Hot and Sexy (Some Like It Hot 1)

CHAPTER ONE

For Joelle Sommers, success was sweet and heady, and almost as exhilarating as great sex. Not that she’d had any of the latter lately, she thought wryly as she settled into her cushy office chair and propped her booted feet on the corner of her cluttered desk. But today’s triumph more than made up for not having a man in her life. Sex provided a fleeting buzz compared to the elation of finally solving a difficult abduction or missing persons case and reuniting the individuals involved.

A smile tugged the corner of her mouth. When she’d made that idle comparison to a girlfriend during an evening of dinner and drinks, her friend blithely responded that she obviously wasn’t getting laid by the right man, because the blissful aftereffects of a few intense orgasms could last for hours on end.

Imagine that, Jo mused, unable to ignore the tingling warmth infusing her veins. She reached for a file folder next to her laptop and sighed. That’s about all she did these days…imagine, because she’d discovered that fantasies were so much better than her reality. Finding and wanting any man, let alone the right man, had become a tiresome quest that no longer appealed to her.

Unfortunately, Jo could always count on the men she dated to balk at her working in a male-dominated field filled with dangerous scenarios. Ultimately, they didn’t understand her drive and passion for locating missing people, especially abducted children. And when they discovered she was an ex-cop and moonlighted as a bounty hunter on occasion, most felt compelled and obligated to lecture her on the perils of a woman capturing wanted fugitives. And how could she do such a thing without male protection?

Oh, puh-leeze! She’d had enough of that overbearing attitude from her two older brothers. While Cole and Noah had learned over the years to tamp down their smothering protective tendencies they’d honed at a very early age, both still managed to interfere with cases they believed were too much for her to handle. It was a battle she constantly struggled to win.

She couldn’t seem to escape the male stereotypes that dictated she belonged in a safer line of business, or married, barefoot and pregnant, so she sacrificed sex—good, bad, or indifferent—for the thrill of the chase her cases provided. A piteous substitute for carnal pleasures, she knew, but she didn’t need the frustration and hassles that came with involvement with the opposite sex.

Nor had any man inspired enough lust or passion to make it worth the effort, Jo thought as she stamped CASE CLOSED in red ink across the front label of the file she’d finally solved. Now that was the kind of satisfaction that drove and excited her.

A brisk knock sounded on her open office door, followed by the entrance of Melodie Turner, Sommers Investigative Specialists’ front-end secretary. “A delivery just came for you,” she announced, flashing a grin that lit up a pretty face untouched by cosmetics. “And it has the makings of a celebration.”

Jo swept her feet back to the floor and sat up in her chair, eyeing the cellophane-wrapped gift basket Melodie placed in the center of her desk. Withdrawing the enclosed card, Jo smiled as she read the note from the Faron family thanking her for spending the past six months searching for, and finding, their runaway daughter, Rachel.

It hadn’t been an easy case. The thirteen-year-old girl had left a cold, difficult trail to follow by changing her name and appearance, but Jo had eventually tracked her down to a cult just outside of Sacramento, where Rachel had been selling beaded necklaces on the street. Convincing the teenager to return home had been much simpler than tracking her. The young girl, regretting her rash actions and no longer feeling defiant and rebellious, admitted to being homesick and missing her family. A perfect ending with a joyful reunion.

Unfortunately, not all of her missing person cases ended that way, and each one that did was a cause for celebration.

Jo peeled away the cellophane to reveal the treats hidden within the basket. “Umm, champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. Care to join me in a toast?”

Melodie looked just as eager to sample the enticing delicacies. “You don’t have to ask me twice. It’s ten after five, I’m technically off the clock, and I certainly don’t have a better offer waiting for me.”

Jo slanted her an amused look. “What, no hot Friday night date?”

Melodie rolled her eyes as she lifted the bottle of champagne from the basket, along with two plastic glasses. “I haven’t had a date, hot or otherwise, in months.”

Yeah, you and me both, sister. “Maybe that’s because you spend way too much time here at the office.” Standing, Jo shrugged out of her black leather jacket and hung it on the coat tree behind her desk. “This is the first time in weeks that you’ve stopped working anywhere close to five. And from what Noah has said, you’ve been staying as late as Cole in the evenings.”

Retrieving the ceramic bowl of big, plump chocolate-covered strawberries, Melodie shrugged and looked away, but Jo didn’t miss the light shade of pink that swept across her cheeks. “It’s not like I have anything more exciting to occupy my nights, or a line of men beating down my door.”

“Well, you certainly aren’t going to attract any male attention spending all your waking hours here.” Jo’s voice trailed off as she put two and two together. It seemed Melodie had a thing for Cole, and her boss had

no clue she existed other than in her capacity as his dependable, reliable, devoted secretary.

Oh, man. Melodie had been working for Cole long enough, two years to be exact, to know that his interest in women ran toward the occasional undemanding fling—no promises involved—usually with sophisticated, leggy blondes who played by the same rules he did. Unfortunately, Melodie was the epitome of a respectable, modest female in her plain, conservative outfits, and possessed the kind of good-girl tendencies and traditional values Cole avoided. If those qualities weren’t enough to inspire Cole to keep his distance, Melodie was also the daughter of the man who’d become Cole’s mentor after their own father had been shot and killed in the line of police duty. Cole had hired her as a favor to Richard Turner and had come to rely on Melodie as all bosses relied on their secretaries, but the odds of him noticing her as a woman were stacked heavily against her.

And Jo didn’t have the heart to dash her friend’s hopes.

While Melodie popped the plastic cork from the champagne bottle and poured the bubbly liquid into each of their glasses, Jo unbuckled her shoulder holster. Her brother insisted she wear a gun if she worked for him, but Jo knew it would take the direst of circumstances for her to actually use the weapon. She’d learned during her police academy training that you didn’t retrieve your gun unless you were prepared to fire. When actually faced with that reality, she hadn’t been able to pull the trigger. She still felt a painful twist in her heart thinking of the devastating results—the death of her partner. She’d fucked up, and her failure had cost Brian Sheridan his life.

Since that fateful day over two years ago, Jo hadn’t deluded herself with the belief that a gun would be her best source of defense. While she carried a weapon, she chose to protect herself with more controlled devices—a beanbag shotgun, a stun gun, a collapsible baton, and a black belt in martial arts. The combination served her well and gave her a semblance of control over her actions.

Setting aside her holster, Jo picked up her drink and held it toward Melodie’s. “Here’s to another happy ending.” Their plastic glasses clicked dully, and they each took a sip of the champagne. Then they indulged in the juicy, sweet strawberries dipped in a decadent layer of milk chocolate, murmuring their appreciation for the delicious confection.

“Melodie?” a deep, rich voice abruptly called from the outer office.

At Cole’s summons, Melodie popped up from her chair, abandoning her moment of relaxation. Jo nibbled on a piece of fruit and watched in amazement as the other woman circled her chair and was halfway to the door when Cole appeared, a file in hand. Melodie came to an abrupt stop before they collided and looked up at him with wide eyes.