Dire Straits

by Melissa Pearl

  Except, apparently, Jessica Claret.

  Because he’d been a fucking mess on that voice mail.

  He grabbed the bag of tortilla chips off the coffee table and popped one in his mouth. His mom had made a taco bake casserole, insisting he come for dinner, which was why his ass was still parked in her living room. He hadn’t been about to turn her down, not since she’d had the energy to cook and wanted to share it with him. Of course, knowing Melina couldn’t come over made it doubly important for Jarrett to show up, even if it was the last place he wanted to spend his Fourth of July evening.

  But it had all worked out. His mom had been thrilled to have him come over, dinner was good, and he’d brought along beer.

  What more did he need?

  He squeezed his eyes shut. Why did he even ask himself that?

  He knew what he needed.

  Or wanted, at any rate.

  Images of Jess flooded his mind. Jess in her police uniform, hot and sweaty at the 5K race. Jess at the river’s edge, her look of concern as he identified Katie’s body. Jess in the back of Shorty’s, looking more like a college student than a law enforcement officer. Jess in that goddamn T-shirt dress that had set his imagination on fire…the same dress he’d slowly slipped from her body in the guest bedroom of her mother’s house.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket and he jumped.

  He pulled it out and his pulse quickened.

  It was the last person he’d expected to hear from.

  And the only person he wanted to talk to.

  “Jess.” His voice was breathless.

  The line was quiet. “Are you okay?”

  I am now, he thought. To her, he said, “I’m fine. How are you?”

  “Uh, I’m okay.” There was an awkward pause. “I got your message.”

  His neck warmed. “Yeah, sorry about that,” he said. “I sort of rambled, didn’t I?”

  “You sounded…I don’t know. Not like yourself.”

  She could say that again. He hadn’t felt like himself, either.

  “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” she continued. “With your mom and stuff.”

  “My mom?” he repeated.

  “Is she alright? Health-wise, I mean?”

  “Oh,” he said, nodding. “Yeah, she’s fine. Today was a good day for her. Well, as good as they come these days.”

  “And you’re still there?”

  “Yes.”

  “I…I’m driving home now…”

  Her voice trailed off, and he didn’t know what she was trying to suggest. Was she extending an invitation? Was she just telling him what she was doing?

  “Where are you coming home from?” he asked, trying to brace himself for whatever answer came his way.

  “The grocery store.”

  Her answer pleased him. Immensely. Far better for her to be coming home from grocery shopping than from a date.

  “Do you want company?” he asked impulsively.

  “Oh.” She sounded flustered. “I mean, sure, you can come over if you want to. There’s a decent view of the fireworks from my backyard. But I think they’re starting pretty soon…”

  Jarrett glanced at the beer he was holding. His fifth. He wasn’t drunk, but there was no way he was getting behind the wheel of a car.

  “Why don’t you come here?” he asked.

  “There?” she squeaked. She cleared her throat. “Are you staying the night there? Because of your mom?”

  “I haven’t decided,” he said. That was technically true. “But I don’t feel comfortable leaving right now.” That was also the truth.

  “Okay.”

  The line hummed.

  “The little yellow house, you said? With the willow tree?”

  His heart began to hammer in his chest. “Yes.”

  The line hummed again.

  And then there was a knock on the door.

  Jarrett practically jumped off the couch.

  He yanked the door open and Jessica was there, looking absolutely radiant in a white blouse and a flouncy navy blue skirt.

  “Hi.”

  She smiled tentatively. “Hi.”

  “That was fast.”

  “I was only a mile away when I called.”

  “Oh.” He stood there, his eyes sweeping over her, lingering on her eyes, her mouth, her breasts.

  She shifted her feet. “So, I’m not sure I can stay but I…I wanted to see you. To apologize.”

  “What?” He frowned.

  “To apologize,” she repeated.

  He held up a hand. “Why can’t you stay? The fireworks are going to start any minute.”

  “I didn’t come for the fireworks.” She took a deep breath. “I came to apologize for yesterday. For walking away from the investigation. The story, I mean.” She shook her head, and her hair swung back and forth. He ached to run his fingers through it. “I feel like I owe you an explanation.”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” he told her. He reached for her hand and the electricity was still there, pulsing from her fingers to his, sending a jolt of desire rocketing through him. “Come on.”

  He pulled her into the living room and then to the sliding door that led to the back deck.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered, looking around the living room. Probably for his mother.

  “You want to watch the fireworks, don’t you?”

  “Well, yeah, but—”

  He led her to the edge of the deck, right next to the railing, and pointed at the sky. It had darkened considerably, and a small sliver of moon shone brightly among the stars that were starting to make their appearance.

  “We should see them right about there,” he said, still pointing. “Right over the high school.”

  She gazed at the sky. “I love fireworks,” she said softly.

  “Me, too.”

  He watched her surreptitiously, drinking her in. He wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to make love to her.

  But she wasn’t there for any of those things.

  She’d come to talk. To apologize. To explain.

  He didn’t want any of those things.

  He just wanted…her.

  A high-pitched whistle sounded in the distance, followed by a streak of white hurtling skyward. An explosion of white and red lit up the sky, and Jess sucked in her breath.

  “They’re starting,” she exclaimed. “We’re just in time!”

  He smiled at her giddiness. For someone who was usually so straight-laced, so by the book, he delighted in seeing her guard come down.

  She stared at the sky with rapt attention, oohing and aahing over the bursts of color lighting up the sky. Jarrett tried to tear his gaze away from her, but he couldn’t.

  The fireworks paled in comparison to her.

  She was mesmerizing.

  Breathtaking.

  Without thinking, he reached for her hand. She stilled, her gaze darting in his direction. He squeezed gently, waiting to see how she would react, if she would pull away.

  She didn’t. She nestled her hand in his and his heart exploded. He positioned himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her, their hands still intertwined.

  He nuzzled her neck, her skin warm against his lips. She gave an involuntary shudder.

  “Is this okay?” he asked, his lips moving from her neck to her ear.

  “Yes,” she breathed, pushing her back up against his chest, arching to provide better access. “No…I don’t know.”

  His tongue darted in her ear. “Tell me if I should stop.”

  She moaned softly. “Yes.”

  He pulled his mouth away and relaxed his hold.

  She spun around so she was facing him, completely abandoning the fireworks still illuminating the sky.

  “Kiss me,” she said hoarsely.

  “But the fireworks…”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. “Let’s make our own fireworks.”

  He couldn’t respond.


  Not with her lips on his and her body pressed firmly against him

  31

  Wednesday, July 4

  11:15 pm

  Jessica didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  Which was odd, because she’d never felt that way after sex before.

  Jarrett Pryor did weird things to her, that was for sure.

  She was sitting in her car. In her driveway. Thinking about going inside but not putting in the effort to actually reach out and pull the handle on her door.

  All she could think about was the hour she’d just spent with Jarrett.

  Watching fireworks.

  And then creating some of their own.

  She felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she remembered just what they’d done on his mother’s back deck.

  She shook her head. What in the world was up with her? She’d had sex twice in the last few days, the first time in years…and both had been at a parent’s house.

  She felt like some sort of deviant.

  But oh, had it been worth it.

  She hadn’t gone over with any intention of sleeping with him.

  She actually didn’t really know why she’d driven to his mother’s house.

  The voice mail he’d left had caught her off-guard. She listened to it and her immediate reaction had been that Jarrett hadn’t sounded like himself. And that had unnerved her. She’d never seen Jarrett at a loss for words, mumbling or stammering or sounding anything but composed. So yeah, his message had freaked her out a little.

  She’d tried to put it out of her mind. Had gone for a quick run and made dinner, and then had gone to the grocery store, but the whole time, she’d been thinking about Jarrett.

  About the last time she saw him.

  How she’d checked out on him.

  The story.

  And even, to some degree, him.

  She knew why.

  He was becoming a distraction.

  And she needed to focus.

  To get her life back on track. Whatever the hell that meant.

  And she’d managed to put him out of her mind. Or at least that was what she’d told herself. She’d come home from their visit to Katie’s house and the PCA office and had dived into chores and projects. Stripped her bed, gutted the refrigerator and took down all the curtains to wash and tackled the weeds in the flowerbeds out front.

  Megan had taken one look at her and calmly said, “What the hell has gotten into you?”

  “I’m on vacation,” Jess had reminded her.

  Megan arched an eyebrow. “My point exactly. Why are you doing all this on vacation?”

  “When else am I going to do it?”

  Megan rolled her eyes. “You should be…I don’t know, vacationing somewhere.”

  Jess had just smiled. “I will. Later this week. I’m going back to my mom’s on Friday.”

  That had put a slight damper on her productivity and her ability to push Jarrett out of her mind. Because her thoughts immediately returned to her last visit to her mother’s.

  And whose bed she’d ended up in.

  She decided to wash and vacuum her car to get her mind off it.

  It worked. Sort of.

  But then he’d called her. Left that voice mail.

  And even though she tried to put it out of her head, she couldn’t.

  She’d needed to talk to him, even if it was just to make sure everything was okay.

  At least that was what she’d told herself.

  But then… She sighed. Then look what had happened.

  She’d gone over and within minutes, she was putty in his hands. Leaning into him, practically begging him to touch her, to kiss her.

  To make love to her.

  Butterflies quaked in her stomach as she relived those moments out on the deck, the fireworks lighting up the sky as Jarrett hoisted her onto the railing. The feel of the wood against the back of her thighs, the strength of his embrace as he held her against him.

  She sighed.

  It had been the best fireworks ever.

  There was no use denying it.

  And there was no use denying her feelings for him.

  She might not be on board with the story he was working on, but she was definitely on board with the man who had stormed into her life.

  A car’s headlights caught her attention. They slowly approached, traveling at a turtle’s pace down her street.

  She frowned. She knew it wasn’t Megan. Her roommate was spending the night with Brendan, which was why Jess had been alone on the Fourth. Megan had invited Jess to tag along with them, but it had been a halfhearted offer and Jess had immediately declined.

  She peered at the car again. It had to be a neighbor. Someone coming home late from their Fourth of July celebration. Maybe they’d gone to Shorty’s or something.

  But it wasn’t.

  The car was a sedan.

  An unmarked sedan.

  Jessica froze as Nate pulled to the curb and stepped out of the car.

  What the hell was he doing there? What had she missed at the station?

  Her fingers fumbled with the door handle, but she managed to grab it and push the door open. To his credit, he didn’t look surprised to see her climbing out of the car close to midnight.

  He was dressed in khaki slacks and a black polo, and Jess wondered if he’d been out on a date with Sally or if he’d been working. Or both.

  Her hand immediately flew to her hair and she used her fingers to comb through the tangles Jarrett had created.

  “Hey,” she said with a smile.

  He didn’t return the gesture.

  Her heart began to pound. “Is…is something wrong?”

  The streetlight offered enough light so that his expression was clearly visible. Jess swallowed. Something was definitely wrong.

  She immediately went to worst-case scenario. Someone had been injured on the job. Who? When? How? Her knees went weak and she was suddenly back to her ten-year-old self, watching as two officers delivered the news about her father.

  She forced herself to speak. “What happened?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  A muscle in Nate’s jaw twitched. “You tell me.”

  Jess cocked her head. Why was he asking her?

  “What?”

  His brow furrowed. “What the hell are you doing, Jess?”

  Her field of vision suddenly narrowed and a different kind of adrenaline surged through her body.

  He wasn’t standing in her driveway at midnight on the Fourth of July to deliver bad news about a colleague.

  “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about…” She didn’t, not for sure. But she could wager a guess.

  “A guy called in today. Said something about being harassed by an Aspen Falls cop.” His eyes bored into her. “Female. Short brown hair. Didn’t take a genius to figure out who he was talking about.”

  She swallowed.

  “What the hell are you doing?” His tone was as sharp as his expression.

  She swallowed.

  “Kellan would have your head if he knew you’re running around with Jarrett. You know that, right?”

  “Does he know?”

  “I don’t know.” He blew out a breath. “I haven’t said anything, but I don’t know who else this guy has talked to. He said he called last week, too, about your other visit.”

  Jess was frozen in place, her heart slamming into her ribs, her head spinning. The fears she’d had about getting involved in Jarrett’s story had materialized.

  And she had no one but herself to blame.

  Nate folded his arms. “What exactly are you looking into? And, more importantly, why?”

  “I…I don’t know.” She stared down at the driveway.

  “You don’t know?” he said harshly. “You’re jeopardizing your job, your opportunity for advancement, and you don’t know?”

  Her temper flared a little. “My opportunity for advancement? Spare me. Kellan has zero plans for me to move up the ranks. None.
”

  Nate raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? And how do you know this?”

  “Because I’ve been an officer for almost four years and he’s shot down every single request I’ve made to move up. To take trainings, to take on additional responsibilities.”

  “Did you ever think he keeps you where you are because he values what you do?” He shook his head. “That he needs you in the position you’re in. You’re one of the best officers we have, Jess.”

  Her eyes smarted with tears. They were meant to be words of comfort, words of praise, but she didn’t take them that way. All she was hearing was confirmation of what she already knew: she was an officer. Period. And she would never be anything more.

  But that didn’t mean she wanted to lose her job. Be reprimanded by her captain.

  Perfect people don’t get reprimanded, she told herself grimly.

  And she had to be perfect, dammit.

  Even if it was doing the last thing she wanted to be doing, and in the last place she wanted to be.

  She blinked a couple of times, forcing the tears to dry up by sheer willpower.

  “I’m done with Jarrett,” she said, her voice sounding surprisingly firm.

  “Oh?” Nate didn’t sound like he believed her. “You didn’t look done tonight…”

  The heat rushed up her neck. “What?”

  “I saw you leave the grocery store,” he said. For the first time since she’d known him, he looked and sounded a little uncomfortable. “I was going to talk to you there, before you left, but I got a call. I followed you, thinking you were heading home.”

  Jess was sure her entire body was flaming red. If Nate had followed her to Jarrett’s mom’s…

  “You followed me?” she asked.

  “I just wanted to talk to you,” he said, sounding defensive. “And seeing you go there confirmed what I already knew. That you were working with him.”

  “What else did you see?” she asked. A mental picture of Jarrett’s mother’s house popped up in her head. The way the house sat diagonal on the lot, and just how much of the back deck might have been visible from the road…

  “I saw enough,” he clipped.

  She covered her face with her hands.

  “Look, I don’t care what your personal relationship with him is,” Nate said gruffly. “You can make your own decisions there. And for what it’s worth, Jarrett is a good guy. He wouldn’t be my friend if he wasn’t.” He offered her a grim smile. “But his goal is always to get the story, by whatever means necessary.”