Breaking Bad

by Karin Tabke

  “Oh, God no, Stevie, you were amazing. I—Christ—I could have stayed in bed with you forever.” His eyes softened. “I didn’t know I was your first. If I had, I never would have touched you.”

  Stevie threw her hands up and stomped across the mats, putting distance between them. Otherwise, she’d geld him.

  “Do you know how perfectly egotistical you sound right now?” She began pacing the edge of the mats. “For the last seven years I have beaten myself up for scaring you off, only to find out you thought that if you reached out, I’d try to sink my hooks into you. Well, guess what, Jack? You’re a coward. I don’t want a cowardly man. And I certainly don’t want a man who doesn’t want me, so consider yourself – Off. The. Hook!”

  If a man could look sheepish, angry, and horny all at the same time that is how Stevie would describe the expression on Jack’s face.

  “If there was anyone I could settle down with, it would be you, sweetheart,” he quietly said.

  His words startled her into silence. She wanted to believe him. But this was Hit-and-Run Jack she was talking to. “Yeah, well, that ship has sailed.”

  “I meant it when I told you earlier today I was sorry.”

  “And I meant it when I agreed that you were.” She exhaled and pulled the hairband from her long braid. Digging her fingers into the thick strands, she shook her head. When she looked up and caught Jack’s hot gaze on her, she lost some of her steam. She would try to forgive him, but it would take time. In that time, he could suffer a little. “Look all you want, but don’t touch me again.” She strode past him and as she opened the door to the house, she said over her shoulder, “The pizza menus are in the drawer by the phone in the kitchen. Best pizza in the county is Gay Nineties on Angela and they deliver. I’m taking a shower.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  From her blow-dried hair that hung in a soft heavy mass past her shoulders, to her shaved legs, coconut-scented body lotion, and flirty little white romper, Stevie looked far from innocent after her shower. In fact, she looked, smelled, and felt, highly fuckable.

  That’s exactly what she’d intended.

  She wanted Jack panting at her feet. She needed to prove to them both that despite her body’s weakness for his; she was in control, not her body and certainly not Jack. Because as much as she didn’t want to accept his excuse for running out on her, she got it. She had been thinking of them as a happy forever couple.

  Embarrassment fizzed through her as she remembered the way she’d followed his every move, waiting breathlessly for those amazing jade-colored eyes to settle on her, if only for a moment. She’d lived and died for his acknowledgment.

  She would have settled down in a heartbeat.

  Not Jack. He’d been, and still was, the proverbial rolling stone. Even if she’d somehow managed to get him to stay for a while, he would have moved on.

  It was just who he was.

  If she didn’t forgive him now, she never would because Jack Thornton was not going to change. So the question was: Could she accept him the way he was? The answer, surprisingly enough was, yes. She could. But in that, she made this promise to herself: She would never again allow her fantasies about Jack to control her reality. She was not going to settle for anything less than a man willing to meet her halfway. Hell, she didn’t even want a man in her life. She was too busy with her caseload and could not give him what she demanded in a relationship, so there was no point.

  She shivered as she remembered Jack’s hands and lips on her body. How good it felt when he entered her. Dear Lord, it was the best feeling in the world.

  She gave herself one more glance in the mirror before she headed back to the only man who knew just what to do to make her fall apart.

  Damn him anyway. Why couldn’t he be more manageable?

  Because if he was, you’d lose interest.

  True that.

  As Stevie entered the small family room of her little house, Jack looked up from his cell phone and audibly hissed in a sharp breath.

  Stevie smirked and strode past him as she grabbed her laptop off her desk, then began to hook it up to her flat screen TV. Without looking his way, she said, “Better close your mouth, Jack, or you’ll catch a fly.”

  “Really, Stevie?” he drawled.

  Continuing to focus on booting up her laptop, she asked, “Really Stevie, what?”

  “You’re just asking for it.” His husky voice left no room for misunderstanding. She was a prick tease and his prick was interested. Now if only she could turn her body’s reaction to his reaction off, she’d be good to go. But alas . . .

  She turned her gaze to his and smiled as her desktop flashed up on the TV. “Asking for what?”

  “Me inside of you all over again.”

  His words elicited a warm flush from her nipples straight to her womb. “If I want you inside of me, I’ll put you inside of me.”

  He leaned forward across her coffee table, but didn’t get up. “You’re afraid to ask for it. You’re afraid to acknowledge your need for what I can give you.”

  Moving over to the edge of the sofa nearest the TV and farthest from him, she sat back into the soft cushions and caught and held his gaze. “You’re not the only man out there with a talented penis, Jack.”

  He grinned and leaned closer. “Who else have you been with since me?”

  Did battery-powered boyfriends count? “That’s none of your business.”

  His eye widened and Stevie realized he guessed her secret. “You haven’t been with anyone, have you?”

  Embarrassment warmed her cheeks. “Like I said, who I’ve slept with since you is none of your business.”

  He sat back, spread his long arms across the sofa cushions on either side of him, and considered her answers. She was a lousy liar, but for the sake of her pride and not inflating Jack’s ego any more than it was, she thought she sounded damned convincing.

  “I doubt you’ve had another lover.”

  “What makes you so sure I haven’t had sex with anyone since you?”

  “Because I was that good.”

  Stevie’s jaw dropped. My God, he is so full of himself!

  “And I know your little secret. Who else does?”

  She snapped her jaw shut, then said, “My sex life is off the table for discussion. The only reason you’re here is because I want to nail Spoltori more than I want to never see your face again. So let’s get to it.”

  The doorbell rang.

  Jack stood. “Pizza’s here.”

  She stared at his ass as he sauntered off to get it. She really needed to focus on the case and not any part of Jack Thornton’s anatomy.

  When he came back with a large pizza box and a six-pack of beer, she frowned. “Where’d the beer come from?”

  “I made it worth the driver’s while to make a stop along the way.”

  “How?”

  “I’m a special agent who gets specialty treatment.” He grinned and opened two bottles. Handing her one, he drank deeply from the other.

  It was cold and it was a brand she liked, though she wasn’t much of a beer drinker. Her preference ran toward good tequila and occasional red wine. The scent of the pizza, however, was right up her alley.

  Jack set his bottle down on a coaster and opened the lid.

  “Oh, Jeff’s Special. My favorite.” Her stomach rumbled as she salivated. Jack slid a large slice onto a paper plate and handed it to her.

  “I know.”

  As she took a bite and chewed, savoring the deliciousness, she asked with a full mouth, “How’d you know this was my fave?”

  Jack grinned and hoisted a large piece to his mouth and said, “It’s my job to know these things.”

  “What else do you know?”

  “That you work too many hours, don’t take time off, and bust anyone’s balls who gets in yo
ur way.”

  “Yeah, but my closed case percentage is ninety-four percent.”

  “Highest in the PD.”

  She set her pizza down and wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Have you been keeping tabs on me, Thorn?”

  “I’ve made an inquiry or two.”

  She picked the pizza up and said, “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

  “No inappropriate inquiries, just a feel for how you were doing.” She could live with that. Even if he had nosed into her personal life, he’d have discovered she didn’t have one. She devoured the rest of the slice, then took another.

  “This is good,” Jack said as he took a third slice.

  As she daintily dabbed her mouth with a napkin, she said, “The chicken wings are to die for.”

  Jack grinned as chewed. After he swallowed he said, “Next time, I’ll order them to go with.”

  Taking a long swig of her beer, Stevie set it down and crossing her legs Indian style she faced Jack across the table. “There isn’t going to be a next time, Jack.”

  His handsome face tightened, but he shrugged his shoulders. “If you say so.”

  “I say so because it is so. Look—” She moved closer to him, though she made sure she was out of his reach. “I’m over it. The anger. I get why you didn’t call, now. I mean, you were right. I was twenty-one, doe-eyed, and thought I was in love when it was just a high-school crush on my teacher. Even if you had called and stayed to live happily ever after with me, you would have moved on eventually. Or maybe the crush would have worn off and I would have. Either way, you did us both a favor.” She took another sip of her beer, not liking the way his eyes narrowed.

  “So I’m forgiven?” he asked doubtfully.

  “Yes. Like you said earlier today, our history has no relevance now. So let’s move on.”

  He shook his head. “I said our history had no relevance to our case. I didn’t say it had no relevance in general.”

  She swallowed hard. “Well, whatever relevance it has or had, it’s over. I want to start with a clean slate from this moment forward.”

  Jack opened another bottle of beer and took a long swig. He nodded. “Okay.” And raised his bottle to her. “Here’s to new beginnings.”

  Stevie pulled her legs closer to her body. “If I mean anything to you, anything at all, Jack, you’ll keep our relationship purely business. I don’t want to hurt for another seven years when you disappear again.”

  His face softened. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “I believe that. But now that everything’s out in the open, I want your promise that you won’t do anything to instigate the”—she moved her hand back and forth in a swirling motion between them—“whatever it is that goes on between us when we’re in the same room.”

  “That’s pure primal pheromonal combustion, sweetheart, plain and simple. Can’t stop what Mother Nature intended.”

  “We might not be able to make it go away, but we can control it. It will take a commitment from both of us. You more than me since I don’t—”

  “Pursue?”

  Her cheeks heated. “Yes, that.”

  “You’re the most responsive, sensual partner I’ve ever had, Stevie. When you let loose, it’s a beautiful thing to see. Why is it that you can’t—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it!” she said standing up. “Please.”

  She hurried to the bathroom and peed. When she was done and washed her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes dilated, and for the love of God, her nipples tented the romper.

  She needed to focus on her case. As that thought flipped through her mind, the faces of the victims swam before her, soundly shutting down her libido. For them she would control her Jack urges.

  Giving herself a curt you-can-do-this nod in the mirror, she opened the door. Jack stood there, arm across the doorway, smelling like sex. Her scent, his scent, the sex scent they created, swam like an aphrodisiac between them. His trousers were on the rise as his brilliant eyes swept the length of her, stopping at her thickening nipples. Jesus, we’re combustible.

  “Stevie,” he said huskily, then cleared his throat. “While you were in the bathroom, I got a call from Deavers. Spoltori just showed up at a fundraiser in Danville for the mayor. I think he may be trolling for his next vic.”

  “I want in.”

  “Me too.”

  Stevie pushed past him and said, “I can be dressed to kill in ten minutes, but you smell like a gigolo.”

  “And you smell like a come-fuck-me commercial,” he threw back.

  Stevie smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

  Jack cocked a brow and looked like he was going to call her on it but instead said, “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to jump in the shower real quick and we can go together.”

  Stevie bit her bottom lip. Every sense she possessed said no. But she heard the words, “Fine, but you need to use my bathroom; it’s the only one with a shower,” slide from her lips.

  “Too bad you already took one,” he teased.

  As he turned and walked down the short hall, she yelled after him. “Behave yourself, Thorn, or I won’t take you at your word!”

  CHAPTER TEN

  “I think I should go incognito,” Stevie called to Jack, who was in the shower with the door cracked. “You know, wear something that won’t call attention or scream cop. Maybe add a wig. How about blond?” Or short brunette like the victims?

  “Not a bad idea,” he called back.

  Standing in her walk-in closet, wearing only a pair of black lacy thong underwear and matching demi cup bra, she scanned the racks for the appropriate attire. She had a few wigs from an undercover prostitution sting she’d been part of a few years ago. She wanted to slip under Spoltori’s radar, especially if she managed to get an invite into his dungeon. He’d run if he recognized her.

  “I like what you’re wearing,” Jack’s husky voice said from behind her.

  She started and turned to find him leaning against the bathroom doorjamb, holding a damp towel low around his hips. The indent of his stirring cock was plainly outlined against the white cotton. Jack Thornton had one amazing body. He was tall, six three, two hundred and maybe thirty pounds. His musculature was long, lean but heavy, and clearly defined. The dark hair on his chest was just short enough not to hide his definition, and she loved the way it trailed down his belly to nest around his generous endowment. The way he was right now, damp from his shower, his short hair pushed back…Well, he was decidedly the most fuckable man on the planet.

  The itch that had been scratched was starting to bother her again. With a will of their own, her eyes dipped again to his thickening penis.

  Placing her hands on her hips, Stevie fronted him off. “You’re not behaving.”

  “I can’t control that guy,” Jack defended inclining his head toward his rabble rouser. “Not around you, especially when you’re strutting your stuff under my nose.”

  “Strutting my stuff?” she asked incredulous, then pointed at his rising towel. “Put a leash on that thing, Jack, or it’s going to get you into big trouble.”

  “It’s already gotten me into big trouble,” he said, sauntering toward her.

  She was having none of it. If he touched her, as wound up as she still was from what had happened in the garage, she’d end up on her back with him buried so deeply inside of her she wouldn’t want to move. They had a job to do and she had a heart to protect. She backed deeper into her closet. “Don’t. You promised.”

  “I don’t remember making any such promise.” He stopped, but his eyes raked her from head to toe and back again and again. “You make it extremely difficult not to think of you in my arms, Stevie.”

  She could say the same thing, but that would give him more ammunition. Just because she had forgiven him didn’t mean he
r heart didn’t still ache. Jack was it for her. She knew it just as plain as the sight of him standing front of her. Only problem was that he didn’t feel the same way. Hell, was he even capable of a monogamous relationship? Doubtful. If he was, despite everything that had happened between them, she still wanted to be that girl.

  Dream on.

  “I have an easy fix for that. Every time you think of me in your arms, underneath you, on you, around you, imagine it’s one of our vics. It takes the sting out of the lust real quick.” She turned and stood up on her toes as she reached for a plastic-wrapped suit on the top rack in the back corner of the closet. Jack wolf-whistled.

  She smiled, knowing he couldn’t see her expression, but sternly said, “Stop harassing me, Thornton.”

  “Stop looking so fuckable and I will.”

  When his arms slid around her waist and pulled her back against his chest, and his nose dipped into her clean hair as he softly inhaled her, Stevie resisted her body’s natural inclination to lean back into him. She turned around and, despite their state of undress, she considered his request. “Really? Are you that much of a pig?”

  He grinned and rubbed his nose across hers. “I’m only a pig around you.”

  “Well stop.” She pushed off him and turned back to grab the suit and stopped mid reach when Jack asked softy, “What if I don’t want to?”

  She turned back to him and scowled. “It doesn’t matter what you want, Jack. I’ve asked you nicely, several times, to stop, but you use our attraction as a weapon to get what you want. I want you to shut it down.”

  “Why?”

  She rolled her eyes and turned back for the suit again. “Because I don’t want my heart broken again.”

  “What if it won’t be?”

  Pulling the suit against her, she turned slowly. “You can’t make that promise.”

  “I can promise to try.”

  Stevie inhaled sharply. “What are you saying?”