FIRE AND ICE by Julie Garwood Page A

could nudge him anywhere. Besides, if she squirmed or moved at all, he might notice her discomfort, and she didn’t want him to notice anything about her. FBI agents other than Alec weren’t to be trusted, and she wasn’t about to let Agent MacAl-ister know he made her nervous.
    When it came to her father and his “issues,” no one was going to push her around.
    Jack glanced down at Sophie and held her gaze for only a second or two, but it was long enough to look into her gorgeous eyes, time enough to take in the scent of her subtle, feminine perfume. Very nice.
    He quickly moved away. The last thing he needed was to get close to Bobby Rose’s daughter.
    Sputtering and red-faced, Bitterman drew his attention. “Are you saying … Are you telling me someone’s bugging my office? Someone is listening in on my private conversations?” He was outraged. “Who’s doing it?” he demanded in the next breath. “It’s not FBI, is it? Is it FBI, Alec?”
    Alec shook his head. “It’s the same kind Gil found in Sophie’s apartment,” he told Jack. To Bitterman, he said, “Nothing we would use.”
    Bitterman realized he was still clutching the rolled-up news paper. He tossed it into the trash can. “You’re certain?”
    “One hundred percent.”
    “It looks like something you could buy over the Internet,” Jack remarked. “Amateur stuff.”
    “Hold on a minute. Someone bugged your apartment, Sophie?” Now Bitterman was outraged on her behalf.
    “It’s all right,” she said to calm him. “I’m used to it. I don’t want you to worry about this.”
    “You’re used to having your privacy invaded?” Jack asked.
    Exasperated, she said, “Again, Agent MacAlister. My father … Bobby Rose … ?”
    The way she drew her father’s name out made Jack want to laugh. If she were a man, he’d probably call her a smart-ass, but she wasn’t a man. She was an outrageously sexy woman. With spunk. Ah, man, he should get away from her as soon as possible. He should have waited outside in the car. But he’d been curious. First impressions were often wrong, and he wanted to find out if she was as provocative as he’d remembered.
    She was. Definitely.
    His voice was abrupt when he said, “Show me where you work.”
    Sophie assumed that Jack was going to sweep her cubicle, and as she was walking toward the door, she asked Alec to please call Gil and let him know she didn’t need him to come to her office.
    “All right,” he agreed. “And while I’m doing that, I want you to pack up whatever you’ll need from your office for the next week or two. You’re going to be working from home. You know the drill.”
    “I am not going to stay home.”
    “Yeah, you are,” Jack told her. He gave her a gentle push to get her moving.
    His abruptness bordered on rudeness. Sophie thought about telling him to stay out of the discussion, but because he was Alec’s new partner, she kept silent. There was also the possibility that he might not take criticism well and decide to take her in for one of those lovely interviews.
    Alec wouldn’t let him do that, but even so, why cause friction?
    Bitterman stopped any further protests. “You have two articles to research, and you can do that from home. You’ve got a computer there and an Internet connection. You don’t need anything else.”
    Sophie wished she could get Alec alone and ask him why he was wasting his time over a couple of heat-of-the-moment threats. He wasn’t a rookie, so why was he given this assignment?
    Or had he even been given this assignment?
    “Mr. Bitterman, did you call the FBI, or did you call Alec?”
    “Alec is FBI,” he pointed out.
    “Yes, but—”
    “I did some snooping,” her boss admitted sheepishly. “I looked through your address book and found his number.”
    “Get moving, Sophie,” Alec said.
    “Yes, all right. In a second. Was there more than one threat?” she asked her boss. “Whenever my father is in the news, there are always two