by Joanne Rock
Lexi edged closer to the circle, the cold fall grass freezing her bare toes on the lawn, but she couldn’t seem to walk away from Josh’s unusual public appearance.
Didn’t he hate to be in the spotlight?
At first, he recapped the events of the day, ending with the news that the NYPD had cracked a smuggling ring and now possessed enough evidence to put its leaders behind bars for a very long time.
His delivery was smooth, his presence commanding. In fact, she could hardly take her eyes off him, much less think of walking back toward her cab.
How could he have remained behind the scenes for so long in his work when he was clearly an articulate public speaker and the perfect poster boy for the police department? If she saw this man on TV representing the strength of the NYPD, she’d sure as hell never commit a crime.
“And I’d like to give credit to Lexi Mansfield for helping the police catch these criminals,” Josh continued. “At great personal risk to herself, Ms. Mansfield helped us secure enough evidence that we believe will convict Anton Bertrand.”
Lexi wasn’t sure, but she thought she might be blushing. Her cheeks heated at his public praise.
Just when she thought he would sew up his comments, he turned to look directly at her, where she stood at the back of the crowd.
“Also, I’d like to announce I’m leaving undercover work after I settle the fallout from this case.”
The crowd of reporters, who had been well mannered up until now, barraged him with questions, moving in on the circle of space he’d carved out for himself.
Lexi made an effort to close her mouth, which had gaped open in shock. How could Josh be anything but a cop? Especially now that he was meeting the press and taking on a bigger role. He’d be leading his own precinct in another couple of years at this rate.
The media’s unanimous cry of “why?” echoed her own.
“I’m in the process of making professional plans I do not wish to reveal at this time.” Still, his eyes remained on Lexi, lingering for so long that members of the press corps began to turn around to look at her, too.
“But I can say,” Josh continued from his spot at center stage, “you’d better get ready to film the wildest courtship this town has ever seen. I’m out to win New York’s prized fashion critic for my very own.”
A ripple of oohs and aahs moved through the crowd.
Several cameras moved from Josh toward her. Camera bulbs flashed. Shutters clicked.
And Lexi would appear in tomorrow’s paper looking like a wrung-out rag and utterly dumbfounded.
Shock robbed her of speech. Fear that this was all somehow a joke kept her from sprinting through the crowd to fling herself around the man she wanted more than anything.
Luckily, Josh had turned into Mr. Microphone and deftly directed everyone’s attention back to him. “I might even offer up a reward to anybody who can help me figure out how to clinch a wedding date in less than six months. That’s the end of my statement, ladies and gentlemen, and I’d appreciate it if you could respect that Ms. Mansfield and I have had a long and difficult day.”
Just like that, Josh had the crowd backing up, thanking him for his words and discreetly fading into the background.
She’d never seen a man more perfectly suited for life in the public eye, and she couldn’t believe he might actually want to be a part of hers.
And then, he was there. “Come on.” Without prelude, he tugged her along the lawn, pulling her behind a row of cedar trees and into a small wooden playhouse Simone had used as a little girl. “I can’t believe you didn’t find yourself a pair of shoes.”
The wooden floor felt warm enough on her toes, and Lexi was thankful for the privacy the space afforded them amid the busy hubbub of the main house. Hope surged through her, tempered by wariness. She seated herself on the built-in table against one wall.
“Are you out of your mind?” She couldn’t stall the question that burned in her brain as she stared out over the child’s dream house with its faded pink curtains and stenciled ponies on the walls.
“For what?” He sat down on the table beside her, planting his feet on the bench next to it. “Chasing New York’s sexiest journalist?”
A little thrill sizzled through her at the look he shot her way, but she couldn’t afford to get distracted by that right now. “That blow to the head is affecting you more than you realize, Winger. You love being an undercover man. Why would you ever do anything else?”
“It’s a job that has a limited shelf life, and I’ve made enough headlines this summer to realize my time undercover is up. I need new challenges.”
“Like?”
“Like protecting you from all the trouble you get into in your line of work, for one thing. A woman like you attracts too much attention and more trouble than you can possibly handle.”
This was not exactly the sort of proposal she’d hoped for. She’d refused to get her hopes up, and for good reason.
“Now that Anton is going to jail,” she countered, “I don’t have a thing to worry about. He was the one who set my apartment on fire, wasn’t he?”
Josh nodded, fingering one of her curls where it lay on the shoulder of her jacket. “He wanted you to stop writing negative things about Simone’s designs, because if her business went under, so did his smuggling operation. He was using her business as a cover for importing his stuff.” Josh smoothed the stray curl into the rest of her hair. “Little did he know, he didn’t stand a chance of reining in your opinions.”
She shrugged, unrepentant. “I have this great need to be heard.”
“And I have this great need to make sure you’re safe while you’re speaking your mind. So if it’s all the same to you, while I figure out what area I want to concentrate on at the precinct, I’m also going to head up security for Lexi Mansfield.”
Security? What about the marriage thing he’d mentioned in front of ten different television cameras? Didn’t the man have any clue she wanted to hear about that?
“Protecting me from the paparazzi and your stray weirdos is hardly challenge enough for a man of your skills.” He would be bored with her inside of two weeks. Maybe five, because she could keep him pretty entertained with just great sex for a while.
He laughed, a gesture that scrunched up the swollen skin around his eye and looked pretty painful to Lexi.
“Life with you could never be boring, Lexi. You’re like a one-woman show. And when you get bored of me, then I’ll move into police intervention work for at-risk teens like Brad and other kids who get roped into working for crooks just because they’re poor and desperate.”
The idea of Josh saving would-be thugs from themselves just about stole her heart. Too bad she was already losing him to another, more worthy occupation, and she hadn’t even had the benefit of his bodyguard skills yet. “You’d be great at that. You’re like a walking advertisement for how to be a tough guy and honorable at the same time.”
“I know who to go to if I need help getting a charitable endeavor off the ground, right?” He looked ready to jump up and take on the world, in spite of the bruised outline of a gun against his temple.
She smiled even as she shed a few tears inside. How could he save her, say he wanted to marry her, and then make plans to leave her all in the same day? “I’ve never met a cause I didn’t like.”
“What about me?” He swiveled to face her on the small wooden table, taking her hands in his own.
“What about you?”
“Make me your cause, Lex, and rescue me from a life of anonymity.”
She sidled closer, wondering if they were getting back around to the marriage thing. “If that’s your idea of a proposal, Josh Winger, I can tell you you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
His gaze narrowed, darkened, focused on her lips. “My idea of a proposal involves two rings, two handcuffs and a lifetime of sexy bondage.”
Her pulse kicked into overdrive. Hope reared its irrepressible head and put a lump in
her throat. “Tiger, those words turn my head and rev my body, but they won’t ever wrest a ‘yes’ from my lips.”
“No?” He kissed her cheek, her jaw, the side of her lips. “Then, how’s this?” He shifted her off her seat and onto his lap. When he had her cradled on his thighs, he found her left hand and circled her third finger with his hand.
“I love you, Lexi Mansfield, and I want to make you my wife, my woman and my partner. I can’t promise you anything fancy or that I’ll be the most suave guy at your fund-raisers, but I can promise I’ll always be there, by your side. And I promise I will always listen to you, and never, ever ignore you.”
The shell around her carefully guarded heart cracked and broke. She’d never felt so warm and gushy inside, so full of love she thought she’d explode with it.
This gorgeous, sexy, tough-as-steel guy wanted her.
“You love me?” She’d never been given such a gift.
“You and your blue toenails walk on water as far as I’m concerned.”
Lexi flung herself around him, squeezed him, kissed the uninjured side of his face. “I love you, Josh. Adore you. And if you think I’m waiting six months to claim you as my man, you’re insane.”
He probably had to expend considerable effort to peel her off him, because she didn’t ever want to let him go.
“You mean it?”
“Gawd, yes. I’ve loved you since that time we wrestled around on the carpet with all the lights on, but I was too scared to admit it, even to myself. Are you sure you’re not going to mind a life in the spotlight?”
Even now, the sounds of relentless reporters creeping in the bushes outside the playhouse reached their ears.
“Not as long as I can spirit you away to the shadows every now and then, too.” He slid his hand up her thigh to the hem of her skirt, careful to keep her covered from the camera that suddenly appeared in a window across the playhouse from them.
Would he tell them to get lost? Break the camera for intruding?
Lexi feigned obliviousness, waiting to gauge his reaction. This was the downside to public life, but she wasn’t about to give it up.
“What about your work?” she prodded, still not quite believing Josh was ready to leave his undercover days behind. “Will you still get to work with Duke, or will he be losing his partner if you do something else on the force?” She straightened his collar, smoothed his shirt where it had been ripped down the front.
“Duke’s gaining a pseudo sister-in-law and now he doesn’t have to break my legs for messing around with you, so don’t you worry about him. Besides, if I can’t always be out in the field, Duke can take Otis around and show him the ropes.” His hand molded over her thigh, down her knee and back up again, staunchly ignoring the intrusion of the camera.
Lexi shivered in response to his touch, his cool demeanor in light of their not-so-private moment. Life with this man was going to be so delicious. “Snowball is going to be so happy when I bring you home with me on a full-time basis.”
“Did I mention I’m thinking about getting a rottweiler?”
“Did I mention the poodles of the world have a way of bringing rottweilers to their knees?” She splayed her hand over his chest, stroking her fingernails down the white cotton.
“No. But you can tell me all about it when I come over to the loft with the two rings and a pair of handcuffs tonight.” His hand inched a little higher under her skirt.
“Is that right? If you play your cards right, maybe I’ll use those handcuffs to bring you to your knees.”
Josh drew her closer, flexed his arm against the small of her back to press them together, and kissed her in full view of the camera lens. “Honey, I think you already have.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8113-8
IN HOT PURSUIT
Copyright © 2002 by Joanne Rock.
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