“My job is to protect the public, ain’t it?” He raises his hands in a mock shrug.
“Protect the public, that’s a good one.” My sarcastic expression blends into an equally sarcastic laugh. “So what, were you planning on writing me a DUI then? Because that’s a good idea. Really good way for us to stay under the radar.”
“I was just plannin’ on givin’ you a little scare is all. Fear can be a mighty powerful motivator.”
I chuckle again. “Well then I guess—”
“I’m thinkin’ it might be a good motivator for Ms. Bell too,” he adds, and the rest of my joke dies in my throat. His lips pull back in a sinister smile. “Sure is a small world, ain’t it?”
It takes a full effort to hide my fury behind a look of poise.
“I’d pay to see your face the day you realize the whole world doesn’t revolve around your fat fucking stomach.” I try to muster a laugh, but Cliff drowns me out.
“You’re fucking one of my officers!” he booms.
Now it’s my turn to smirk. “Is that what you think?” I push my sneer into the corners of my cheeks. “You don’t know me, Cliff. You don’t know what I do. Oh, and by the way—it seems like you’ve really instilled a culture of respect in your department. It seems like Sophia really admired your… tactics.”
“You’re gon’ get us fucked, you know that?” He’s pointing a stubby sausage finger in my face. “I thought your brother was an idiot, but you…” Cliff shakes his head. His anger has turned his voice to a growl. “If you’re getting’ involved with a cop, than you’re dumber than dirt.”
“And you’re delusional if you think you can scare me by breaking into my house,” I say. “Hiding and waiting for me, dressed in your fucking uniform.” I force another sarcastic laugh. “It’s a nice touch, but what are you gonna do, Sheriff? Arrest me?”
“Don’t test me, son,” he hisses through clenched teeth.
I raise my eyebrows and hold out my wrists as if saying, Then do it.
His eyes flick down to my hands, then back up.
“You know, she’s one of them gals that really loves the law.” He tilts his head back and nods. “Yeah… you know the type. And see, I’ve been wonderin’ about what she might think if a little birdie passed along the word that her new toy is the perp behind the next bank robbery. Behind all these federal robberies. I’d have to suppose she wouldn’t like that.”
“Probably not, huh? Good thing there’s not going to be a next robbery,” I say. “I’m done.”
“The hell did you just say?”
“Jesus, are you fat and deaf? I said I’m done. D-O-N-E. Done. I’m not robbing another goddam bank for you, did get that?”
“Oh—” Cliff slaps the table and laughs. “You are dumber than I thought.”
“You can go ahead and think that.” I shrug. “It’s better than playing your little game until one more job doesn’t go quite as planned and you can’t buy us quite enough time and Owen and I end up in the back of some shithead Fed’s suburban.” I take a step closer, placing my palms on the counter and leaning forward. “But I’ll clarify it all right now, I don’t work for you. And as far as I’m concerned, I don’t even know you.”
Cliff’s expression is too full of anger to continue in a smirk. He narrows the distance between us with another step, his stomach nearly grazing me, but I don’t move.
“You don’t get to walk away from this. From me,” he murmurs. “You think you’re just gon’ make some money, meet a nice gal, a cop gal, and ride away into the sunset?” His laugh comes out in a cruel and raspy cough. “Guess again, son. I don’t care who you think you work for. I own you. I own you and your buddy just like I owned your brother before you.” He pauses and adds, “Too bad he ain’t around to spell it out for you.”
Before I can even think, I have my palms on his chest. I shove him with both hands and he staggers backwards into the island, knocking over the glass of water that shatters against his hand.
I’m expecting retaliation. A full out assault. I’m ready for it.
But nothing comes.
Cliff examines his hand and the lines of blood trailing down his knuckles. He turns it over, extends his fingers and then retracts them back into a fist.
“I’m gon’ say this one last time,” he drawls softly. Blood is pooling in his palm and I only watch as he continues slowly flexing his fingers. “You’re gon’ stop talkin’ to my detective and you’re gon’ do that first and foremost, you understand?”
I don’t even begin to speak, but Cliff looks up and raises a single bloody finger as if to stop me anyway.
“Or else… you might find that some unfortunate things start happening to Ms. Bell.”
“If you do a goddam thing to Sophia you’re going to have a lot more to worry about than my disobedience,” I seethe. “You fucking hear me?”
The anger in Cliff’s face dissolves into a heavy chuckle that bounces his gut. “Well, I’d say ya’ll have a few things to worry about yourselves, and I’ll leave it at that.”
He reaches for his hat, stepping past me as he fits it on his head. “Oh—and why don’t we go ahead and keep this little conversation between the two of us.”
I turn to face him.
“No reason for your buddy to know that his partner is fuckin’ the cops,” he adds.
I give a slight bob of my head. I’m done talking. At this point, I need him gone before I do something worse.
Cliff smirks at my half-assed nod. He steps out the door before stopping to turn around. “And consider this your last warning,” he says, winking. He uses a bloody finger to tip his hat before slamming the door behind him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sophia
Another day of work. Another night at Noah’s.
My job has never taken a backseat to anything, which hasn’t changed, but in the four days that I’ve been back at work, going into the department hasn’t been the thing I wake up looking forward to. Thanks to Noah. Which is fitting, because I’ve woken up in his arms each morning.
My life has never been this good.
Earlier this week, I woke up for no reason in particular and lied there watching Noah’s eyelids flutter in his sleep, his gentle chest falls as he took in soft breaths. When I woke up randomly again last night, Noah happened to wake up too, which led to a rather passionate 2 a.m. quickie. And yet, I got up for work a few hours later feeling like I’d had the best sleep of my life.
Tonight we have a movie night planned, my choice, so I made a pit stop after work to grab a Sherlock Holmes disk off the shelf in my living room. The first movie in the series, though none of them will ever top the books, even with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. But if I’m selecting the movie then I’m also selecting a plan to not exactly finish the movie.
My heart begins to race in the same way it does every day when I turn into Noah’s driveway. A comforting joy warms me the moment I have his house in sight, settling in my chest as I park. Noah steps out onto his porch before I’ve even closed my door.
“Hello beautiful,” he says.
I smile back at him. He’s wearing stripped pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt that almost glows against his bronze skin. His thick dark hair is still wet from a shower, his eyes beaming out of the smile in his cheeks.
I don’t stop until I’m a foot in front of him. “Hello,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around him and rising on my toes to kiss him. He smells of crisp aftershave and tastes like perfection.
He is perfection.
He’s not the same attractive temptation standing across the club, or even the fantasy in my head. Not anymore. He’s simply become the guy waiting for me to come home. And he’s all mine.
I trail Noah into the house and the scent of fresh pizza instantly wafts over me. “Mhmm,” I hum. “Smells good.”
“Makes sense, I’ve been home all day.” He turns and winks.
“Ew, not like you. You stink.”
“Oh
yeah?”
“Oh yeah,” I echo, taking his hand as I join him in the kitchen. “Terribly.”
I pull him in for a kiss.
“Thank God you tolerate it,” Noah says when our lips come apart.
“You’re easy to tolerate,” I whisper.
He waves his hand over the pizza to carry the smell to my nose. “Maybe this will help the cause.”
“Yeah, what’s on the menu tonight?” I ask, flipping open the lid of the pizza box. “Looks like… pepperoni and pineapple?”
“Sure is. It’s the Cadillac of pizzas, in case you didn’t know.” He slides two enormous slices out from the box and hands me a plate as I take a seat at the island.
“Interesting.” I’m starving and don’t waste any time in taking a bite. I make a face at him as I chew. Disappointment slips into Noah’s expression and I can’t help but cave in. “I’m just kidding! I like it, it’s good.”
He sighs in relief. “Damn Soph, I was ready to drive back and get a different one.”
“Feeling a little gullible today?”
Noah only shakes his head and smirks at me. “Speaking of, how was work today?” he asks.
I shrug while swallowing another bite. There’s no doubt that it’s wonderful to be back at the department, but it doesn’t compare to evenings with Noah.
“It was good,” I say eventually.
“Arrest any new bad guys?” he asks, and I smile.
“We’re in the process of closing a case on a perp from earlier in the week. So no, not today.”
He shakes his head slowly in mock disappointment.
“This isn’t Gotham City,” I scoff.
“Which is okay with me.” Noah fishes himself another slice. “Better than murders on the daily, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very true.”
“How about Cliff? Has he been giving you anymore trouble?”
I shake my head. “My plan is to limit myself exclusively to short and necessary interactions with him from now on.”
Noah nods. “Let me know if he harasses you anymore though because I’ll—”
“I know, I know,” I say. “I’m fine though. Really.”
He cocks his head at me and I take another bite as if it’s a response.
“Okay, this is pretty good, I’ll give it to you.” I swallow and furrow my eyebrows. “But, do you happen to have the Cadillac of popcorn around here too?”
“That is a good question, Detective.” He turns around. I watch him peruse through two cabinets without success before meandering toward the pantry. “Unfortunately, I think this case is going cold on me,” he says after a few more seconds of searching.
A silly laugh escapes me.
“What, do I sound too authentic?”
“Oh yeah. Just like a real officer.”
Noah gives in to a laugh of his own. “Well I have a proposal for you—if you take the rest of the pizza to the living room and get the movie set up, then I’ll look around for the popcorn I don’t have and pour us some wine that I definitely do have.” I begin to giggle but Noah interrupts it by pulling me into his chest. “Is that a deal?” he whispers in my ear, his lips tickling my earlobe.
“It’s a deal,” I whisper back.
“You know you look just like him, right? You’re like a younger version of Robert Downey Jr.” I smirk at Noah as he rubs my feet in his lap.
His eyebrows rise into his forehead. “So that’s how I got ya, huh?”
“The only reason.”
“I knew it.” He shakes his head. “At least tell me I’d make the better Iron Man though, you’ve gotta give me that.”
I laugh in spite of my sarcastically serious expression. “You’d make the best Iron Man,” I say.
He laughs and at the same time my phone chimes on the table beside us. There’s a low battery alert on the screen when I retrieve it from behind me.
“I need to go plug my phone in real quick.” I begin to stand up, but Noah grabs my ankles.
“Nope, I don’t have any chargers in the house,” he says flatly. “Sorry.”
“Oh really? Did you throw away the one I brought with me?”
“Shit.” His grip slackens, and I swing my feet onto the ground. “Well, all the plugs are off limits.”
I slap his arm on my way toward the nearest outlet and turn the volume of my ring all the way up before plugging it in. As I return, I lean over from behind the couch and wrap my arms around his chest. “How do you like my movie selection?” I whisper.
“It got suddenly worse without you sitting next to me.” Noah lifts one of my hands from his chest and weaves his fingers between mine.
“Well then.” I round the couch and sit down again without ever dropping his hand.
As soon as I touch the cushions, Noah tugs me toward him. He lies back and pulls me on top of him. My hands instantly fall to his chest and I clench his shirt in my fists as he presses his lips into mine. My hands slip under his shirt onto his abs.
Then up to his pecs.
Every new inch of his body feels softer than the last.
I caress back down and grasp his shirt in my fists again, this time pulling it over his head. The light from the TV casts thin shadows over the hard lines of his torso. I graze my fingers down his bare chest, tucking them in the waistband between his briefs and smooth hips.
He reaches for my shirt and slowly pulls it off. He pecks kisses down my neck, onto my shoulder. His arms curl around me and unhinge my bra as his lips continue pecking down my shoulder and onto my chest. Onto my nipple.
He takes it between his teeth, circles it with his tongue. There’s a crisp chill when he releases while the rest of my body burns with desire.
His lips come back to mine with a new intensity and he pulls me even closer. I kiss him, clench his shoulders, and feel his fingers working at the button on my pants. As soon as it’s undone, he reaches in and wraps his fingers around the thin strap of my panties. His knuckles are cold on my hips.
I gasp for a breath when our kiss breaks.
“Let’s get these off of you,” he whispers.
I lean back and fall into the other end of the couch, clutching my bare breasts as he tugs my pants off.
He pulls me back towards him. His fingers twist under my panties as he slides under me so that I’m kneeling over his face. He kisses up my thigh, his saliva sending blissful shivers down my legs.
My entire body is pulsing with anticipation.
Noah pulls the right side of my panties down just enough to kiss my hip. He slides himself even further under me so that I’m kneeling a few inches above his face, and plants a kiss over my clit.
I can feel the fire of his lips as if there isn’t lingerie between us. He grabs my ass with both hands and kisses down the inside of my leg, then slowly back up.
Electricity erupts through my veins. Just watching him is almost too much to bear. I’ve never been teased like this.
Finally, he pulls my panties down. His tongue returns to work. I bite my lips just to trap a moan, but it’s no use. It escapes in a heavy breath as Noah sucks me between his teeth.
I grab a fistful of his hair and moan again. My head falls back, and I close my eyes and curl my toes.
He breaks for a moment to kiss my leg. Then his lips return and my head snaps forward. I watch him and twist at his thick hair. Suddenly his eyes flick open and he stares up at me while slowly licking around and around. My back arches and pleasure surges up my spine.
I’m losing control.
I tell myself to hang on, but euphoria is about to burst within me. And then it does.
Noah holds me in place as ecstasy washes through every inch of my body.
I fall back, my head at Noah’s feet as I pant. He slowly pushes out from under me. When I look up, he’s smiling at me from the other end of the couch.
“What, did I miss something?” he asks.
I can only shake my head at him. I’ve barely caught my breath, but I laugh anyway.
>
Noah reaches over the coach, grabs his t-shirt, and wipes his face. All I can do is look over my thumping chest and watch him.
“Better than the movie?” he asks. I nod, and he leans over to kiss me.
His body slowly collapses onto mine and I run my fingers down his back. Even with my lips pressed to his, I can taste the scent of his cologne. It’s alive in the air between us. But more than that, I can taste him.
When he breaks our kiss, his head drops to my shoulder and he whispers in my ear. “Don’t tell me you’re tired already, Detective.”
“Don’t you dare taunt a police officer,” I say.
“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”
I push his chest and Noah humors me by falling back so I can pounce on top of him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sophia
“All right!” I flip off the stove, move the pan to an empty burner, and take a step back as if it’ll help my voice carry to Noah upstairs. “Eggs are ready,” I sing out.
I reach for two plates, scoop a majority of the eggs onto Noah’s and the rest onto mine. I’m about to call him again when I hear his footfalls begin down the steps.
Noah comes into the kitchen wearing only a pair of dress pants and a towel slung over his shoulder. He tosses it onto a stool, rakes a hand through his wet hair, and smiles at me. I hold up our plates like a waitress ready to deliver breakfast.
Instead of taking a plate, Noah puts his hands on my waist and kisses my neck.
“You’re going to make me drop these!” I say when his kiss becomes a trail of kisses. He takes his plate and I can feel his lips turn into a smile on my neck. I put my free hand on his chest.
“What, did you just get out?” I murmur. “You’re still wet.”
“You should’ve joined me,” he whispers.
“Yeah right, neither of us would ever make it to work.”
“So?”
“Soooo,” I hum, “I have bad guys to catch, remember?”
Noah chuckles. “Yes you do.” He steps back, his eyes tracing me up and down. “Though I never knew cop uniforms could look so sexy.”
A Capital Mistake Page 13