Page 9 of Venice Heat (Urban Heat 2)

Stepping into a pair of booty shorts, she considered calling Darryl, but doubted he’d be awake. He’d been drinking heavily the night before and didn’t appear to be the early-to-rise type. She would, without a doubt, call him, though. Dating one man had never been in her makeup, and the determination to remain free of a relationship had increased after her mother died. The devastation her dad suffered after he lost her mom seemed like too much to bear, and it was a strong possibility with their line of work. They’d lost many men and almost lost Kasen once. He bore the scars to prove it. Nope, no falling in love for her. Just fun and sex, nothing serious.

Of course, that meant she could play with Eiji. He looked like he was hung, and the challenge of breaking through the cool exterior might be enjoyable. She picked up her phone and dialed the number he had given her before she drove to Venice from San Diego. Eiji picked up on the first ring, sending a certain warmth spreading through her that she tamed in a heartbeat.

“Hey, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, is there a problem with the house?”

So they were back to the impersonal stuff? “No, I thought I’d walk along the boardwalk this morning after grabbing some breakfast and wanted company. Are you up for it or too tired from our late night?”

He didn’t answer right away, and she waited in silence for him to make the decision. A small, niggling doubt made her question if he was attracted to her, but she dismissed it. Eiji had kissed her, and experience and the hardness that had pressed into her belly told her he liked it.

“I will pick you up,” he said and cut the line.

Shae laughed and went back to getting dressed. The man hadn’t even waited to arrange the time, so she assumed he would be on his way as soon as he dressed. She wondered where he stayed and determined she’d ask him later. A sense of anticipation stirred in her core, but she didn’t suppress it. Nothing wrong with desiring a man, and boy oh boy did she want Eiji. His sexy voice with that heavy accent gave her chills. She’d felt the rigid and defined muscles beneath his shirt when his lips touched hers. Seeing him naked, and soon, meant playing her cards right, which was what she did best. Even if Kasen had been rude and condescending, seducing men was what the Keith sisters did. They lured the shifters into a false sense of security so that they revealed their true natures, and then the backup team came in and took them out. Shae and her sisters never slept with the shifters, of course, but they could bring them to their knees fast. Since she wasn’t on the job and just going after a regular man, she could go all out. Eiji would be putty in her hands before the end of the week, maybe sooner. Then she’d see what Darryl was about.

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Shae went to answer it. She opened the door to find Eiji dressed in cargo pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Despite being overdressed, she thought he looked good. “You’re going to melt. Don’t you have any shorts or T-shirts, or are you ashamed of your legs?”

The glare made her giggle. She dragged him inside, and then, on impulse after she shut the door, she stretched up on tiptoe and kissed his lips. The brush up lasted a heartbeat, and she turned away humming to go put on her sandals. When she returned to the small entrance area, she pretended not to notice he hadn’t moved, that it seemed like every muscle in his body had petrified, and he seemed to concentrate on breathing. If she didn’t know better, she’d call the man a virgin, but no, he knew a thing or two—at least about kissing.

“Ready?” she asked, amused.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, something he did often, she noticed, and he nodded.

They left the house and walked along the street. “Did you have breakfast already?” she asked. “I’m starving.”

He eyed her, but didn’t reveal in his expression what he thought of what he saw. The fact annoyed her. She was used to men fawning over her. Not that she expected it or anything.

“You eat a lot for a small woman.”

She made a noise with her mouth and waved the comment off. “Please, you haven’t seen anything. From the age of nine, when I began training how to kick ass and take names, I’ve had a big appetite. Maybe it’s all the sparring. Whenever I’m in town back home, I spar with my old instructor or any of the other men that work for my dad, to keep my skills honed.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why do you push yourself so hard?”

She realized her mistake and could have kicked herself. “My dad’s obsessed with keeping his girls safe. He’s funny that way.”

To her relief, Eiji took this at face value. She figured he put it down to the weirdness of American women, but sometimes in her field of taking out shifters, she ran into trouble. A shifter might catch on before her team swooped in to deal with them. The c

reature would then try to kill her, and she had to handle her business. Of course, her dad had insisted she and Sakura, her older sister, always have a protector, a man who worked closer to them than the rest, but he might not get there in time, so she had to be prepared. Shiya, her youngest sister, had always worked at home, behind a computer screen, until she took it into her head to get out in the field for the first time. Their dad giving his permission had shocked them all, but they had abided by it. Now Shiya was out in Alaska, in the middle of who knows where, with two polar bear shifters as her lovers. Thinking of it for the millionth time, a niggle of worry ate at Shae, but she shook it off. What captured her attention more than that right now was what Eiji had shared.

“We can go back to Abbot Kinney Boulevard or to the boardwalk,” Eiji suggested. “I have eaten at a restaurant there. The food is good.”

She turned toward the boardwalk and the beach without commenting, and he shifted directions with her. “Eiji, I guess I was too shocked last night to really question you. How do you know it wasn’t a bear attack that killed my mother, and what about that bridge you mentioned?”

He looked away as if he didn’t want her to see his face. “I’ve had experience with animal attacks.”

She gasped. “You?”

“No.”

When he didn’t elaborate, she guessed he’d seen a few cases in his line of work. “And the bridge? I mean, you said yourself you haven’t been in America long, and I got the impression this is your first time here.”

“Not my first, just not long each time.” He stopped walking and faced her, holding out his hand. “Do you have it?”

She’d considered leaving it in the house, but knew she wanted to question him after she hadn’t been able to reach her dad. They moved to the side so as not to block anyone passing, and she put the picture in his hand. When he held it up to show her, her stomach knotted, and the usual feelings of loss stirred, but Eiji touched the lower part of her back with such a gentle pressure, she drew comfort from him.

“Look past your mother,” he instructed. “See the window? The bridge is there.”

“Yes, I know. You showed me all that last night, but—”

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