As soon as she’d gotten the call, she had come right to Jana’s apartment.

Part of her had expected Eli to be waiting outside her building to pick her up, and she had to admit she was a little disappointed to find that he wasn't. She’d enjoyed learning more about him last night, and the way his face lit up when he talked about the family he had loved and lost had touched her, making her wish she’d had that same kind of family.

Although she wasn't quite ready to admit that pizza in the back of his car constituted a date, it had been fun, and after they’d discussed families, they’d talked about all sorts of things.

Hobbies, sports, music, things they liked and things they didn't, and by the time they got to her apartment, she’d been tempted to invite him up.

She’d resisted though.

She liked Eli, underneath the cockiness and the charming veneer there was a real softie. The way he talked about how much he’d enjoyed spending time with his mom told her that he had a big heart, and that he wasn't afraid to get in touch with his softer side when he was with people he cared about.

He’d certainly been patient with her even though she had insisted over and over again that she wasn't going to go on a date with him. His persistence was beginning to break through her barriers, and maybe soon she would be ready to go on a real date.

The idea didn't fill her with anxiety like it usually did.

She had never dated seriously, never wanted to put herself in a situation to be hurt by men the way her mother had been, never wanted to be left raising kids alone.

Once she had sworn off the whole casual dating with guys she met in bars, she’d expected that if she ever did settle down it would be with someone who could never disappoint her.

Someone nice and boring and predictable and stable.

And then Eli had come barreling—literally—into her life, and she realized she was falling for the opposite of everything she’d believed she wanted.

He could have any woman he wanted, so why would he choose her?

What happened when—if—he lost interest in her at some point, and decided he wanted someone in his own league, his own world?

Would he abandon her and any children they shared?

He would no doubt make her sign a pre-nuptial agreement—not that she would mind—before they got married, if they divorced, would he provide for their children or turn his back on them like her own father had?

Her phone chimed with a message, and she pulled it out, smiling when she saw it was a message from Eli.

Eli

Thanks to you I was late to a meeting this

morning. I dreamed about your mouth on

me and had to take a long cold shower

when I got up

Her cheeks burned, but she couldn’t help but chuckle, she’d had to take a cold shower this morning too because she’d dreamed about Eli’s mouth touring her body, teasing her, pleasuring her, making her come so hard she’d been unable to think, even in her dreams.

Florence

Good morning to you too

Eli

Sorry, where are my manners, good

morning my little sex kitten

Florence

How do you know I’m a sex kitten?

We haven't had sex.

Nor are we going to any time soon

Eli

Why do you torture me?

Florence

It amuses me to see you beg ;-)

Eli

Pleassssse go on a date with me

Pleassssse have wild, hot sex with me

Pleassssse put me out of my misery

PPLLEEAASSSSSEE!!!!!

Florence

You’re so silly!

Eli

I'm a regular clown

“Florence.”

She looked up from her phone as Jake walked through Jana Friedrick’s front door.

Florence

I gotta go

I'm at a crime scene

Eli

Be careful, I don’t want any psycho stalker

taking you out before I get to explore every

inch of that sexy body of yours

Florence

You’re all heart

Eli

I do try

Seriously though, be safe, I worry about you

Having anyone who wasn't her big brother worry about her was odd, but kind of nice. And the weird thing was, she actually believed that Eli really was concerned about her.

Florence

I'm a cop, I’ll be fine

I’ll talk to you later

The last she’d written before she even realized it, but once she hit send she realized that texting with Eli had just become part of her daily life since they’d met just four days ago.

Eli

You betcha, princess

With a smile she couldn’t quite wipe off her face despite the carnage around her, she put her phone away, turned to her partner, and forced herself to focus.

She wasn't used to distractions in her personal life getting in the way of her work, and she was going to have to be careful not to let it interfere with things because her job was important, people were counting on her.

“That Eli?” Jake asked with a knowing smile as he nodded at her pocket where she’d put her phone.

“Why do you ask questions when you already know the answer?”

“Because it annoys you,” he grinned. “Eli told me someone was watching your apartment yesterday.”

“He shouldn’t have done that.” This thing that was developing between them—whatever it was—was never going to work if he tried to go all alpha on her and undermine her with her colleagues.

She was a cop, trained in self-defense, a perfect shot, and she didn't take unnecessary risks, she could certainly take care of herself.

“He was worried about you.”

“You say that like its cute,” she complained.

“I like seeing someone worry about you. You tell me if anything else happens, no excuses.” He gave her his I’m serious look, and she rolled her eyes but nodded. If someone really was stalking her, she wouldn’t be stupid enough not to take it seriously and call in help if she needed it.

“The killer left something behind this time, something I don’t think he meant for us to see,” she informed her partner, walking over to an evidence bag and picking it up.

“What is it?” Jake asked.

“The answer to how he gets into their apartments. He pretends to be a construction worker here to tell them that the electricity is going to be turned off. This form says that they’re signing their admission that they were informed and Jana Friedrick’s signature is on it.

Once he hands them the clipboard, they’re distracted, he uses that to overpower them. ”

“What went wrong here this morning? This is an explosion of anger, something happened to disrupt his usual plans.”

“Come here.” Florence walked to a puddle of blood close to the door. “See this, I think this one is his. I think she had something sharp in her hand when he grabbed her, and she was able to get away from him. At least temporarily.”

“What makes you think this is his and not Jana’s?”

“Because it’s so small and there’s no mess around it.

The others all look like he threw her somewhere, and she crashed into a table, or a chair, or the pile of magazines, but this one is just here on its own.

If this is his blood—and CSU will test it and see if it belongs to the victim—then we finally have something concrete on him.

We could get a hit in the system, we could have this guy in custody today maybe, or at least within in the next couple of days.

He messed up this morning, got cocky, and thought that he was never going to get caught, and because of that arrogance, we finally got what we needed to nail him to the wall. ”

7:26 P.M.

“We’re not offering that much,” Eli said into the phone. One of the things he hated the most about running a business of this size was that he couldn’t personally be in control of everything that happened.

Lennox Real Estate had offices around the world, and owned and managed rental properties, hotels, office buildings, apartment blocks, besides buying and selling land, and sometimes flipping houses or even hotels.

The properties were spread over twenty countries, and since he was only one man, there was no way he could personally oversee everything.

When it came to his company he could be ruthless.

A business had one purpose; to make money for the business owner.

His father’s touch was a little lighter than his. As he was in his personal life, he was a charmer, and he was always looking to charm and talk his way into the best deal possible, but when that didn't work, he was always ready to do whatever it took to close a deal.

Right now, he was past the charming stage and well into the playing hardball phase.

“They said they won't take anything under three million,” Don from his Toronto office told him.

“Our offer is two point five million, and that’s final,” he said firmly, what he was offering was a fair price considering the state of the hotel he was looking to buy, and the amount of work that would have to be put into it before he could sell it.

“And if they turn it down?”

“Then, we’ll simply wait for them to go under and buy it for even less.

” The hotel was going under, as far as he knew, the couple who owned it were close to filing for bankruptcy, not only was his offer fair, but it also saved the couple from having to take drastic measures.

If they wanted to wait him out hoping to get what they wanted they would be sorely disappointed, and they’d be the ones hurting, not him.

There was plenty of real estate in the world, he wasn't going to miss owning one hotel in one city if he missed out on it.

“I’ll talk with them again in the morning.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call,” he said before disconnecting.

Dropping his head into his hand, he stifled a yawn.

It had been a long day, and because he’d had almost back to back meetings, he hadn't been able to squeeze in time to see Florence. It had only been twenty-four hours since he’d dropped her off at her apartment and left her with a kiss, but he felt like he was having withdrawals.

Every time he touched her, kissed her, it was like a fix, but he wanted more, it wasn't enough, and he was starting to think he could never get enough of her.

“Long day?”