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obscured the cowboy and horse on the inside.
    Conor’s mouth stopped just shy of a grin. “I don’t have any plans right now. Single life suits me.” He could tick off a number of reasons. Namely, he had a penchant for impossible relationships. Women either wanted him to give up law enforcement, or there was something wrong with them. The last one had been a kleptomaniac.
    His stomach rumbled uncomfortably. Damn, he should’ve realized she had a problem sooner. Like every time they left a restaurant and her purse rattled and clanked. How was he to know she’d pilfered the silver-ware?
    “No steady girl, huh?” The chief ’s hand stilled. The snow swirled around on the inside of the globe. Carefully, he set it back on his desk.
    “No,” Conor cautiously answered.
    The chief didn’t look up until the snow had once more settled to the bottom. As soon as he did, Conor saw the unmistakable glimmer in his eyes. The sooner he put a stop to any matchmaking ideas, the better off he’d be.
    He’d taken this transfer because it would give him a better chance for advancement. But he wasn’t looking to become an official part of the Nelson clan. The badge was the only wife he needed.
    “I’ve always made it a policy not to date the boss’s daughter.” A small lie, but it should do the trick. No one could say he wasn’t a fast thinker.

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    Karen Kelley
    “Yeah, Jess has dumb rules, too. Says she doesn’t date cops. Have a seat, son.”
    That was a relief. Getting involved with the chief ’s daughter didn’t sit well with him, anyway. Conor sat in the chair across from him, wondering how the conversation had jumped track from the suspects to his own social life.
    There must be something awfully wrong with his daughter to make him want to unload her so fast.
    And what’d she have against dating a cop?
    Not that he would date her, but he had to admit he wasn’t unaffected by her looks. He’d always been a sucker for blond hair and mysterious, smoky blue eyes. It wouldn’t be much of a strain to his imagination envisioning her nude body pressed intimately against his.
    What was he thinking? From what he’d gathered since coming to work in White Plains a week ago, Jessica Nelson would never be the type for a casual affair. To hear her cousin tell it, she was as pure as new snow.
    Not that it mattered one way or the other; he wouldn’t break his policy of not getting emotionally involved with anyone. Much safer that way.
    He didn’t want another woman asking him to take a safe desk job, then getting pissed when he refused. Being a cop on the streets was his life. It would be easier for him to stop breathing than give it up.
    Mentally, he hung a NO TRESPASSING sign around Jessica’s neck. It was time he turned the game back to his side of the court and stopped thinking about the chief ’s daughter.
    “About those suspects, sir?”
    The chief looked unwilling to change the conversation, but after a brief hesitation, reached across his desk and picked up a folder. “The Meredith family is on the top of my list right now.”
    Conor let out a deep breath, glad he’d temporarily given up the quest for his daughter’s hand.

    TEMPERATURE’S RISING
    39
    “There’s three of them,” he continued. “The father’s name is Winston and his two sons are Barry and George.
    They’ve recently moved back to the area. Just about the time the robberies started. Right now they’re our prime suspects.”
    “Why them?”
    “Kelvin Adams spotted Winston in Wal-Mart and called to let me know our old friend was back in town.
    Kelvin’s retired now, but he used to be the chief here.”
    “Maybe Winston has gone straight.” He shook his head. “Not a chance. Winston’s got a rap sheet that stretches all the way from El Paso to Houston.” A thoughtful frown wrinkled his brow. “Something tells me they’re not working alone, though. He never did in the past. He’s a follower . . . not a leader. Besides, things are too