Nikki Waters turned away from the image on her computer screen and shook her head at the man standing across from her. “When you said this one was a little rough around the edges, I thought you were warning me about—I don’t know—about his lack of tact or maybe his hair was a little too shaggy.” She motioned to the screen. “Not a rap sheet that was so long I had to scroll to read it all.” The man in the doorway chuckled. He shrugged. “Does it help that his hair is a little too shaggy?” Jonathan Carmichael was trying to be cute, trying to be funny, but Nikki didn’t have time for his playful mood. Not tonight. Tonight she, for once, had plans. “A few drunken fights when he was young and stupid,” he said. “Nothing to write home to Mom about.” Nikki felt a headache brewing just behind her eyes. She loved her job and loved the tall, dark-haired man in front of her like a brother, but the stress of her plans combined with the man Jonathan was trying to sell her on was starting to create a monster headache.
