She walked up next to him, breathing in his hot, jaguar scent brushed by the wintry breeze and all sexy male before she let him know she was there. She was surprised he hadn’t turned to see her already, but she wondered if he was putting on an air of disinterest and knew very well she was in his space. Or he was texting a hot date? "Waiting for someone?"

  Jumping a little, he nearly dropped his phone and swung his attention around to look at her. "Hell, you're early."

  She wanted to laugh. So he hadn’t known she was there. "Nice seeing you again too." She hadn’t thought she could sneak up on the big cat, as much they were wary of their surroundings, hearing and seeing everything. She turned to watch the motionless conveyer belt, hoping it wouldn’t take long to get her bags and hoping her bags hadn’t been lost.

  "We have a mission to go on. Your dad was just texting me about it.”

  “He didn’t send me information about the case.” She was surprised her dad had sent it just to Jason and not to her too. She hoped her dad didn't plan to send all the information on cases to Jason so he could relay it to her because she was a new investigator.

  "Is your phone on?" Jason asked.

  "Yes, of course it is. I already texted Dad to let him know I had arrived at the airport."

  "Maybe he sent the text to me, figuring you would be on your way to the baggage claim and not have time to read it. Whereas I was here already, waiting on you.”

  “Which I appreciate. There's nothing worse than arriving at your destination and having to wait forever on someone to pick you up. So about the case?"

  “An eight-year-old boy left his house and vanished. The boy’s name is Henry Potter. The police and everyone else are looking into it, they have no leads. Your dad said with our"—Jason looked about to see how close people were standing to them—"with our enhanced cat senses, we could possibly find him when no one else can. Time is of the essence." He showed her a picture of the blonde-haired boy with bright blue eyes and the sweetest smile.

  The conveyer belt began to move, and she was ready to pounce on her bags as soon as she spied them so they could get on the road. Feeling antsy that this could be a life-or-death matter and getting the bags could take too long, she said, “We could come back for the bags later. Oh, wait, there my bags are. The three jaguar print ones.” She was glad that most everyone else’s bags were black. No one else had jaguar print ones, at least that had come out on the belt, and she recognized them from all the scrapes and gauges they’d suffered from previous plane trips. She didn’t understand how luggage being tossed on a plane could make it appear that her bags had had to fight for their lives.

  She rushed forward to grab one and was surprised to see Jason grab the other two heavier ones practically at the same time. She couldn’t have managed. “Thanks.”

  “Is that all of them?”

  “Yeah. Is my dad working on the case and that’s why he didn’t pick me up?” She assumed he would be because it had to be high priority. She also figured this hadn’t been a way for him to just throw her and Jason together like she’d earlier thought. And she was glad for that.

  “A client had walked in right before he was supposed to come and pick you up and so he said he had to handle the case and asked me to get you instead,” Jason said to Erin as they rolled the bags toward the doors leading out to the parking tower. “Then he just texted me about this new case that we’re taking on. The clients are Henry’s parents, who don’t believe the police are searching in the right direction and didn’t want to wait until it was too late. So your dad didn’t know about the new case before he asked me to come get you. I’m sure Cannon wants to get involved in it, given the seriousness of it." When Erin had slipped up next to Jason, startling the crap out of him—which was not easy for anyone to do since he was usually a hell of a lot more alert than that—he hadn't remembered how pretty she was. Or how fragrant her big she-cat scent was—like roses, and cool breezes, sugar, and cinnamon.

  Beautiful, dark brown hair with golden streaks highlighting it, catlike amber eyes that fairly glowed in the bright lights of the baggage claim area, her black leather pants formfitting to her shapely legs, high heeled black leather boots adding to her petite height, a black leather jacket and a black shirt that revealed the slight swell of her breasts added to the appeal. Though none of that changed anything about the way she rubbed him the wrong way.

  No way was Jason going to tell her what he suspected—that the woman who had come to see Cannon had more to do with him than being a client needing help with a case, if what he suspected was true. But what if he was wrong? He certainly didn’t want to say something about it if he was way off base. "You do know how much your dad loves financial fraud cases, right? When the woman—" he meant to say client, damn it—"came in, he took the case right away."

  "Woman? The way you said woman makes me wonder—is she his age? A she-cat?" Erin frowned at him.

  Jason should have known Erin would have suspected something more was going on because her dad normally would have given the case to Jason and picked up his daughter at the airport. She 'd been daddy's little girl forever.

  "Well?"

  "Yeah, on both counts."

  "Okay, well, at least he's still having lunch with me and I’m sure that's why he wanted to get started on this case right away so he and I could discuss it."

  "About that—" So much for Jason not telling her all that was going on!

  Erin narrowed her eyes at him as they headed outside to the parking garage. He was rolling the two heavy bags and she had her carryon with her, a laptop, and the third bag she’d had checked.

  He knew she wouldn't like it but he wasn't her father so she didn't need to be angry with him over it. "He said the case he’s on means working during the lunch hour. I’m sure he’ll join us later to help with the Henry Potter kidnapping."

  Her lips parted. "Has my father seen this woman before?"

  "Not as far as I know. It was the first time I'd seen her at the agency and she seemed confused about the layout."

  "But Dad wasn't working on a case and offered to do it?"

  "Yeah." Jason wasn't about to mention the spring in his step when he headed out the door of the office after meeting with her.

  "You're sure he hasn't seen her before?"

  Jason gave her a sideways glance as he walked her to his vehicle. They finally reached his classy black Jaguar, a yellow stripe running down the middle, making it look like his personal racecar.

  He loaded Erin’s bags in the trunk while her mouth gaped to see the car he was driving. It had that effect on a lot of people. Which, he had to smugly admit, was the reason he’d driven it to the airport to pick her up. Her dad had said she was going to buy a new car once she got here since hers had been giving her trouble and she sold it, which was why she had flown in, instead of driving home.

  "Nice car," she said.

  "Too flashy?"

  "For doing surveillance, yeah."

  He smiled. "This is just my pick up vehicle for she-cats who need a lift."

  She raised her brows, wanting to hear more. He didn't say anything further, figuring he’d said too much already.

  "As to your question about your dad and his new client and having seen her before, by all appearances, he didn’t seem to know her, and vice versa. Anyway, he said we're on our own for lunch, that he knew you’d be starving after the flight, and to grab something to eat before we started delving into this case. I figured we’d make it a working lunch and go over the details while we’re eating.”

  They got into his car, settled against the plush leather seats, and he drove out of the airport to the restaurant. She ran her hand lovingly over the leather.

  In that instant, he had the unbidden thought that he wished she was sweeping her hand over his thigh instead. With that in mind, his cock twitched.

  "Okay, well we're going to have lunch where he's going to have lunch. If it’s at the office, we can just order food and have it delivered. If he’s gone to someplace else to eat, we can join him there." Erin looked a little peeved.

  Jason tried to hide a smile. "What if he is interested in the client and he doesn't want our interference?"

  "That's what I want to know." Erin looked out the window. "Teach him to ditch me for another woman."

  Now that amused Jason. He never thought Erin would be investigating her father's affairs now. He knew if it had been just him, he wouldn't have gone near the restaurant. But he did enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

  "Which restaurant?" she asked.

  "The Seafood and Steak Alehouse."

  "The five-star restaurant?" She shook her head.

  "He said he was there on business with the client."

  "I bet."

  "He's investigating the manager of the restaurant."

  "Okay." Erin sounded like she didn't believe there wasn't more to the business of her dad taking the client to the restaurant. "She better foot the bill."

  Jason smiled openly that time. "That's what a client normally does."

  "Yeah, well we'll see."

  "Okay, so what if he is interested in the woman?" Jason figured she’d drop it. Erin might not like that her father was intrigued with another woman, but her own mother and brother had died in a hit-and-run accident when the carjacker had fled from the police after an attempted, failed bank robbery and struck her vehicle ten years ago. That had been a long time ago and Jason felt if her father was ready to move on, Jason was all for it. But he understood Erin’s concern that someone might try to replace her mother when her dad was truly devoted to Erin, as much as she was to him.

  "Then we investigate her like good PIs do." Erin folded her arms, but then she was looking over his car some more, opening the glovebox, closing it, checking out the visor mirror.

  Jason really hadn't expected to be investigating someone Cannon could be seeing. But it was on Erin's head if her dad learned about it and he was angry over it. At least Jason, and he assumed Erin, would attempt to be super spy like in their pursuit of the truth.

  "What if they see us at the restaurant?" He could just imagine them being seen and blow their whole case.

  "Well, I told you I wanted to go there for lunch, insisted even, so we could discuss our case. I had no idea my dad was going to be there."

  He wasn't sure her dad would believe her, and he would know just who put her up to it. "Did you want to do it alone? In case you thought you could be less noticeable than if we both went together."

  She eyed him speculatively. "Don't tell me you're afraid of being seen with me and he'll think you had anything to do with this."

  "He'll know I told you about his going to the restaurant. He told us to go to the one we usually go to."

  “Oh, he did, did he?” She didn't say anything for some time. "Okay, so I was looking up restaurants because I wanted to go to something different this time and found that one. I ate there a long time ago, but I thought it would be fun to go there with you because my dad stood me up. And you didn't tell me he would be there with a client."

  Jason shook his head. "He would never believe it. He'll know I told you and he'll know you wanted to go there to check things out with him and the client."

  She sighed. "Okay, so we go there because we want to help him with his case and discuss the other one with him."

  "He won't believe that either, but at least it sounds more truthful."

  "Right. When is he going?"

  "Noon, I imagine."

  She glanced at the clock in his car. "It's a quarter to twelve. So we’ll get there about the same time."

  "As long as you don't think your dad will mind. I have a good working relationship with him."

  She scoffed. "I have a good father-daughter relationship with him. Though I never expected him not to pick me up at the airport or have lunch with me. It was supposed to be a celebration for me coming home for good."

  "I'm sure he'll celebrate with you tonight."

  "I'm really not so sure now."

  Jason wasn't going to offer to do something with her for tonight. He had his own life to live and entertaining the boss's daughter wasn't something he had planned on.

  Chapter 3

  “How was the flight?" Jason finally asked Erin on the way to the restaurant. He was just making small talk until they reached the place, though she was looking at her phone now.

  "Uneventful, except for the man who wanted more whiskey, and they didn't have enough for him. And the guy who wouldn't turn off his laptop and stow it when we were landing. I was ready to arrest both of them for the fuss they made."

  “I can just see you doing it too.”

  “You betcha.”

  When Jason and Erin arrived at the restaurant, he parked and belatedly thought about reservations. It was prime time for lunch. He normally ate out around eleven, if he was going to eat at a restaurant because the crowds didn't come that early, normally.

  Then they left the car and headed for the restaurant doors. "I didn't see his vehicle in the lot," she said.

  "He’s probably not here yet. So, since this is an investigation of, I'm not sure what—the manager at the restaurant, the client, or your dad's involvement with the client—what do you suggest we look for?"

  "I’d say the manager, if we were going to pull this off, but we don’t have any details about the case, so we’ll have to wait to hear them from Dad."

  "Does that mean lunch is on the agency's account?"

  She chuckled. "You're not buying?"

  "I figured since we're on a mission, the agency would pick up the tab."

  "Yeah, sure."

  They entered the restaurant and walked to the hostess stand, the aroma of predominantly seafood and grilled steaks wafting in the air—both of which were a jaguar’s kind of meal. "We'd like a seat for two," Erin said.

  "Yes." The girl grabbed two menus and Jason was surprised that they had seating for them and didn’t have to wait, when others were standing around in large groups waiting for a table. She showed them to a tiny booth for two. As if the two of them were on a date. But it also explained why the booth was available for them.

  They took their seats and the hostess handed them their menus. "Your server will be with you shortly."

  "Thanks," they both said.

  "Do you ever regret leaving the police force and working for my dad?" Erin asked.

  "Are you investigating me now?"

  "No, of course not. It's not a trick question."

  "If I'd been a police detective, I would have been doing more investigations and I probably would have liked it better. Arresting people as a police officer and directing traffic wasn't really my thing. Learning the truth about a crime, that was different. I decided to go into the PI field instead. I already had a degree in criminology, and it was great working with your dad. He liked me right off."

  "Because he'd been a police detective to begin with."

  "Right. And we just hit it off. We work well together. He loves to do anything with the financial aspect of investigations we’re doing. I enjoy doing all the criminal investigations for background checks for employment, which can really lead to some interesting cases. Most times agencies who perform that kind of check do more of a superficial investigation. I like to dig deep because I want to make sure the agency is covered in the event a firm hires someone based on our investigation and they turn out not to be who they say they are."

  "Does that happen often?"

  "No, but when it does, we want to have our bases covered. Your dad likes that I do them because to him, my cases are boring. I feel that way about delving into all the financial details of one of the cases he works. I've had to do it when he's been sick with the flu and I'm happy for him to do them instead. And when he gave me the flu? He got stuck doing background investigations and felt the same way as I did about his jobs."

  "And if there's danger involved?"

  "We'd let the police—or FBI—handle them, but if it appears that the situation is something we can handle, we certainly will do it."

  The server finally brought them glasses of water, a basket of freshly baked loaves of sourdough bread, and butter, and asked them what they would like to order.

  Erin chose stuffed mahi-mahi and he ordered salmon.

  "They both come with broccoli and baked potatoes," the server said.

  “Sounds good,” Jason said, Erin agreeing, and he handed the server their menus.

  "Would you like anything besides water to drink?"

  "Ice tea for me," Erin said.

  "Nothing for me." When the server left, Jason asked, "Why did you want to leave the FBI? Your dad said you had a promising career with them." He pulled out his phone and was looking for any information on the news about the missing boy.

  Erin was doing the same. "My dad is getting older. I want to spend more time with him. I want to learn the business, the way he does things, and help him out until he wants to retire. Which I don't expect him to do for many years. But I just think it's important to be near to family. My cases were taking me all over the place and I could barely get home for the holidays, much less birthdays or just for visits. While working here, I can just enjoy being with him."

  "And if he ends up finding a mate?"

  "Then he finds a mate." She tried to sound nonchalant about it, but he didn’t think she was really happy about it.

  He thought that might change the situation for her here. That she might even wish she hadn't left her job to join her dad at the agency if he was too busy seeing the woman on his time off.

  "Listen, I would be glad if my dad enjoyed the company of one of—" She quit speaking when she saw her dad coming into the restaurant with the female client. "Ohmigod, Laura Givens?"