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as his eyebrow lifted in warning.
    “One of these days, that sweet little mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.”
    She colored at the implication and wrested her gaze away from his. “It already has,” she muttered.
    “Mmm. So you do remember,” he said, tracing a slow path along the curve of her cheek. His lips followed their path before he leaned in to steal a brief kiss. “We’ve both procrastinated long enough. Get some sleep.”
     

CHAPTER 3 ~
     
     
     
    The whiskey burned like liquid fire going down, but he grimaced and tossed back another shot. Few things dulled the anger and dread inside him, and one of them was sleeping upstairs. It had been a long day between dealing with Marx and bringing Taylor home and assuring she was settled. Maybe he was going soft, but he found himself acting extremely out of character and debating whether or not he should ask Rupert to settle into the vacant guest room across the hall. He tried to convince himself it was just a knee-jerk reaction that would pass, but it would almost make him feel better to know there was armed security in the house guarding Taylor when he was away. Almost, but not quite. Cursing, Sebastian scrubbed the elongated stubble still stretching across his chin. Maybe it wasn’t out of character. With all of the shit that was going on, it was a real enough possibility that he’d just gotten that damn paranoid.
    Josh tossed back another shot as well and regarded him with a rueful shake of his head. “You look like shit, bro.”
    “Yeah, thanks. I’ll be sure to rescind my cover shoot for GQ this month.”
    His partner shrugged. “I was just saying a real shower and a shave wouldn’t hurt. Especially if we’re going to be working in close quarters here and all.”
    “I’m not asking you to cuddle,” Sebastian snapped. “I’m asking you to help me find the son-of-a-bitch that did this to Taylor. Either start doing that or get the hell out.”
    The humor in his partner’s blue eyes dimmed and he spread his hands in a show of helpless frustration. “I was getting to that, but I swear to Christ you are so tightly wound right now, I’m afraid if I breathe on you, you’ll snap.”
    “That might very well be the case.”
    “Yeah. Go figure,” Josh muttered. “I went over the police reports. There’s nothing in there that doesn’t jive with Taylor’s version of the story. She blew the intersection and got hit…twice. They said a local towing company had been called to pick up the vehicle, but when Brad and I went to pick it up and sweep it, the guy said it was gone.”
    Sebastian’s fists coiling as he turned to confront his partner with a questioning tilt of his head. “Gone where ?” he asked.
    “I don’t know, Baas. That’s a good question. He said some guy came to pick it up: a tall, middle-aged Caucasian who doesn’t match the description of anyone we know or the man Taylor said she spotted. We’ve called around but, as of yet, we got nothing.”
    His cheeks twitched as his eyes narrowed. “Why would someone do that?”
    Josh shrugged. “Who the hell knows? Times are tough, pal. Those 300s are pretty boxy and look like they weigh a ton. Maybe it was someone looking to make some extra cash.” Josh said as he settled into the russet leather armchair gracing the study.
    “Without any proper identification?” Sebastian asked. Growling he paced the floor and raked his hand through his hair with a vicious tug. “What about the tapes? Descriptions aren’t reliable. I want to see this guy.”
    “Not gonna happen. System was busted. You know how those local mom and pop shops can be.”
    His laugh was dry and sardonic. “Of course. Some man just waltzes in and takes my vehicle with no identification and it just so happens the towing company’s surveillance system was on the fritz? I don’t think so,” he claimed. Whirling on his heel, he pointed his partner’s way. “This guy knows who did it or he is covering