Free Bounty Hunters: 03 Stay Hungry by Lorie O'Clare

pressing her lips into an adorable pout before slowly looking down. Her gaze traveled down his chest and fire erupted inside him. She'd just pissed him off and he still wanted her. Angela might be right. Maybe they shouldn't work together.
    "I heard your father was abducted in Mexico, but rumors suggest he allowed himself to be captured to get on the inside." She began pacing the length of the hotel room and continued shooting Jake hesitant looks. "That's what I've done, Jake. I'm on the inside, but not at the risk of slave juice being stabbed into my arm."
    "Because you're getting cozy with some Italian warlord you think you're exempt from his slave juice?" he snapped. Jake was having trouble keeping his emotions in check around her, which bugged him.
    "I don't know what you know about Mario Mandela, but let me tell you, he's not an idiot. Right now, my cover is secure. Mario knows I'm high profile because of the circles he believes I move in. He is under the impression my schedule is very full and I'm often in the public eye. If I strayed from my hectic schedule for even an hour, I would be missed. He won't risk the game and all it means to him just for me. Women don't mean that much to him. He is smart, though, and I'm covering my ass."
    "I'm going to help cover that ass of yours."
    When she tilted her head slightly and pierced him with those sexy eyes of hers, several strands of hair fell over her shoulder and drifted across her arm and breast. "I'm not sure you're the best man for the job," she mused, her voice suddenly soft-spoken, as if she was contemplating something pleasant, instead of deciding if she could handle having him up close and personal without getting too close.
    "Why would your father think otherwise?" Jake asked. His fingers itched to pet her thick, black hair. It would be so smooth and silky. Her probing stare captivated him just as much as the rest of her did. When Angela met his gaze, staring hard and straight into his eyes, it was as if she saw past the surface and analyzed and discovered everything about him. As unnerving as the thought was that she might be able to see more of him than he wanted her to see, at the same time it was somehow erotic that Angela wanted to dig and learn more about him.
    "I'm not sure." Her hard lines of anger began fading. "Sounds like he and I need to talk about this."
    "Tell me about Mario." Jake wanted her talking, opening up to him. They weren't going to throw in the towel on this case over sexual desires. He was starting to think wanting each other might make them a good team. "How close have you gotten to him?"
    "He took me shopping today." She looked mighty proud of herself.
    "You move fast, sweetheart," Jake drawled. "When did you two meet for the first time?"
    Her grin was wicked. "We met over the weekend at his private club I managed to get myself into, then seated myself conveniently under his nose."
    "Sounds like I missed the good stuff."
    "There isn't any good stuff with this case," she added quickly, her smile fading. "I'm under the impression he wasn't in town prior to that. I've overheard several of his phone calls, and although he was vague, I think he just arrived in Chicago. I wouldn't be surprised if he's been gathering his army." Her voice trailed off.
    Jake got her meaning, though. Mandela was kidnapping people, just as his parents had been kidnapped earlier that year. Right before coming here, he and his cousin, Natasha, had learned that the drug Evelyn Van Cooper had developed, and used on his family when they had been in Arizona, was now being called slave juice. It wouldn't surprise him if Mandela might be using that drug, too.
    "So tell me about Mario Mandela. What makes the man tick?" It bugged him that Angela was able to overhear Mandela's phone conversations. It had been his experience that when a perp let someone get close, they had ulterior motives. He kept his thoughts to himself for now, wanting to hear all Angela knew before drawing any