by C. A. Szarek
“Then don’t act like it.” She softened her words with a pat to his chest.
“Oh, all right.” He intentionally pouted and Mel laughed. “I’ll keep my hands to myself and help you clean up.”
“I can do it myself.”
Jared sighed.
Mel’s crystal blue gaze sharpened and trailed up and down his face. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”
“Yes.” The automatic answer breeched his lips. Jared swallowed another sigh. “I’m with you, what could be wrong?”
She didn’t say anything, and her gaze didn’t waver.
“Mel, I’m good. Promise.” Guilt hit Jared hard in the gut. Pressure and tension stiffened his back. He’d never lied to the woman he loved before. He was mostly okay, but insisting on it was riding the line.
It’s not like I can tell her anything, anyway.
“All right.” Her tone said she didn’t buy it, but she didn’t push him.
Jared was torn between wanting to tell her the truth and kissing the look off her face. He couldn’t talk about the case, or Joe. And he didn’t want to talk about his partner. Not that he knew what was up with Lucas, anyway.
He helped her gather the dishes and silverware up, and carry them into the kitchen. Mel wasn’t talking much and he hated it.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he whispered, setting the platter of leftover chicken on the counter.
“It’s fine. I shouldn’t push you.” Mel’s voice was flat and his chest constricted.
Jared set down the rubber lid and plastic container he’d reached for from her cupboard. He was at her side in seconds, pulling her into his arms.
“Jared, my hands are wet,” she squeaked.
“I don’t care.” He cupped her face so she would have to look at him. “You can push me any time. It makes me feel like you care about me.”
“I do care about you.” Her cheeks went pink.
He smiled. “Good. I care about you, too.” God, he wanted to tell her he loved her.
Mel flashed a brilliant smile.
Jared pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “Let’s forget about all this tension and watch a movie or something.”
“Is that code for getting in my pants?”
He laughed. “Oh, I plan to do that, too. Worry not.”
“Don’t be presumptuous, detective.” She patted the side of his face. Her lips quivered as she fought another smile, and his little teacher was trying hard to sound serious.
“I’m not. My conclusion is based on fact and previous experience.”
Her eyes twinkled and Jared kissed her again. He couldn’t help it.
Mel moaned into his mouth, wrapping her arms around him. She buried her hands in his hair at the base of his neck, and he didn’t even mind her damp fingers.
She was hot, pliant and supple in his arms, against his chest, and he already ached for her.
His zipper bit into his cock, and he grunted a protest when she pulled away.
“I don’t want to leave my kitchen a wreck, but I do very much want to curl up with you on my couch. I want to change, though.”
“Okay.” Jared forced his breath even. “You change. I’ll finish up.”
“You’d do that?”
“Oh course, baby. Thank you for cooking for me. I’m glad we opted to stay in instead of heading to Rizzoli’s.”
Mel smiled again and stood tiptoe to kiss him. “Me too. I loved cooking for you. Be right back.”
Her lips on his did nothing to cool his ardor, and Jared swatted her ass as she headed out of the room. She threw a mock-glare over her shoulder that had him grinning all over again.
Jared started the dishwasher and looked around the small kitchen. It was pale yellow and homey. Mel had all her utensils in a slim clay cylinder at the center of her small butcher’s block that also served as an island. Pots and pans hung from a rack mounted beneath the cupboard next to the stove, and he was impressed at her use of storage in the not-so-large space.
The fridge was new and stainless steel. Very nice, but it sort of stuck out compared to the other older appliances in the room. Jared suddenly wanted to buy her a matching stove and microwave, and update her porcelain sinks to stainless.
Heh. Who know I could feel domestic?
She brought that out in him. He could easily come home to this house—and Mel—every night.
Once again there was no fear or uncertainty in that train of thought.
Jared loved her.
His phone rang again, and he groaned, rushing to the table to grab it and put it on silent.
Cole. Again.
Jared waited, but there was no voicemail alert.
“Whatever it is, he’s not leaving a message.”
Must not be important.
He didn’t buy that, though. At night Cole belonged solely to Andi and the boys—save work on-call duties and an emergency.
Fellow detective, Kurt Jamison was on-call all this week.
Jared didn’t want to fathom emergency. And Carrigan hadn’t tried to call, so Lucas didn’t want something regarding the case, did he?
Nope. Done thinking for the night.
He cursed and stuffed his phone in his jeans. Trotted back to the kitchen and grabbed two beers.
“Baby, you want a drink?” Jared called on his way through the living room. He grabbed two coasters from Mel’s desk in the corner and set both frosty bottles on the end table next to the couch.
“That’s fine,” Mel said. Her voice was right behind him. She’d come into the room from her bedroom.
His heart and his cock jumped at the same time when he took her in. She’d donned pale blue boxers and a matching spaghetti-strapped tank top. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“C’mere,” Jared ordered.
Mel crossed the distance between them without hesitation. She rested her palms on his chest, her warmth seeping into his T-shirt immediately.
Jared dipped his head down and drew her closer. She met his kiss, opening for him and shoving her tongue into his mouth. He backed to the couch without releasing her, and they plopped into the plush microfiber together, without breaking the seal of their lips.
She landed on his lap, her thighs split over his, her knees pressing into the cushion on either side of him.
Which was damn fine with him.
Couldn’t have planned it better.
He pushed up under her tank, caressing the soft skin of her back. Jared dragged kisses down her neck and shoulders, sliding one of the thin straps down. He layered even more kisses across her collarbone, bringing his hands around to the front and cupped her breasts under the cotton fabric.
Mel moaned when he teased her nipples with his thumbs. She tugged his hair with both hands, but it didn’t hurt.
“Take this off,” Jared urged. “I need to taste you.”
She pulled back and he helped her whip the tank over and off.
He dragged his tongue around one areola before sucking her into his mouth.
Mel whimpered and squirmed, grinding her barely covered sex over his straining cock.
“Shorts off,” he growled against her overheated skin. Jared traced one hard peak then blew on it.
She made a sexy, wanton whine and his dick pulsed.
Jared tugged on her boxers. “Off.”
A throaty, deep laugh greeted his ears. When their gazes met, her flushed skin make his heart skip. Mel caressed his cheek. “You have to let me up before I can do that.”
She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before backing off the couch. Mel pushed the blue shorts off one hip, then the other and stepped out of them.
When she went to climb back on him, but Jared stopped her, grabbing her waist. “Let me look at you,” he whispered.
Mel wiggled in his hold. “You did that last night.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
Their eyes locked and held. Her cheeks were even more crimson and Jared had to swallow words of love. She wasn’t ready.
He pu
lled her forward gently, until she straddled his hips again. He dragged his hands down her back, following as much of the curve of her delectable bottom as he could reach. Jared kneaded her there, until she was rocking in his lap, the heat of her desire burning through the denim of his jeans and the cotton of his tee.
Mel fully naked, him fully clothed.
His blood boiled with the exquisite torture. Jared’s zipper bit even deeper and his cock threatened to blow in his boxers at the same time.
“I need you,” he groaned as she kissed his lips, his chin then nibbled on his earlobe. Electricity zinged up and down his spine, sensation threatening to swallow him whole.
“You have too many clothes on.”
His cell phone started to vibrate and Mel paused, her hands on his shirt. She’d been about to yank it out of his jeans.
Dammit, she can feel my phone.
He went to kiss her, but she reclined back. “Is that your partner again? Didn’t you call him?”
“Mel, we’re a little busy.”
“No. We’re not. Get your phone. If it’s Detective Lucas, answer it. If you miss the call, you should call him back.”
Irritation boiled up. “Mel—”
“Do it.”
“Why is this so important to you?” he snapped.
Her face fell and she looked away.
“I’m sorry.” Regret hit him immediately, and Jared sighed.
“Just handle your business.”
She didn’t move off his lap, but lifted her bottom so he could reach into his pocket for the phone. But Mel wouldn’t look at him.
One glance at his call log made him growl.
Six in all.
Of course, it was Cole, and still no voicemail.
Mel sat still while he dialed. He caressed her shoulder, her arm. She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t lean into him like before, either. She was stiff under the one arm he had around her.
His stomach roiled. Jared needed things okay between them. And he didn’t need blue balls, either.
“Jared,” Cole barked before he could even say hello.
“Yeah.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Obviously.” He kept his tone dry even though alarm washed over him. Lucas’ voice was more than simply urgent.
Something’s wrong.
Mel finally looked his way, and her crystal blue eyes said she agreed.
“Get over to my house.”
Jared stiffened. “I’m busy. It can hold until the morning.”
“It can’t. I need to you come over here. Now.”
The stubborn part of him wanted to bark at his partner for trying to order him around. He forced a calming breath that the woman in his arms would no doubt felt. Mel was paying keen attention to his conversation. “What’s going on?”
“We’ll talk when you get here. Just get here.”
“I’m with Mel.”
“Yeah, tell her I’m sorry, but I have to see you, Jer. Now.”
Fuck.
He wasn’t going to win.
With either of them, if Mel’s expression meant anything. No way she’d let him stay at her place. She’d push him to go meet up with Lucas.
Jared had no choice.
“Fine,” he snapped. He ended the call on another curse and tossed his phone to the couch.
Mel’s hands on his face should have calmed him, but his patience was shot to hell along with his ardor.
“That sounded important,” she whispered.
“You’re more important.”
Her face softened but she wouldn’t let him kiss her when he tried—which prickled all over.
“Just go, Jared. It’ll be okay. You can come back afterward—or even tomorrow.”
“It’s not okay.”
I don’t have time for this shit.
“It will be. I promise. Just go.” Mel kissed him, hard and fast, but Jared didn’t respond.
His head spun with chaos. Stress, tension, Carrigan, Joe, and now his fucking partner. It all made mush out of his brain and he couldn’t think.
He didn’t want to think. Jared wanted pleasure. He wanted to get lost in Mel.
Jared cursed under his breath, words he’d never said around the woman he loved. “Don’t order me around,” he barked.
“I’m not trying to. It just seems like Detective Lucas needs you. Something’s going on. Something’s up with you. You’ve been really tense all evening, and—”
“Since when do you know me well enough to make that assessment?” The words were out before he could censor them.
She blanched, freezing on his lap. Her hands fell away from his face. Mel averted her gaze, but he didn’t miss the hurt in her eyes.
Fuck.
She slipped off his lap and pulled on her shorts without another word. He didn’t miss the fact that she hid her face a little longer than necessary when she pulled the tank top over her head.
Double fuck.
“I’m sorry, Mel.”
“You should just go,” she said.
He looked into her eyes, imploring, but his love wasn’t having it.
Mel crossed her arms over her breasts as if he hadn’t tasted her bare skin moments before. Her face was hard.
God, if she could only read my mind.
Or if I could tell her everything.
He’d hurt her on purpose to get her to stop pushing him. Jared had never been able to deal with pressure.
Fucking asshole.
“Mel—”
“Just…not right now, Jared. Go.”
“I really am sorry.”
She shook her head, her baby blues shiny and his heart stopped. Mel was about to slay him with that look.
He’d made her cry.
Jared bounded off the couch, whipped his phone up and snatched his leather bomber off the back of the recliner.
Whatever Lucas wants, it’d better be fucking good.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Andi let him in, but Jared wasn’t very gracious. He stalked past her, determined to tell his partner to go to hell, no matter what’d crawled up his ass.
Oh, and thank him for the ruined evening.
Ruined relationship?
No way. That’s all on you, dude.
He hadn’t lost her, anyway. Wouldn’t let it go that far.
Jared would let Mel cool off and call her. Apologize. If she wouldn’t take his calls—God, wouldn’t that be ironic—he’d show up on her doorstep and beg her forgiveness.
“You wanna tell me why Carrigan saw you going into a safe house?” Cole’s voice was casual, as was his posture from where he sat in the overstuffed recliner, but those steel eyes flashed and Jared’s heart sped up.
“What?” His planned verbal attack dissipated and he froze just inside the big living room.
Pete Crane was on the couch, a laptop on the coffee table in front of him, but his eyes were locked onto Jared and his partner.
Andi had followed Jared back into the room and hovered next to her partner, but her gaze was wary, too.
Great. The spotlight’s on me.
Whatcha gonna do now, Jared Manning?
“You tell me what,” Cole ordered.
“There’s nothing to tell.” Jared shrugged and made himself lean on the wall. He propped up one combat boot behind him.
Casual. Just…act normal.
“Bullshit.”
“Bullshit? Nah, man. Seriously.” Jared shook his head.
Lucas pushed out of the chair and crossed the room. He stopped a few feet from Jared. Glared then started pacing. A classic Cole move when his partner was irritated. “I’m not going to let you do this shit, Jer.”
“What shit?” Terror shot down Jared’s spine. He chided himself to relax.
“We’ve known each other a long time.”
Jared didn’t answer.
“I consider myself pretty damn good at reading you.”
He still didn’t answer, but Jared could feel the tensi
on in the room build.
Pete and Andi stared at them. He didn’t look their way, but in his peripheral vision, he could sense tight shoulders and backs. Crane’s body was pitched forward. He could be on his feet in seconds. The guy was biding his time.
Yeah, I’ve never seen my partner like this, either.
“Something’s been up with you lately. I couldn’t put my finger on it—still can’t. Bought your shit about the teacher.”
“I didn’t lie to you,” Jared said. About Mel, anyway.
His partner paused, shaking his head. “Carrigan’s whispering some heavy shit in my ear, Jer. My gut says it’s not true, but you gotta throw me a life preserver, dude. You gotta gimme something.”
“There’s nothing to give.”
Cole froze, stopping and giving Jared the stare down. “Bull. Shit.”
Tension spiked and his heart threatened to pop out of his chest as it rebounded against his ribs.
“Carrigan thinks you’re dirty, man.”
“Fuck.” Jared closed his eyes and buried his hand in his hair. He bumped his head into the wall behind him a few times. “What do you think?” he managed, but he couldn’t meet Lucas’ eyes.
“What the fuck am I supposed to think?” Cole’s words were hard.
“You’re supposed to believe in me.” Jared’s winced. His words were defensive to his own ears, and his partner narrowed his eyes.
“I saw you, too. I went with her. She’s been trailing you for a week. Why the hell were you going into a safe house? Keys were never checked out. I asked. Had to play that off too, so thanks for that, dude.”
The terror was back, inching in on his vision. Making his sight dance and his limbs shake until tremors started all over his body. Even his teeth shook.
Would his partner save him or condemn Jared when he came clean?
He had to tell Cole about Joe.
Now.
Jared’s pulse thundered in his ears and sweat beaded his forehead. “Did you tell her it’s a safe house?”
“No.” Cole’s glare could’ve killed him on the spot. “Come clean. Right. Fucking. Now.”
“Joe Pompa is my brother.”
Rage, pure, thick, like he’d never seen before, crossed his partner’s expression. Lucas crossed the room in two steps. “You said you trusted me.” His bark came with two fistfuls of Jared’s shirt. “You’re my fucking partner.”