License to Thrill

into his shirt, he noticed she was disrobing. Even the brevity of the moment could not prevent his body from reacting when she pulled her short gown over her head.
    "Pussy-Kat," he said with a low laugh, unable to take his gaze from her bare breasts, "although I'd like nothing better than to usher in the dawn pleasuring each other, perhaps now isn't the time—"
    "I'm going with you," she said, donning a T-shirt, then a sweatshirt.
    His expression changed abruptly. "No, you are not."
    She stepped into a pair of jeans and quickly pulled them up over her hips, then fixed him with a hard stare. "Yes, I am. I'm the one who was framed for the break-in, I'm the one who was arrested, and I'm the one who was targeted for that bomb—I'm going with you. I might just be able to help you two find what you're looking for. Besides," she added with a wry smile, "do you trust my safety to a police officer standing watch at my door, or would you rather I be with you?"
    He scowled and finished dressing in silence, unable to argue with her logic, but unwilling to acquiesce verbally. As she brushed her hair and pulled it back into a low ponytail, he saw that she moved gingerly and winced a time or two. She was stubborn. A taste of what it would be like to live with her, he noted wryly.
    The phone rang just as he finished washing and toweling his face. "James Donovan here....Yes, hello, Bernard, do you have something for me?...Just as I suspected....Yes, let the London police know that the Wharton fellow is probably being arrested as we speak....I'll call you later, old man, thanks for your assistance."
    Kat's eyes bulged. "Andy is connected to forgeries at a London gallery?"
    He nodded grimly. "His name has come up, along with others. Didn't you say he studied art in Europe?"
    "Yes."
    "Well, he obviously developed long-lasting friendships with the wrong sort of people."
    A knock on the door interrupted them, and Officer Campbell announced that Tenner had sent him. James admitted him and explained the change in circumstances, glaring at Kat. Officer Campbell offered them a ride, and James accepted, since he had planned on walking to meet Tenner before having Kat's company forced upon him.
    The detective sat waiting in his new squad car when they arrived. Remnants of yellow police crime scene tape dangled from low cement pillars in the parking lot.
    Tenner climbed out, his gum snapping with intensity. "What's she doing here?"
    James frowned. "Weren't you the one spouting advice the other day about women?"
    "Just because I live with four of 'em don't make me no expert."
    Kat stepped between them. "At least the gallery was spared from the blast."
    "Good thing there was no glass on this side of the building," remarked the detective.
    She looked around, expecting to feel fear or dread, but the area seemed innocently normal. She noticed two cars parked where her van had been yesterday, one she knew belonged to Ronald Beaman and the other to a female guard she knew as Nisa. She shuddered to think that a few parked cars between her and the van had probably spared her life.
    A hand-lettered sign on the door read "Will reopen Friday." So Guy had finally conceded defeat, she noticed. The open house must have been canceled. Unfortunately, he had no idea of the scandal that would shake the gallery to its foundation in the days to come. James pounded on the back door and waved to the camera pointed at them. Within a few minutes, Ron Beaman came to the door, his eyes wide. "Is something wrong?"
    "We need to come in and take a look around the restoration center," Tenner said, flashing his badge unnecessarily.
    The security guard bit his bottom lip, and Kat tried to force her thoughts from the costume in which she'd last seen him. "I'm not sure about this," Ronald said. "I'm going to have to call Mr. Trent."
    "C all him," the detective said casually. "But this is still considered the scene of at least one crime, so I don't have to have your permission, I was just being nice." In a burst of power that surprised Kat, he pushed his way in, and she and James followed.
    "Is anyone else in the building?" James asked.
    Ronald's eyes moved around nervously. "Just me and Nisa, the other guard."
    They moved down the hall as a unit, then into the new wing with Kat leading the way, her heart pounding in anticipation.
    "Open it," James ordered Beaman. The man jangled a huge set of metal card readers on a chain, finally finding the right one and swinging open the