Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb Page B

“Dallas, you’re here. Wasn’t that mag? I’m coming up, don’t go anywhere.” She scrambled through a door on her trendy stilts.
    “So this is Dallas.” Jess pushed away from his console. His body was trim and showed off to advantage in jeans as battered as Eve’s and a simple cotton shirt that would retail for a beat cop’s monthly paycheck. He wore a diamond stud in his ear that glinted as he crossed the booth and a braided gold chain around his wrist that slid fluidly as he held out one of those beautiful hands. “Mavis is brimming over with stories about her cop.”
    “Mavis brims over habitually. It’s part of her charm.”
    “That it is. I’m Jess, and I’m delighted to meet you at last.” With his hand still cupped over Eve’s, he turned that slow, heart-thudding smile onto Peabody. “And it seems we have two cops for the price of one.”
    “I — I’m a huge fan,” Peabody managed and fought against the nervous stutter. “I have all of your discs, audio and video. I’ve seen you in concert.”
    “Music buffs are always welcome.” He released Eve’s hand to take hers. “Why don’t I show you my favorite toy?” he suggested, leading her toward the console. Before Eve could follow, Mavis burst in.
    “What did you think? Did you like it? I wrote it. Jess orchestrated it, but I wrote it. He thinks it could hit.”
    “I’m really proud of you. You sounded great.” Eve returned Mavis’s enthusiastic embrace and grinned at Leonardo over her shoulder. “How does it feel to be hooked up with a rising music legend?”
    “She’s wonderful.” He leaned in to give Eve a one-armed squeeze. “You look terrific. I noticed on some news clips that you wore a number of my designs. I’m grateful.”
    “I’m grateful,” Eve said and meant it. Leonardo was a talented and emerging genius of clothing design. “I didn’t look like Roarke’s rag-picking cousin.”
    “You always look like yourself,” Leonardo corrected, but he narrowed his eyes and flipped his fingers through her untidy hair. “You need some work here. If you don’t have it styled every few weeks, it loses shape.”
    “I was going to trim it up some, I just — “
    “No, no.” He shook his head solemnly, but his eyes twinkled at her. “The days of you hacking at it yourself are over. You call Trina, have her do you.”
    “We’ll have to drag her again.” Mavis grinned at everything. “She’ll keep making excuses and start clipping at it with kitchen shears when it gets in her eyes.” She giggled when Leonardo shuddered. “We’ll get Roarke to hound her.”
    “I’d be delighted to.” He stepped out of the elevator, walked straight to Eve and, framing her face in his hands, kissed her. “What am I hounding you about?”
    “Nothing. Have a drink.” She passed him her bottle.
    Instead of drinking, he kissed Mavis in greeting. “I appreciate the invitation. This is quite a setup.”
    “Isn’t it mag? The sound system’s ace of the line, and Jess works all kinds of magic with the console. He’s got like six million instruments programmed in. He can play them all, too. He can do anything. The night he came into the D and D changed my life. It was like a miracle.”
    “Mavis, you’re the miracle.” Smoothly, Jess led Peabody back toward the group. She was flushed and glassy-eyed. Eve could see the pulse in her throat pounding to its own rhythm.
    “Down, girl,” she muttered, but Peabody only rolled her eyes.
    “You met Dallas and Peabody, right? And this is Roarke.” Mavis bounced on her stilts. “My closest friends.”
    “It’s a genuine pleasure.” Jess offered one of his finely boned hands to Roarke. “I admire your success in the business world and your taste in women.”
    “Thank you. I tend to be careful with both.” Roarke scanned the area, inclined his head. “Your studio’s impressive.”
    “I love showing it off. It’s been in the planning stages for some time. Mavis is actually the