by Casey Hagen
She had planned to just grab his cell phone and get out, but the idea of leaving those sketchbooks there, the only drawings left since the fire, left her uneasy.
Eric didn’t get attached to things the way she did, but when something like fire, or death, tore away everything you knew, everything you had, you grasped for the few things left.
Things like old phone numbers that shouldn’t mean anything, yet meant everything.
She flipped the covers closed on the pads and stacked them by the door. If he didn’t want them, he’d destroy them.
But she’d put money on sweet relief flooding his face the minute he laid his hands on his sketches.
She searched for his cell phone and didn’t spot it in his work area so she moved to the back that held two bunks, a small kitchen, and a TV. She found his cell on the shelf next to the reading light tucked under his bunk. She climbed up and snatched the phone that lay powered off, thankfully, just in case anyone was monitoring it.
“Well, well, well, look who’s here,” Cole’s voice came from behind her.
She dropped her chin and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she cast a glance over her shoulder and spotted Cole leaning against the wall, his meaty arms crossed over his chest, his gaze locked on her ass.
“My eyes are up here,” she said before she wiggled her way out, probably giving him one hell of a view. Since they were packed in a sardine can, she really had no other choice.
“I’m surprised to see you here. You look good considering your friend is at the very least, missing, and might be dead,” he said as he studied her face.
She recognized that intense look. The way he scrutinized her, looking for any indication that she knew something and if she did, the wait to see if she’d spill.
Well, she wouldn’t spill. Not today. “Missing. His body wasn’t found in the fire,” she said, her eyes no longer meeting his and instead flicking to the cabinet over his shoulder.
“How do you know that?” Cole asked with a smirk on his chiseled face that told her he didn’t believe her.
She raised her chin and mustered the authority that came with years of being the police chief’s daughter and having sensitive information at her fingertips.
Well, kind of. The information her dad let slip when he blustered about a case or he held a conversation without making sure he was alone.
“I spoke to the fire chief,” she said, crossing her arms.
His gaze flickered to her breasts, the muscle ticked in his cheek, and he glanced back up. “Really? When was that?”
“A few minutes ago. Why?” She bit the inside of her cheek and hoped to hell he bought the lie.
“Just curious. It hadn’t hit the news, and the report isn’t available yet,” Cole said, pushing away from the wall and taking a step toward her.
“What are you doing?” she said, fighting the urge to back up a step.
He stopped and raised a brow at her. “Oh, please, don’t flatter yourself.”
“Well, we’ve been in the same space for all of three minutes, and so far you’ve studied my ass and glanced at my breasts.”
He took another step toward her. “Your ass was all I could see with you wedged in the bunk.”
“And my breasts?” she asked. She took a step back and whacked the back of her head on the bed in question. “Ouch, shit!” She rubbed at the spot throbbing on her skull and winced.
He reached around the back and sunk his hand into her hair, the pads of his long fingers going right to the spot that ached and soothing the area with deft movements, massaging her scalp.
Her head dropped back a fraction as she looked up at him. Something about the pressure and the way his warm hand moved over her had her eyelids drifting shut. The minute she noticed what she had done, her eyes shot open, and she blinked.
“Better?” he asked, his body lined up against hers, his face dipping closer to her own, and his gaze locked on her mouth.
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and bit it, a nervous gesture usually she never noticed, until now—when quite possibly the most virile man in all of Long Beach stood before her, his mouth parting on a sharp exhale the minute her teeth sunk into her own flesh.
She shook her head and his hand fell away. “Yeah, better. Thanks.” She stepped back out of desperation, or maybe it was sheer stupidity since she nailed her head again, right in the same spot. “Grrrrr!” she growled.
Cole laughed. “You should stop doing that.”
She stopped herself from snarling at him. “You think?”
“Before you single-handedly began trying to concuss yourself, we were talking about your breasts,” Cole said, keeping his molten gaze locked on hers.
“Figures you would remember that,” she muttered.
“Well, in the interest of not letting you go thinking I was just scoping out your wares because I’m a pig...” he reached between them and plucked a four-inch twig sticking out of her cleavage and held it before her, “were you hiding this in there for a reason, or…?”
Josie’s blue eyes widened, and her lip curled. “Must have picked it up on the way in.”
Liar.
But then, he’d been down the street watching her. It had been the first time he spotted her heart-shaped ass popping out of Twisted Myrtle separating the properties.
She’d left one hell of a hole in the shrub line.
And apparently, she’d taken to smuggling the wood in her bra.
She sure as hell hadn’t spoken to the fire chief.
The past few minutes had been so entertaining that instead of being irritated with crossing her again, he looked forward to what came next.
“Hmmm, yeah, it can be a real bitch driving with the windows down and next thing you know—part of a tree gets lodged between your—”
She slapped her petite hand over his mouth. “Don’t say it.”
Curling his hand over hers, he pulled her hand away, but just a fraction. Before he knew what the hell hit him, those images from the night before flashed before him, of her bloody and still at best, charred to a crisp at worst. He blew out a breath, and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm before letting her hand fall to her side.
“Why did you do that?” she asked, this time learning her lesson, she took a step to the side, toward the exit.
“Fuck if I know,” he said.
“Yeah, well don’t,” she snapped before reaching down to grab the stack of sketchbooks by the ladder. “And another thing—”
The sound of footsteps overhead had him lunging for her.
The books in her hands fell to the floor as he pulled her to him and slanted his mouth over hers.
His senses warred within him. She tasted of watermelon, her warm and receptive lips moving with his.
Sliding a hand over her ass and pulling her closer, he dove in deeper, sliding his tongue between her soft lips as footsteps pounded overhead.
He stifled a moan as a hot burst of lust shot through his veins unlike anything he’d ever felt. The searing heat of attraction with the threat of danger and discovery overhead had his muscles flexing and blood rushing to his neglected cock as he battled the urge to sink into desire and concentrate on whoever might hear them overhead.
“You better hope he wasn’t in the house when it blew,” a muffled, but hard voice said from above.
He slowed the kiss, his eyes sliding open just in time to see hers pop open, too.
They stood there, lips locked, gazes aimed at the ceiling, listening to the conversation overhead.
“He wasn’t. Jesus. I’m not stupid,” another voice answered.
“That remains to be seen. The whole point was to get him out where they could grab him and be able to get his computers. Now it’s all ashes.”
With his fingers tracing over the seam of her jeans, he pulled her closer, grinding the growing problem in his pants against her as he licked her bottom lip.
He throbbed, his fingers digging into her round ass, the need to bur
Her short, but sharp nails scraped his chest as she curled her fist into his shirt, pulling him down to her.
“He’s best friends with that chick. He’s over there as much as he is here. We need to check out her place.”
A low growl rose from her throat at the words drifting into the bunker. She bit his bottom lip, then sucked it into her mouth and laved the sting with her tongue.
She might as well have dropped to her knees and taken his cock in her mouth all the way to his balls.
He hissed and yanked her back, tearing her mouth from his. “Enough,” he whispered, his voice raw.
“They’re going to find us,” she whispered back.
“I closed the hatch when I came down. If we’re quiet, they’ll go,” he said, but he slid his gun out from behind him.
Just in case.
“Until they show up at my apartment,” she said.
Yeah, he got that part. Which was why she’d be going home with him. “Where’s your gun?” he whispered.
“In my car.”
“Good place for it,” he muttered.
“There’s nothing here. We need to check in with the boss and do damage control for your fuck up.”
The footsteps retreated and faded until all that surrounded them was the sound of their breathing and the awareness that they’d crossed one hell of a line with one another, and there was no going back.
She jumped and reached for her back pocket. She glanced down at her phone and back up at him. “It’s my dad.”
“Call him back,” he said.
“He’s likely seen the report that I was here last night, and he’s probably freaking out,” she shot back.
“You didn’t tell him? Jesus, Josie,” he spun away from her and thrust a hand through his hair.
“I’ve been busy,” she shot back.
“Doing what?” he asked.
She glanced away. “Looking—uh, for Eric,” she said.
She was fucking lying again. He’d bet she knew just where Eric was.
“Sure you were. Come on,” he said before picking up the sketchbooks and shoving them in her arms.
“You don’t believe me?” she asked.
He didn’t buy that generic wounded look in her eyes for one damn minute. “Fuck, no. Do I look stupid?”
“How are we supposed to work together if you don’t trust me?” she asked.
He leaned in, forcing her to look right at him. No more of that shifty eye shit. “We’re not working together. I’m doing my job and while I do, I’m going to keep your ass from getting killed. Now, let’s go,” he said.
“But—”
“But nothing. If you wanted to work with me, you should have been honest. You made your choice,” Cole said, climbing the ladder to the hatch. With a flick of the handle, he pushed it open just enough to see the area around the door.
Empty.
“Let’s go,” he said, opening the door the rest of the way, climbing out, and reaching out for the sketchbooks in her arms.
“I’m not going anywhere with you. I’ll do this on my own,” she said, dropping the pads to the floor again.
“You either come with me, or I pay a visit to your dad. Your decision,” he said, keeping his hand out.
“You’re a real prick, you know that?” she sneered before bending down to pick up the sketches.
He nodded and took the pile from her before reaching out a hand to help her up. “So, I’ve been told. It didn’t seem to matter when you had your tongue in my mouth so save the theatrics for someone who’ll buy the shit you’re selling. I’m not that guy,” he said. He peeked out the door, but whoever had been in the shed had left.
With one last glance, he left her standing half out of the bunker, her pretty mouth falling open as she scrambled after him.
Chapter 5
“I don’t see why I couldn’t bring my car,” she said, shooting a glare at him as he rolled down East Ocean Boulevard toward the southern end of Long Beach.
The Beastie Boys played low in the background which just had to be illegal. There was only one way to listen to “Intergalactic”—loud, with the windows down.
His hand flexed on the wheel, the motion as though he were resisting the urge to wrap those fingers around her neck.
Well, not really, but figuratively.
“Yes, you do. You’re a smart woman. You just wish I wasn’t right and that you’d thought of it first. Plus, I don’t need you getting any ideas about taking off on me. Now call your dad,” Cole said, casting a quick glance at her before checking all of his mirrors for the hundredth time before training his eyes back on the road.
“You don’t trust me? Not even as a professional courtesy? she asked.
His hooded gaze slid to hers “Give me one reason to and I will. I wasn’t kidding, Josie. Call your dad,” he said.
“I’ll wait until I have some privacy, thank you very much,” she said, crossing her arms and turning to face the ocean. The sun drifted beyond the horizon setting the sky aflame, a scene that usually cleared her head and gave her peace, only right now, with the heat radiating off Cole just inches from her and the lingering buzz from their kiss, any ideas of relaxation disappeared.
She knew she was being a brat and hated it. Everything that came out of her mouth disgusted her, but for the life of her, she couldn’t just shut her sassy trap.
It was this kind of attitude that made her father question her professional judgment.
Shit.
Cole had knocked her off balance with that kiss, and now she didn’t know where she stood with him, the case, any of it.
The plan had been to get Eric’s phone and then work Cole for information, but he’d masterfully stepped in and started working her.
She had to take control back.
Which meant she needed to stop acting like a sullen boob.
She pulled out her phone and dialed her father.
“It’s about time, young lady. I’ve been worried sick,” he yelled into the phone.
“I’m fine, Dad. You don’t need to worry about me,” she said, fighting the urge to sigh. How the hell did he manage to still make her feel like it was the first day she had her new driver’s license, or worse, prom night.
Every time she spoke to him, he sucked her back in time with just the tone of his voice. Worse, she had an audience for it this time around. And with this weird vibe between her and Cole, the embarrassment only mounted.
“Until the day I die, Josie,” her father’s gravelly voice said.
And wasn’t that just the crux of the whole problem? He never accepted her as an adult, as an equal. Never acknowledged her capabilities as a private investigator.
He just wanted her to be his little girl.
She’d shed that role along with her dance costumes and tap shoes over a decade earlier.
She was beginning to think he’d never be able to separate adult Josie and the girl who used to run around in pigtails.
Bitterness grew inside her each and every time he didn’t see her as a professional. It kept her from visiting and slowly ate away at what little relationship they maintained.
Lately, it had been more of her checking in and him admonishing her for not checking in soon enough.
“So you’ve said. Look, I need you to do me a favor—”
“Not until I get some answers from you, young lady. Where’s Eric? What kind of trouble is that boy in this time? He’s going to get his fool head killed and take you along with him.”
She put her hand over the receiver and shot a glare at Cole. “Now do you see why I haven’t called him?”
“Put him on speaker,” Cole said.
“No.”
He slapped his hand against the wheel. “Dammit, Josie. I’m not related to him, and he likes me. I might be able to make him see reason.”
“Great, thus affirming that I can’t handle my own father. That’s a morale booster,” she muttered.
He met her gaze. “This isn’t about your ego. It’s about staying alive. In case you haven’t noticed…I’m in this, too, and I’m not looking to die just yet.”
“Josie? Are you there?” her father called into the phone.
“I’m here, Dad. Look, I’m putting you on speaker,” she said.
“Why? Who’s with you?”
“Cole Hackett, sir,” Cole said in his confident voice.
“Ick, you call him sir?” she whispered with a shake of her head.
“Cole, my boy. I’m concerned and relieved that you’re with my little girl. What’s going on?”
Josie rolled her eyes.
“I can’t go into too many particulars of the case I’m working on, at least not yet, but Eric is in danger. I was hired to keep an eye on him because he’s developed technology of military importance, and there are concerns about that technology getting into the wrong hands. I was watching his house last night when it blew up,” Cole said.
“So you were there with Josie?” her father asked.
“No, Josie was there on her own, keeping an eye on Eric’s house herself,” Cole said.
“She needs to give up this PI business and leave these situations to the authorities,” her father said.
Great, now they were talking about her as if she weren’t even sitting there. She held the cell in her palm, closer to him than her, and laid her head back on the headrest. Might as well get cozy while the big, strong men decided what to do about her.
And when they were finished, she’d damn well do whatever she wanted.
“With all due respect, sir, if that’s the case for her, it’s the case for me, but I don’t hear you making that distinction,” Cole pointed out.
She snapped her gaze to his. He cast a glance at her and winked.
Flirty bastard.
“Well—look, it’s different when you’re a dad,” her father blustered.
Cole leaned toward the phone as he turned into a high-end condo complex and pressed a button on his visor to open the gate. “I imagine it is which is why, in this instance, you might not be the best judge on what Josie should do. She’s smart and strong. You’ve taught her well. Maybe consider giving her the benefit of the doubt instead of waiting for her to screw up. Just a thought,” Cole said, rolling through the condo complex to the unit on the end tucked under swaying palm trees.
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