Love Irresistibly (FBI/US Attorney #4)(67)

Cade seemed amused by her question.

Of course he did.

“Yes, I have a guy,” he said teasingly. “You’re in the eighteenth district—you want to talk to Sergeant Joe Ross.”

Brooke quickly jotted this down on a piece of paper. Secretly, she was in awe of the fact that Cade had come up with a name so easily, but given the already-quite-healthy size of his ego, she’d rather go jogging naked through Millennium Park in her red high heels before admitting that.

“I’ll give him a heads-up that you’ll be calling,” he continued. “I don’t know where the GM works, but if your goal is to handle this quietly, I wouldn’t do the arrest at the restaurant. Your best bet would be to bring him to Sterling’s corporate office. Sergeant Ross will be in plain clothes—if it’s a voluntary surrender, and it sounds like it is, he can escort the guy out without handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car. Doesn’t get much quieter than that.”

No, it didn’t. “This is very helpful,” she said in all sincerity. “Thank you.”

“Have I impressed you again, Ms. Parker?” he asked coyly.

She smiled for the first time that day. “Maybe. Then again, it has been a really strange afternoon.” She exhaled raggedly, thinking about the not-so-fun task ahead.

“You sound tired,” Cade said, his voice deepening. “Long day?”

The words slipped out of Brooke’s mouth before she thought about them.

“Long year.”

* * *

EARLY THAT EVENING, Brooke stared out her window, looking at the people below as they shopped, met friends for drinks, or headed off to dinner reservations. And then there were the couples, leisurely walking hand in hand, who seemed to be simply enjoying the Michigan Avenue scene with no particular plans at all.

She wondered what it felt like to be one of those people.

“I see that you’re still leaving the front door unlocked when you’re alone.”

Brooke started, hearing the voice. She turned around and saw Cade standing in her office doorway, looking as handsome as ever in another one of his tailored suits. His dark brown hair was a little mussed, presumably from being outside, and her first thought was that she wanted to sink her fingers into it and get him mussed even more.

She cleared her throat.

“I see you’re still sneaking up on people when they’re working,” she said. “And for the record, I’m not alone. Ian’s here, too.”

Appearing somewhat appeased by this, Cade stepped into her office and shut the door behind him. “I thought I’d see how things went with the arrest. Did everything go okay with Sergeant Ross?”

“Sergeant Ross was very professional and discreet. Thank you again, for that.”

“Why the need for discretion?” Cade asked curiously. He sat on the edge of her desk. “I would’ve thought you would relish the idea of publicly setting an example of someone who stole from the company.”

Normally, yes. “I heard the guy was sobbing. I’ve hung out with his wife a few times . . . I guess I just wanted to do something.” She leaned her head against the chair. “I don’t know how you hear these stories every day, Morgan. Clearly, I would make a terrible prosecutor.”

“Probably.” He reached out and ran his thumb along her cheek. “But I like your soft spot, anyway.”

Their eyes met and held until Cade spoke. “You look burned-out. Maybe you should call it a night.”

She looked at the clock, and then stared at him in bewilderment. “At six thirty?”

“At six thirty.”

He held out his hand.

“It’s not even dark out,” she said. “I can’t leave now, especially after the day we’ve had. It would be unseemly.”

Cade’s mouth curved at the edges, but he still said nothing.

She bit her lip, contemplating. “Can I at least bring work home for later?”

“Nope.”

“You expect me to leave my briefcase behind?” Impossible.

“Yep.”

Maybe she was out of sorts after having a rough day. Or maybe it was his matter-of-fact tone. But suddenly . . . going home sounded really appealing. “Okay.”

With that, she slid her hand into his, grabbed her purse, and left.

She made it all the way to the reception area before panic set in.

“I forgot to shut down my computer,” she remembered.

“It’ll be fine in sleep mode for one night.”

“I think I saw something in my mail inbox on the way out. It could be important.”

“It was just the new ABA Journal.”

Brooke exhaled as they stepped into the elevator. “Right. So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“You’re going to relax and do nothing.”

She laughed, then saw that Cade was serious. “Oh . . . see, I don’t do ‘nothing’ so well.”

“You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure it out.”

She looked at him for a long moment. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why did you make me take the ibuprofen the other night?” he asked.

Still, with the ibuprofen? “Because you needed it. You were just too stubborn to admit that.”