by Tawny Weber
“Fine. I’ll take your help. But first we need to get a few things clear.”
Before he could get to those things, though, a wince-inducing squeak filled the room.
They both turned to watch Mrs. Green push a book cart, the top shelf covered in brightly colored romance novels, most with half-dressed couples looking as if they were going to jump each other. Jade made a mental note of a couple of the positions, hoping she’d get a chance to try them out soon.
“I’ve got my books for the week, Jade. Can you check me out? Carrie will be here any minute now to pick me up.” She squeaked the cart to the edge of the tall counter. Then, a little breathless, she peered up at Diego through her tiny round lenses. “Detective. Are you here looking for clues?”
“Just checking with Miss Carson for some background information on a few things.” He hesitated a second, then, with the same look the neighbor boys had worn when caught smashing pumpkins two months before, he helped the elderly woman shift her book selection from the cart to the counter.
Jade’s heart turned to goo.
“Ah, good idea. Our Jade is a fount of information.”
Mrs. Green reached across the counter to pat Jade’s hand, then snapped her fingers. “Or, if that doesn’t work, the mystery section is quite extensive. I suggest you look to Miss Marple for ideas.”
Diego’s hand froze, his expression baffled. Jade ran her tongue over her front teeth, hoping the threat of biting it would keep the grin at bay.
Who? he mouthed.
Jade tilted her head. Following her direction, Diego glanced to the left. A portrait of a woman in a large, ornate gold frame hung on the wall. The plaque beneath it said Agatha Christie.
His gaze shot back to Jade. She busied herself checking out the books to keep her hand from patting his cheek. He was such a big, bad, tough loner, but there was something about Diego that made her want to cuddle him close.
“Um, thanks,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
There it was. That was why she wanted to cuddle him. Because for a big, bad, tough loner, he was just about the sweetest, most sensitive man she’d ever met.
“See that you do.” Mrs. Green gave a sharp nod in emphasis, then took the bag Jade held out, huffing a little at the weight. “Thank you, dear.”
Diego nodded goodbye. The look he gave Jade warned that she keep all comments to herself. Since most of the ones floating through her brain were sappy and sweet, she didn’t figure she wanted to share anyway.
“About that help,” he said, stepping aside for the elderly woman to pass. As she did, Jade watched Mrs. Green’s eyes drop, then a wicked expression crossed her wrinkled face. She could have warned him. But what was the fun in that?
The little old lady stopped right behind him, hesitated for just a second to give Jade a questioning look. Then, with a shrug that said life’s too short to hold back, she reached out one gnarled, age-freckled hand and patted Diego’s ass.
His eyes widened in shock. His body stiffened as if he’d just been hit in the head with a big stick.
The frown he gave Jade was ferocious.
Then, looking horrified, he turned to watch the little old woman toddle her way across the polished wood floor, her bag of sexy books over her arm and a candy-cane-striped scarf trailing down her back.
“That did not just happen,” he vowed.
“Oh, it happened, all right.” Jade laughed so hard she snorted. At his arch look, she clamped her hand over her mouth and, eyes sparkling with glee, tried to pull herself together.
“Oh, man, the look on your face,” she said, wiping her eyes.
“That old lady just patted my ass,” he said, nonplussed.
“Well, it’s a nice ass,” Jade said agreeably. “Surely it’s happened before.”
“I live in a big city. I’m surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people every day. I crawl through the dregs, the desperate and the depraved. But I can’t remember the last time someone patted my ass.”
Biting her lip, Jade watched him closely. It was one thing for her to think he had a soft, cuddly center. But he was still pretty much an unknown. And he’d just been fondled by a woman three times his age. He wouldn’t do anything crazy, would he? Like chase the old woman down and write her a citation for inappropriate handling of an officer of the law?
“Should I be flattered?”
Relief and something else, something she was too scared to put a name to, poured through her.
“You should be flattered, in the sense that you do have a mighty pattable tush,” she told him, giving her brows a playfully suggestive wriggle.
“But?”
She snickered at his play on words. “But, she pats my tushie, too. So it’s not personal. Well, it is, in that it’s your butt she’s touching. But she wasn’t making a move so much as showing affection.”
“Affection?”
“Sure. She’s babysat almost everyone in Diablo Glen at one point or another. Diapered most of us. Mrs. Green pretty much sees everyone as a little kid.”
“That’s kinda weird.”
“That,” she assured him, “is typical of Diablo Glen.”
“You’re on the clock, Jade,” a voice said, coming from the employee entrance. “You can talk to your boyfriend on your own time.”
Jade sighed. She turned to face her future in-law. As usual, Beryl’s fiancé’s mom Marion looked as if she’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Her iron-gray hair showed recent signs of a kitchen-shear trim, highlighting the deep creases between her brows. That’s what years in an empty bed did to a woman. Jade rubbed her own forehead, wondering how long it’d take for her own scowl lines to etch in that deep.
Marion had arrived in Diablo Glen ten years ago, a single mom whose husband had run off, leaving her to raise Neal alone. Since then, she’d bought a large chunk of the land on the west side of town, harangued her way into a position of power in the community and hooked her son up with the prettiest girl in Diablo Glen—although Jade might be a little biased there. Despite her ferocious demeanor, she wasn’t all bad. She regularly donated lovely handmade ethnic crafts and clothing to the local sales and every Christmas brought a feast of tamales, enchiladas and homemade tortillas to the Christmas party. Jade figured she saved her softer side for the revolving door of relatives that often landed on her property at the edge of town.
“Marion Kroger, Detective Sandoval with the sheriff’s department,” Jade introduced in lieu of a greeting or correction. After all, she wouldn’t mind him being her boyfriend. Or man toy. Whatever. “The detective is here regarding the Panty Thief crimes.”
“Don’t give that ugliness a clever name, Jade. It only glorifies the rude act.”
“Right,” she said with a slow nod. “Okay, then. The detective is here to ask a few questions in relation to the recent series of unfortunate events.”
Before the other woman could call her out on the smart reply, Jade looked back at Diego. “Detective, this is Marion Kroger. She volunteers here at the library part-time, and she’s the chairwoman of Diablo Glen’s Friends of the Library group.”
“Detective,” Marion greeted stiffly after bending low to push her handbag to the very back corner under the desk. “Does the sheriff really think it necessary to assign an officer for just one crime? Especially one as frivolous as this seems to be?”
Frivolous? Jade thought of the mess in her bedroom. The torn books, the lingerie strewn everywhere. Of how hard it had been to sleep there, in the room that’d once been her haven. The creepy feeling of being invaded, of violation. That didn’t even take into consideration the two thongs and red satin panties that were missing.
Those, she figured, would cost her a few months of teasing, a lecture from her mother and probably a few heavy-breathing phone calls after they were publicl
y displayed.
Unless Diego solved the case first. She wasn’t sure which she wanted more. For him to catch the creep before her panties were draped over Joseph’s head in the town-square manger. Or to keep him around long enough for her to have her way with him—a few dozen times.
“I’m sure when all is said and done, it’ll be found that this whole thing is some holiday hoax,” Marion continued dismissively, primly restacking the books Jade had already sorted on the counter.
“The burglaries are real,” Diego stated. “And thanks to the recent vandalism and destruction of property, the case has been upgraded from petty theft to an aggravated misdemeanor.”
“Destruction? Vandalism?” Hands so freckled with liver spots they looked tanned, paused. Kroger gave Diego a hard stare, then folded her fingers together. “I didn’t realize the problem had escalated to that degree. If this keeps up, we’ll need an entire fleet of policemen here to protect us. What are you doing about this, Detective?”
“That’s what Ms. Carson and I were discussing. The mayor suggested she help me out.”
“Then what are you still doing here?” Marion asked Jade, giving her a shooing motion with her fingers. She looked around, ducked her head beneath the counter, then straightened and pushed Jade’s purse into her hands. “Go. Help the detective. Do whatever it takes to catch the nasty little thief.”
Well, then. No guilt trip over a short workday, no bitching about the books that hadn’t yet been sorted. Jade made a mental note to jot that down in her diary. It was a first, after all.
“Shall we?” she said to Diego, giving him a flirty look through her lashes. She’d be happy to give him a few other things, too, once they were in private.
The same spark of interest that’d made her tummy flutter earlier flashed in his eyes again before it was quickly banked.
He was such a challenge, clearly interested but just as obviously determined to resist the attraction.
Wouldn’t it be fun to see which one of them won?
7
WHICH WOULD BE LESS PAINFUL? Bellied up to a rock? Or wedged between a hard place? Diego had his orders, from two bosses, no less. And both sets of orders sparkled like crystal. Solve the case, follow the rules and enlist Jade’s help. Hello, rock.
When the crotchety old woman added a hiss to her glare, as if questioning why he was still breathing her air, he forced his feet to follow Jade toward the back of the library and what he was sure was a waiting hard place.
Clearly ignoring his concern about spending more time with her, he settled his gaze on the sweet rear view. Her shirt was too big and baggy, despite the cinched belt around the waist, to give a good look at her butt. But there was something hypnotic about the sway of her slender hips, the way those boots reached so high up her legs. His fingers itched to trace a path between the black suede and the full curves of her butt, draped under that crisp cotton.
Fantasizing now about which pair of panties he’d discover if he did, Diego barely noticed they’d left the building until the bright December sun smacked him in the face.
Blinking, he glanced around. A redwood pergola arched over the slate patio. Dormant winter branches climbed the posts, empty flowerpots were dotted here and there between benches. At the far end, opposite the door, was a small play area and covered sandbox.
“So, His Honor, the mayor, would like me to help on this case. But what about you, Diego? What do you want from me?” she queried, her look as innocent as her tone was naughty. Echoing the naughty, she stepped closer.
Close enough that he could smell the sweet spice of her perfume. Could count the row of tiny red gemstones curving around her earlobe, getting smaller as they rose toward her temple. Close enough that all he’d have to do was breathe deep to feel her breasts against his chest.
A fit she might not mind checking out herself. She looked as if she wanted to lap him up in a saucer, her eyes as satisfied as her cat’s. But there was something else in her gaze. Something hesitant, almost afraid. Like she wanted him, but was worried that he might want her, too.
Nothing said I want you to take me now, but stay the hell away like that kind of look. The latter lined up perfectly with the warning siren going off in his brain. But the finger triggering that siren wasn’t his. It wasn’t Kinnison’s or even Applebaum’s. It was his conscience. Rarely let out to play, it was screaming Nice girl. And guys like him should stay away from nice girls.
Diego wondered if this was how he was going to go. Not a nice, clean bullet through the head or something that’d look heroic written up in the newspaper. Nope, he was going to die of sexual frustration brought on by a conflict between his body’s desperate cravings and those nagging voices in his head. The voices wouldn’t be so bad if they were in line with his own finely tuned sense of right and wrong. Instead, he had tight-ass nagging boss voice and avuncular old mayor with a worrisome resemblance to a talking cricket in a top hat.
As always when he was conflicted, Diego fell back on intuition. And his intuition was telling him that Jade Carson was as sweet as she was gorgeous, would be as wild in bed as she was amusing out of it. And that she was trouble, through and through, for a guy who planned on cruising through life alone.
Chilled for some reason, he stepped back, putting some distance between him and Jade. Something flashed in her big green eyes. Hurt? It was gone so fast, he couldn’t tell.
It shouldn’t matter. He shouldn’t care.
But all he could think about was finding a way to bring joy back to her eyes, to make her feel happy again. Hell, he had to bite his tongue to keep from asking her if she wanted to talk.
To talk?
If his dick wasn’t hard enough to drill railroad spikes right now, he’d wonder if he was turning into a girl.
Clearly, Jade was a serious threat to his sanity.
Diego steeled himself with the reminder that he was a loner. A hard-ass who didn’t do relationships that required more depth than a paper plate. Bad news to any woman who considered a future past rolling out of bed in the morning.
Good enough. All he had to do was ignore that flash of heat, that almost kiss, those unnamed emotions in her eyes. As long as he did, she would keep her distance. Good girls were predictable that way.
Satisfied, and yeah, maybe a little smug, he prepared to fill her in on how he wanted this town-liaison role to work out.
Before he could say anything, she closed that distance between them again. He froze.
“I made you uncomfortable, didn’t I?” Her smile pure mischief, she reached out to give his upper arm a sympathetic pat.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Nerves he hadn’t realized he had exploded. Unfrozen, he took three steps back. Then another one just for good measure.
“You are uncomfortable. Nervous even.” Her smile widened, delight dancing in her eyes. “It’s not like I licked you or anything.”
What the hell? Was she reading his mind and delighting in trying to blow all his preconceived perceptions to pieces? Diego could only shake his head. “You are one hell of a confusing woman. Did you know that?”
“Me?” She batted her lashes.
“It’s not a good thing,” he groused.
“Oh, but it is. You’re so by-the-book, I’ll bet you categorize, organize and file every single thing and person away in your mind. I like the idea of not fitting into a tidy little slot somewhere.”
Diego frowned. “I’m not uptight.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“That description sounded pretty damn uptight to me.”
“Was it wrong, though?” she teased.
Not sure if it was frustration over the unquenched thirst she inspired, or if it was ego demanding he show her just how un-uptight he was, Diego lost it. He actually heard his control snap like an overstretched rubber band
.
He reached out and grabbed her by both arms, easily lifting her off her feet to pull her close again. She gasped. But she didn’t look scared. She looked intrigued.
That was good enough for him.
“How uptight is this?” he growled just before his mouth took hers.
Jade’s body melted against him, so slight, so soft. Her arms rested on his shoulders for balance, her fingers lax. Her lips, sweet and yielding, didn’t move.
Okay. So maybe he’d read her wrong. Or maybe this was how good girls kissed. Since she was his first, he didn’t know.
She tasted delicious. Like warm honey with just a hint of something dangerously addictive. Needing one more sip before he let go of the fantasy, he ran the tip of his tongue slowly over her lower lip. Then he gave a gentle suck.
As if he’d turned a magical key, she went wild. Her fingers spasmed, then dug tight into his shoulders before sliding behind his neck to tangle in his hair and grip his head.
Her mouth opened, welcoming and eager. Diego dived into the deliciously warm depths, wanting to eat her up in fast, greedy gulps. Her tongue met his in an erotic dance. His breath sped up, his pulse raced. And his body hardened like steel. He needed more. Wanted it all.
His hands were still gripping her arms, though. His fingers ached to touch her. To feel her soft curves, to slide down the length of those gorgeous legs. To explore every hot, sexy inch of her body.
But he’d have to put her down to do that. And he wasn’t sure he could force his fingers to release her. He’d never wanted anything, anyone, the way he wanted Jade right now. It was as if he’d suddenly discovered the most important, powerful elixir of life. Kissing Jade made him feel as though he could actually have happiness. Real, lasting happiness.
A bell rang out, faint but insistent.
Diego surfaced fast. As if someone had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and yanked him out of the pool of magical elixir. He shifted, softening the kiss and tuning in to their surroundings again. Or, as Jade’s tongue enticed his back into her mouth, trying to.