Sweet Fortune

she had any real psychic powers she would have known better than to hire you in the first place.”
    “ A loose cannon .”
    Hatch knew he'd gone too far. She was furious. “Dammit, Jessie, I never meant to say that. I'm sorry. Look, I'm just trying to make a point here.”
    A violent pounding on the wall that adjoined their room silenced Hatch immediately. He felt himself turning a dull red as the voice of the plump bald man next door boomed through the barrier.
    “If you two don't shut the fuck up in there, I'm calling the manager, goddammit. You hear me?”
    Jessie glared at Hatch in satisfaction. “Yes, Hatch, why don't you shut up? You're disturbing the neighbors. You're going to get us kicked out of here.”
    “I don't believe this.” He raked a hand through his hair, stunned at his own loss of control. Then he surged to his feet and started to pace the small room. “I am in a hotel room at one o'clock in the morning engaging in a domestic quarrel with a woman who thinks she's some kind of psychic private investigator. I ought to have my head examined.”
    “I'm sure Aunt Glenna would be glad to do it for you at the usual family discount.”
    He swung around, his voice very soft as he leveled a finger at her. “I don't want to hear another word about your damned case until morning. Got that?”
    Her chin came up and her eyes glittered in anticipation of the next act of rebellion.
    “Jessie, I swear if you give me any more grief tonight, I won't give a damn about disturbing the neighbors,” he said very quietly.
    “Is that a threat?”
    “It's a promise. Close your mouth and get back into bed.”
    “Or else what?” She looked at him expectantly.
    “Christ, lady, you don't know when to quit, do you? Or else I will put you in that bed myself. And I won't care if you scream the place down while I do it. That should have the idiot next door calling the manager in no time. I'll let you do all the explaining as they kick us out of here.”
    She flushed. “Honestly, Hatch.”
    “Yes, honestly, Jessie. Get back into bed .”
    She got back into bed without a word.
    Hatch took off his trousers and got in beside her, not touching her. He was aware of how stiffly she was lying next to him and decided she was probably staring at the ceiling, just as he was. Moments crept past.
    “Hatch?”
    “Yeah?”
    “It would never have worked anyway.” She sounded oddly sad rather than angry.
    “Your job as a psychic detective? I could have told you that.”
    “No. I meant us. You and me. A long-term, committed relationship. It would never have worked. You can see that for yourself now, can't you? We'd be at each other's throats all the time.”
    “It'll work,” he muttered, still too angry and frustrated at her obstinacy to risk letting himself get dragged into a detailed discussion of just how it was going to work. In his present precarious mood he was likely to say a lot of things that would only add fuel to the fire. He had his self-control back and he intended to keep it.
    “But, Hatch—”
    “Go to sleep, Jessie.”
    She sighed wistfully, turned her back to him, and curled up in a pathetic little ball. A few minutes later Hatch was sure he heard a suspicious sniff. He did not say anything. When he heard another, similar sound he rolled onto his side so that he was facing her back. Then he reached out and pulled her tightly against him, snuggling her into his warmth.
    She resisted silently at first and then acquiesced without a murmur. A few minutes later he was sure she was asleep.
    Hatch lay awake for a long while, contemplating the fact that he had never allowed a woman to undermine his self-control the way Jessie had. One minute he was making love to her, the next he was involved in an argument that was loud enough to wake the neighbors. That kind of scene would never have happened with Olivia.
    Hatch grinned briefly in the darkness and pulled Jessie closer.

    The full ramifications of the argument that had taken place in the middle of the night did not sink in until Jessie emerged from the tiny bath the next morning. She came to a halt in the middle of the room, staring at Hatch; who was buckling his belt.
    “Oh, my God. This is a bed-and-breakfast place.” It was the first time she had spoken to him since she had awakened.
    He quirked one brow as he checked for his wallet. “So what?”
    She glowered at him. “So we can't possibly go downstairs to breakfast.”
    “We paid for it. Might as