Free Mischief 24/7 by Kasey Michaels Page A

house in the suburbs as he hopscotched from hotel to hotel all over the Delaware Valley. But she’d found him, she’d run him down, and the check would clear soon, making Teddy happy.
    Or as happy as Teddy got during the slow times—now, and again in June—when business always slacked off and he went back to his cold cases from the time he was on the force and took another shot at cracking them. Nobody beat the Irish at being emotional, and Teddy was Irish to his marrow. He could joke better, laugh harder and then turn around and sulk with more dedication than anyone Jade knew.
    She checked her pulse again as the last of the ten landmark boathouses were behind her, and was surprised to realize her heart was pounding as hard as it was.
    “Don’t think, just run. Run, so you don’t think.”
    She repeated her mantra several times as she looked out over the river, noticed the thin skim of ice doing its best to build out from the Schuylkill’s banks. She reached up to adjust herwool Eagles headband—the one with the famous football-team logo, the bald eagle, emblazoned on both earflaps—more firmly down around her ears, and nearly lost her footing when a patch of black ice on the asphalt seemed to sneak up on her.
    “Got you,” she was assured by someone who grabbed her elbow for a moment. “There you go. You’re all right.”
    “Thanks, I…” She turned her head to look at her rescuer. “Court?”
    He was dressed all in black, light green neon reflecting patches picking up the glint of early-morning sun as he moved along beside her, easily matching her stride for stride. His dark hair was only moderately contained by the plain black headband he wore, and his dark eyes were hidden behind reflective wraparound sunglasses. “That’s encouraging. You remember my name.”
    Jade concentrated on the ground ahead once more. “I said I’d call.”
    “That was three days ago, Jade. I have to leave town tonight, get back to Virginia. The staff are beginning to look at me funny, thinking I’m here to close the hotel or do mass firings or something.”
    “You’re leaving?” She fought against the sudden, involuntary flip of her stomach. “Well, of course you are. You’ve got a… an empire to run, don’t you?”
    She could feel his gaze on her. “Are you going to tell me that bothers you?”
    “No, of course not. I’m just saying, Philadelphia isn’t your home base, or whatever you want to call it. That’s in Virginia?”
    “With the marvels of technology, my home base is anywhere I am at the moment. But Virginia is my home, yes. You’ll love it there.”
    Jade shook her head. “You know, Court, you’re beginning to sound like a stalker. Should I be worried?”
    “Tell me to go away, Jade, and I’ll go. I won’t like it, but I’ll go. What I couldn’t seem to do was leave without seeing you again. You can pick up the pace if you want. I don’t turn white and clutch at my chest for at least another five miles.”
    “Is that right?” She decided to test him. “Do you know how to getto the Art Museum from here? To the
Rocky
statue? Good. I’ll meet you there.”
    “How about I
wait
for you there? Winner gets to pick where we go for breakfast,” he shot back, even as he lengthened his stride, easily pulling away from her before she could mentally shift gears and take off after him.
    She watched as his long, leanly muscled body effortlessly sliced through the cold morning air. He wasn’t running at top speed, but pacing himself, probably so he could save something for an impressive sprint as they neared the statue.
    She could live with that. If he ran up the steps to the Art Museum, then danced around in a cheesy Rocky Balboa imitation as so many others did, however, she might have to pretend she didn’t know him.
    Which, she told herself, wincing inwardly, she didn’t. She’d slept with him, but she didn’t know him. She’d called Jolie out in California, but her sister had never met