Midweek tease is from romance detective story
Jake Snow
PI Jake
Snow is tired. He’s a senior investigator in the Brandt Black Private
Detective Agency, but recently he’s chosen less high-powered cases to work on
than he used to. He’s tired of his job, and
of being single. He’s out there in the hot city nights working cases and hoping
for love. A sweetheart, gorgeous, intelligent, dedicated, Jake never takes vacations,
but now he’s requested leave.
Life
takes a surprising twist, when just before he’s due to take his vacation, he’s
sent on what he thinks is a simple surveillance assignment. What he finds is a
tangled web of lies, and a fashion designer in trouble...
The
question is will he also find the love he wants and needs?
An
erotic, romantic, lighthearted mystery story—the things people do for love and
fashion…
Read the #midweekteaser
Jake was tired. He knew if last
night’s intruder came back that night it would be in the early hours of the
morning. He checked the time after reading for a while—only ten o’clock. Jake tried reading again as he waited for
midnight to click over. He felt his eyes close once or twice, shook himself
awake, and went back to reading. He woke up with a start—it was nearly two in
the morning. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Hope I haven’t missed the action.
Jake poured coffee from his flask and
drank it down. He was tempted to get out of the car and walk around, but
didn’t. He hadn’t checked the photographs he’d taken the night before apart
from when he’d scrolled through them then. He got the camera out and was about
to look at them again when he glanced up and saw a person was on the roof.
Cursing softly, he leapt out of his car, and locked it on the run, as he dashed
as quietly as possible for the alley, the fire escape, and the roof of the
atelier.
At the building, Jake ran up the fire
escape steps as the person ran across the balcony, and took a leap to the
neighboring roof. Jake froze and watched for a second, then turned to run and
meet them as they descended from that building. He arrived just in time,
grabbed, and tackled the person to the ground. It was incredibly easy. Jake
knew the intruder was slight having seen them leap, but now he knew it was a woman, and he held her
carefully.
“Please don’t run. I’ll have to
restrain you. You need to tell me what you’re doing on the roof.” As he said
this, he helped her up, and took off the black beanie she had pulled low over
her face. At the same time, he realized what she was carrying…a black satin backpack. I’ve seen that before.
She lifted her face to his and Jake
let out a small sound of surprise. It was the young woman from the atelier, the
one who had passed him on the stairs. “You…”
“I can explain. I need to explain.
This isn’t what it looks like.”
Jake raised his eyebrows. “No?”
She stood in front of him looking
dejected and disheveled.
Jake felt a wave of some emotion. He
wasn’t sure what it was, but it made his voice soften and his stance kinder.
“Okay, we’ll go to my car and you can
tell me your story. You know who I am?”
She nodded. Her voice was small and
she slumped a little. She certainly didn’t seem dangerous or about to run.
“Jake Snow, private detective.”
Jake felt an amused smile start and
squashed it.
He took her backpack from her, and
held her arm to lead her along the street and through the alley to his car.
She walked silently and Jake glanced
at her a couple of times wondering what was going on. She only just came up to
his shoulder, and was so slender, he felt as if the arm he held could snap if
he pressed too hard. He estimated her age to be a couple of years younger than
he was. Her braid had come loose from the hair comb that kept it wound around
her head, and now it fell down her back as she walked. Jake put her backpack on
the hood of the SUV to unlock the door. He kept his hand on her arm and put her
into the back seat, then bringing in the backpack, he sat alongside her.
“We’ll start with your name shall
we?”
The young woman rubbed her arm.
Concern flooded him. “Did I hurt
you?”
She looked sadly at him. “Not really.
I think I knocked it as you felled me to the ground.”
Jake’s forehead furrowed with sorrow.
“I’m sorry. Do you need medical attention?”
She shook her head. “No thanks, I’ll
be okay. My name’s Pixie, Pixie Donohue. I was just checking to make sure my
suspicions were correct about Graham. You see he’s stolen my designs. The
dresses in his ‘secret room’ have been made up from my designs.”
Jake stared at her. “How can you
prove that? He’s said the same thing—‘Someone is out to steal my
designs.’ Now I find you two nights running on the atelier
roof, messing about near the skylight.”
She widened her eyes. “You saw me
last night?”
“Yes I saw you, and I know you took
photographs, so why are you here tonight?”
She looked away from him.
Jake knew she was pretty. He’s seen
that earlier in the day. Now, seeing her close up, she was so lovely he gazed
at her fine skin, and her delicate cheekbones. Her full lips enticed him. Lips to kiss, bite, and suck.
Jake waited for her answer, pushing
away his attraction to her.
Copyright Elodie Parkes 2017 new edition
FREE on all Amazon sites February 2, 3, 4
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