Silk Confessions by Joanne Rock

Author:Joanne Rock [Rock, Joanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, Detective and Mystery Stories, Man-Woman Relationships, Businesswomen
ISBN: 9781426866920
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

“YOU DISAPPOINT ME, Shaw.” Vanessa Torres knotted her long, dark hair into a braid while she squinted down at the morning paper spread out over her desk at the precinct. “You finally made the social pages and you couldn’t even trouble yourself to shine your shoes? The trench coat is pretty stylin’ though. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

Stationed at the desk beside her, Wes ignored his partner the same way he’d blown off the landslide of jabs from his colleagues, including a life-size blow-up of the newspaper photo some wiseass glued to a piece of cardboard and posted in the break room. The home made artwork wouldn’t have been so bad except that the joker responsible had carefully colored a border of pansies around the photo.

He could take a lot of crap, but any guy who implied he was a pansy had a serious ass-kicking coming to him.

Vanessa chattered on, unruffled by his silence. “So Tempest Boucher is the new Flavor of the Month? It’s good to see you getting back in the game, but high-class chicks like this might not appreciate the old Wes Shaw cut-and-run routine four weeks from now.”

That got his attention.

Wes spun away from his computer, where he’d been coordinating a dating schedule that would put the world’s biggest Casanovas to shame.

“Has it ever occurred to you, Torres, that maybe I’m not the one who does the cutting and running after a month?”

Vanessa leaned back in her chair, her sleek leather jacket rustling with the movement. A five-year member of the force, she still seemed like a rookie. Not that she didn’t do her job well. On the contrary, Wes had seen this five-foot-eight, trim woman collar some seriously big guys when push came to shove. But she remained a loner in a job that necessitated strong partnerships, preferring to maintain strict privacy about her personal life and never allowing anyone to get too close to her.

A few guys on the male-dominated force had tried to write her off as an ice princess, but Wes defended her whenever the insults got any worse than that. He didn’t know what made Vanessa so aloof with most of the guys, but he understood the need to be left alone better than most. Maybe that’s why they made good partners. They might share cases, but they were each content to operate solo for the better part of every day.

“That’s an interesting scenario.” Vanessa tapped her chin as if deep in thought, but a telltale crease in her cheek—an optimistic dimple in a cynical face—assured Wes she was still messing with him. “You think you possess some sort of time-release scariness that makes women from all walks of life begin to see your true nature after exactly four weeks and decide to give you the old heave-ho?”

“I’ve had relationships last longer than four weeks.” He didn’t know why he bothered to hand over that piece of information now, when he had never felt compelled to share as much with her any other time she’d hassled him.

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