“Hey, that looks pretty good,” he admitted, managing to snag a piece of toast. “I don’t taste butter, woman,” he said, trying to make her laugh.
Emma shook her head. “Butter will kill you, so you won’t find any on your toast. Here you go,” she said, placing it down and grinning at him.
“Aren’t you eating with me?”
“I rarely eat breakfast. I made a smoothie with tofu and strawberries. I didn’t think you were that type of guy,” Emma laughed, holding it out for him to take a sip. He warily stared at it as if it might bite.
“I’m not a tofu anything type. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dirty word. I am an omelet, toast, and bacon type of guy.”
“You won’t get any bacon here, buddy, only tofu. Try it, you might be surprised.”
He pulled her down into his lap and enjoyed the feel of her pressed against him. Again, his body roared to life.
“I hear tofu increases the sex drive,” she offered, teasing him.
He grabbed the glass and eyed the pink concoction warily. It looked like a milkshake not a tofu smoothie. He closed his eyes and sniffed it before he took a cautious sip. He opened his eyes to see a dazzling smile.
That alone was well worth braving tofu every day.
“Well?”
“Tastes like a strawberry shake,” Croft admitted, as she moved from his lap. “Where are you going? The tofu kicked up my sex drive!”
Emma started laughing. “I’m going to drink my smoothie as I get ready for work, since it’s too late to meditate.”
“Need my help?” he asked, volunteering his services.
“I think I can manage, Grey. Now, eat your eggs before they get cold and become a wasted masterpiece.” She padded off down the hall to get changed.
As she was dressing, she heard him moving around in the kitchen and realized he was washing dishes. The man had made himself comfortable in her cabin. Oddly, that didn’t bother her in the least.
Staring into her closet, she finally decided on a pair of jeans and sunny yellow button down shirt. It cheered her up.
Who was she kidding? The clothes had nothing to do with her improved mood. It was the sexy man in the kitchen who made her all chipper and happy.
Leaving her room, Emma found him beside her desk, staring at a picture of her family. When he picked up the one of her brother, he actually closed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. It melted her heart.
“That’s Gage two months before he was murdered,” she quietly offered.
“I’m sorry. I finished the dishes, and I thought I’d look around.” He ran his hand through his hair. It made it stick up in sexy spiky peaks.
“It’s okay. I keep the picture out so I can remember what he looked like before that day.” Emma needed to do something to get her mind off the conversation. Placing her glass in the dishwasher, she turned in time to see him crossing the room to her side. The man was holding her gun harness and watching her intently. Again, she had that distinct feeling of being prey.
“Let me help you,” he offered, as he slid it over her arms and up her shoulder.
She turned and looked up at him. “Thank you, Grey.”
“When you call me that it makes me go all soft inside.”
It made her smile. There was nothing soft about this man, she could already tell. “But it’s your name, what else should I call you?” she asked, innocently.
“Darlin’, anything you want,” he answered. “Thanks for breakfast. It’s not often you meet a woman who can cook and enjoys it.”
“We are a rare breed. How was your omelet?” she inquired.
“It was really good, honey. All cheesy, just the way I like it,” he said before pausing. “Wait a minute. It wasn’t real cheese, was it?” He suddenly looked horrified at the idea.
Emma started laughing. “It was cheese.”
He let out a deep breath. “Thank God! For a minute there, I thought I violated the temple with more tofu products.”
She giggled. “It was soy cheese, Greyson.”
Croft stared at her as if measuring her seriousness. “Are you serious? You fed me a cheese bi-product without my knowledge?”
Emma filled their travel mugs as he walked towards the refrigerator. “I’m serious.”
He pulled out the package of cheese and grimaced. Then he grabbed a carton of egg substitute. “Fake eggs too, Emma?”
The outrage in his voice made her break out in a fit of giggles.
“Now, I have to cancel the effects of that omelet at lunch time.”
She snorted, not sure if he was kidding. “What? Why?”
“Honey, I’m a guy. No self-respecting man willingly eats soy cheese and fake eggs. It can get me banned from the boy’s club. Other men will mock me and no one will want to be my friend.”
“You’re unbelievable,” she said, laughing even more. Who knew he could be this funny?
“I plan on balancing it out with beef and bacon. I’ll tolerate the no butter, and ignore the eggs, but stealing a man’s cheese is a sin!” He grabbed his travel mug from her, and then pulled her in for a kiss.
It was warm, full of heat and made her forget. When he broke away, she stared up at him.
“That was a really great kiss, Agent Croft,” she teased.
“Not my best work. I’m depleted of man food.”
She loved how he was so easy to laugh with and simply share her morning. He was an amazing man.
“Ready, Emma?” he asked.
“I am,” she answered.
“Well, let’s get moving then because I have to swing by the cabin and get my gun and badge. I wasn’t expecting a sleep over last night,” he said, winking.
She tossed him the keys and grinned. “Expect one tonight, Grey,” she teased, and when her comment caused him to miss the keys midair, Emma snorted. “That is, unless you really want to sleep there with your partner. I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Are you out of your mind?” he asked, staring at her.
Emma let him pull her out the door and to her Jeep. There was no doubt. She was definitely looking forward to tonight--maybe even more than him.
It was a silent drive down to the main road. Croft was thinking about the woman sitting beside him, and how he had to keep his hands off her for the next twelve hours or so. A little piece of his mind was also thinking about what was going to happen when this assignment was over.
Could they do a long distance relationship?
Did Emma even want one?
Would she allow him to be part of her life, or would she want to forget everything that had happened along with him?
That tightened the knot in his gut, almost as much as Reese touching her hand and hair. He would just have to invade her life and hold on to whatever pieces she would allow him to steal. A day without her seemed grim.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Emma’s eyes continually flickered to Greyson’s hand clenching around the gearshift. His knuckles would go white, and then the stress would ease up and return to normal. Would he be able to get past what she had told him and treat her normally? She’d worked hard to survive her life in Philly and telling him everything showed her trust in him.
Emma only prayed he didn’t take what she’d shared and use it against her in the end. When he left, he’d be taking a little piece of her heart with him. She’d give it to him willingly because Emma knew the truth. She was falling for him.
Now, she had to figure out a way to keep him from wanting to run from her and the blood staining her soul.
When they came to a halt in front of the sheriff’s station, Emma was jolted back to reality. It was time to let it all go and get the job done.
The woman was fascinating to watch. He couldn’t help but observe the subtle change of her morphing from his sweet Emma in to the tough sheriff. She was a different person here. Once at work, she became the woman who carried it all on her shoulders, despite the pain she was feeling inside herself.
“You comi
ng, Grey?” she asked, touching his arm.
“Yeah, honey. I’m coming” he replied.
She stared at him openmouthed. “You can’t call me honey in there!”
He grinned at her outrage. “Okay, baby.”
“Grey! You can’t call me baby in there either! I need your respect in front of my men. Call me Emma or Sheriff,” she replied, trying not to laugh. The crinkles around his eyes gave away his teasing mood.
He saluted her and winked salaciously. “Sure thing, Sheriff Baby.” He dodged a punch and leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the lips. “I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.” Then he pushed his luck, stealing a few more minutes to keep his lips pressed to hers. The heat built between them, cocooning around them and building wildly.
“Grey,” she whispered, pulling away and then leaning back in to lightly tug at his lower lip with her teeth.
God, what he wouldn’t give for tinted windows and a fully reclining seat in that moment. “It’s going to be a really long day not kissing you,” he admitted.
Emma ran her fingers across his cheek. “Tell me about it.”
* * *
He watched the whore get out of her vehicle with the FBI agent. Already, she was sleeping with him. The Hunter saw him arrive at her cabin last night, and apparently, he never left. The kiss he’d just witnessed was proof enough. It was appalling that she wasn’t being professional in her place of employment. It was a shame what people would do when they assumed that no one was observing them.
Well Emma Starling was wrong. He was watching her, and he’d make sure she was well aware of it soon.
Obviously, all women were whores. It must be something in their DNA that caused it.
He watched them walk into the office laughing and smiling at each other. Before it was over, he’d put a stop to their merriment.
The next victim had already been selected, and she’d keep the game going. The trap was being set and the fun would continue, for him at least. He tried to feel guilty, but every whore deserved what she ultimately got.
Soon, they’d all feel the wrath of The Hunter, especially Sheriff Emma Starling.
* * *
Walking into the station, she wasn’t surprised to see that her secretary had once again beaten her into the office. What did surprise her was there was a young man with his butt on Lila’s desk. She glanced up, staring as her boss.
“Morning,” Emma stated, staring at the love fest happening outside her door.
Lila smacked the man on the leg.
“Don’t get up on my benefit,” said Emma, sarcastically. The look on Lila’s face made up for all the times she popped out and scared her, making her spill her coffee.
“Sheriff, this is Billy.”
“Hello, how are you?” Emma asked. To her dismay, he began to answer.
Damn it!
“I’m doing real good, Sheriff. I hear that another woman was found dead in town,” he answered, checking out the redhead lecherously.
Croft crossed his arms, glaring at the man. He was scoping out Emma’s body like she was an option on a fast food menu, and it was getting on his damn nerves.
“That’s what they tell me,” she retorted. Emma made a mental note to talk to Lila later about blabbing information from the office. By now, word was probably all over town.
“Wow, a genuine killer right here in Celestia. That’s epic!”
Both Croft and Emma stared at him as if he was a complete and total idiot. Oh wait, he was in a relationship with Lila, so there was the possibility he caught it by osmosis. They were definitely two peas in a pod.
“Uh huh, Lila can you start typing up those reports I left on your desk and kiss the man goodbye until AFTER you get out of work?” It was as if she had to be the woman’s mother in the office now too.
“Sure thing, Sheriff,” she answered, shooing the man from her desk as he tried to kiss her.
Emma walked away, but was forced to be privy to the giggles and ‘I love you’s’ that were being exchanged.
She rolled her eyes.
Croft snickered. “It is a bit much,” he admitted.
“Every day I have to listen to it. Usually, it’s over the phone, but today I get it in stereo outside my damn office door.”
He crossed his arms across his chest. “You're cranky.”
She snorted. “Yeah, I am.”
“That’s what no sex and tofu shakes will get you. You should have taken me up on some naked rolling around and copious amounts of bacon,” he answered, watching her stare at him with a shocked look on her face.
“Greyson! Shhhhhhhh! My door is open!”
Now, he was even more entertained at the sheer horror on her face. “Want to join me in the meeting room? We can get the day started.” Croft found that he loved catching her off guard, so he decided to push it further.
Emma didn’t know what to say, especially when the agent took her by the hand and led her out of her office. She was sure all her co-workers were staring. “Oh my God,” she muttered under her breath.
He simply laughed.
Walking into the conference room, Briggs looked up from a danish and coffee. “Morning,” was all he offered, noticing the sheriff pulling her hand out of his partner’s, like the contact burned. He tried not to laugh or snicker. “Want something sweet to snack on, Croft?”
The agent declined, lifting his brow at the man’s words. “We had breakfast already, but thanks.” He waited for his partner to toss out additional comments, but again received none. Croft gave him credit, he wasn’t sure he could be so magnanimous if the roles were reversed.
“When will the reinforcements roll into town, Grey?” asked Emma, handing him her coffee cup when he chugged the remainder of his.
“Thanks, honey.” He took a sip and passed it back to her before replying. “The team will be arriving sometime in the next couple of hours. I’m going to try and keep it as low key as possibly, but they tend to grab attention. It’s all that blue and yellow lettering,” he answered, grinning.
Again, Briggs watched the two sharing her coffee, impressed his partner had bagged a babe at his age.
Emma took her cup back and placed it between them. “I appreciate it. The citizens are going to storm the castle with pitchforks and torches. I’m the one they’ll be looking to toss on the fire.”
Croft didn’t like that visual at all. “That’s not happening!”
Briggs watched the two of them together and sat there smiling. Whether they knew it or not, they were seamlessly moving together as a couple. The old man still had game left in him after all.
“Let’s just try to keep it low key.”
“I don’t want to rile up the town any more than we have to at this point. The calmer people stay, the better we’ll all be. What do you say to a town meeting sometime tonight to address their concerns and help calm the townspeople?” he inquired, staring at her. “I’ll do it if you don’t think you’re up to it.”
She appreciated his offer, even as that fear returned. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to treat her like the sheriff, now that he was privy to the truth. It turned her stomach that he saw her as weak and helpless. “I’ll do it. It’s my damn job.”
He heard the irritation in her voice.
Emma pushed out of her chair, grabbing her coffee mug, unwilling to share it any more. When she reached her office, she closed the door a little louder than intended, and it echoed down the hall.
Croft turned to look at his partner, knowing he committed a huge tactical error by making her feel like she was weak. Okay, so this was strike two on his behalf. He was glad Emma had chosen to leave when she did, or he might have tried to coddle her more.
What?” Greyson muttered, shrugging his shoulders.
“Nothing at all. I was just thinking how refreshed you look this morning,” he casually responded.
Croft went to the meeting room door and closed it. He sat down across from his partner and leaned back in his chair. “What’s
that supposed to mean, Special agent Briggs?”
“It means you look rejuvenated, and you had breakfast. I’m jealous. All I had was a danish and horrible coffee. Come on, tell me all about it,” he cajoled, grinning.
“Are you out of your mind, son? You know I’m not going to tell you what went on between us.”
There was a pause before the younger man continued, “Man, your mind is in the gutter. I’m not talking about sex! I’m referring to breakfast. What did you have? Talk slowly.”
It lightened the mood. That was one of the best things about his partner. He had the ability to add levity when the tension was building.
“An omelet made of fake eggs, and soy cheese,” he admitted before continuing, “and she wouldn’t let me eat butter on my toast.”
Briggs analyzed that. “The woman is worried about your cholesterol,” he answered. “A man your age…”
Greyson lifted an eyebrow. “I’m not ninety. I’m forty-one.”
He snickered. “Technically, I could be your son if you had a kid at eighteen.”
“Shut up, Curtis.”
“I’m just saying that she’s worried about you. Take that as a very good sign and run with it,” he suggested.
“It was soy cheese. Emma might be trying to poison me.”
Curtis thought about it. “Okay, how about this. You stay in the cabin, and I’ll let a beautiful woman make me breakfast and worry about my cholesterol. Good luck with vending machine baked goods. You’ll be dead by fifty.”
Croft didn’t like the idea of her cooking for any man but him. “I don’t think so, partner. Over my dead body are you getting your hands on her breakfast.”
He laughed. “I wasn’t thinking about food in that scenario, just so you know.”
The man leaned forward. “What the hell were you thinking about?” he asked, temper spiking.
“I was thinking about her coffee,” he replied honestly. “The stuff here is damn lethal.”
Greyson knew he’d been set up. “You did that to see how I’d react, didn’t you?”
Celestia is Falling (A Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 1) Page 17