She wasn’t in the mood for jokes. Nor would she allow herself to be charmed by this old high-school crush, even if he was damned handsome in the warm summer night. She stepped into the watery glow of the street lamp and tried to tamp down her awareness of him: his shoulders wide, his lips blade thin, his eyes deep-set and intense. And then there was that scar. He appeared as rugged and sexy as she remembered from high school. Maybe even a little dangerous.

Ridiculous!

Years ago she would have killed to have him stare at her as intently as he was now, but tonight she wasn’t about to get lost in his gaze. “How’d you find me?”

“I’m a wiz on the Internet.”

“Humble.”

“Hey, it’s what I do.” He flashed a self-deprecating grin. “And it wasn’t that tough. You were written up a few months back, in the Observer no less, about the twinless twin thing.”

She remembered. It had been a small, obscure human interest story, a few column inches, the interview done over the phone by a female reporter.

“I put two and two together,” he said. Again the barest of smiles, almost self-deprecating.

Was it possible? Jase Bridges could actually not take himself seriously?

No way.

“So, okay. You must want something.”

One eyebrow lifted. “Direct, aren’t you?”

“I’m not big on beating around the bush. Besides, I’m tired. It’s been a long day.” And it had been. She felt as if she’d been spinning her wheels for hours, getting nowhere, slamming her head against a brick wall, making zero progress. And all the while there was so much at stake; the twins were missing. “Last night wasn’t much better,” she admitted, thinking of her dream and Tanisha’s phone call. Trouble sleeping. Again. “Is there a reason you’re here?”

“I’ve been doing some checking. I think you might be on to something.”

Finally, someone who believed her. Someone with intense hazel eyes that, she suspected, didn’t miss much.

“But I’m not sure you’ve got it all right,” he said as a horse-drawn carriage rounded the corner. “I don’t see that the twins who are missing in Phoenix and Dallas play into it.”

“You did eavesdrop.”

He didn’t deny it. “Yeah, and then I checked into the missing persons cases you described. Tell ya what, why don’t you let me buy you a drink and we’ll discuss?”

She was about to argue, but he said, “I know. I get it. You’re tired. Been through an emotional wringer with your friend, whom, I assume, is close to you.”

“Pretty close.” The carriage rolled by, the clop of steel hooves ringing as the dappled horse plodded past.