Free Sharp Edges by Jayne Ann Krentz Page A

enforced his instruction to Eugenia to stay put in a more emphatic manner if it had not been for the cold draft that swirled through the cavernous basement. It told Cyrus his quarry had already escaped.
    He came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs and braced himself as Eugenia, hard on his heels, plowed straight into him.
    "What in the… ?" She recoiled from the collision and grabbed the wooden bannister. "Why did you stop? He'll get away."
    "You don't follow orders very well, do you?" He found a second light switch and snapped it. This one worked. A fluorescent tube winked on overhead, revealing a long passageway between rows of storage rooms. "I told you to wait at the top of the stairs."
    "I've always felt that following orders showed a sad lack of creativity."
    "Or common sense."
    She ignored that as she straightened and swept a sultry mass of hair out of her eyes. "Where is he?"
    "Gone. Whoever he was, you scared him off." Cyrus surveyed her with a sidelong glance.
    She looked more than ever like a cat burglar tonight. Her jeans fit her as if they had been hand-tailored. The denim fabric hugged her hips and nipped in at her waist, emphasizing her sleek frame. He wondered what kind of store sold tailored jeans. A very expensive one, no doubt.
    Her black pullover looked just as pricey as her jeans. Trained, experienced investigator that he was, he noticed immediately that her firm breasts shifted easily beneath the fabric. Ah-hah, Watson. The lady is not wearing a bra .
    That observation immediately raised the issue of whether or not she had bothered to put on a pair of panties beneath the snug jeans. That was the thing about his chosen career path, he thought. In his line of work one question always led to another.
    She had apparently used only her fingers to comb her thick, dark hair. It billowed, soft and loose, around her shoulders.
    Not just any cat burglar, he decided. A very sexy cat burglar.
    "How can you be sure the guy is not hanging around here somewhere?" she demanded, staring past him down the hall.
    "Feel that damp air? It's from outside. The door at the far end of the basement is open." Cyrus walked forward along the passageway. "He went out through the pantry."
    "Damn." She hurried after him. "I'll bet he was after my glass."
    " Your glass?"
    "The Daventry glass belongs to the Leabrook now," she said austerely.
    "That doesn't make the glass yours."
    "You know what I mean."
    "I'm getting a fair idea," he said. "Are you this possessive about everything you consider yours?"
    "There's no need to get sarcastic just because I take my job seriously." She frowned. "We'd better check the glass vault."
    "I want to take a quick look outside first. Just in case."
    "Just in case what?"
    He glanced back at her. "Just in case he was dumb enough to hang around."
    "Good lord." Her eyes widened. "You can't go chasing out of the house after him. It's past midnight. There's nothing but forest out there, and in case you haven't noticed, the rain is still coming down very hard."
    "I noticed."
    "Whoever he is, he knows his way around, and you don't. It would be a complete waste of time to rush out into the woods to look for him. Not to mention a little stupid."
    "Yeah, but it's the sort of bold move that impresses clients."
    She glared. "Your clients aren't here at the moment."
    "Good point. Speaking of stupid moves," he added laconically, "I should mention that a few minutes ago you didn't hesitate to pursue our visitor down here into the basement."
    "That's when I thought he was you."
    "Which reminds me, I want to thank you for that little display of trust."
    She had the grace to blush. "Okay, so I assumed that you were up to no good. What was I supposed to think under the circumstances?"
    "Beats me. Maybe that I was upstairs asleep in my room?"
    "I had no reason to assume that you were innocently asleep," she said.
    "Especially given the fact that you were not innocently asleep, yourself. Which brings up a very interesting