Sex & the Single Girl by Joanne Rock Page A

Aidan told himself he only touched her because he wanted to check out her latest gadgetry and not because he wanted to see if she still felt hot to the touch even when she operated in ice-queen mode.
    â€œWhat’s this?” He caught sight of a miniature monitor on the display screen before she snagged her wrist back.
    And sure enough, her touch had been just as scorching as he’d remembered.
    â€œIt’s a scaled-down version of the video screens in my office. I can’t move the camera angles from here, but I can check out a handful of rooms from a stationary position.”
    Impressive. But the fact that she had so much security in place set up a few red flags, too. “You really need that much protection for the club, Bri?”
    He didn’t suspect her of being Melvin’s accomplice. Was he being naive to rule her out when she had the technological skills—and the smarts—to funnel information to her former stepfather?
    For a moment, her trademark bravado slipped a notch. And Aidan would have banked his paycheck on the fact that she wanted to confess something. But then she looked away, trailing an idle finger along the cast-iron patio table, and when she met his gaze again, her armor was right back in place.
    This time, Aidan was positive it hadn’t been his gritty eyes playing tricks on him.
    â€œI’d rather have too much protection than not enough.” She said it with enough vehemence that Aidan believed that much was true. Even the best of liarscouldn’t cultivate that kind of passion about something they didn’t believe in.
    Staring out at the water, Brianne took a deep breath as if to calm herself. “Besides, despite whatever you think about my connection to Mel Baxter, I have my own reasons for not wanting him to sneak past my guard. I don’t want him around the club any more than you do.”
    â€œYou’re wrong there.” He watched as the sea breeze caught a strand of her auburn hair and blew it across her cheek. He had all he could do not to hook his finger around that red lock and smooth it into place. He could almost feel the silky strand between his fingers. “The sooner Mel shows up here, the quicker I can leave you to run your business.”
    And the quicker he’d be able to put enough distance between them to assure himself he wouldn’t touch her again.
    â€œHe’s got no reason to come here.” Brianne’s brow furrowed, and Aidan had the impression she’d told herself as much more than once. “He has no connection to me or my mother anymore.”
    â€œNot true.” There was no sense hiding his recent discovery from her. He wanted to ask her a few questions about it anyway.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Her green eyes narrowed.
    â€œMel might not be maintaining ties to you, but I’m guessing I’ve unearthed a very big connection to your mother. Do you know anything about a bank account under the name of Pauline Baxter with a balance of 1.2 million dollars that’s been untouched for the last twelve years?”
    Her mouth fell open. Wide. He had all the answer he needed.
    Her jaw snapped shut as she recovered herself. She cleared her throat, tossed her hair over one shoulder. “My mother doesn’t necessarily keep me informed of her financial status. She would have set that account up when I was little more a child.”
    Leaning on the wooden rail that surrounded part of the deck overlooking the ocean, Aidan wouldn’t quibble with her on that note. Even though she would have been sixteen at the time, and by the age of eighteen, Brianne couldn’t tell him often enough that she was all woman.
    Not that his memories of Brianne’s precocious sensuality had any bearing on his case.
    â€œDo you have any reason to believe that money might not really belong to your mother?” He didn’t necessarily expect her to be straight with him. She didn’t trust him