“You and Sonny will stand down tonight,” Guy said. “For cat burglary, you can’t be beat, but tonight we’re looking for information, not valuables.”

“But—”

“No buts. I need Rodriguez for the computer and Faith for trouble detection and Bianca for searching. I’ll be hunting too, and that’s a full house. You other four will patrol the perimeter, with Tony and Max coming in later if we need muscle for questioning.”

Guy talked for a few more minutes, then adjourned the meeting. Jaz stared straight ahead, gaze blank, uncharacteristically thoughtful. Then he squeezed my hand and winked.

“I’ll fix this.”

I could have said it was hardly the end of the world if he missed tonight’s break-in. But it wouldn’t matter. In some ways, Jaz was like a child—he wanted what he wanted, and he wanted it now. It sounded like immaturity, but there was no real selfishness behind it, nor any tantrums to be thrown when he didn’t get his way. Like last night. While he’d admitted to being frustrated, he’d waited until noon to call, in case I had a hangover, then had taken me out to lunch. With Jaz, “I want it and I want it now” seemed almost an…innocence. A purity of impulse.

As the meeting broke up, he rocked on his heels, a greyhound at the starting gate.

Guy looked up from a conversation with Bianca to call, “Jaz, Sonny, over here. Got an errand for you.”

Jaz leaned against me, hand brushing my rear. “Shit. That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

His fingers toyed with the hem of my miniskirt, eyes glittering, mouth coming down to mine, once again forgetting everything around us. A throat clearing from me stopped him.

“It’s your fault.” His gaze met mine, those sexy hooded eyes dark with desire. “If you were a witch, I’d think you’d cast a spell on me.”

Coming from anyone else, a corny pickup line. From Jaz, it made my heart skip. When he got close to me, the world vanished, lost in that swirl of his aura, that chaos vibe, and I suddenly knew where it came from—that childlike part of him that saw what it wanted, and grabbed for it, free of guilt and self-doubt.

I tilted my head back, lips parting as he—

“Jaz,” Guy barked. “Are you listening to me? Get down here.”

A flicker of anger, but it evaporated before I caught more than a spark. Propelling me forward, he headed toward Guy.

“Sorry, boss. I thought you were still talking to Bee. Got a job for us, you said.”

“For you and Sonny. I need Faith here.”

“Damn.” He turned to me. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m done. We’ll meet up for—”

“For nothing. This is work time, Jaz, not social time. You seem to be having some trouble distinguishing the two lately.”