Without a word, Malik handed one to Gabe. Without a second thought, Gabe downed half the contents.
“What happened?” Malik asked.
“We have a date tomorrow.”
“Solid!” Malik cheered.
“And I have to pick him up because, after all, he’s a gentleman.”
Malik laughed until he almost fell over.
“It’s going to be a long night.”
Malik snorted.
Chapter Three
JASON DIDN’T shower until a quarter to eight. He wasn’t sure what it was about Gabe that made him suspect the cop wouldn’t show up. But he washed himself, then wrapped a towel around his hips. It was about eight fifteen when his phone chimed, and he glanced at the face, expecting a text, canceling.
Hey, I’m downstairs.
Jason smiled. I’ll let you in.
After sending the text, he gave Jason access to the building through his phone, then dressed quickly in a pair of boxers and black slacks. He wasn’t sure where they were going for drinks, but he hoped it wasn’t Warrior. He saw that place way too often as it was. As he was about to reach for his shirt, the doorbell rang. He left the shirt and answered the door.
“Good evening, Officer Ford,” Jason teased. “You’re late.”
“Sorry.” Ford even looked sheepish. “Work was a pain in the ass today, and I ran behind on getting home to shower.”
Jason thought Gabe was gorgeous from the first time they’d met. But right then, in that moment as Gabe stood at his door, brown hair styled back away from his face, muscular body draped in black, Jason had to bite into his bottom lip.
“That’s all right. The wait was worth it because you clean up very well.”
Gabe chuckled. “Thanks?”
“Damn—I meant to say you look amazing.”
“I know what you meant.”
Gabe’s gaze traversed his body, from his neck, over the tattoo of the scorpion on his right pec, then down the massive tribal tattoo along his left arm to the elbow. He wondered if seeing the ink was a turn-on for the officer or disgust.
“Come in. Let me finish getting dressed.”
“Don’t rush on my account,” Gabe called. “I kinda like the view.”
Jason glanced over his shoulder and smiled but hurried into his bedroom. He pulled on a black shirt and slipped on his silver necklace before reaching for his Rolex. Once he was dressed, he tapped on a little aftershave, slipped his feet into a pair of black shoes, then picked up his wallet and cell.
“I don’t know where you’re taking me,” Jason said, reentering the room to find Gabe checking out the city below them. “So I figured I couldn’t go wrong in black.”
Gabe turned. “You look great. Ready?”
“Of course.”
They rode the elevator down in silence. Jason knew Gabe’s was staring at him. He kept his gaze averted to give Gabe time to find what he’d been looking for. Once they stepped through the door and out into the late-evening air, Jason was surprised to find Gabe had driven a black truck. The only color on the thing was the silver rims.
“I didn’t imagine you as a truck driver,” Jason said.
Gabe surprised him further by opening his door for him.
“No?” Gabe asked. “What did you see me driving?”
“I don’t know.” Jason gripped the bar and pulled himself into the leather seat. “Something strangely compensating.”
Gabe laughed. He closed the door, jogged around, and took his seat behind the wheel. “You think I need to be compensating for something?”
“I’m not sure. I guess I’ll soon find out.”
Gabe’s cheeks did redden then, and Jason took great pleasure in that. They remained silent until after Gabe maneuvered the truck from the parking lot and onto the main road.
“Where are we going?” Jason asked.
“Don’t like surprises, huh, Jason?”
Jason smiled. “I like them just fine—sometimes.”
“We’re going to Boisson Scorpio.”
“The rooftop bar?” Jason asked. “I’m impressed. Trying to get into that place is like pulling teeth. How did you swing it?”
“I know a guy who knows a guy.”
Jason nodded and glanced out the window. They chatted about simple things all along the drive to the center of Dearhorn City until finally Gabe pulled into the parking lot of the luxury French bar. The lot was packed, as usual, but Gabe didn’t stop. He merely turned left at a sign that said This Way to VIP. Once he was parked, both of them climbed out of the vehicle and made their way to the entrance. They were admitted after Gabe gave his name, and then escorted to a glass elevator. They rode it all the way up, then emerged on the rooftop space.
Music played softly, customers spoke in hushed tones, and from somewhere laughter rang out. In the center was the bluest pool Jason had ever seen. In the corners, potted palm trees grew healthily toward the sky.
The tables were glass, and the seats single sofas. Their hostess seated them at one of the sides that overlooked the whole city lit up below them like the Fourth of July. Jason allowed his body to fall into his chair but couldn’t help glancing out over the town. He couldn’t remember a time he’d seen anything quite so beautiful—then he turned back at Gabe and smiled.
Oh yes, I can.
“Could I start you both off with a drink?” the hostess asked.
“Cranberry with a lemon twist for me,” Gabe said.
“Gabe, honestly. Are you one of those guys who is afraid of leaving their car in the lot for the night?” Jason baited.
“No.”
“Then have a real drink with me.”
Gabe tilted his head, then smiled. “All right—can I have the Scorpion’s Kiss?”
“Sure,” the hostess replied. “And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have what he’s having.” Jason grinned.
She laughed and left them alone to the ambience of the place.
“So?” Gabe asked. “What do you think?”
“I think this first date is off to a smashing good start.”
“Good. I’m curious, though,” Gabe said. “How does a bartender afford your condo?”
“Is this an interrogation, Officer?”
“No… I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“Don’t worry about it. People ask me that all the time.” He had to stop when the hostess returned with their drinks and meal menus. Jason took the menu and lifted his glass toward Gabe. “To first dates and unashamed expectations.”
“That’s a strange toast,” Gabe said. He touched his glass to Jason’s, then sipped.
“To answer your question—” Jason set his glass down. “—I’m not a bartender. I own Warrior and Empress over in Fullerton.”
“Oh. God. I’m sorry.”
“No need to be. We’re getting to know each other right now, right?”
“Right.”
“Well,” Jason said, after taking another sip from his drink. “While I was in university, I started working as a bouncer at a club over on Seattle Drive. Then slowly branched out into promoting, that sort of thing. I found I loved the idea of owning my own business, and I had connections in the bar scene. I switched my major, so I could double in business and education. My father was a little horrified. He thought I’d want to follow in his footsteps and become some kind of a professor.”
“Your dad’s a professor?”
“Yeah. He’s currently teaching ancient literature at a university in Osaka for a couple of years.”
“Wow—so you’re smart and ambitious. Why are you still single?”
Jason thought about the question while their waitress arrived, introduced herself, and took their orders. “I was in a serious relationship for four years. I thought for sure I’d found the one. It ended a year and a half ago.”
“I’m sorry.” Gabe leaned forward in his seat to rest his elbows on the table.
“That’s all right.” Jason glanced out at the view be
fore meeting Gabe’s eyes. “I was ready to settle down, and Patrick—well, he didn’t seem as if he was ever going to. What about you?”
“Me?” Gabe asked. He inhaled, then offered a one-shoulder shrug. “I’ve always wanted to be a cop. My father was a firefighter; my mother worked in emergency dispatch. He died from lung cancer a few years ago. My mom—well, she passed away just as I graduated from high school.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. But we go on, right? I have a brother in the military. He is stationed in South Korea at the moment.”
“Oh—have you heard from him?”
“Yeah. It sucks, though, because he and I are close. I remember thinking—if he moved to South Korea, we’d lose that.”
“I don’t think so. You love each other.”
“Yeah,” Gabe said. “But distance has a way of worming its way between people, then tearing them apart.”
“Then don’t let it.”
Gabe smiled.
Soon their meals arrived. They fell into easy, flirtatious conversation. Jason learned more about Gabe in those moments than he’d learned about Patrick the entire time they’d been dating. The laughter was real, and the warmth between them was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. After dessert of a warm cookie topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate shavings, and caramel drizzle, Jason wanted to undo his pants.
“I think you might have to roll me home.” Jason groaned. “I don’t usually eat that much, but the food was delicious.” He eased back in his chair and exhaled. “I think I need a cigarette, and I don’t even smoke. Do you think they’d mind if I undid my pants?”
Gabe laughed. “Did you enjoy that?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe—thank you.”
“Good.” Gabe finished the last of his drink and set the glass back on the table. “You don’t find it weird dating a cop?”
“Should I?” Jason asked, tilting his head. “I don’t have a record—I’m an open book, as they say.”
“My last man was afraid of the gun.”
“Well, the gun isn’t the most ideal thing. I’m not going to lie.” Jason inhaled. “Tell me something. Do you get to take the handcuffs home?”
Gabe smirked. “Who’s to say I don’t have my own pair?”
“Do you?”
“I’ll never tell.”
Jason chewed on his bottom lip.
“Honestly, I’ve never thought about using them,” Gabe admitted. “The last guy I dated was always in church. We never—you know—”
“How long did that last?”
“Six months.”
“And no sex?”
Gabe shrugged. “He wanted to wait until marriage and I was cool with that—or so I thought. Then I realized I was hiding, and the less he pushed the subject of taking our relationship to the next level, the safer I’d be.”
“Tell me this… are you a sexual person?”
“I could be. For the right man.”
Jason nodded. “Fair enough.”
Their bill arrived, and Gabe quickly took it. Jason didn’t fight. After it was settled, they ventured back into the elevator. Jason took a moment to press his frame into Gabe’s body and kissed him deeply. Gabe reciprocated by tangling an arm around Jason’s neck and lifted his mouth higher to deepen the kiss.
Jason trembled. “I’ve been thinking about that all night,” he whispered. “I didn’t think you wanted to do it in front of everyone.”
No sound left Gabe’s lips. Instead he licked them and pressed his beautiful brown eyes closed.
“Do you want me to apologize?” Jason asked, worried he’d really crossed the line with the lip-lock.
“Do it again.”
Without a word, Jason lowered his head back to Gabe’s lips. He allowed their tongues to play with each other and send sparks of electricity charging through his frame. He plundered Gabe’s mouth until the doors pinged behind them. Only then did he reluctantly release Gabe and step back.
“Come, dance with me,” Jason managed.
Chapter Four
THE LOCKER room at the station was surprisingly empty. Gabe didn’t need to go to work that morning, but he wanted to get a workout in before he faced his day. In hindsight that had been a bad idea. Somehow he was roped into covering for a short staff shift. By lunchtime he was cut loose, but he still hadn’t made it to his workout. That had to wait. He had to leave, or he’d go crazy. He took a quick shower, grabbed his gym bag, then made his way across town to where he’d left his truck the night before. Soon he was speeding, windows down, to the center of the city. The gym there had been taking money from his credit card for a year, but he hadn’t used the joint once. Who had the time? With his shifts at work and trying to be social—the gym outside of the job just didn’t seem plausible.
Once he’d been checked in, he changed his shoes, grabbed his water bottle and a face cloth, then made his way into the open space. It was empty—with a couple of guys pumping iron and one jogging on a treadmill. Gabe found a machine out of the way, set it for forty-five minutes, and after a quick warm-up, he climbed on and began jogging.
His mind swiftly drifted from the gym to Jason Tomlinson and his gorgeous self. Everything about the businessman screamed class and sex appeal. But Gabe couldn’t let that cloud his judgment. Relationships had never been the most successful endeavors in his life. But whereas his last relationship ended because there just wasn’t any kind of spark, Gabe figured that was better than having the man he loved sleeping around.
He exhaled as the machine switched from a flat surface to a slight hill.
Then Jason had pressed him into the side of the elevator and stormed his mouth. Sure, Gabe was shocked at first, but having Jason’s large body against his, those strong hands clutching Gabe’s hips, and Jason’s skillful tongue plunging deep into his mouth had quickly made that surprise vanish. Gabe sighed, remembering the heat that had fanned his flesh, the fire that raged through his being, and the hardness of his own dick with each brush of Jason’s tongue.
No, Jason’s ex had no excuse to cheat. Jason knew precisely how to kiss a man to leave him whimpering in a wet mess of himself.
At the end of the night, they’d taken a cab together. In the back seat, Jason reached over and hooked his pinky with Gabe’s. It was so sweet, Gabe almost lost himself. Then again, that had only been their first date. Who knew if that was the way Jason was with all his men. It was hard to imagine a man looking the way Jason did being tender and sweet. In Gabe’s line of work, men that size were always trouble, and he’d spent most of his life training to take them down a peg.
On their way back, the cab driver had the radio on. For some strange reason, it just happened to be playing “Song on Fire” by Nickelback. Adding to the surprises of the night, Jason started singing softly.
Gabe melted.
When the taxi reached Gabe’s place, he’d wanted to kiss Jason again, to feel Jason’s heartbeat against his palm. But he settled for a hug and hurried, as fast as his feet could carry him, up the front steps and into his house.
Though Malik had called a couple of times since the date, Gabe hadn’t picked up. He was well aware why his best friend was calling, and Gabe wasn’t even sure the date had in fact happened.
Maybe he’d dreamed the whole thing.
After the gym, he bypassed the shower, grabbed his bag, and drove home. When he pulled into his driveway, he found Malik sitting on the top step. Gabe groaned, gathered his things, and climbed from the truck.
“You’re avoiding me,” Malik said. “Was it that bad?”
They hugged, and Gabe allowed him into the house. After dumping his gym bag, he entered the kitchen with Malik on his heels. “Sorry.” Gabe picked up a bottle of water. “It’s just been a really weird night. And then I went to use the gym at work and got roped into working.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“The shift was uneventful. I was posted on Costa.”
“That beat is pret
ty quiet,” Malik said.
“Yeah. Want something to drink?”
“Dude, I practically live here.” Malik climbed on a stool. “I know where the fridge is. You said the night was weird—how?”
“He was perfect.”
“Then I’m confused.”
“It was almost like he was too perfect,” Gabe said after downing half the contents of the bottle. “He was funny and intelligent—do you know he has a BA in business and education? And that he owns Warrior and Empress?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Gabe drained the bottle and tossed it in a nearby recycle bin. “His father is a professor in Japan right now, his mother died a few years ago, and he’s an only child. He was kind and attentive and funny and handsome and everything I’ve been searching for.”
“But he’s too perfect.”
Gabe nodded.
“Gabe. Man. There’s no such thing. Stop thinking like a cop for a second, would you? Think like a lover. What’s your body telling you?”
“My body can’t be trusted with this.” Gabe frowned and began gathering fruits and a jar of protein powder. “If my body has a say in this, you’ll be arresting me.”
Malik chuckled while reaching over to pick up a few grapes from the fruit tray. “I take it he kissed you.” He tossed a couple into his mouth and chewed.
“Oh, he kissed me all right—are you sure you’re good with talking about this?”
“Yup. I look at it this way—it’s a part of my education. So, teach me.”
Gabe sighed. “Yeah, he kissed me, and it was everything. It’s kind of hard not to fall for Jason.”
“Okay, then fall, but make sure you’re wearing your parachute.”
Gabe blinked at Malik before laughing and shaking his head. “Can you finish my shake? I wanna wash the stink off.”
“Can do.”
TWO DAYS later, Gabe still hadn’t called Jason. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. With Gabe off to Fullerton to handle something happening at his other bar, all they could do was text back and forth.
After the morning briefing with the chief, Gabe went into the main hub to gather a couple of things before they would be heading out on patrol. Malik soon joined him, and since they had some time to spare, they spent a little time joking around with some of the other officers.
Tempt Me Page 2