Marie Ferrarella - How to Seduce a Cavanaugh

Kane knew the exact place. “Valhalla,” he said. “That’s the one that checks into your lineage before allowing you to join. Members had to have relatives that go all the way back to the Mayflower.” He saw the frown on Kelly’s face. Out of left field, the thought came that even when she was frowning, this pain in his posterior was damn attractive. He promptly buried it, forcing himself to focus on the case. He caught himself wondering if she knew something he didn’t.

“What?”

She waved a hand at his question. Her reaction had nothing directly to do with the case. “I just hate snobs.”

“If your hunch is right, then apparently the snobs have the same kind of feelings about Randolph Osborn and his wife.”

Satisfied that they might be onto something, Kane put the key into the ignition. The engine had trouble catching the first two times. The third try was the charm. The sedan dutifully purred into service.

Kelly nodded toward the front of the car. “You should have that looked at,” she suggested.

Kane shrugged dismissively. “It’s just being temperamental.”

That he was assigning feelings to the vehicle took her completely by surprise. “It’s a car,” Kelly pointed out. “It doesn’t have any emotions to govern its actions.”

“My car might disagree,” he told her, completely tongue in cheek.

Kelly found herself laughing. “If you had a car that was actually capable of disagreeing, you’d be at least ten times more wealthy right now—if not more—and definitely living the life of ease.”

Money, and its lack or presence, didn’t play a role here. Not for him.

“If I were wealthy,” he told her, “I’d still be doing exactly what I’m doing right now. Protecting and serving. And chasing bad guys.”

The admission caught her completely off guard. She hadn’t pictured him as being that dedicated. “You’re kidding.”

“I don’t kid,” Kane deadpanned.

The way he said it, Kelly caught herself thinking that she could really believe it. But it was what he said next that really threw her for a loop.

“Cavanaugh.”

She turned her head to look at him, waiting for what she assumed was most likely going to be a put-down.

“Nice work back there.”

Stunned, for a moment she had absolutely no comeback for that.

Chapter 4

Was that a compliment?

Seriously?

Kelly looked at her solemn partner in barely contained astonishment.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me the first time,” he told her flatly.

“Actually, I did,” Kelly admitted, then smiled broadly at him when his glance toward her turned accusatory. “But it has such a nice ring to it. Humor me and say what you said again.”

Kane blew out a breath as he shook his head. Served him right for going soft for a second. So far, none of what transpired was convincing him that partnering was a good way to go for a man such as him. He returned to his original belief: There was no upside to having a partner. Definitely no upside to having a crazy partner.

“You’re a real pain in the butt, Cavanaugh. You know that?” Kane accused her.

Kelly pretended to seriously mull over his words. “No, I don’t think that’s what you said. It was something about my having done good work.”

Scowling at her, Kane continued to face forward, his eyes on the road. “Keep this up and you’ll negate any good effects you managed to accomplish.”

Kelly merely laughed as she shook her head. “You are a very tough crowd to please, Durant.”

He was beginning to think this woman he’d been stuck with would drive him crazy inside of a week. He didn’t do his best work agitated. One way or another, there would be a breakup in their future—and very soon.

“I don’t know what the hell that means,” he growled. “But I’m not going to ask.”

“It means—”

Still driving, Kane took his right hand off the steering wheel and held it up much the way an old-fashioned traffic cop directing the flow of vehicles would have.

“I said I’m not going to ask. That implies that I don’t want to hear you dissecting your own words. In case you’re unclear on the concept, that means—”

“Okay, moving right along,” she quipped, interrupting his explanation and calling a halt to that line of conversation. With a sigh, Kelly looked out the window at the road before them. For the first time she took note of the route he was taking. It was a different one than they had taken to the high-end residential community. “Are we going directly to the club?”

This time Kane didn’t even bother glancing in her direction. “What does it look like?”

She had a great deal of patience, but it was in finite supply. This man had to be put on some kind of notice, she thought. Otherwise, this testy behavior was liable to continue for days.

“It looks like one of us should seriously think about stopping by the hospital to have a boulder-sized chip removed from their shoulder,” she told him in a sweet, matter-of-fact manner that not even the most critical of people could find fault with.

“Then, once that chip is removed, maybe we’ll have a shot at working together a bit more smoothly.” Or at least she could hope that would be the outcome of the proposed venture, Kelly silently added.

The look he gave her was far from happy or even mildly approving. “This is as smooth as it is going to get.”

“You underestimate yourself,” she told him. Adding, “As well as me.”

He’d tried, he’d really tried, Kane thought. But there was a time when you just had to recognize that the deck was stacked against you. It was time for him to cut his losses and just withdraw.

“I have no estimation where you’re concerned,” he told her in a distant, removed voice. “As for me—no offense—but I just don’t like having a partner.”

“None taken,” she responded cavalierly. “And I kind of picked up on the fact that you are less than thrilled about this arrangement. But you know what, Durant? There’s a reason the department sends their detectives out in pairs, so you might as well get used to it.”

She didn’t think he would come up with an answer so fast, but he did. “It cuts down on the number of cars they have to provide.”

She stared at his profile, rather amazed at the way Kane’s mind worked. “Wow, you really are cynical, aren’t you?”

He continued watching the road as he went. “Never claimed to have a sunny disposition.”

And this woman was nothing if not a Pollyanna, Kane thought. Pollyannas required a happy, hopeful atmosphere around them. That just wasn’t him and it never would be.

“If you want to ask for another partner, I won’t contest it,” he said.

“Contest it?” she echoed. Just how dense did the man think she was? “You’d probably break into a happy dance.” The momentary mental image of the solemn, handsome detective suddenly swaying to some melody only he heard had Kelly grinning. “And that is something that I would actually pay to see,” she admitted. “But not enough to break up this beautiful friendship we’ve got going here between us.”

“What beautiful friendship?” he all but growled.

“The one I’m laying the groundwork for,” she replied cheerfully. “Pay attention, Durant. And FYI, I’m not a quitter. That means that I don’t take off at the first sign of a problem—or the promise of a difficult partner,” she deliberately added. “You’re just going to have to get used to that.

“So, if you were hoping to get rid of me by giving me a sample of your sunny disposition, sorry, it’s not going to happen. By the way, the answer to the question that I asked you earlier about why the department pairs up detectives, it’s so that they can have each other’s backs. I figure you’re too good a cop not to have mine, and I sure as hell am going to have yours,” she told him in no uncertain terms.