Sweet Fortune

awake on a rush of adrenaline. She sat bolt upright in bed, confused by two powerful stimuli. The phone on the bedside table was warbling loudly and there was a half-naked man standing in the open doorway of her bedroom. She did not know which had awakened her.
    For a handful of seconds she could not move. She could only sit there clutching the sheet.
    The phone rang again.
    “Better get that,” Hatch advised, one hand braced against the door frame.
    Jessie blinked and reached out for the phone.
    “Jessie? It's Alex. Alex Robin. I'm calling from your office. Sorry to wake you, but you might want to come on over here. I went out to get something to eat a while ago and when I got back I came upstairs to use the rest room. I found the door to Valentine Consultations open. Did you leave it unlocked?”
    “No.” Jessie pushed hair out of her eyes and tried to think. “No, I'm certain I locked up when I left, Alex. I'm always very careful about that.”
    “I know. Listen, I think someone's been inside here, but I can't be certain. Maybe you'd better check to see if anything's missing. You may want to call the cops and report a break-in. If that's what's happened.” Alex paused. “Nothing's broken or anything, as far as I can tell.”
    “I'll be right over, Alex. Thanks.”
    Jessie slowly replaced the phone, her eyes on Hatch's shadowed face. She realized he was wearing only a pair of briefs. Sometime during the night he had awakened and undressed. Talk about making himself at home, she thought. Give the man an inch and he took a mile.
    “I have to go over to the office. Alex, the downstairs tenant, thinks someone might have broken in to Valentine Consultations.” Jessie pushed back the covers, belatedly realizing her nightgown was hiked up around her waist. Hastily she retreated back under the sheet. “Do you mind?” she asked acidly.
    “No.” Hatch yawned and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. “I'll go with you. I had no idea the life of an assistant fortune-teller was so exciting. You keep worse hours than I do, Jessie.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    I t's damn near three o'clock in the morning,” Hatch muttered as he slipped the Mercedes into a space in front of the building that housed Valentine Consultations.
    He was not pleased about having his first night in Jessie's apartment interrupted in this fashion. Granted, he had not been in her bed, but when he had awakened earlier and discovered he had been allowed to stay, he had known progress was finally being made. “What the hell was this Alex guy doing at the office at this hour?”
    “He's a computer jockey,” Jessie explained as she yanked the door handle. “He works weird hours.” She jumped out of the car and dashed toward the darkened entrance of the building, fishing for her keys.
    “Hold it, Jessie.” Hatch got out and slammed his own car door before following her up the walk. The lady was far too impulsive. He would have to work on curbing that tendency. “Not so fast.”
    “Oh, for heaven's sake, Hatch. I let you come along because you insisted, but don't get the idea you're in charge around here. Save the dynamic-leadership act for Benedict Fasteners.” She started to shove the key into the lock and belatedly realized the door was already open.
    Before she could turn the handle, Hatch shot out a hand and clamped it over hers. The small bones of her fingers and wrist felt astonishingly delicate. “I said, not so fast,” he repeated very quietly.
    She glanced down at where his hand covered hers. He knew she was silently debating whether or not to test his strength. Her eyes lifted briefly to meet his, and he saw the annoyance in them. She had obviously realized she did not stand a chance of shaking off his grip.
    “For Pete's sake, Hatch. The door is already unlocked. Alex must have left it that way for us.”
    “Fine. I'll go in first.” Without waiting for a response, Hatch calmly shouldered Jessie aside and shoved open the door. He stepped over the threshold into the darkened hall and stopped, groping along the wall. He found the switch and flicked it. Nothing happened.
    “What is it? What's wrong?” Jessie was trying her best to peer around him.
    “The hall light is out.” A bad sign . His instinct warned him the smartest thing to do at this point was back out of the place.
    “It's been out for ages.” Jessie tried impatiently to shove past Hatch's unyielding form. He did not move.
    “Alex,” she called over Hatch's