him and paused. “Are you sure?”

“A little wild maybe, but definitely not crazy.”

She nodded as if satisfied and walked out onto Columbus Circle, the black blanket fluttering in her wake.

Josh followed close behind, surveying the activity on the street. They were near Lincoln Center in a great neighborhood, but Central Park loomed to one
side—and who knew what might leap out of the bushes at this time of night.

“Do you really live right around the corner, or were you just hoping I'd let you go home alone?”

She fidgeted on her high heels and pointed. “West Sixty-second Street. You can almost see the blue awning from here.”

He squinted. The buildings in this neighborhood all had doormen and good security, but that didn't mean she couldn't get jumped from an alleyway. “I guess we can walk. But you really should take cabs at night if you're by yourself.”

“And pay five bucks to go two blocks? No, thank you.” She set the pace as her high heels clicked down the pavement.

Josh smiled to himself as he noticed she took two steps to his one, her slim dress limiting her stride to a sexy little walk.

He fell into step beside her, fighting the urge to sling a protective arm around her.

Would she mind? She'd definitely backed off the flirting ever since he'd insisted he would walk her home. Had he misread her signals? After Lexi's prolonged pursuit at the club and her teasing overtures with the handcuffs, Josh had been pretty certain she would be amenable to spending the night with him. Now he wasn't so sure.

He would walk away if she wanted him to, of course. But he didn't relish the idea. He'd had hours in the jail cell to resign himself to the fact that he wouldn't be getting any work done on his investigation tonight. His work for the night had been com
promised, but not his overall case. Once he'd come to terms with a night off, he'd gladly spent the rest of the time indulging in erotic fantasies about Lexi.

He had another block and a half to sway the odds in his favor, and he didn't plan to waste them lecturing her about street safety.

The night air was crisp and clear. A few fall leaves barely clung to the trees planted at precise intervals along the street. A light breeze caught stray strands of Lexi's hair.

Josh racked his brain for the right approach. He didn't usually have to work at this—the women in his past had made it known they were available. He'd thought Lexi was like that, too, but she was turning out to be more complicated than he'd expected.

Didn't matter.

He wanted her more than he could remember wanting any other woman.

He brushed his hand over her shoulder. “You warm enough in that thing?”

She slanted him a sideways glance. “Plenty warm.”

“You ever share your blankets?” He tugged one corner of her shawl and crossed his fingers.

She stared straight ahead. “No.”

Her heels clicked down the street, ticking off his remaining time to seduce her. The odds seemed to be going up in her favor with every step she took.

Click.

Click.

Click.

“So Alec told me you write reviews for a maga
zine.” He might as well find out a little about her. He didn't see how any great Casanova move would salvage his night with the dominatrix, anyway.

Oddly enough, he wanted to learn more about her even though he knew she'd be sending him home soon.

“It's
New York Fashion
magazine. I've been writing the style column for five years, now.” She unearthed her hands from the mass of black cashmere and huffed warm breath on them.

Josh watched the steam rise from her folded palms, plagued by a vague sense that he'd seen her somewhere before tonight. She had a familiar smile….

She peered over at him, pausing just before they reached her awning. “Just how much did Alec tell you about me?”

Josh took her hands in his and tugged her to the side of the street. He must be wrong thinking she looked like someone he'd met before. “He told me the women were giving you a hard time tonight.”

He wrapped his hands around hers, then pulled their knot of fingers toward his lips. Mirroring her actions of a moment before, he huffed a slow, heated breath over her cool skin.

“I can manage myself,” Lexi said, her voice halting just a little. She didn't pull away. “I mean, a lot of those people at the party were designers or else they work with a design house. Because I critique their work, I'm sure at one point or another over the past few years I've offended almost everyone.”

Her eyes were huge in the dim light from a street lamp. Josh wanted nothing so much as to wrap her
cashmere blanket around both of them and pull her to him. He could envision every nuance of her sequined curves and he longed to test the knowledge of his eyes with his hands. Would she feel as good as she looked?