“Alec, I’d like you to meet my dear friend, Sophie Rose,” she said.

While she was introducing Jeff, she noticed Sophie was smiling at Alec. She, too, was obviously mesmerized by the man.

“Are you the bodyguard, or rather the detective, assigned to Regan? It’s okay,” she hastily added for Regan’s benefit. “Cordie explained everything to me, and I assure you that I can keep a secret.”

“Sophie’s going to be a reporter,” Regan said.

“What secret?” Jeff asked.

Alec answered. “Regan’s dating a cop. That’s the secret.”

“What cop?”

“Me,” Alec said. “She’s dating me.” He put his arm around her waist and pulled her in to his side.

Alec didn’t let go of her. Regan wondered if he realized his arm was still around her. She liked it, though. She liked pretending that they were together too, and, Lord, how pathetic was that?

“Would you like for us to join you?” Sophie asked, and before Regan could answer, she turned to her date and said, “Will you go find our name cards, please?”

He immediately turned around to do what she asked. She grabbed his arm. “Wait a minute. Take all of these name cards and put them somewhere else. I’m sure there are empty seats, and if there aren’t, ask the waiter to set up another table. I don’t want to sit with strangers tonight. Oh, and, Jeff? Find Cordie’s name too. She’ll want to sit with us.”

Regan leaned toward Alec and said, “Sophie and I have been friends since kindergarten, so I’m used to the way she bosses everyone around.”

Sophie heard the comment and laughed. “Everyone but you and Cordie. It is true, though. I do tend to be bossy, especially with Jeff. He’s my go-with guy.”

“Go with?” Alec asked.

“We’re just friends,” she explained. “But when I want or need a date for some function, Jeff goes with me, and I do the same for him. It’s a perfect arrangement when one or both of us is between relationships. Jeff was eager to come tonight, though, because of Regan.”

“Why’s that?” Alec asked.

“He’s had a thing for her for years,” she explained. “Shouldn’t we sit down?” She motioned to a waiter, who immediately hurried over. “Would you please remove these three place settings? Thank you,” she said as he began to gather up the silverware and the wineglasses. Sophie leaned around him to see Regan. “Cordie can sit next to Alec on his right, and you can sit on his left.”

“She is bossy,” Alec said.

Regan nodded. She was smiling until Sophie said, “Cordie’s right. You really should take off the blanket. It hides your beautiful dress.”

“It isn’t a blanket. It’s a wrap.”

“No need to sound so defensive.”

“I’m not being defensive,” she argued in a voice even she knew sounded extremely defensive. “I’m simply telling you it’s a wrap.”

“Okay,” Sophie said, and it was obvious that she was now trying to placate Regan. “And I’m simply suggesting to you that it’s time to unwrap the wrap. Speaking of dresses, do you like mine?”

“Very much. Is it new?” Regan’s tone was laced with suspicion.

“Sort of.”

“What does ‘sort of mean?”

“I picked it up at the Chanel boutique a couple of weeks ago, but this is the first time I’ve worn it.”

“How did you pay for it? With your salary-”

Sophie stood. “I had a relapse. Okay?”

“Oh, Sophie…”

“I’m going to help Jeff find Cordie’s name card. He’s wandering around in circles. When I get back, don’t lecture me. I already feel guilty.”

Alec stood when Sophie did, but as soon as she walked away, he sat down again and put his arm on the back of Regan’s chair. The fringe from her wrap was draped over his hand, and when she shifted positions, his fingers brushed against her skin. She didn’t move away, and neither did he.

“What kind of relapse was she talking about?” he asked.

“Sophie asked Cordie and me to help her stop taking money from her father.”

“What’s the big deal? If he wants to give her money and she needs it…”

Regan turned to look at him. “But she doesn’t really need it. And she wants to be completely independent.” She sighed. “Sophie loves her father very much, and she’s extremely loyal to him.”

“In other words, she’s a typical daughter.”

She smiled. Nothing about Sophie or her father was typical. “Yes,” she said. “Recently she decided that it was up to her to try to rehabilitate him, and if that didn’t work, then she’s determined to get him to retire.”

Alec literally jerked back. “Ah, hell. Rose isn’t her middle name, is it? Man, I didn’t put it together. I should have, but I didn’t. She’s Bobby Rose’s daughter, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is.”

He was stunned. The FBI had been trailing Bobby Rose for years, trying to get enough evidence to indict him. Bobby was considered by many to be the ultimate con artist, but because he only fleeced those men and women he considered to be bigger crooks than he was, the public had taken a real shine to him. High-stakes gamblers who had robbed their own companies and who had cleaned out their employees’ pensions and then hung them and their families out to dry were Bobby’s meat and potatoes. Bobby Rose loved targeting the greedy bastards, and that was all the more reason the public loved him. Unfortunately, the sad truth was that Bobby was never going to run out of marks.

Not only did the public adore him, other crooks looked up to Bobby as an idol. He was everything they hoped to become. Bobby lived somewhere in Florida, and in all the articles about him, there was never any mention of a family.

“Spencer told me that a lot of people think of Bobby Rose as a modern-day Robin Hood. He only steals from the rich-”

He interrupted her. “Yeah, well, he doesn’t give the money to the poor, now does he? He keeps it.”

Her back stiffened. “He does a lot of charitable work.”

He gave her a look that suggested he thought she was nuts. “He’s a criminal, Regan, and he should be behind bars.”

“It’s obvious you’ve made up your mind about him, and nothing I say will change your opinion, will it?” She sounded disgruntled.

“He’s a criminal,” he patiently repeated.

“If you’re going to be judgmental…”

He was incredulous. “Have you forgotten what I do for a living?”

She turned away from him and stared at the crowd of people searching for their tables. “I’m through discussing Sophie’s father with you.”

“Oh, we’ve only just gotten started.” He tugged on her wrap to make her look at him and asked, “Did you tell me Sophie works for a newspaper?”

It would have been petty not to answer. “Yes, she does. At her father’s insistence she uses her mother’s maiden name as her byline, but I think everyone at the paper knows who she is. Detective Wincott found out, and I assumed he told you.”

Wincott was probably having a real good laugh about now. “No, he didn’t tell me,” he said. “It must have slipped his mind. What was it like for Sophie growing up with Bobby Rose for a father?”

“He’s a very good father,” she said. “He never missed a parent-teacher conference, and he always went to the plays and the tennis matches. He did his share of car pooling too.”

“Were there parents who wouldn’t let their kids hang around Sophie?”

“Yes.”

“Did your family?”

“Forbid me to hang out with her? Sophie and Cordie and I had already become friends before Bobby Rose became so…”

“Notorious?”

“Famous,” she corrected. “My mother was busy socializing and traveling. My grandmother was in charge of me, and when she became ill, Aiden took over. I don’t think my grandmother knew who Sophie’s father was, but Aiden knew, and he didn’t tell her. My brother would never forbid me to be her friend. Sophie was always welcome in our home, but I wasn’t allowed to go to hers.” She smiled as she added, “I did, though, all the time.”

He was teasing when he asked, “Did you ever get down in her basement? No one knows where Bobby Rose hides all his money. Maybe it’s there.”