“Next holiday, you’ll be spending it with me. Before you protest, know that I can cook, and I have no problem throwing you over my shoulder and taking you with me.” He leaned close, his expression suggestive.
“Okay, but only if you help at the soup kitchen with me.” I squeezed his hand on my knee.
“Deal.” He went from touching my knee to holding my hand. “Now, I want to know more about this forced leave. Zachariah didn’t say why he was forcing you to take it?”
I swallowed hard. “Jay, if I asked you to leave this alone, would you?”
“Is it about your safety?”
I nodded.
“I want to respect your wishes and let it be, but if it’s about your safety, I can’t,” he said, no malice in his voice. “What did he say?”
“He said it was too dangerous for me to be on patrol right now. And something about my mate finding out what had happened and going crazy. But he said that in French, so I only caught bits and pieces of it,” I said, telling him some but omitting other parts. “All of the ranting was ridiculous. Slayers don’t have mates. They find a guy and fall in love the normal way.”
He slid me closer to him with one pull. “Did he hint at who your mate was?”
“Jay, I just got done telling you I can’t possibly have one.”
“Humor me, Gina.” He lifted me like a child and set me on his lap. “What else did he say about this mate?”
“I really don’t know. I’ve picked up on some French over the years working for him. But he was pretty worked up. He moved in and out of French to start with, going on and on about how you’d launch an attack against someone, and there would be chaos, then he paced around his office, moving to all French, talking about how he’d have to answer to my mate for this, and that my mate would go crazy over it.” That was as close to the truth as I wanted to get.
Zachariah was right.
Jay would totally lose his shit and attack the den.
Jay kept me close. “He talked about your mate and me in the same rant?”
I nodded and shrugged. “I really need to learn more French, because from what I could gather, he was getting you and my mate confused. A lot. But that can’t be right. I suck at French.”
Jay squeezed me gently. “Have you ever given any thought to who your mate might be? Assuming, of course, you had one.”
I took a deep breath. “I never thought about it until Zachariah’s endless ranting. I was trapped with it for three full days. At one point, I actually tried to concentrate on who my supposed mate might be if Zachariah was right. All I could come up with was the guy I was with for my first three years of college, but that didn’t feel right. Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
He stiffened. “Gina, you were with a guy for three years?”
I nodded.
“Give me his name,” he growled out.
“Sam.” I tucked myself against Jay’s frame. “It’s not a big deal. Things didn’t work out. I’m over it now. Now I just use men for sex. No fuss. No muss.”
“Talking about being with other men will leave me fighting to stay in control of myself, Gina. I don’t like hearing about it,” he said evenly.
“You asked, and I don’t like hearing about all your conquests. I’ve either met or know how many of them?” I gave him a pointed stare.
Suddenly, he looked like he no longer wanted to have this conversation. I could still sense his underlying tension.
9
Jay kept me on his lap on the city bench. “Gina, what happened that Zachariah didn’t want me finding out about?”
The ringing of his phone saved me from having to respond.
Lucky me.
Jay yanked me against him to the point I grunted, and he answered the phone. From the sound of his side of the conversation, it was a work call. “Can’t Taylor handle this? Fine. I’ll come in and check it out.”
I twisted into him more, my hand going to his shoulder. I didn’t know Taylor, but from the sounds of it, the guy didn’t do dick at work.
Jay hung up and anger rolled off him.
I sat up straight, unsure what had made his mood sour. “Jay?”
“I need to head into the station.”
“Are you pissed at me?” I asked, unable to shake the feeling he might be.
“What?” he asked, pulling me against him to the point I thought I’d pop. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Because all of the sudden you’re radiating a lot of anger.”
He closed his eyes a second. “I didn’t get to see you the last few nights. I was looking forward to spending this time with you.”
I touched his face, his words moving me emotionally. “Hey, we can see each other tomorrow night—if we can find the time.”
His arms wrapped around me. “That’s just it. I’m sick of having to find time for each other. Penciling each other in doesn’t work for me. I want more. Don’t you?”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I did want more but voicing it wasn’t really my style. “Um, I should let you go. I need to head to the rec center anyway and look over applications for some new hires. Myra is freaking out about finding a replacement for Lindsay.” I shrugged. “I never knew it would be so hard to find someone to dance around a pole. It’s not that far. I can walk so you can head straight to the department.”
Jay’s face hardened, and I instantly felt bad for bringing up Lindsay’s name. I know he’d told me it had been just sex between them, but from the looks of it, my first instinct had been right. I pushed up and out of his arms. Standing, I tugged my shorts down a little and then cleaned up our hot dog mess, putting it in a trash can near us.
I didn’t think it was possible for his expression to harden anymore. I was wrong. For a split second, I was sure I’d heard his teeth gritting.
I shouldn’t have brought up Lindsay again. I knew that.
And despite all his claims about his time with her meaning very little, his behavior said that wasn’t the case.
“Fine,” he bit out. “If you didn’t want to be with me, all you had to do was tell me so.”
Flabbergasted, I blinked several times before shaking my head. “Jay, I never once said I didn’t want to—”
He went in the direction of his bike with a scowl on his gorgeous face, mumbling something along the way. The strangest part of it all was how very much I wanted to run after him, soothe his temper, and assure him we were okay.
There is no us.
“Sure. You get called into work, and I’m the bad guy for stepping back so you can go in.” I started in the opposite direction and then paused. The need to look at him was great, so I did.
Jay had his head bent, leaning one arm against a light pole. As jealous as I was, thinking about his time with Lindsay and a string of other women, I didn’t have it in me to leave him in this state.
“Jay?”
He ignored me.
“Jayson,” I said, as he moved a bit, keeping his head bent. “If you, umm, need to talk or anything, you know where to find me.”
Being “there” for people didn’t come naturally to me. I tended to prefer to punch my problems out of my system. Myra had been working with me on expressing my anger in a productive manner. Silly me, I sort of thought pummeling the bad guys into a bloody pulp was productive. Since I was new to being a pillar of support, I wasn’t sure what to do.
“I can only imagine how hard it is for you to see Lindsay with Exavier now. And I know you keep telling me you’re not still into her. But the minute I brought up her name again, I get you pouting and being pissy with me. If it’s any consolation, I kind of know what it feels like to lose someone you care about.” Where was a demon when I needed one? Staking something would make me feel much better. “Anyway, I’m here if you need a shoulder or anything. Okay?”
He turned his head and stared back at me through narrowed eyes. “You think I’m pissed because you brought up Lindsay?”
Yeah almost fell out o
f my mouth. I held back.
He didn’t wait for my response. “I’m not, but you refuse to get that. Gina, I’m pissed that its clear you don’t share my feelings for you.”
I tipped my head. “What do you mean?”
He snorted. “I tell you I want more from you and you respond with telling me you’re headed to the rec center. Pretty fucking clear you were avoiding answering me because you don’t share my feelings.”
I lowered my gaze.
He huffed. “See.”
“Jay, did you ever think that I don’t know how to handle any of this? That it’s overwhelming? That I’m doing the best I can with it all? And that, maybe, just maybe, you’re reading me wrong?”
My cell phone rang, and the minute I heard the “Monster Mash” ringtone, I knew it was slayer headquarters phoning me. I answered. “Gina here.”
“Gina,” said Zachariah, sounding winded. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m having yet another argument with Jay,” I said, glancing at Jay. Something was wrong. “What’s going on?”
“We just discovered the bodies of four of our own,” said Zachariah, his voice tight.
“Four slayers are dead?”
“Gina, I’ve issued a Code Blue. We’re trying to locate the rest of you. Lucy’s and Tabitha’s phones aren’t giving us a GPS location.”
I tensed. “I’ll check this area and go to all the normal hot spots for baddies.”
“No!” shouted Zachariah. “You are to remain with Jay. The rest of us will handle locating Lucy and Tabitha.”
“Something is out there hunting slayers, and you want me to stay with Jay?” I asked, my temper rising. “No way in hell are you keeping me benched.”
“I can, and I am,” said Zachariah. “You need to keep a leash on him during this. You know how Jay is. He’ll want you close and safe.”
Sighing, I lowered my gaze. “Please don’t keep me out of the loop on this. Tell me who’s dead.”
“It’s not a concern for you right now,” he said in a scarily calm voice. “Stay with Detective Gonzales. And keep me abreast of your location.”
He hung up.
Code Blue in the world of slayers meant one of us had fallen and the rest of us were required to disclose our locations so Zachariah had a lock on us, to assure we were safe.
I put my phone in my back pocket, mentally ran down the list of slayers I knew were in the area and working this weekend. Since I was on forced leave, someone would be covering my spot. I just didn’t know who. And while I didn’t feel totally accepted by them, I didn’t want any of them hurt.
“Gina,” Jay said, so close behind me that I jolted. I hadn’t heard him move. He ran his hands over my shoulders. “Talk to me, baby.”
“Slayer Code Blue,” I whispered. “Four are down and confirmed dead. Two are missing.”
Jay had me spun around and in his arms before I knew what was going on. I sank into his steely body, pressing my head to his chest and inhaling his masculine scent.
“Who is dead?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. And Zachariah is refusing to tell me. He’s also forbidden me from helping with what’s going on. I know he’s scared about what happened the other night, but to keep me benched during this is wrong.”
He wisely left my comment alone, choosing instead to rub my shoulders.
“I’m going to take the world’s longest walk to the rec center and try to find out anything I can about what’s happening. You’re needed at the station. Go. I’ll text you when I get to the rec center.”
“No.” Jay rubbed tiny circles on the back of my neck, making my body heat with need. “I’ll call and tell them I can’t make it.”
“Jay.” I clung to him. “You have to go in. You know you do. I’ll be fine. I’ll call Myra and—”
“Myra’s visiting her mother still. Remember?” He led me to his bike. “Come on.”
“What?”
“I’m not leaving you alone. I can’t believe I was even going to let you walk away. Your fucking boss put you on the bench because you’re in danger and I let anger outweigh my better judgment. No. You’re not leaving my sight.” He kissed my forehead. “We’ll stop by the station, and we might be able to find out what happened with the slayers. You can glance through reports in my office to see if any names or descriptions stick out.”
Emotions I couldn’t explain surged through me. The next thing I knew, I had my arms around Jay’s neck, squeezing him tight and pressing my lips to his cheek, my feet dangling off the ground.
“Thank you.” I kissed his cheek again. “Thank you.” I moved to kiss the other cheek, and he turned his head. Our lips collided, and I almost slipped him the tongue.
“Thank you,” I whispered against his full lips.
Jay lifted me higher off the ground and stood tall. I couldn’t help but laugh. He chuckled too. “I need to make you a step stool. You’re just a little bit, aren’t you?”
“I only need the stool if I’m trying to reach you, so unless you plan on kissing me all the time, you can save your carpentry skills for the kitchen.”
He put his forehead on mine. “So, what you’re saying is, I need to start on the stool the minute we get back to the house?”
“Yes,” I said softly, staring at his lips. I shook my head. “I mean, no. Jay!”
He winked and set me down. “Let’s go.”
10
Jay pulled his motorcycle to a stop in his designated parking space, and I climbed off quickly. I put the helmet where he had when we were eating and watched as he slid off the bike with liquid hotness.
My body tightened.
“Come on, baby,” he said, putting his hand out to me. “Let’s see what we can dig up.”
I took his hand.
When we got to the entrance, I opened the door before he could.
He gave me a pointed look. “You make it hard to be a gentleman.”
I snorted. “Considering it’s you I’m with right now, gentleman never came to mind.”
It was his turn to laugh. He put his hand on the small of my back and led me through the station’s front door. A thin man, only an inch or so taller than me, stepped out first. He wore a tan shirt and had a notepad in his hand. Jay groaned as he spotted the man.
“Detective Gonzales, are you here for the murder case?” the man asked. “Have anything to say about the recent uptick in violent crimes in the city?”
Jay towered over him and gave him a hard look. “What have I told you, Wilford?”
The man gulped. I’d be nervous too with someone the size of Jay in my face like that. “Umm, not to speak to you—ever.”
“And?” Jay prompted.
A thin sheen of sweat broke out over Wilford’s face. “You hate reporters with a white-hot passion.”
“And?” Jay prompted.
“A-and if you ever laid eyes on me again, it would be me who was a missing person.”
I held back a laugh.
“Very good. Now move.”
Feeling bad for Wilford, I offered him a soft smile.
He returned it and chanced a glance up at Jay. “New girlfriend, Detective?”
“Oh no.” I waved my hands in front of me, “I’m not his girlfriend. I’m just his—”
Jay circled my waist with his arm and jerked me to him. He splayed his other hand over my stomach and let out a possessive growl.
Wilford inclined his head and stepped aside for Jay and me to pass. He nodded at me. “Nice to meet the woman in his life. I was starting to think he was beyond hope, but with someone as pretty as you as his wife, he can’t be all that bad.”
His wife?
My jaw dropped open, but no sound came out.
Jay ushered me through the door. “She can talk me down from a lot of things, breaking you in two isn’t one of them, Wilford. Go away. Now.”
I stared wide-eyed at Jay as he led me down a long corridor that opened into a large room. I tried to stop, bu
t Jay kept us moving.
“Wife?” I managed.
He ignored me as he led me through the station. Men and women were everywhere. Some were at desks in cubicles. Others were coming out of what looked like a meeting room. Several were with people in cuffs.
Two men near a coffee machine spotted us and exchanged knowing looks before smiling. I was still stuck on the reporter assuming I was Jay’s wife, and Jay not bothering to correct him.
A detective with medium-brown hair, wearing jeans and a casual shirt, lifted his cup of coffee. “Who’s your friend there, Gonzales?”
Jay ignored him, steering me towards a glass door on the right. He pulled his keys out and unlocked it. The guy with the coffee headed our way. Jay opened the door for me and waited as I entered his office.
One look around and I wanted to leave. The man’s office looked like a city dump. His house wasn’t that way, which made me wonder how his office came to be in that state. “How can you find anything in here?”
He shrugged, tossing his keys on one of the many piles of folders on his desk. “I have a system.”
“The ‘hope rats come and file things for you’ system?” I asked, staring around.
Jay snickered and sat in his chair behind the desk. He slid his keyboard tray out and started typing.
“Mmm, since Gonzales is rude, I’d like to take a minute to introduce myself.” The man with the coffee leaned on the doorframe. “I’m Romeo.” He let his hazel gaze rake over me slowly.
Romeo? He couldn’t be serious.
“Yeah, I just bet you are,” I said with a snort.
He grinned. “Oh, a redhead with sass. Who’d have thunk it?”
“Go away, Rodriquez,” Jay said, still typing. “If you don’t, I’ll let Gina beat the leaving hell out of you.”
Romeo looked hopeful as he stepped closer to me. He wasn’t bad on the eyes in any way, but I wasn’t interested. He apparently didn’t get the memo though, because he moved even closer, making skin-to-skin contact with me. “So, Gina, you’re Gonzales’s what?”
Bad Moon Rising: A Loup Garou World Novel (Tempting Fate Book 2) Page 7