Catching Her Heart (Scored, #3)

by Marquita Valentine

  Every day, she’d woken up with Bryce and they’d spent the mornings together, laughing and talking in bed. Well, they spent most of their time together making love.

  Her face warmed at the thought.

  She couldn’t keep her hands off him, and while she’d always enjoyed sex...sex with Bryce was more. He was more. He was intense, attentive, and always, always made her pleasure his priority.

  “Turns me on to hear you scream my name,” he whispered right before he licked and sucked and—

  “Delivery.”

  Kayla started, grabbed her iPad, and went out to meet the delivery guy. Once she got everything sorted and accounted for, she closed up shop and headed home.

  Tonight, they were heading into Baltimore for dinner and dancing. Her two favorite things, especially when the first didn’t require her attention.

  She showered, took her time doing her hair and makeup, and laid out her prettiest, most sophisticated dress.

  It wasn’t often she traveled to Baltimore, so she wanted to look her best. She wanted to look sexy, too. She wanted Bryce to only have eyes for her wherever they went.

  Spritzing on her favorite perfume, she dabbed her lips with a bit of gloss, humming to herself as a memory bubbled up.

  She was eleven, sitting on the bed in her parents’ bedroom and watching her mother fuss over her dress.

  “Think he’ll like this, Kayla?” Her mom shook her head. “Or should I put a strip of that crime scene tape across the front to get his attention?”

  Kayla giggled. “You look pretty, Mommy.”

  “She looks beautiful,” her dad said from the doorway.

  Her mom blushed. “You’re early.”

  “Couldn’t keep my best girl waiting.” He turned to Kayla and held out his arms. “Kiss your dad and then go downstairs. Aunt Helen is babysitting you tonight.”

  Kayla did as she told, but as she turned, her dad touched her mother’s cheek and whispered something in her ear. She batted at his hand. He chuckled.

  To her eleven-year-old self, she thought it was gross, but it had made her feel safe. However, to her twenty-six-year-old self, it was all she wanted, someone to share a future with.

  Someone like Bryce.

  *** *** ***

  Bryce was in hell, or some version of it. He read the email from his commander and wanted to bang his head against the wall. The last case he’d testified in court for wanted him back.

  “It’s been six months,” he railed over the phone. “Six fucking months and they still can’t get a conviction? What else am I supposed to do—have the perp recommit the crime in front of the jury?”

  “Calm down,” his commander said. “The email said that you could be required to testify again, not that it was a sure thing.”

  “Then you and I were reading different emails,” Bryce grumbled.

  “I’m not cutting into your vacation time to argue with you, Fitzpatrick. You’ve earned it. Enjoy yourself, and do me a favor.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t read your fucking work emails.”

  With a grunt, Bryce disconnected their call and jumped in the shower. Automatically, his mind went over the last few days he’d spent with Kayla.

  They’d spent most of them in bed, but tonight, he was determined to show her a good time without orgasms.

  He frowned.

  Okay, so he was determined to show her a good time in addition to orgasms.

  Either way, they were going to have a damn good time.

  *** *** ***

  The sun had fully set by the time they arrived for dinner at The Station. Kayla was beautiful, the food superb, and his dumbass couldn’t stop thinking about that case. He couldn’t shake it.

  Besides not being a fan of having to testify about the same thing twice on separate occasions divided by months, it was one of the worst homicides he’d ever seen. The victims had been too young. Too damn young. The perp—their mother.

  Hell if he wanted to relive that in court again. Yeah, he wanted justice, but if he had a nickel for every insanity plea, he’d be a damn trillionaire.

  Kayla touched his hand and he flinched, then silently cursed. “Sorry. Wasn’t expecting that.”

  Her brown-eyed gaze turned confused. “You forgot I was here?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  He didn’t like the sound of that oh. It was an I don’t believe you oh. “Spit it out.”

  She recoiled from him a bit. “You’ve been quiet for the past ten minutes. I was getting worried.”

  “I’m allowed to be in my head without you,” he snapped. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

  Staring at him for a long moment, she seemed to consider his words. “Is this job related?”

  Huh? “Excuse me?”

  “Job related? What you’re so deep in thought about—I can’t imagine that in your line of work, you’re able to leave it at the office. Heck, I even bring home the smell of whatever I cooked that day with me.”

  Her light, but caring tone did what otherwise would be impossible. It calmed him down and made him talk.

  “I have this case.”

  She nodded, silently encouraging him.

  “Already testified and I don’t want to do it again.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Why not?”

  “Too many months have passed, and even if I read from my notes—word for word—the defense will still be able to pick at me, try to find a discrepancy in what I say. Their job, yeah, but when you know the guy is guilty.” He took a drink of his beer. “I don’t know how they sleep at night.”

  “Maybe they have to believe the best about their client in order to do their job? I don’t know. If it were your only job to protect one person, wouldn’t you do everything you could to keep them safe, even if it meant you pissed off everyone else?”

  “Yeah. I’m a cop. It’s sort of par for the course. We protect people all the time who either turn on us, or their family turns on us for showing up.”

  She gave him a sympathetic smile. “When my dad would come home from a hard day, he’d always talk to my mom about it. They seemed to work things out together.”

  He grunted. “My ex...she left me because she couldn’t stand my hours or the stress I’d get under.”

  Kayla’s lips thinned. “I hope you were the one to dump her.”

  He grimaced and set his beer down. “No. I came home to an empty apartment.”

  “Lucky for me,” she said with a little wink. “I wish I could say I’m sorry, although I think it’s rude and extremely classless to up and leave like that out of the blue, but maybe it was better that way. No fuss, no muss. No dealing with her issues anymore.”

  “Is that what you thought when Brad left you?” he asked.

  “No, but I’m trying to make you feel better.”

  He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “You are, sweetheart. Thank you.”

  “Any time,” she said softly. “I mean it. You can talk to me anytime about your caseload, or when you have to be on scene. I’ll listen and then tell you what a dick your captain’s being.”

  “You must watch a lot of police shows.”

  “What? I got it right. Caseloads. On scene. Captain. What else? Oh, yeah, hot detectives with perfect clothes totally not messing up the crime scene with their lack of gloves and DNA.”

  He stared at her in amazement and then laughed. “You had me going there for a minute.”

  “Really?” She gave him a smile that made his blood run hot.

  “Yeah.” He took another pull of his beer and paid the tab. “Ready to go dancing?”

  “Love to, Detective.” She stood up, smoothing down her dark red, formfitting sheath dress. “Afterwards, I’ll let you solve the mystery of,” she leaned over to him, “my missing panties.”

  He went iron hard. “Forget dancing. We’re going home.”

  *** *** ***

  That night, he made love to her like he’d ne
ver get enough, like it was their last night on earth because Armageddon was imminent. Which if he counted how much time they had left was nearly true, but he didn’t have time to think about that. He only had time to feel her, to make her come, and do it all over again until they were both mindless.

  Or so he convinced himself.

  “Bryce,” she moaned as he thrust inside of her again. This time, he stood behind her, his hands on her hips and his legs braced apart. “You’re so deep.”

  “Hell. Yes. I. Am.” He punctuated each word with a thrust. A set of handcuffs gleamed under the dim light of the room. They were around her delicate wrists, pinning her arms behind her back. It was one of the sexiest pieces of jewelry he’d ever seen her wear for him.

  Yeah, this sexy woman owned a pair of handcuff without the requisite fur.

  Sliding his finger under the metal, he checked her skin. So far, so good, but there was no way he’d leave these on long enough to make a mark. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he did.

  Leaning down, he kissed her shoulders and cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers. She shoved against him, sending him deeper and making his eyes water.

  “Kayla. Damn it. Don’t move like that again.”

  “Like this?” She repeated the movement.

  “I’m ready to come, but you’re not.” He tugged hard on a nipple, and she let out a moan. His cock was flooded with her wetness. Her core pulsed around him, preparing to milk him dry. “Now, you’re close.” He tugged hard on the opposite nipple.

  She cried out and clamped down on him hard. As she came, she chanted his name and he stayed with her, never breaking his pace. He tugged and thrust until she collapsed to the bed.

  He leaned over her, biting the juncture between her neck and shoulder. Just like that, he came with a hoarse shout of her name.

  When they’d both fallen back to earth, he made quick work of releasing her from the handcuffs and rubbing her wrists. She smiled tenderly at him.

  “That was intense,” she said softly. “Never used the handcuffs before.”

  “Really?” That was shocking considering she was the one to suggest they try them tonight.

  “I bought them after you said you’d like to see yours on me.”

  He blinked at her.

  “Not that day...later. Like two days ago.”

  He grinned and hauled her to him, caressing her beautiful face. “Thank you for taking a chance on me while I was here.”

  “While you were here?” She laughed, the sound making his heart flip in his chest. “I’m going to treat you so good that you’ll never want to leave Holland Springs.”

  As she moved to the bathroom, he could only stand there as her words echoed in his head. Never want to leave.

  But, he had to leave. She knew that. He didn’t have a life here.

  He heard the shower, the sound of her getting in and humming. That was the sound of a woman who was content, not one who was merely hooking up with a pre-summertime fling.

  Son of a bitch. What was he going to do?

  Chapter Ten

  Bryce stood by his Jeep, waiting for Kayla to arrive so he could say good-bye properly.

  His gut clenched as Kayla pulled her VW Bug into the driveway. She smiled as she got out and waved to him. Her honey-colored hair glowed in the sunlight. “You won’t believe what I got on sale at the farmer’s market. Okay, so I’ll tell you—purple cauliflower!”

  “That’s great.” That’s lame, Fitzpatrick.

  Her beautiful smile melted. Her movements slowed as she hooked the canvas bag she took shopping with her over one shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I have to go,” he said, his stomach suddenly dropping.

  Her eyes widened. “Family emergency? What can I do to help? I can always close up for tomorrow—Wednesdays are notoriously slow. I’m not sure why I stay open on them instead of Mondays. Hmm. Would it be weird to have hours of operations that skip days in the middle of the week?”

  She was rambling, and it made his heart pinch, but he had to go through with this. He was falling too fast, getting in too deep.

  “No.”

  “Oh. Then I’ll do it,” she said with a firm nod. “Thanks.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” he said evenly. “I don’t have a family emergency.”

  She gave him a fake smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. He’d seen it before—the first time they met and she thought that all he wanted was a good time from her. “That’s great,” she said with a forced cheerfulness. “So, does a major case need your awesome detective skills?”

  If he had a heart to break, his would be shattered right now. Kayla was trying so hard to be optimistic, to give him the benefit of the doubt, while he stood there and allowed her to make a fool of herself.

  He took a step toward her. Her bottom lip trembled. “It’s not work either?” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “So you’re just leaving?”

  “Have to. Things are moving way too fast for me.” He could give her that—the honesty she deserved. Maybe when she found the right guy... His stomach roiled at the thought of another guy touching. Another guy being the recipient of her smiles and kisses.

  “Me, too, but I thought we were just going with it. I thought we—I was being daring and taking a chance on us—you.” She swallowed, her throat visibly working.

  “You did. You took one hell of a chance on me, and I won’t forget it. Not in this lifetime or the next, but—”

  She fisted her hands on her hips. “You won’t forget me in this lifetime or the next? You’re joking, right? Or I’m on camera because the last time something so ridiculous happened to me—I was online checking my account balance and discovered that Brad had withdrawn every last penny.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “You’re right. It’s not like anything. You’re not bothering to attempt to continue anything with me.”

  “Never said I was,” he snapped. “I was up front about having a good time with you, and from my viewpoint, we had a damn good time.”

  “Yeah, we did,” she said sadly. “Doesn’t change the fact that you’re a jerk for leaving like this.”

  “You knew I was only here for a vacation.”

  But she wasn’t listening to him. “No warning. No nothing. Last night, you told me things about yourself...and I thought we had a connection.” Understanding dawned in her eyes. “I can’t believe it. You’re leaving because of what I said.”

  Yeah, he was, but it was also more than that. He’d spent half the night staring at her and trying to figure out what to do. But, in the end, there was only one decision he could make, and that was to leave.

  “I could have skipped town.”

  “Too bad you didn’t.” She shoved past him and went inside. The door slammed behind her before he heard the distinctive sound of the deadbolt sliding into place.

  “Smart girl,” he said to himself.

  For a minute, he stood there, deliberating on what to do. Inwardly, he gave himself a mental shake. “Leave. Don’t make it worse than it already is.”

  Bryce trudged to his Jeep and folded himself inside. He gave Kayla’s house one last, lingering look and backed out of the driveway.

  *

  As soon as she heard him drive away in his Jeep, Kayla sank to the floor and sobbed her eyes out.

  She should have known. She should have never agreed to go out with him. When he’d come into the diner, saved her from a stupid toy gun and demanded a date, she should have reacted like she had countless times before—with a firm no.

  Then offered to pay him a reward for “saving” her.

  But hindsight was always twenty-twenty and filled with images of her being strong. Doing the right thing. Telling Brad and Bryce to take a hike off the side of a mountain.

  His abrupt break up had come out of nowhere. Yes, she knew he was leaving—eventually—but
a part of her had hoped against hope they’d find a way around that.

  Couples had long-distance relationships all the time. Why not them?

  Because Bryce wasn’t looking for that.

  He’d made it abundantly clear the entire time, but she had refused to listen. Refused to believe what was right in front of her. Besides, what was he supposed to do if things turned serious for them—move to Holland Springs and do what exactly?

  The crime rate didn’t exactly demand a homicide detective. He would be bored and eventually would have moved on. Like Brad.

  No... Bryce wasn’t Brad. She shouldn’t compare the two, but, while she could acknowledge that Bryce was nothing like Brad when it came to all the important stuff, he did manage one similarity.

  They both took a piece of her when they left, only the piece that Bryce took was her broken heart.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Transfer?” his dad barked.

  “Yeah. Lateral, if possible.” Bryce tipped up his chin, but managed to keep his body language respectful. “I need to get out of here.”

  It had been one week and three days since he’d last seen Kayla. Ten days since he last kissed her, last held her, and last felt that surge of satisfaction while he watched her come.

  Nothing held any appeal to him—not the city, not the Yankees. Nothing.

  He didn’t bother trying to find another woman because he already knew no one would come close.

  “Can’t say I’m happy about this.”

  “Can’t say I am either.”

  “Unless you’re going to see a woman, I’m not approving any kind of transfer for shits and giggles.”

  Bryce stared at his dad. “You’d approve me leaving over a woman, but not because I want to...explore the country. Try a new state. City. You get the picture.”

  His dad shook his head. “If it were a woman, I could understand the reason, but this,” his hand sliced through the air in obvious irritation, “is bullshit, and you know it. What I don’t appreciate even more is that you’re trying to feed it to me while saying it’s a perfectly cooked steak.”

  “Don’t talk about food,” he snapped. Food made him think of Kayla.