Under Wraps Read Online Free

the fastest way of proving your innocence. If my client had gone to the cops, you could have been stuck trying to clear your name from inside a cell, since the evidence they had on you was pretty damning.” He set the glass she’d given him on the coffee table.
    She seemed to think that one over as she poured her own glass and held the cool drink against her forehead like a compress.
    â€œWhy didn’t they go the police?” she asked softly, her hands shaking just a little as she lowered the flute and took a sip.
    He tried not to envy the glass for its chance to press against her lips. She was dealing with a crisis, after all.But he’d been battling an attraction to this woman ever since the week he’d built the custom-made cabinet to house his spy equipment. He couldn’t help subtly ogle a bit now that he was finally free to act on that attraction. Her dark robe slipped away from her calf enough to reveal the delineation of the long, lean muscle in her leg. A gold toe ring winked from her bare foot, a small row of pearls catching the light as she shifted.
    Jake had a sudden vision of that long, bare leg in his hands, his body planted between her thighs. And wouldn’t that fantasy be helpful in explaining why he’d been spying on her? Cursing the wayward thoughts, he forced himself to talk about the case.
    â€œThe CEO of Premiere doesn’t trust the local police ever since they misplaced key evidence that would have convicted some crooks involved in his last company.”
    The case still pissed off Jake, too, even though it had been two years ago.
    â€œBrennan. You were the investigator on that crime.” She snapped her fingers in recognition. “I thought your name sounded familiar when we met. I did a little research on it because I worked for Premiere when they hired Vincent Galway to take over as CEO.”
    Great. Jake didn’t want to be associated with an investigation that screamed police corruption. He’d left the force because a couple of the cops appeared to be flunkies for some bigwigs who didn’t want that particular corporate fraud case prosecuted. To keep his eyes off Marnie’s legs, he diverted his attention to a nearby painting of the Anasazi cliff dwellings, decorated forthe holidays with a few balsam sprigs on the top of the frame.
    â€œI quit when the system screwed over Vince. He talked to the cops and the Feds to try to throw some light on dirty dealings in his last company, and he was the one with mud on his face after the evidence was misplaced.” Jake swiped the champagne glass off the table. “But I know Vince from way back. He served in Vietnam with my dad. Because Vince trusts me, he hired my services to help him wade through the embezzlement scandal that could have hurt his company if news about it leaked.”
    Marnie swirled her glass and watched the bubbles chase each other.
    â€œSo you got onto the work crew when I had the office overhauled and you installed a camera.” Her bathrobe slipped off her knee, unveiling bare skin for as far as the wandering eye could see up her leg.
    A slice of creamy thigh proved too much competition for the picture of the damn cliff dwellings. His gaze tracked up her skin as he calculated how quickly he could have her naked…
    â€œYes.” His throat went dry. “It was a fast way to either clear you or confirm your guilt, and it’s a tool the cops rarely use because—”
    â€œâ€”because it’s highly unethical and borderline illegal?”
    â€œBecause it takes a lot of reviews to obtain permission for it.” He’d be damned if he’d let her call his honor into question. “Technology is saving a lot of manpower hoursat your local cop shop, so I can guarantee you it’s not illegal when there is just cause—for me, or for them.”
    â€œBut I’ve been cleared of any wrongdoing, thanks to having my life put under a