Shades of Temptation

by Virna DePaul

  “We were,” Jase said. “But someone’s been talking. Now we have a copycat on our hands.”

  “Shit. Talk about double trouble. You close to finding him? Or her?” he said with a playful glance at Carrie.

  Jase shook his head. “We’re still knee-deep in interviews and link analysis. Trying to find a connection between the victims. If he could have targeted them from a single location. We haven’t come up with anything solid yet.”

  “Copycat, huh? I wonder if the first guy knows about it? If he didn’t like being copied, well, that would be one way to draw both of them out, don’t you think?”

  She sensed Jase stiffen next to her. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Bo shrugged. “Even stone-cold killers, maybe especially stone-cold killers, have their pride. If someone was going about methodically killing people, he probably wouldn’t like it if he knew someone was passing off the killings as his, you know?”

  Jase nodded. “That makes sense.”

  Carrie agreed. “It does. And it would go both ways, wouldn’t it? Maybe the copycat wouldn’t want the competition being dished out by the killer he was copying. What if—”

  “Well, well. If it isn’t Wonder Woman,” came the voice of the last man Carrie wanted to hear.

  * * *

  JASE WATCHED THE TALL, muscular man with the blond buzz cut walk up behind Carrie and grab her shoulders, kneading them roughly for several seconds. He tamped down his immediate desire to cut the guy’s hands off and instead studied Carrie’s face. She looked like she was bracing for battle.

  “Hey, Ward. Good to see you,” the man said to her before turning to Jase. He held out his hand. “I’m Pete Taylor. SWAT sniper.” He said it like it was an official title.

  Jase looked at Carrie, then back at Pete. Raised his right hand, which still held his beer. “Jase Tyler. Not a sniper.”

  Pete looked at him for a moment, confused. He then laughed, obviously not getting Jase’s sarcasm. High-fiving the other men, Pete sat down on the other side of Jase. He rubbed his hands together.

  “Shit, did you guys check out the Grade-A tail that’s in here tonight? Look at the chick in the red miniskirt. We are going to get some serious action tonight.”

  Jase almost choked on his beer at Pete’s crass words. He looked at Carrie, but she avoided eye contact. Silence descended while all the men sitting at the table glared at Pete. He pretended not to know why. “What? What’d I say?”

  “Dude, you are such as asshole.”

  “Yeah,” Andrews said, agreeing with Bo.

  Grinning, Pete leaned back in his chair, raising his hands in a gesture of appeasement. “I’m just saying, if you boys want some tonight, there’s prime meat to be found.”

  Jase couldn’t take it anymore. “Why don’t you shut up?”

  Pete rose to his feet, looking ready to pound Jase into the ground. “What did you say?”

  Pushing back his chair, Jase rose, as well, aware that he was a good two inches shorter than Pete but not giving a shit. “In case it slipped your notice, there’s a lady at the table.”

  Pete frowned in confusion, apparently not sure who the “lady” was that Jase was referring to. Then his mouth dropped open when he realized Jase was talking about Carrie. “Ward? Oh, get over it, Romeo. Carrie’s been around cops for a long time. She’s one of the guys. Right, Carrie?”

  She nodded her head. Smiled stiffly. “That’s right, Pete. Just one of the guys.”

  “Who the hell are you anyway? Her guard dog?”

  “If you don’t get your mouth out of the gutter, you’re going to find out, aren’t you?”

  She grabbed his arm. “Just drop it, Jase. It’s fine. Pete didn’t mean anything by it. Did you, Pete?”

  Pete remained mutinously silent.

  “Did you, Pete?” Carrie glared.

  Still glowering at Jase, Pete finally shrugged. “Nope. I didn’t mean anything at all.” He sat down and looked up at Jase, who hadn’t taken his chair. “Come on, dude, sit down. We’re all friends here.”

  Jase slowly took his seat.

  “Great,” Carrie said. “Now, if you two he-men are through marking your territory—”

  “Excuse me,” a soft, feminine voice interrupted. “Jase, right? I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second.”

  It was the blonde woman he’d been talking to at the bar. From the look Carrie shot him, however, you’d think she’d just introduced herself as Jase’s long-lost wife. “Carrie,” he began, but she pushed to her feet.

  “Excuse me for a second. I see someone I want to say hello to. I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as she was out of earshot, Jase stood and addressed the woman who’d introduced herself as Sandy. “Did you need to talk to me about anything important, Sandy? Because I’m here with my girlfriend and we’re probably going to be leaving soon.”

  Sandy’s face fell, but she recovered quickly. Forcing a smile, she shook her head. “No. Never mind. But it was nice meeting you, Jase.”

  “You, too, Sandy.”

  Jase sat down. The other men were looking at him with shit-eating grins on their faces. Pete whistled. “Look at you, man. You had that little girl panting for a piece of you. And Ward—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Jase leaned closer to Pete and got right in his face. “Listen, asshole, I don’t care how you talk the rest of the time. But if you ever talk like that in front of Carrie again, I promise I will hunt you down and make you sorry.”

  Pete’s shocked face was almost comical. He pushed back his chair and towered over Jase. “Are you shitting me? You’re threatening me? Did you not hear me when I said I’m a SWAT sniper?”

  “Believe me, I heard you,” Jase said, but didn’t get up. He took a sip of his beer. “And it’s not a threat. Maybe your mother didn’t teach you better, but you don’t talk that way in front of a woman.”

  Pete looked at the other men at the table, watching the interplay between them. “Did you hear this jackoff? He actually threatened me.”

  Bo leaned back and shook his head. “Nope. I didn’t hear anything. You, Andrews?”

  When Andrews shook his head, Pete appeared completely befuddled. “Whatever,” he said and walked toward the bar. Jase started to go after Carrie when Bo stopped him.

  “Hold on there, Jase. Why don’t you sit down? I want to ask you something.” He turned to Andrews. “You mind making sure Pete doesn’t get into any more trouble?”

  “Not at all.” As Andrews and Luke walked off, Jase took his seat again.

  Bo took a drag of his beer and leaned back, studying Jase with veiled eyes. “I’m getting the impression Carrie means something to you.”

  Jase held Bo’s gaze. “You’re a smart man.”

  “Good.” He nodded. “I’m glad. Few men have seen what she has to offer.”

  “But you have?”

  “At one time. But she’s not really my type.”

  Okay, so he wasn’t planning on claiming Carrie. Which was good, because it meant he wouldn’t have to beat the shit out of him.

  “But? ’Cause I figure there’s a but in here somewhere.”

  “But she’s kind of Pete’s type, if you know what I mean.”

  “Pete? She went out with that asshole?”

  “When she first joined SFPD SWAT. It didn’t last long and when it ended, it went downhill really fast.”

  SWAT. Jase still had trouble wrapping his mind around it. Oh, not because he didn’t think she could do it, but because she was such a contradiction. A ferocious cop, but also a woman with long silky hair who decorated her house in girly fabrics and soft wispy watercolors. It was subtle, but she compartmentalized her life. As if she couldn’t believe that the different sides of her could coexist. “She wasn’t on SFPD SWAT for very long. She said you worked with her on the team in Austin?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Did she ever say why she became an MP in the army? Why she wanted to join SWA
T?”

  Bo smiled. “I think it started out as a challenge for her. You know, never been a woman on the SWAT team, so she wanted to do it. She had an edge. Her shooting skills are amazing. Do you know her history?”

  Remembering the scrapbook, the ribbons and newspaper articles, he nodded. “Olympic shooting team.”

  “Yeah. And she also had an edge physically. She’s stronger than most women. When she set her eye on SWAT, she was already fit, but not nearly fit enough. She worked with a personal trainer for a year. She asked for my help to get ready for tryouts, which mirror the FBI’s. Extremely rigorous. But she did it. Ranked third out of the eight that made it.”

  “So you’re a sniper, too?”

  “Not like her. I’m cross-trained for entry and perimeter work. I can shoot. We’re all trained to use the AR 15 rifle. But nothing like Carrie. Or Pete.”

  At the mention of the man’s name, Jase stiffened. Bo laughed. “Pete’s an okay guy. He just can’t stand the thought that she’s a better shooter. Sometimes he lets his pride get the better of him.”

  “She deserves more respect.”

  “I won’t argue with you there,” Bo said. “You going to make sure she gets it?”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  Bo shrugged. “Just that I sense something between the two of you. And I hope you don’t fuck things up. She needs someone who can handle her strength.”

  “I’ll try not to disappoint you.” Jase drained his beer and stood, putting his glass down with a thud. “You sure you’re not just warning me off?”

  Bo laughed. “Believe me, man. I’m helping you. But as far as warning you off, I think it goes without saying that if you hurt her, you’re going to be sorry.”

  Carrie waved to him from the front door. “Looks like we’re moving. Thanks.” He held out his hand, which Bo shook amiably.

  As he started to walk away, a man called out to him. Jase turned around, thinking it was Bo, but it was actually Pete.

  “Word of advice, dude. Carrie likes things rough. But not too rough. You might want to remember that if you have any hopes of keeping her.”

  Jase frowned. Incredibly, it sounded as if the guy was giving him relationship advice. As if he didn’t want Jase to repeat some mistake he’d made with Carrie. Jase didn’t need or want the guy’s help. “I give Carrie everything she needs,” he said. “I always will. And if it ever turns out what she needs is to kick your ass, I’ll be right beside her making sure it gets done.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  JASE DROVE STRAIGHT to his house.

  “Jase, there’s no reason for me to stay with you anymore. My place is fine now, remember?”

  “It would be hard for me to forget being in your bed, Carrie.” He glanced at her. “On the other hand, you seem to have forgotten that’s where we were before Commander Stevens told us about Tammy Ryan. Or is it just that you’d like to forget?”

  “I’m not forgetting anything. But I—I left some stuff at your place anyway. I’ll gather it up and then get out of your hair.”

  Like he was going to make things that easy for her, he thought.

  She must have sensed his determination to talk. Once they got to his house, she said, “You know what, Jase? I think I’ll take a run before I head out. You don’t have to wait up.”

  Despite his increasing impatience, Jase let her go. He had some thinking to do, and a lot of it had to do with what he’d witnessed back at the bar with Carrie’s old team. As he often did when he needed to hammer things out, Jase slipped into his own tank top and shorts and took advantage of the home gym in his garage.

  Even as he pumped iron, his thoughts were all about Carrie. He could tell she frequently worked out with weights herself. She was by no means bulky, but she definitely had the type of muscle definition that one only got with regular workouts. He wasn’t intimidated. And he wanted her to know that. But he also couldn’t get Pete’s words out of his head. Jase had already experienced the complexity of Carrie’s sexual needs and desire, and certainly wasn’t surprised by them. Obviously, Pete had run across the same issue—the fact that Carrie’s needs ran a wide spectrum. But had he learned the lesson too late? Had Pete been too rough with her? And what, exactly, did that mean? Because Jase was forming a picture in his head, and it was one he didn’t like. Not in the least.

  Although she’d said she’d been raped by a college boyfriend, that didn’t mean it had been the only time it had happened. Had Pete, Carrie’s own teammate, raped her? Is that why she’d left SWAT? And if it turned out to be true, what was Jase going to do about it? Other than kill Pete with his bare hands, which is what his instincts demanded.

  An hour after she’d left, Carrie returned and walked into the garage. She’d worn a tank top and sweats, and both were stained with sweat. She’d obviously pushed herself hard. She was flushed. Panting. And despite his fearsome protectiveness and his suspicions about Pete, seeing her like that made him envision the last time they’d been in bed together. Jase felt himself harden and dropped his weights on the floor.

  “You ready to stop running now, Carrie?”

  * * *

  LAUGHING SHAKILY, Carrie held up her hands and took several steps back. “Whoa, there. What the hell are you doing?”

  Jase kept walking toward her. “I’ve stopped running, too. I’d much rather run to you, and since tomorrow is going to involve another busy day working the case, I’m thinking we should take advantage of what little downtime we have left.”

  “All I want now is a shower and to head home. Not necessarily in that order.”

  “I think we can give you a little more than that.”

  She bumped up against the wall and scrambled away from it so she had room to maneuver. “Look, Jase, I thought we established that the nights we spent together were a mistake. You’ve certainly acted like you’ve agreed. And regardless, I’m just not in the mood right now.”

  “What’s the matter, Carrie? We were getting along so well, even after Stevens’s call. You didn’t have a problem staying here after that. So what happened? Was it seeing your old friend Pete that has you out of sorts?”

  She frowned, trying to keep him in her sights as he circled around her. “Maybe it was seeing you flirt with the bimbo at the bar that was the turnoff.”

  At first he looked confused. Then he laughed, obviously pleased by her admission. Which made her fume even hotter.

  “Is she what you think my type is? Why? Because she’s not a cop? Hasn’t any man ever been strong enough to handle who you are? A strong, capable woman with a generous, soft soul? Do you feel you have to hide your strength for a guy to want to make love with you? Is that what you had to do with Pete?”

  She saw red. “Is that what he told you? Were you comparing notes with that bastard?” She shoved him in the chest, making him take a step back.

  “No. I don’t need to compare notes with him. He volunteered more than I could ever expect but it was enough to know you probably were tempted to kick his ass a time or two.”

  She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm and whirled her around, then backed her into a wall, crowding her with his body and the determined look in his eyes. “So, did you?” he demanded. “Have to kick Pete’s ass? Was he one of the guys who needed to beat his chest after he’d taken you to bed?”

  She refused to struggle with him and instead lifted her chin. “He didn’t realize that’s what he was doing, but, yeah, he was. And, yeah, I ended it. Fast. I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. But I guess I never learn. You obviously enjoy flexing your muscles with a woman, too. Maybe you were right about that whole nature and nurture thing, after all.”

  He flinched and the sheer degree of hurt and shock on his face was enough to make her flinch, too. Instantly, he let her go.

  Just as quickly, she reached for him. “Jase, I’m sorry—”

  He shook her touch away. “Well played, Carrie. But don’t worry. That kind of history is never going to r
epeat itself with you. You wouldn’t allow it. And believe it or not, I wouldn’t, either.”

  He tried to turn away, and this time she was the one who grabbed his arm, refusing to let him leave. Refusing to let him turn away from her.

  “I’m sorry, Jase. Please believe me. I was mad, that’s all. And you’re right. I was jealous. Am jealous. So many women want you and I’m nothing like them. I’m not even sure why you’re interested in me when you can be with someone like that woman at the bar. But I know you’d never hurt me. I trust you. I trust you out of bed and in bed, too. I just don’t think sleeping together is the smart thing for either one of us.”

  His expression remained frozen. Distant. “Yeah. So you’ve said. Numerous times. I’m beginning to think I might have to start listening.”

  Deliberately, he pulled away from her and went inside. She followed him, but only after she blinked back the flood of moisture in her eyes.

  She’d used what he’d told her about his parents to push him away, and she’d never forgive herself for that. She couldn’t expect any more from him.

  But to her utter shock, Jase didn’t stay mad at her. When she approached him, he didn’t storm into his bedroom and slam the door. With a weary shake of his head, he walked up to her, caressed her cheek with his knuckles then bent to give her a light, sweet, lingering kiss before pulling back.

  “This is my last invitation, Carrie. No games. No pretenses. And if you refuse, that’s fine. I’ll give up gracefully and never bring it up again. So here goes. You’re welcome to sleep on the couch, but you don’t have to. Just so you know, I’d love to share my bed with you again if it’s what you want, too.”

  With that, he walked into the bedroom, leaving her to stare after him.

  It took her several minutes of thinking of all the reasons she shouldn’t walk into his bedroom before she gave in gracefully and did what she really wanted. She followed him. He was standing by the bed and when she walked in, he shot her a smile that made her heart melt.

  The last time they’d made love, they’d reveled in each other’s bodies with a kind of desperation, as if they’d been afraid they’d be snatched out of each other’s arms. This time, they were determined to give each other what had always been between them anyway—trust. Trust to be everything they were and trust that each would welcome the other with not just open arms, but an open heart.