Read In the Still of the Night:Sexy Romantic Suspense (Book 2 The Blonde Barracuda's Sizzling Suspense Series) for Free Online

attempts at humor or his wayward body. She grimaced. Damn, he’d probably even figured out a way to make “that” respond to his commands. She faced him with a fierce glare.
    “Jake, you have to agree. Dan Rourke has no business calling you to ‘tattle’ on me. And I hope that you had the decency to tell him that!”
    Jake folded his arms across his chest and gazed at her thoughtfully. The twinkle in his eye was gone, as was any pretense of humor. Instead his narrowed gaze signified this was a serious conversation, and about to become more so.
    “No, Lexie, I did not tell Captain Rourke that he should not ‘tattle’ on you—because that wasn’t what he was doing. No, Darlin’, I thanked the head of the SFPD Vice Squad, who has enormous respect for you and your work, for his concern. Dan was not only concerned about the girl who was killed—”
    Lexie broke in, her voice rising.
    “What? Dan told you that I…we… Ming and I were responsible for that poor girl’s murder? That… that is even more outra—”
    Jake sat up straight in bed, not hiding his anger. His voice was soft, dangerous.
    “Stop it, Lexie. You know damn well that is not what Dan was saying, or thinking. Dan was concerned about Ming, the girls with her, the prostitutes they were passing notes to—and you. It is a tribute to you that he cared enough to call me.”
    Jake focused on her for a long moment, then nodded slightly. “There are two issues here, Lexie. And I want to separate them and deal with them one at a time. The first is why I had to hear about this from Dan Rourke, and then I want to let you know just how dangerous Ming’s mission was.” He held up his hand to stop her protest. “And I hope we can agree that given what happened that this is the end of such missions. That you will not permit the young women who work with you to put themselves and others in that kind of danger. Are we agreed, Lexie? At least on that?”
    Lexie reared up. This is what she despised about Jake. She’d hated when Anthony—another alpha male who’d spent too much time in the Army giving orders—told her what she should and shouldn’t do. But at least Anthony had been her brother.
    She tossed her head and glared at Jake.
    “For your information, I have already decided that I’m not going to let Ming and the others do that anymore. I… I’m working on other strategies that… well, never mind. I haven’t figured them out yet.”
    “Good, I’m glad to hear that you’ve decided that. But before we discuss your latest ‘strategies,’ let’s go back to my first question. Why didn’t you call me to tell me what happened? Why did I have to find it out from Dan Rourke?”
    She put her chin in the air and said dismissively, “Because I knew what you would say. Why bother calling?”
    Jake’s frown deepened and his gaze narrowed.
    “Hmm. Tell me Lexie, what would I have said if you had called me to tell me that a young woman had been killed on her way to your center, with a note in her pocket that she received from one of your students. A student who is barely twenty years old, and who led a group of other students into an extremely dangerous part of the city.”
    Lexie was triumphant.
    “There. You see! That is exactly what I knew you would say. That you would blame Ming and by extension, blame me for what happened. That just confirms that you don’t trust me to take care of either myself or the people who work for me.”
    Jake gave her a dismissive snort and drawled, “Uh uh, Lexie. That won’t work, Darlin’. I’m not going to let you twist my words and shame me into giving into you. I’ll ask you one more time. Why didn’t you call me to tell me what happened. It obviously bothered you—a lot. I haven’t seen you pounding the bag that ferociously since Anthony died. Did you think you couldn’t talk to me about it?”
    “No, that’s not why. It was… because I… I—”
    Lexie hesitated, then stopped. She shook her head