Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) by Olivia Jaymes

wasn’t the middle sister in the Snow family. I can be whatever I want here.”
    “What do you want to be?”
    “Happy,” she answered simply, still looking at the stars. “I want to be happy.”
    “You weren’t happy in Chicago?”
    “I was as happy as I could be but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more out there.”
    He steeled himself for her reaction. “Did the Tom Leeds situation make you unhappy?’
    Jason heard the quick intake of her breath just before she hopped to her feet. He’d hit a nerve.
    “I see you’ve been doing your homework. Is that what you were doing while I slept last night or did you have your brother do your dirty work?”
    Brinley hadn’t bothered to disguise the disdain in her tone and he couldn’t really blame her. He was a man that liked his privacy and wouldn’t enjoy being investigated any more than she did.
    “Actually I had one of my partners, Jared Monroe, do the research. Are you surprised that I had to do it? I needed to see if you had some link to Roger Gaines.”
    She spun around, her body rigid with anger. “I told you I didn’t. You don’t believe me, obviously.”
    He could hear the hurt in her voice and felt about one inch tall knowing he had put it there. He needed to make her understand this was about the case and not about her. He believed in her and everything she said.
    Jason stood as well but she backed away, clearly not wanting to be near him. “I do believe you. But there might have been something you weren’t even aware of. How can I ask you tell me something that you don’t know?”
    “Tom Leeds doesn’t have anything to do with this. You were just poking around in my life looking for some kind of scandal. Well, you found one. I wonder what I’d find if I did the same to you.”
    More than she’d bargained for, that was for sure.
    “I wasn’t,” he tried again. “If you’re the one clue to a murder I’d be a lousy damn cop not to check into your past. Let me ask you this…what would you say if I asked you to tell me about your life?”
    “I don’t know,” she shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was born in Chicago. My life has been pretty uneventful. I went to the University of Illinois and became an elementary school teacher in a private school. I’m not married and I don’t have any kids.”
    “I hope you can see how that wouldn’t help me in the least. I didn’t want to upset you but I guess I should have told you straight out that I was delving into your background. I apologize.”
    Brinley’s chin lifted and then she nodded. “Thank you. And I do understand. I really do. I was just upset that you mentioned Tom Leeds. That’s a situation I thought I had left far behind me.”
    Glad that they were back on friendly terms, Jason reached and took her hand in his, gratified when she didn’t pull away. He didn’t want them to be enemies. If the arousal stirring inside him at the touch of her skin was any indication, he wanted something much more.
    “Will you tell me about it? Is he still an issue?”
    If this guy was making life difficult for Brinley Jason would happily get involved. Holding himself very still, he waited while she decided if she could trust him. Even in the moonlight he could watch the expressions flit across her features one by one until she settled on acceptance.
    “No, he’s not a problem any longer. He really wasn’t even before I left Chicago.” Still holding his hand, she tugged him back to the fallen log where they’d been sitting earlier. “I think I better start at the beginning.”
    Jason settled next to her while she gathered her thoughts. He wished he didn’t have to make her talk about something that was obviously upsetting but he didn’t have a choice. It was the life in law enforcement… Weeding through good people to find the bad. Sometimes innocents could get hurt in the process.
    “I met Tom when I was teaching his daughter. He came to a