BWA, Babe With an Attitude, was a chauvinistically accurate description of the woman waiting for him. For an attitude she did exude. From the top of her auburn head, flashing with streaks of gold in the sunlight, down her rigidly held body to her shapely feet clad in narrow-toed shoes this woman was uptight with a capital ‘U’. Cruz’s gaze took a slow, thorough reverse journey up those slender legs, lingering on the gentle curves encased in her fitted skirt, appreciatively inspected the swell of bosom beneath her loose sweater before wandering back up to her pointed chin, full lips, straight nose and high cheekbones. He mentally lamented the fact that her eyes were hidden by large-framed sunglasses. Reaching the fence, he grasped it with both hands and flashed her the lopsided grin that never failed to melt the hearts of the strongest women. “You looking for me, ma’am?”

Madeline hadn’t missed his blatant perusal, and that, accompanied by his cocky grin and suggestive drawl made her voice sharp when she fairly snapped, “Cruz Martinez?”

“Yes, ma’am. At your service.”

Madeline reached into her purse and pulled out her shield, flipping it open and holding it out to him. “Detective Sergeant Madeline Casey.”

Cruz reached through the fence with one hand, more for the opportunity to touch her than to study the shield she was holding out. He brought it closer, taking his time examining it. He made sure their hands met when he handed it back. “Very nice. Shiny. You been polishing that?”

Madeline ignored his bantering, just as she ignored the flicker of awareness she’d felt when he’d pressed the shield back into her palm. From the looks of him, he knew too well the effect he had on women, and his technique was probably well rehearsed. She fixed him with her own studied gaze, noting the well-muscled legs encased in long baggy nylon shorts. He was shod in tennis shoes, but unlike most of the other men, he wasn’t bare-chested. Instead he wore a ragged sweatshirt with the sleeves ripped out. With the sweatband around his forehead keeping his straight dark hair out of his face, and with an earring in one ear, he looked like a modern-day pirate. One would never guess that he was a detective sergeant of the Philadelphia Police Department.