“Now, what are you doing?”
“Walking,” she answered without turning around.
“You can’t walk home from here,” he yelled after her.
She stopped. “Fine. I’ll get a cab.” She took one step into the street and started waving her hand to flag down a taxi. Cooper reached her and pulled her back onto the sidewalk just as a driver bore down on them, blaring his horn.
“Are you crazy?”
She started storming away from him again. “Apparently.”
“Laney, wait. Wait! Dammit, Laney, stop, would ya?” He caught up to her again, grabbing her. “What’s going on here?”
“You’re hurting me.”
He loosened his grip a fraction while still keeping her in place. “Come on. Don’t say I’m hurting you. I would never hurt you.”
So why is this tearing me up inside? “You’re stronger than you think, Coop,” she threw back. “I mean, the way you toss around those dumbbells—” She shut her lips, realizing her mistake.
“So you were at the precinct earlier. Why did you leave without talking to me?”
“Well, I didn’t want to interrupt you and your gorgeous, blond-haired girlfriend,” she yelled, furious. Oh, geez! Why did I say that? I should have never had that second shot. I sound like an idiot.
“Girlfriend?” he asked with a puzzled expression. Then he started laughing, “Oh, you mean Kenzie.” He let go of her, sticking hands in his pockets, and wearing a smirk.
She tried to act like she didn’t care. “Oh. Is that her name?”
He chuckled. “My, my, Laney! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous.”
“Jealous?” she squealed, trying to sound incredulous but coming off as shrill. “Not everybody falls for that incredible body of yours and that playboy hair—”
His eyes twinkled. “Careful. You’re letting your lust show.”
“Uuugh!” she screamed in rage, turning to stomp away again.
She had gotten several feet before he shouted after her, “That was my sister.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. Without turning she repeated, “Your sister?”
“Uh-huh.”
She hung her head a minute, defeated, feeling foolish.
He trotted up to her, reaching out to rub her arms. She leaned back into him for a second, tired. He spun her around, softly putting his hands on either side of her face. He seemed to be searching for words and ended up settling on, “Let me take you home.”
Chapter Thirteen
They didn’t speak on the way home, but at one point Cooper reached over to take her hand, and she smiled weakly, still hanging her head some. When they got back to her place, he opened the car door for her, and then took the keys he still had in his hands and opened the door to her condo. She trudged in, dropping her purse on the floor.
He closed the door behind them and turned to her, having thought out what he was going to say on the ride home.
He turned her to face him, rubbing her arms up and down as he spoke. “Laney, I’m sorry if I’ve been sending you mixed messages.” She lowered her chin, but he reached down to lift it up so he could look her in the eyes. “I’m very attracted to you, and not just in the physical sense…but, as a cop, there are some lines I can’t cross. So, no matter how much I want to act on these feelings I have for you, I can’t. Do you understand?”
She nodded, her eyes downcast.
He lifted her face again, reflexively running his thumbs across her lips. “So we’re okay?” Her lips were moist and they parted under his touch. She squeezed her eyes shut and managed to nod.
“I should go then.”
He stepped back but she grabbed his arms, her eyes wild and desperate. “No! Don’t go!” She stepped toward him and her words came tumbling out. “Please, Cooper. Stay. I can’t bear the thought of having to attend the funeral tomorrow. Please, stay with me.” She paused, but when he didn’t answer right away she blurted out, “We can have meaningless sex.”
He laughed. “Laney! I could never have meaningless sex with you.”
Her voice didn’t even sound like her own. It was faster, more urgent. Desperation flashed in her eyes. “Please!” She reached up to stroke his face, then pulled him down and pressed her trembling lips to his.
A wave of warmth and passion spread through him and he was paralyzed.
“Please,” she said again, her voice husky, “Make love to me, Cooper.”
Her lips were on his again and he felt himself giving in. His hands caressed the bare skin of her back and shoulders. She unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands across the smooth skin of his chest, moaning with pleasure. The sound shook him; it took all he had in him to push away from her. He turned away, unable to witness the hurt in her eyes. He ran his hand through his hair. Why wasn’t he able to control himself around her?
“Laney…” he said in a warning tone.
“Come on, Coop,” she coaxed. She came around to face him, searching his face in the streetlight that filtered in through the windows. “What if I told you I’m a virgin? You could teach me the ropes. That’s supposed to be a turn on, right?”
He didn’t even know what to say to that. She threw her hands over her face.
“Or not.” Her hands moved to her temples. “I can’t believe I said that! I’m losing my mind!” She turned away.
He tried to soften his reaction to her statement. “Laney, I can’t. I just can’t.” Before he could say anything more, the phone rang. They both jumped at the sound. It was far too late for anyone to be calling. She turned and stared at him for a second, her eyes dead, then moved like a mummy to pick up the receiver.
“Hello?”
Cooper watched Laney’s mouth fall open and her eyes get wide as saucers.
“Laney, what’s wrong?” Cooper asked. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.
He could now make out a male voice that seemed to be yelling. He stepped over and grabbed the receiver out of her hand but there was a click and the line went dead. She closed her eyes and swayed on her feet.
“Lane!” he cried in alarm, taking her arms to steady her. She reached back to feel the couch and sat down carefully.
“Who was that? What did they say?”
“Go, Cooper. Just go,” she murmured.
He sat down next to her. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who was on that phone.”
She sprang off the couch and turned, glaring at him and screaming, “It was him! Okay? It was the guy who k-killed Sydney.” She covered her face with her hands again and wept.
Cooper shot off the couch and took her into his arms. “What did he say?”
She shook her head, “I…I don’t know.”
“Laney, calm down,” he said, trying to keep his own voice level. “Take a deep breath.” He could feel her starting to hyperventilate, her shoulders shaking.
“Just go, p-please!” she wailed.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he repeated, this time more gently. She buried her head in his chest, hands still covering her face. “Did he threaten you?”
She nodded her head. He pulled her closer, glancing around the room to make certain there was no immediate threat. He moved her to the couch. “What did he say, Laney? Please try to remember.”
“I don’t know…” she said on the verge of hysteria. “He didn’t make any sense…he said ‘what are you doing, Laney? Why are you betraying me?’ He kept saying that I was betraying him…betraying?” she questioned, bewildered.
“An old lover?”
“Apparently you weren’t paying attention. I’m a virgin, remember?” she spat at him.
“Okay, okay,” he patted her arm, thinking. “What about the guy next door?”
“Steve? You met Steve?”
He frowned. “Yeah.”
“No. Steve would have no reason to believe I betrayed him. We’re just friends.”
“Well, it didn’t look like that the other night,” Cooper muttered.
“The other—you saw us?”
“I came back to check on you,” he answered, defensive. “And he was…you were…”
Her face turned bright red. “I was upset. I fell asleep in his arms, that’s all, I swear. It was a mistake, and I felt uncomfortable when I woke up.” They were silent for several minutes, while Cooper digested that information with satisfaction. “Besides, Steve’s a nice guy.”
“He looked like he wanted to be more than friends, Laney.”
Her face registered surprise. “You think?”
“Yeah,” he said sarcastically, some of his old anger resurfacing. “I think.”
“Oh.” She seemed to think about this. “I would have recognized his voice. It wasn’t him.”
“What else did he say?”
“He said…he’d kill me like he ‘fucking killed my sister’…and that I’d ‘pay dearly.’”
“Okay,” he said as if making a decision. “I’m staying here tonight. That’s not a question, it’s a statement.” She nodded her head without saying anything. “I’ll sleep on the couch. Stay here while I check the locks.”
Cooper found French doors off the kitchen opening onto a stone paved patio, unlocked. He shook his head and locked them, peering out into the darkness. He checked all the windows and doors on the first level, and then returned to her side. She hadn’t moved an inch. “Let’s get you to bed.” He climbed the stairs, holding her hand behind him and she followed.
The top floor was one large bedroom and bathroom with a small balcony off the front and a larger one off the back. He checked both sets of French doors to the balconies. He wasn’t happy with the flimsy locks, but he saw it was a long way down with no access from below, so he was satisfied. He’d talk to that Steve guy in the morning about installing a security system. A topnotch one. Laney could afford it.
In the bathroom, she mechanically brushed her teeth. He took the opportunity to phone Aidan.
“I’m at Laney’s.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. Fast worker.”
“Shut up, it’s not like that. We ran into each other at Phat Jack’s—”
“What the hell was she doing back there? She shouldn’t be in there.”
“I know. I know. I told her that. But she can be kind of stubborn.” It was one of the things that made her so sexy. “I’m staying here.”
“Ahh. Good for you.”
“Shut up, would you? I told you. It’s not like that.”
“Why are you staying then?” Aidan teased.
“Because she got a phone call from Sydney’s murderer.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. And he threatened her.”
Suddenly Aidan was all cop. “Did you secure the premises?”
“Yeah. We’re locked in good and tight. No one’s getting in here.”
“Call me if you hear anything.”
“All right, see you in the morning.”
She shuffled out of the bathroom and pulled pajamas out of a dresser drawer. Seeming unaware of his presence, she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the ground. Surprised, he forced himself to turn his eyes away. He ordered himself to think about the room, not the fact the figure he saw silhouetted in the outside lights was impossibly perfect. Luckily, the room gave him something to think about. He noted a simple antique wooden dresser, a brass bed, unadorned except for a bright quilt and a few pillows, everything a glaring contrast to the décor downstairs. This room was without a doubt Laney, warm, unassuming. He stole a look over his shoulder and saw her just as she unsnapped her bra; he groaned inwardly, spinning his head around. He could tell when she was finished by the lack of noise. When he turned, she lay curled up in bed with her back to him, facing the rear doors. He felt the chill coming from her, but was drawn to the bed anyway.
“Lane?” he whispered, stroking her hair. She flinched, hands tightening their grip on the covers. He withdrew his hand. He could see that her eyes were open wide, staring, unseeing, into space. He supposed the shock of the past several days and the threat on her life had hit her hard. “Good night, then.” His voice was hoarse, sorry for the part he had played in it all.
He descended the stairs, still thinking about her and whether or not he had made the right decision to pull away, and whether that would be something he could continue to do. He sat down on the couch and only then remembered his shirt was unbuttoned. He rubbed his hand over his chest, recalling the way her hands had explored his chest, her touch electric. With a sigh, he removed his holster from the back of his pants, where it was hidden by his jacket, and placed it on the coffee table in front of him. Having second thoughts, he snapped the holster open and removed his pistol, setting it out where it would be handy. He unfolded the quilt he had picked up from a trunk at the end of Laney’s bed, and stretched out on the couch. He lay with his hand flopped across his forehead, knowing sleep was a long way off.
He reflected over the day, especially the parts containing her. Even with his eyes closed, he still saw her face. He saw the fear and defiance in her eyes when she turned on the barstool, caged by his arms, staring into his face. He took a deep breath, remembering the way her hair had smelled, and felt so soft when he leaned in and whispered in her ear before she turned. He thought of her now, lying upstairs under a quilt, imagining how warm and supple she would be, and drove himself insane.
A virgin? Was it really a virgin’s hips that had moved under his hands on the dance floor? How could it be possible, that someone as striking, as fun, as she was—dancing the tango with that silly carnation in her mouth—how had she never been with anyone? And how did he feel about that? It made her more fragile, more vulnerable, than before. He felt the need to protect her even more strongly. But a turn on? He had to admit, it held a certain mystique.
With a frustrated sigh, he threw off the blanket and sat up. He might as well get up and check on things. He stuck his gun into his waistband and went to the back doors and checked outside, returning to the front to inspect the shadows of the parking lot. The killer had said, “What are you doing?” Had he been watching them? Could he feel betrayed because he saw them kissing through the windows? Cooper saw nothing outside, but as he turned to go back to the couch, he heard a noise upstairs.
He was instantly alert. Keeping in mind the possibility Laney had gotten up to go to the bathroom or something, he ascended the stairs, trying not to make a sound. As he neared the top, he could hear her rhythmic breathing. He drew his gun. Breaching the top of the stairs, he realized the back balcony doors were wide open, a breeze rustling the sheer curtains surrounding them. Did she open them to get some fresh air and then fall back asleep? Staying close to the bed in case he had to dive in front of Laney to protect her, he made his way over to the doorway. He edged out on the balcony but found it deserted. He looked over the edge. No rope, no ladder, no anything. He inspected the door handles and found scratches, and deep gouges that indicated someone had forced their way in. In alarm, his eyes searched the dark recesses of the room. The intruder could still be in the room, or in the bathroom. He knelt on the bed and crept next to Laney. For a minute, he was frozen by the sight of her peaceful face in the moonlight. He covered her mouth with his hand and bent down to whisper in an ear.
“Laney.”
She started and looked up at him with round, confused eyes.
He removed his hand. “Did you open your balcony doors?”
“Sometimes they open on their own,” she explained.
“When? Have you ever seen it happen?”
“No. It happens mostly at night, or when I’ve been away.”
He didn’t want to alarm her, but…“I think someone has jimmied your lock. And from the looks of it, more than once.” Her eyes opened wider in realization. She shook her head as if to deny it.
“It’s okay,” he reassured her, but she could now see the gun in his hand. “I want you to get behind the bed, behind me.”
She listened and moved as he asked, squatting
behind the protection of the mattress.
“Stay here,” he instructed, starting to move around the end of the bed.
“Cooper!” she said, grabbing his arm in a panic. “What are you doing? You could get hurt.”
“This is my job.” He shook her off. “Now stay down!” he ended, more fierce than he had intended, the concern for her safety coloring his words.
She shut her mouth, surprised by his tone. Anger flashed in her eyes, but she complied. He inched forward until his back was pressed against the edge of the door to the bathroom. She watched tensely from her side of the bed. He listened but could hear no breathing or any other indication someone was present. He reached in to switch on the light, ready for someone to spring out, but there wasn’t even the slightest movement. With the fresh light, he again searched all the dark recesses of the room, his eyes scanning. Seeing nothing, he took a deep breath and burst through the door of the bathroom, yanking the shower curtain back. To his relief, the tub was empty.
“Laney, honey, it’s okay.”
She rushed from her side of the bed and into his arms. He could feel her shaking. He tucked his gun into the back of his waistband so that he could put both of his arms around her.
“You’re okay?” Her voice sounded strained against his chest.
“Yes, I’m fine.” He breathed a sigh of relief, and ran his hand over her hair as he pulled her closer. After a minute, he held her at arm’s length. “Are you okay?” She nodded. “Are you sure?”
Instead of answering, she wrapped her arms around him again. “I have never been so afraid in my life. You shouldn’t have done that.” She began pounding on his chest. “Dammit, Cooper, you shouldn’t have done that. You could have been killed.”
He smiled at her fit of temper. “Laney, this is my job. This is what I do for a living—”
“I don’t care. If something had happened to you…” She shivered.
He pulled away to look at her face. “Nothing happened. I’m fine. Now,” he changed the subject, “I want you to pack your toothbrush and anything else you might need. I’m taking you back to my place, for tonight. We’ll figure out what else we need to do in the morning. Okay?” She nodded. He placed his hands on either side of her face, concerned about how pale she looked. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
THE HEART TEACHES BEST (REAL ROMANCE COLLECTION Book 2) Page 8