Be My Baby by Susan Andersen Read Free Book Online Page A

eye level with a woman’s round backside.
    Whoa. Very nice. He grinned, enjoying the sight. The desks were crammed together and the woman leaned on her palms on McDoskey’s desk right in front of him. She was bent forward in earnest conversation, an action that stretched her beige linen skirt snugly across shapely hips and caused its already short hem to raise a fraction higher. A movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and Luke looked over to see Bettencourt pushing back in his chair to also get a better look at the woman. Their eyes met for a moment and they both grinned. Luke blew out a breath and thumped his hand rapidly over his heart, miming his appreciation. Then his attention returned to the woman, where it remained riveted while he answered the questions put to him at the other end of the line. Man. That was one sweet butt, but it was the legs that truly caught his attention: they were world class. He wondered who she was.
    He felt as if someone had taken a baseball bat to his solar plexus when she turned her head and he saw it was Beau’s baby sister.
    Christ. Josie Lee was just a kid. Well, maybe not a kid, he supposed, since she’d just graduated from Tulane and must be—what?—twenty-two now? But still. Beau had taken him aside last night and asked him to keep an eye on her while he was out on assignment. Luke was pretty damn sure ogling her ass and legs wasn’t what his partner’d had in mind.
    The detective at the other end of the line askeda question, and from his impatient tone Luke deduced this wasn’t the first time the inquiry had been put to him. “What?” he said blankly. Then he shook off his unusual lapse in professionalism. “I’m sorry, something came up here that diverted my attention for a moment. Give that to me again.”
    He watched Josie Lee straighten. She said something to McDoskey that made the detective laugh, then she turned and strolled around Luke’s desk as he concluded his conversation. He recradled the receiver just as she arrived.
    “Hey, Luke,” she said softly and flashed him the killer grin she had in common with her brother. “Long time no see, huh?”
    Luke could see that McDoskey was still watching her, his eyes faintly dazed. For some reason it irritated him and he said brusquely, “Hey, Baby Girl.” Beau called her that sometimes, and Luke knew it annoyed her.
    She merely gave him an inscrutable smile, however, and hitched herself up to perch on the corner of his desk. Her short skirt slid up her thighs as she crossed her legs.
    He pulled his gaze away from the mesmerizing swing of her uppermost leg and raised his eyes determinedly to her face. “Uh, this your first day on the job or you just stoppin’ by to fill out the paperwork?”
    “No, I started this morning. I’m on my lunch break and thought I’d run up to say hi to Beau.”
    “He’s out today.”
    “Yeah, I remembered that while I was talking to McDoskey.” She shrugged and slowly rotated hersandal-shod foot in first one direction and then the other. He noticed that her ankles were slim and her toenails painted red. Then her enthusiastic tone pulled his attention back to her face. “I think this job’s going to be so great, Luke. It turns out Camilla’s best friend’s sister-in-law’s brother-in-law is married to my boss.” She gave him a crooked smile. “Don’tcha just love this town?”
    Luke felt a slight smile tug up the corner of his own mouth. There was nothing New Orleanians loved so much as their gossip and their intrafamily connections. This was probably the largest city in the world to revel so fiercely in its small-town mind-set.
    “Well, listen,” Josie Lee said, and sliding off the desk, she reached out a finger and trailed it down Luke’s forearm. “I’m sure you’re busy, so I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say hi. I’m so excited about the job and was simply dyin’ to share it with someone. I’m glad you were here.” She wiggled her