Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl Page B

me to see if I can strike up a conversation?”
    Did she? Jane considered his offer carefully, but the further she moved down this insane path, the more ridiculous it seemed. She’d clearly come here tonight out of a crazed need to do something. Anything. Even if it meant dressing up like a floozy and flirting with losers and pissing off her stepdad.
    A distracted waitress slapped two plates on the table and hurried away.
    Jane sighed. “No, thanks. Mac was right. This was a stupid idea and I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’m tilting at windmills.”
    “You’re what?”
    “Flailing. Uselessly.”
    Chase ignored his burger and reached for her hand. “This is why you were so upset yesterday, right? I wish you’d told me. I’ll help if I can. You seem a little out of your element.”
    Did she? Well, that was really nice of him to say. “Thank you.”
    He let go of her hand and reached for the greasy burger. “So why do you suspect the police are setting him up for something?”
    “They found him with stolen goods, but they’re asking him questions about a woman he doesn’t know.”
    “That’s it?”
    She shrugged and pushed a French fry around on her plate. “Innocent people get convicted all the time.”
    “You think so?”
    Yeah, she sure did.
    Jane finally took a bite of her burger. Salt and fat flooded her tongue, an abrupt reminder that she’d skipped lunch today. Her body went limp with relief. Maybe she hadn’t been thinking clearly. She hadn’t slept well since Saturday. She’d been skipping meals to make phone calls and do research. Now she was trying to help her brother by starring in a bad movie about the good girl who goes undercover.
    How utterly idiotic.
    Her eyes burned with sudden tears, but Jane simply closed them and chewed. Every bite left her feeling a little stronger, a little more clearheaded. She couldn’t trust the police or the D.A. to treat her brother fairly. But there had to be a better way than this. There had to be.
    “Hey, are you okay?” Chase asked.
    “I…” She opened her eyes, praying that no tears had escaped her control. They hadn’t. “I think I am, actually. Thanks.”
    “So you don’t want me to escort you around the bar in hopes we can overhear a criminal confession?”
    Jane narrowed her eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”
    “Only because you have hamburger grease on your nose.”
    “Oh. Crud.”
    “Also, you look very cute, dressed like that and saying things like crud .”
    “Shut up,” she demanded, though she was laughing when she said it. And just a few minutes ago she’d been on the verge of crying. Maybe it was the comfort food. Or maybe it was Chase. He was the human version of comfort food. Bad for her. Delicious. A physical reminder of her past. Warm and filling. Relaxing .
    He reached toward her with a paper napkin and swiped at the end of her nose.
    “I’m a mess,” Jane groaned.
    “No, I got it.”
    “I mean I’m a mess . A real mess.”
    “No way. You’re the most together person I’ve ever met.”
    “Clearly I’m not.”
    “Jane,” he scoffed. “You’re smart. You’re calm. You’re professional and capable and a total office badass. You scare big construction guys into behaving like frightened schoolgirls, and you’re what? Thirty?”
    “Twenty-nine.”
    “Sorry.”
    She waved off his cringe. “I’m not professional and capable now.”
    He flashed a grin. “No, but you are pretty amazing.”
    Jane automatically glanced down to her chest, then looked up to find his eyebrows rising.
    “That’s not what I meant. But, um…bravo.”
    “Oh, God.” Mortification heated her cheeks to instant fire.
    Chase burst out laughing, and suddenly Jane was laughing, too, leaning against the table and laughing and trying to keep her cleavage from becoming indecent exposure, all at the same time.
    She was on a date at a biker bar with an inappropriate guy. She was eating a greasy hamburger in slutty clothes while her