Page 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Annoyance welling up inside hin taped prolass door as he parked in front of the Cliffside Art Gallery in Breckenridge, Colorado, his fraraphy neatly stacked in the backseat of his pickup truck

Hell, he didn’t want to be here in the first place But now this?

The Victorian charm of the place reminded him of his own hon pronounced: Closed until 11 aency

With sothe town and pack as his older brother’s sub-leader, Jake had only intended to drop off his photography and then drive the three hours back horaphy at all But his brother’sbalked at the notion And Jake had to adallery had exceeded expectations Still, he had half aand return hoh with this, and in her pregnant state, she easily shed a bundle of tears with the least provocation He really didn’t want to see her break down again

Hell, he would have eaten breakfast with the family first, had he known of the delay All business all the ti what else to do with hi tiht his eye as she stopped briefly to surreptitiously take a picture of the license plate on a black Mercedes parked across the street at a restaurant Dressed in a businesslike, short-waisted suit jacket, a th skirt, and three-inch heels, she was a real looker with her thick, dark brown curls piled on top of her head in an elegant twist Her actions, coraphed wildflowers as a break fro a license plate for work? Undercover job ray, chocolate brown to reen, oceanic blue--or so in between

The wolfish side of his curious nature was piqued She didn’t look like the type he’d picture working undercover And he wondered who her target was Maybe she was a private investigator checking on a ealthy husband, not a cop after a criminal

Then the woman slipped her small camera into a little black purse and entered the restaurant, her high heels clicking on the pavement

As soon as the door shut behind her, Jake considered the place, a burgundy-red Victorian house hite gingerbread ables and dor beneath beath of the house The restaurant looked a lot classier than those where he was used to eating Theabout the slip of a woman and what she was up to He didn’t really want to eat at such a high-class joint and waste a lot of money on a breakfast that he was sure he could eat for a fraction of the cost somewhere else But he still headed across the street to the restaurant, telling hi to do with the woman, that it was just a way to kill tiallery He tried to ignore the steak-and-eggs place just down the street, which was more like what he was accustomed to and where the meals were most likely her prices He just wasn’t inclined to pay them if he didn’t have to

When he entered the restaurant, he found it filled with talkative customers seated at lace-covered tables or tucked into booths where the tables were bare, which suited hiarnered his interest was nowhere to be seen Tiffany light fixtures hung over the tables, while large s faced out onto the street, their lace curtains tied back to permit the view of the snow-tippedabove the that appealed to hih-and-tu town appearance But then he considered the floral landscapes hanging on the walls and thought his ould fit here nicely

A young woown and a lace-triht a smile and a ard perusal of his physique But the overly tanned blond didn’t garner his attention like the woman with the dark hair and creamy skin had The sway of her hips in the fitted, black pin-striped skirt, the way her hands had lovingly held the camera when she quickly took the picture she needed, and the way her full peach lips had parted as she concentrated on getting a good shot still lingered in his thoughts He had to admit part of his interest was because she carried a camera, the way he often did, even if she didn’t use hers in the pursuit of a hobby Maybe when she wasn’t working, she did

"Sir, is this booth all right?" the wo into his ruminations