Brazen Virtue

police. “In my own kitchen. I’m afraid to go in my own kitchen.”
    “Why don’t you let me take you upstairs?” Tess murmured as she slipped an arm around Mary Beth’s waist. “You can lie down.” Tess led her from the room. Frustrated, helpless, her husband looked after her.
    “If I’d stayed home—”
    “He’d have waited,” Ed interrupted. “We’re dealing with a very dangerous, very determined man, Mr. Morrison.”

    “Mary Beth never hurt anyone in her life. She’s the most generous woman I’ve ever known. He had no right to do this to her, to put that look on her face.” Harry picked up Mary Beth’s brandy and downed it in two swallows. “Maybe he’s a dangerous man, but if I find him first, he’s going to be a eunuch.”

Chapter 12
    S HE’D LEFT A LIGHT burning for him. Ed was glad Grace had gone home to bed because she would ask questions. And he would have to answer them. Still, it touched him, foolishly, that she’d left the light burning.
    He was tired, dead tired, but too wound up to sleep. In the kitchen, he reached for the juice and drank straight from the pitcher. She’d put the wine away and washed the glasses. When a man had spent so many years doing for himself, such little things were overwhelming.
    He was already in love with her. The first romantic fantasies he’d indulged in had cemented. The trouble was, he didn’t know quite what to do about it. He’d been infatuated before, and had never had a problem taking those feelings to their logical conclusion. But love was a different ball game.
    He’d always been a traditional man. Women were to be treasured and appreciated and protected. The woman you loved was to be treated gently, respected, and above all, cherished. He wanted to put her on a pedestal, but he was already aware that Grace would squirm until she toppled off.

    He could be patient. That was one of the best qualities in a cop and one he’d been lucky enough to be born with. So the logical step was to give her time and space until he could successfully maneuver her exactly where he wanted her to be. With him.
    Ed left enough juice for breakfast, then started upstairs. On the top landing he began to strip out of his jacket. He’d meant to leave both that and his weapon in the closet downstairs but was too tired to go back. Rubbing the tension at the nape of his neck, he pushed open the bedroom door with his foot, then hit the lights.
    “Oh God, is it morning already?”
    His hand was on the butt of his weapon instantly, then his fingers went quietly numb. Grace was stretched out over his bed. Shifting, she shielded her eyes with one hand and yawned. It took him a minute to realize that she was wearing one of his shirts and nothing else.
    “Hi.” She blinked and managed a smile as she squinted at him. “What time is it?”
    “Late.”
    “Yeah.” After pushing herself up, she stretched her shoulders. “I was just going to lie down a minute. This body isn’t used to manual labor. I had a shower. I hope that’s okay.”
    “Sure.” He thought it might help if he looked at her face, just her face. But it didn’t. His mouth was bone-dry again.
    “I closed up that gunk you put on the walls and cleaned off the tools. After that I twiddled my thumbs.” She was awake now, her eyes adjusted. Tilting her head, she studied him. He looked as though someone had just planted a sledgehammer in the region of his solar plexus. “You all right?”
    “Yeah. I didn’t know you were still here.”
    “I couldn’t go until you got back. Can you tell me what happened?”

    After peeling off his shoulder holster, he hooked it over a rickety ladder-back chair he planned to refinish. “The lady was lucky. She fought him off, then her dog got to him.”
    “I hope the dog hadn’t had his shots. Was it the same man, Ed? I need to know.”
    “You want the official response or mine?”
    “Yours.”
    “It was the same guy. He’s pissed now, Grace.” Rubbing his hands over his face, Ed sat on the edge of the bed. “Tess thinks this is only going to make him more volatile, more unpredictable. He’s been threatened now, and his pattern destroyed. She thinks he’ll lick his wounds, and when he’s ready, he’s going to go hunting.”
    She nodded. Now wasn’t the time to tell him the chance she was taking herself. “The woman—she saw him?”
    “It was dark. Apparently she can’t see two feet in front of her face anyway.” He would have sworn if he’d