needed—or had the resources to get it. And whatever it was, he would know soon enough. Or, he conceded to himself, he would know at least what she wanted them to know.
“Now that you've met everyone, why don't we get started?” Captain Jefferies directed, as he stepped aside and let Dani move to the front and center of the room.
She moved into place without a single hint of unease or self-consciousness. She faced six of Portland's top vice detectives, all of whom were men, and many of whom were ex-military of some sort, himself included, without batting a single one of her long eyelashes. It was more than most men accomplished. And she did it with style.
“Thank you, Captain,” she began. “Thank you all for meeting with me this morning.” She continued the pleasantries with a businesslike nod to the men. He could feel the tension creeping up in the room and he could sense, if not see, that all eyes were focused on Agent Williamson. He wondered if they were fooling Dani but he doubted it. Yes, they were interested in what she had to say but, these alpha males were much more interested given the messenger—a five foot eleven blonde who carried a gun. Her conservative black suit and slicked-back hair did nothing to hide the fact that she looked like she'd stepped straight off of the set of Faster, Pussy Cat! Kill! Kill! She had all the curves and confidence that made a man look a time, or three. Sexist? Yes, but true. His men would listen a whole lot closer to words coming out of a mouth like hers. Whether or not they would hear anything was up for grabs, but they would listen. Hell, he was no different. Yes, he was as interested as the rest of his men—probably more so—in what came out of that beautiful, familiar mouth.
* * *
Dani had almost laughed out loud when she walked into the non-descript briefing room—and it wouldn't have been the good kind. The room itself was the approximate temperature of the Antarctic, and about as gray and somber. But Dani was pretty sure that, despite the dreary environment, someone somewhere was yukking it up, and at her expense—someone with a twisted enough sense of humor to throw a man like Ty Fuller at her on this case.
After shaking hands with him, she slipped into autopilot, going through the mechanics of introductions, as she had hundreds of times before, with the rest of the team. Knowing she knew her stuff well enough that no one would suspect a thing, she let her mind linger on Ty, wondering what he thought about this turn of events. He must have been surprised at meeting her here, in this room, in this role. She certainly was. But he was good at hiding his reaction. Almost as good as she was.
Her thoughts ventured to the night before, even as she made her way down the line of vice detectives. A couple of games of pool had taken her mind off of things for a short while. But then Ty had walked in. Dark hair, strong jaw, and a way of moving that had caught her eye. And so the night had unfolded in a very different stress-reducing way. She would give credit where credit was due. Ty had done the job and done it well. Never before had she spent the night with a man she'd just met. And never, in all her adult years, had she wanted to. But when the bartender, an acquaintance of hers, had vouched for him, she had gone where her hormones had urged her to go since the first moment she'd laid eyes on him. No last names, no shop talk or small talk, and no expectations of seeing each other ever again. It had seemed so easy, so perfect. And now, thanks to the preceding hours, she was relaxed, with her body still lingering in the memory of their night together.
Maybe the twinge of regret she'd felt when she'd left his place in the early hours of the morning—regret at thinking she would never see him again, would never really know him—was enough to tempt the fates. Whatever it was, he was here, in Technicolor, and they were now officially working together. For the moment anyway—as soon as her appointed liaison gave her cause, she would drop the pretense of collaboration.
Dani pulled out a half dozen folders from her briefcase, then handed them to