She Who Dares, Wins

by Candace Havens

  Then one day when GJ made an offhand comment that with her quick mind and eye for detail she’d make a great police detective, the idea stuck with her. That was her next goal and she worked hard to achieve it, surprising everyone, not least of all herself.

  “Hey.” Mac put his finger under her chin. “I lost you.”

  She smiled at him. “I was trying to think of the last time I had fun like this, and I honestly can’t remember. Sad, isn’t it?”

  “I have a hard time believing a beautiful woman like you isn’t whisked off on fancy dates all the time.” He had an incredulous look on his face.

  Katie barked out a laugh and patted his knee. “You are a funny one, Mac.”

  “I meant it. I’ve been jealous the last forty-eight hours of every man who has had a chance to kiss you.”

  Katie’s heart sped up. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve heard, but you’re still funny. Mac, I hardly ever date, and it almost never gets to the kissing part. I don’t know if they’re intimidated by what I do, or if I come across as too tough, but I seldom go on second dates.”

  “Now you’re messing with me.” Mac sat back and crossed his arms against his chest.

  “I’m dead serious. In high school I dated Tommy Klein for three days and he kissed my cheek. Sister Clery caught us holding hands, and we had detention for three weeks. He wouldn’t speak to me after that.”

  “Well, he was a dumb kid.”

  She’d eventually put Tommy behind bars for armed robbery, so she couldn’t disagree about the dumb part.

  “What about college?”

  She shook her head. “I studied all the time, and worked at the bar to help pay for school. There wasn’t time. Then on the job, it was the same thing. I was on call all the time. Every single time I went on a date, I’d get called in. Guys don’t like that. They’d never go out with me again. There was one guy I thought might be the one, but turned out he was a lying scumbag, who was more interested in how many women he could sleep with in a night. I found I was part of a long list.”

  “Well, then they’re all idiots.” Mac tugged gently on her hair. “I consider myself lucky, then, because you saved all those kisses for me.”

  Katie was about to lean in for another one of those delicious pecks when the subway car lurched to a stop.

  Mac helped her up and they came out near the Thames. She didn’t think it possible, but it was even colder here. The snow had continued to fall, and so had the temperature.

  They half trotted to an enormous building near a bridge.

  “This is London Bridge Tower,” said Mac. “It’s one of the tallest buildings in London and has spectacular views.”

  “Mr. Douglas?” A security guard at the door, who let them in, greeted them.

  “Yes,” Mac said.

  “May I please see your identification, sir? You, too, miss.” The elderly man smiled at them. Katie had left her bag at the hotel, but she’d slipped a small wallet into her jeans pocket.

  Mac helped her take off her long wool coat so she could reach into her back pocket.

  Once he’d checked their IDs he led them to the elevator. Stepping inside, he punched in a code.

  “When you’re ready to come downstairs, call from the phone next to the elevator wall and I’ll come get you.”

  “Okay,” Mac said. “Thanks.”

  They rode up for what seemed like several minutes.

  “Where are we going?”

  “A friend of mine has one of the first offices that went in here, and he arranged for us to visit.”

  “Oh.” Katie had to admit she was disappointed. She enjoyed their time alone, and wasn’t quite ready to share Mac with anyone else.

  “What’s wrong?” He must have noticed the worry on her face.

  “Nothing. I’m excited to meet your friend.”

  Mac laughed. “Uh, no. The point of today is us spending time alone together. He’s not here, and he let his staff have the day off. We have the place to ourselves.”

  Katie still didn’t understand why this office was so important—until the doors opened. There was nothing blocking the view from the huge expanse of windows, and a snowy London made a picture-perfect postcard.

  “Oh my,” she said, her hand flying to her mouth.

  Mac hugged her to him.

  “Now I see why you wanted to come up here.”

  “That’s not the only reason.” He turned her body away from the windows to show her the office. There were huge video screens and toys everywhere. Giant robots, life-size ones, loomed like soldiers all around. There were slides, swings and a mass array of electronic toys and gadgets.

  “What is this place?”

  “The Kaba Toy Company,” he said. “My friend Hunter inherited it from his dad and has turned it from a mom-and-pop shop, which was magical and still exists in Knightsbridge, into a multibillion-dollar corporation. They design toys for all ages as well as video games. It’s a wonderland for a kid like me who didn’t have a lot of toys growing up.”

  “Why?” She took his hand and squeezed.

  “My parents weren’t big on that sort of thing. If it wasn’t educational in some way my parents didn’t buy it. I had to hide my comic-book collection from them for years.”

  “Comic books?” She laughed. “You really are a geek.”

  “Hey.” He gently chucked her chin.

  She winked at him. “I’m kidding. I’m a fan of Batman myself. My brothers made sure I was well initiated into that world.”

  “Hmm. Batman? That says a lot about you.”

  “Like what?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Caped crusader keeping the world safe—sound familiar?”

  “I don’t own a cape,” she said quickly.

  He grinned. “Come on, let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into.”

  He guided her through a maze of desks to a huge glassed-in room with one desk and tons of toys. “This is his office,” Mac said as he pulled her into the room. She noticed the center of the room spiraled down to a second floor below. There was a twirling ramp, painted in black-and-white checks that made her dizzy when she looked at it too long.

  “Have you ever ridden a Segway?” The contraption was like a motorized scooter, only you stood instead of sitting.

  Katie shook her head.

  Mac climbed onto one of four machines against the wall. “It moves with your body. Here, climb on—this one holds two.”

  She did as he asked and he pitched forward. She would have jumped off, but he held on to her and they headed down the ramp to the other floor.

  Katie couldn’t help but laugh—it was like a wild carnival ride. She couldn’t stop giggling.

  “This is a giant playroom for grown-ups, isn’t it?”

  Mac helped her off the machine. “Well, technically it’s for kids, but grown-ups are welcome. They do testing in some of the rooms just off here, where children get to try out the new inventions. But for today, it’s all ours. It’s time to play.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I know what I’m going to do to you in the bouncy balls.”

  Katie couldn’t wait. She took off on a dead run and landed smack in the middle of the balls.

  “Come and find me, Mac.”

  Katie, too, knew exactly what she was going to do to him when he found her.

  10

  IT TOOK MAC more than fifteen minutes to find her, then he kissed her senseless. Once he helped her out of the bouncy-ball contraption, they decided to try out the giant swings hanging from the ceiling.

  “Now, this could be very interesting,” Mac’s voice teased.

  Katie ducked away, but he saw her grin.

  “Go play on the slide and tell me how you met Hunter.”

  Mac chose a big pogo stick instead. “At the pub, which funnily enough is where I’ve met most of my friends.” He laughed. It was true. He spent most of his time at the university, especially those first few months. But he’d run into some interesting people at the Knig
htsbridge pub where he’d met Katie.

  “Huh,” she said as she sat on the swing and then spun it out of control. Mac loved watching her like this. The tension was gone from her shoulders and eyes, and the smile on her face was one of pure joy.

  The sight made his heart do double time.

  “And?” she questioned him.

  “Oh, I was trying to find a last-minute gift for my nephew Taylor. He’s the son of my second-oldest sister, Raina. She’s a single mom, the best. Takes after my mom, who is pretty stellar even though she has something against toys that are just for fun. I actually have three sisters. I’m the only boy, and the youngest. They’re all caring, loving women, who can’t seem to keep their noses out of my life. It’s like having four mothers, but I love them.

  “Anyway, I had the laptop open at the bar and the guy sitting next to me happened to see I was on a page looking at toys. It was Hunter. We talked, and he took me around the corner to his parents’ store. They hooked me up with the coolest remote-controlled helicopter, and my nephew still calls me King Uncle because I give the best gifts. Every time the holidays roll around or birthdays, I call Hunter and ask what’s the latest and greatest.

  “We play tennis two Sundays a month at the club with some other friends of ours. And his mom makes me come to dinner at least once a month. She can’t actually cook, but she’s a pro at finding takeout that tastes like homemade.”

  Katie laughed. “I don’t know what I’d do without my friends,” she said, but her voice had suddenly grown serious. “They keep me sane. Of course, we all work together, so we’re always in each other’s business. It’s really not that much different than being home.”

  She crossed to the window and stared out at the scenery.

  “Katie, what’s wrong?”

  She shook her head.

  He put the pogo stick back where he’d found it and joined her.

  “Tell me, please. Something I said upset you.”

  “No.” She touched his arm lightly. “It isn’t you at all. Well, it is, but not the way you think.”

  “I’m not following your logic.” Mac truly was clueless.

  “I can’t tell them about you,” she said. “They’d be so disappointed in me right now. We’re pretty loose with the rules, but dating a client is a big one. And I’ve been here for two days and I’ve done nothing to solve your case. Well, I narrowed the suspect list, and I’ve left some voice mails for people at the university to call me back. I was able to get a feel from some of the students and faculty about how your role at the university is viewed.

  “But I need to be out there doing the grunt work, instead of playing around here. What kind of detective am I? A guy makes amazing love to me, and I turn into a total flake.”

  Mac turned her so she faced him. “Give yourself a break. In the two days you’ve been here, you’ve done everything you could, given the circumstances. You worked all day, and kept me safe last night. And you’re keeping me safe today. Think about it. I wasn’t going to sit around a hotel room. Your job was to keep me safe, and that’s what you’re doing. It’s quite logical. As for your friends at work, I’ve been thinking about them.” He lifted her chin with his hand. “And I’ve deduced you have no need to worry anymore.”

  “Mac, you know what we’re doing is wrong. It doesn’t matter what business you’re in, you don’t sleep with your customers. Well, except for maybe one business, we are so not going there. I’m a detective, and it’s my job to stay objective and to protect. End of story.”

  “Now, there you go ruining a perfectly wonderful day with misinformation,” Mac told her.

  Katie’s eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about now?”

  “Let’s set the record straight. I didn’t hire you, Katie. I didn’t ask you to protect me. I didn’t ask you to take on my case. The dean did all that. And I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let what your friends think get in the way of this.”

  He kissed her then. Teasing her lips at first and then growing more passionate.

  Katie put her hands on his chest and pushed away. “You’re trying to distract me.”

  “Guilty,” he said as he kissed her one more time. “Did you have fun today?”

  “Yes. More than you know.”

  “Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea. But all this playing around has made me hungry.”

  “Do you ever stop thinking about food?”

  He laughed at that as he guided her back to the Segway. “You’d be surprised how many times I forget to eat when I’m working,” he said. “Though I think I’ve made up for most of those lost meals in calories alone the last two days.”

  This time she laughed, and the joy he’d heard before returned to her voice. “You know, I never had many toys that weren’t trucks or superhero action figures,” she said. “I can’t remember ever playing anything but cops and robbers and stickball.”

  “You didn’t have any dolls?”

  She snorted. “Please, I had a doll one time when I was really young. Liam used it for target practice with the BB gun he got for Christmas. She was so full of dents and tiny holes.” She shook her head. “Nope, nothing girlie in our house ever survived.”

  Mac had always thought he took life too seriously, but Katie absolutely did. For however long she was here, he would make certain they had a good time together. The woman was due some fun.

  “How do you feel about Chinese takeout?”

  “I’m a fan,” she said as they rode up the curvy path to the main office.

  “It’s a good thing I don’t work here,” Mac said. “I’d never get anything done.”

  “I’m sure after a while the novelty wears off,” Katie said as they made their way to the elevator.

  Picking up the phone, Mac called down to the guard station. Then they stood staring at the view again. Darkness had fallen while they played and the city lights twinkled. It looked like a magical world out there.

  “You’re probably right. Know what, Katie?”

  “What’s that, Mac?”

  “You’re one toy I’m never going to get tired of, and that is a fact.”

  She playfully pushed at him. “I’m a toy now? Hmm. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

  Mac slipped his arms around her. “Hey, I’m careful with my toys, and I always play nice.”

  His mouth captured hers.

  “No.” She winked at him as the elevator doors slid open. “You don’t play fair at all.”

  I CAN HONESTLY SAY I’ve never eaten Chinese noodles in the bathtub.” Katie rubbed her toes against Mac’s thigh, as she used her chopsticks for another bite. Mac had insisted she jump into the bath to rid herself of her Popsicle status after walking in the snow. Then he’d brought the food in and told her to move so he could climb in.

  “It’s great, especially when you drop the noodles on your chest, which always happens to me,” Mac said. “No stains on your shirt this way.”

  “Mac, have you ever eaten in a tub before?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Technically, no. But you have to admit it’s a great idea.”

  “Okay, so we talked about my dating past, but I noticed you were quiet during that conversation.”

  “We’re eating, in a tub, naked, and you want to talk about the women I’ve dated.”

  She pursed her lips. “Uh, yes.”

  Mac laughed. “Well, prepare to be bored.”

  Pointing her chopsticks at him, she encouraged him to continue.

  “Well, I’ll tell you about the high school years later. Suffice to say, there was only one girl, and it ended tragically.”

  Katie gasped. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. Was she killed?”

  Mac guffawed. “No, she dumped me, but it’s still too painful to talk about. I need to know you at least another day before I can share that story.”

  Katie rolled her eyes as she took another bite.

  “In college I was going after multiple degrees, though I did manage to spend
most Thursday and Friday nights in pubs and bars. There was a six-month period when I thought I was in love with Shelly Cramer and she sort of felt the same way, I guess. She had a chance to study abroad the next semester, and to be honest, I stopped writing her. Did I mention I was busy with school? Now that I think about it, I was a total geek. Let’s just say if there were encounters, they were brief and not terribly memorable.”

  Katie laughed. “I have a hard time believing that. For a scientist, you’re pretty creative.”

  Mac’s brows furrowed with confusion. “What does that mean? I’m supposed to be boring because I work in a lab?”

  “Now, don’t get defensive. To be fair, I haven’t met many scientists, but I can honestly say I’m pretty sure you aren’t the norm. Most of the doctors and smart guys I’ve met are buttoned-down nerds.”

  “Katie!”

  “I’m speaking from my own experience. Are you telling me your peers are as hot, sexy and sexually creative as you are?”

  Mac glanced up at the ceiling and back at her. “You think I’m hot and sexy?”

  Katie couldn’t help but giggle. “You are front-cover-of-a-magazine sexy.”

  He pretended several silly model’s poses one right after the other.

  She laughed so much she had to put her food down on the ledge by the tub.

  “So if I was a model would you still make love with me, Katie McClure?”

  “Macon Douglas, I’m not sure I can keep my hands off you no matter what you do for a living.”

  “That’s funny,” he said seriously.

  “What?”

  “I seem to have the same problem where you’re concerned,” he said as he climbed out of the tub.

  “Hey, where are you going? We aren’t finished with our noodles.”

  “Oh, I have something much more tasty in mind,” he said, scooping her up and wrapping a towel around her.

  “Dessert?”

  “Mmm. Yes.” He nibbled her ear. “The tastiest treat I’ve ever had in my life,” he said as he whisked her off to the bedroom.