A horn sounded behind her, and she whipped her gaze to the rearview mirror, then up at the light. Noting that it was green, she flipped on the directional signal and made a quick right turn. She glanced in the rearview mirror again and watched as the beat-up sedan passed slowly beneath the light. Dudley stuck his arm out the window, his hand shaped like a gun, and mouthed the word bang.
Gabe glanced up as Andi entered the station, then tensed when he saw her face. He quickly stood and crossed the room to intercept her. “What’s wrong?”
She kept walking, refusing to meet his gaze. “Nothing. I’m late.”
He caught her elbow and spun her around, heading her back out the door.
“Would you stop!” she cried. “I’m late enough as it is.”
“So you’ll be a little bit later.” Once outside, he guided her to a bench beneath a tree and forced her down. “What’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing. You’re as white as a sheet.”
She set her jaw and looked away. “I just saw an old friend. Dudley Harris.”
He slammed a fist against his thigh and swore. “Dammit. I knew I shouldn’t have left you there alone.”
She shot him a scowl. “Yeah, I was meaning to talk to you about that. You could’ve at least reset the alarm.”
He hunkered in front of her. “Did he come to the house?”
“No. He was parked next to me at a red light.”
“Did he threaten you?”
She wrapped her arms around her middle and turned away. “No.”
“He must’ve said or done something. You wouldn’t be this upset about just seeing the jerk.”
She held out her arms. “Do I look upset?” Before he could answer, she rose and pushed past him. “The only thing I am is mad.”
He fell into step with her. “At me or Dudley?”
She shot him a scowl. “Both. You made me late for work.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“You kept me up half the night traipsing around my house, then you turned off the alarm without bothering to wake me up.”
“I thought you could use the rest.”
She spun to face him. “I’ll decide when I need rest. I don’t need you or anybody else making my decisions for me.”
“Okay,” he said and turned away. “Tomorrow morning I’ll make sure I reset the alarm for you.”
She stared, then stalked after him. “You’re not staying with me again, Thunderhawk.”
He opened the door to the station and held it for her to pass through first. “Fine. Then we’ll spend the night at my place.”
She opened her mouth, then slammed it shut as Reynolds passed by on his way out, hiding a smile.
She burned Gabe with a look. “Thanks a lot. Now Reynolds thinks we’re sleeping together.”
“Look on the bright side,” he said, urging her through the entrance. “If he thinks you’re sleeping with me, maybe he’ll quit asking you out.”
Leo gripped the arms of his recliner and strained to peer around Andi. “I thought you were going to bring Thunderhawk with you the next time you came for a visit.”
“Very funny, Leo,” she said dryly as she dragged up a stool to sit at her former partner’s feet.
“So how did the date go?”
“It wasn’t a date. It was an assignment.”
“Then how did the assignment go?”
She dropped her shoulders in disgust. “Can we please talk about something besides Gabe Thunderhawk? I’ve had about all of him that I can take for a while.”
“Okay. Any new developments on the Lost Fortune case?”
She held up a hand. “I don’t want to talk about that, either. Too depressing.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Tell me what your doctor said at your appointment this morning.”
He flattened his lips. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She sat up in alarm. “Have you had a setback? You’ve been taking your medicine, haven’t you? And watching your diet?”
“Yes, I’ve been taking my medicine and watching my diet. And, no, I haven’t had a setback.”
She pressed her palm against her heart, relieved. “Then what’s the problem?”
“If you can pick and choose what you want to talk about, then so can I. And I don’t want to talk about my health.”
“Fair enough. Pick a topic, then.”
He gave her a pat on the head. “Thanks for visiting. Come back again soon.”
She looked at him in confusion. “I’m not leaving. I just got here.”
He shrugged. “The only things I’m interested in discussing are the cases you’re working on and your sex life. Since you’re not willing to talk about either of those things, I don’t see much point in you hanging around.”
“Okay,” she said grudgingly. “There are no new developments in the Lost Fortune case. We thought we had a lead in New Orleans, but it turned out to be a dead end.”
“New Orleans?”
“Yeah. We found an article in a New Orleans newspaper that mentioned a missing person with a crown-shaped mark on his hip.”
“And you went there to check it out?”
“Wasted two days traveling for nothing. Turned out the mark was a tattoo, not a birthmark.”
“What hotel did you and Gabe stay in?”
“At the—” She clamped her mouth shut and frowned at him. “Nice try, but your little trick didn’t work.”
Smug, Leo pushed back in his recliner. “Yeah, it did. So how was it?”
“How was what?”
“The sex.”
Her mouth fell open. “Leo!”
He tipped his head back and hooted a laugh. “Judging by the shade of red your face turned, I’d say it must’ve been good.”
She dropped her face to her knees. “You’re sick. Really sick.”
He leaned over to ruffle her hair. “Ah, come on, Andi. This is Leo you’re talking to. Your partner. I knew the minute you walked in the door that you’d done the big one.”
She lifted her head to stare at him in horror. “It shows?”
He pushed back in his recliner. “Only to someone who knows you as well as I do. So, how was it?”
She lowered her gaze and plucked at a loose thread on the recliner. “Good. Too good.”
“Hell, there’s no such thing as ‘too good.’ Not when you’re talking about sex.”
“There is if you don’t want to repeat it.”
“Why wouldn’t you? You’re a mature woman. If you enjoy having sex with a man, there’s no reason to deny yourself the pleasure.” He tilted his head to peer at her. “Unless he’s not of the same mind. If that’s the case…”
She shook her head. “No. He’s fine with it. I’m the one with the problem.”
He leaned forward and gathered her hand between his. “Listen to me now. I know about what happened before, and I don’t want you holding back ’cause you think it could happen again. You’re not the same person you were back then. You were nothing but a young girl with stars in her eyes. You’re older now. Wiser.”
“I may be older, but I don’t know about wiser.”
“Do you really think you can avoid pain by living your life alone?” He shook his head sadly. “I hate to tell you this, honey, but you’re hurting now. And I’m not talking about Gabe. Going through life alone and refusing to feel anything for anybody has its own kind of pain. Me? I’d rather take what pleasure I can out of life than never know any at all.”
Andi tugged at a stubborn weed, then sat back hard on her bottom when the roots suddenly broke free. Near tears, she tossed the weed into the bucket at her side. It wasn’t helping. Working in her yard always relaxed her, made her forget about her troubles for a while.
But she couldn’t blank out of her mind what Leo had said that afternoon.
Going through life alone and refusing to feel anything for anybody has its own kind of pain.
She rubbed a hand over her heart. Bein
g alone wasn’t so bad. She’d lived alone for fifteen years and had never once regretted the choice she’d made. She was happy. She had her job, her house.
I’d rather take what pleasure I can out of life than never know any at all.
“That’s because you’ve got Myrna,” she argued under her breath. Leo didn’t know yet what it was like to love and lose. He and Myrna had been married for thirty-seven years. What did he know about loss?
With a sigh, she dragged the back of her hand across her forehead, then pushed back up to her knees to search for another weed.
“Want some help?”
She jumped, then rocked back on her heels to scowl up at Gabe. “Fences were made to keep people out, not as an invitation to climb.”
He dropped down to hunker beside her. “I didn’t climb your fence. I came through the front door.”
She pursed her lips. “I locked the front door.”
He reached into his pocket and dangled a key in front of her face. “And I unlocked it.”
“Hey! That’s my spare key.”
“Yep.” He palmed it, then slid it back into his pocket. “I found it hanging on the rack in the laundry room this morning. Figured you wouldn’t mind me using it, since it would make my coming and going easier on you.”
“You’re not staying with me, Gabe.”
“You know, you really ought to record that. Save you from having to say it all the time.” He stood and caught her hand. “Come on. I brought dinner.”
At the mention of food, her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten that day. “Well, I suppose you can stay long enough to eat since you went to the trouble of bringing food.”
He opened the back door. “That’s mighty generous of you.”
She tipped her nose in the air and sailed past him. “I can be nice when I want to be.”
Andi lay in her bed, frowning at the ceiling. She didn’t know how he did it. She must’ve told Gabe a zillion times he wasn’t spending the night, yet here he was all snuggled up beside her like he owned the dang bed.
She glanced his way, her frown deepening. It wasn’t fair that he could sleep, while every nerve in her body tingled with awareness, keeping her awake. She supposed that didn’t say much for her appeal, since he seemed to be sleeping just fine.
In spite of her irritation, a soft smile curved her lips as she looked at him. He was so cute when he was asleep. With his hair all rumpled and his hands folded beneath his cheek, he looked boyish, almost innocent. Unable to resist, she eased to her side and touched a finger to his cheek. He flinched, then settled back with a sigh and gathered her hand to hold against his chest.
She stared at their joined hands, stunned by the emotion that gathered in her throat. It was such a tender gesture, yet one that seemed to come so naturally to him, even in sleep. But then everything seemed natural with Gabe. Even sharing a bed. No matter what position she was in when he crawled into bed with her, he always snuggled up close, curving his body around hers, as if he’d been sleeping with her for years. And he never seemed shy about his nudity. Even their first time together, in the sweat lodge, he had stripped off his clothes without hesitation.
But the oddest thing about him was his ability to sleep with her without becoming aroused. They’d slept together three times—though the time in the sweat lodge was probably more like a nap—and only had sex once. Granted, she had very little experience sleeping with men, but she had to believe that most men would at least try something.
Either he had really strong willpower or he found her totally unappealing.
She had to believe it was the former, not the latter. No one could fake the kind of passion he’d exhibited when they’d made love. She shivered, just thinking about it.
I’d rather take what pleasure I can out of life than never know any at all.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth. Did she dare follow Leo’s advice? What if she made the huge mistake of falling in love with Gabe and she was hurt again?
But if she didn’t take what pleasure was offered to her, what would she miss out on?
The answer was obvious. Warmth. Companionship. Pleasure. Physical release.
But what if he was no longer interested in having an affair with her?
Unsure of the answer, she lifted her gaze from their joined hands to peer at his face.
And found him watching her.
“What’s the matter?” he asked softly. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”
She gulped, nodded.
He released her hand and drew her close, weaving his legs through hers. “Close your eyes,” he whispered and began to stroke his fingers along her back.
She did as he said, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. All she could think about was the gentle glide of his fingers over her skin, the warmth of his body pressed against hers. Slowly she became aware of his arousal against her thigh.
She opened her eyes and found that he was still looking at her. “Gabe?”
He snuggled closer. “What?”
“Uh…your…well, I can feel your…”
He laughed softly and planted a kiss on the end of her nose. “It’s impossible to hold you this close and not get turned on. But don’t worry. You’re safe with me.”
“Gabe?”
“Hmm?
“What if I told you I didn’t want to be safe?”
His hand stopped in midstroke on her back. “I’d say I was dreaming.”
She slipped her hand down to cradle him. “This doesn’t feel like a dream to me.”
“You’ve got about five seconds to change your mind,” he warned her. “One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand. Three-one-thousand. Four-one-thousand…”
While he counted, she was sliding her body down the length of his, pressing kisses to his chest, his abdomen, his groin. Just as he reached five, she opened her mouth over his sex.
He jerked convulsively, fisting his hands in her hair, then groaned as she swirled her tongue around the tip.
“Andi,” he moaned. “You’re killing me.”
Taking him in her hand again, she crawled up his chest to straddle him and leaned to press a smile against his mouth. “Was that a complaint?”
He pushed his fingers through her hair and drew back to meet her gaze. “Not even close.”
Her smile faded at the intensity in his eyes. “I want you inside me,” she whispered as she guided his sex to hers. “I want to feel you inside me.”
“Andi. Wake up.”
She rolled over and curled into a ball. “No,” she whined pitifully.
Chuckling, Gabe swatted her behind. “Rise and shine. We’ve got places to go and people to see.”
She dragged a pillow over her head. “It’s Saturday. We don’t have to work today.”
“I know what day it is.”
“Then why are you making me get up?”
“We’re going to Houston.”
She sat up and blinked at him. “Houston? Why do we have to go to Houston?”
“To visit my family.”
She fell back on the bed and dropped the pillow over her face. “Uh-uh. I don’t want to meet your family.”
“This isn’t a parade-the-girlfriend-in-front-of-the-family ordeal, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s my nephew’s first birthday.”
“Wish him a happy birthday for me.”
He caught her ankle and dragged her from the bed. “You can tell him yourself.”
“Why do I have to go?” she cried.
“Because I’m not leaving you here alone.” He propped her up on her feet and aimed her toward the bathroom. “If you’re not in the kitchen dressed and ready to go in fifteen minutes, I’m—”
“Leaving without me?” she asked hopefully.
He gave her a shove toward the bathroom. “No, you’re going, even if I have to hog-tie you and throw you in my truck.”
Seven
“Where are the clown and balloons?” Andi whispered t
o Gabe. “I thought they were prerequisites at a kid’s birthday party.”
Biting back a smile, he sliced into his pork tenderloin. “What can I say. My family is a bunch of stuffed shirts.”
Andi had to agree. Of all the people gathered around the unbelievably long dining room table, she and Gabe were the only ones wearing jeans. Two of his brothers even had on suits. Of course, had she known that the birthday meal was going to be served in a formal dining room and on bone china no less, she might’ve dressed differently herself.
“Andi, Gabe tells me you’re a detective on the Red Rock force.”
The question came from Gabe’s father, who sat at the head of the table. She forced a polite smile. “Yes, sir. Nine years now.”
“Can’t imagine why anyone would want to work in law enforcement. Especially a woman. The hours are terrible and the pay not much more than a school teacher’s salary.” His father sent Gabe a pointed look. “We’d hoped Gabe would join the law firm, as his brothers did.”
Though Gabe’s expression never changed, she sensed the tension in him and assumed this must be a sensitive subject.
“Somebody’s got to round up the bad guys,” Gabe replied. “How else are all you lawyers going to have anyone to prosecute?”
“I’m not arguing the merits of law enforcement,” his father replied. “I merely consider it a waste of your intelligence for you to have chosen that field.” He glanced at Andi. “Did you know that Gabe graduated with honors from college? He had his pick of law schools and chose to attend the police academy instead.”
“His intelligence isn’t being wasted,” Andi assured Mr. Thunderhawk. “In fact, Gabe is currently working on several high-profile cases with me as a detective, while my partner is on medical leave.”
His father snorted a breath. “I doubt it takes much intelligence to outwit some street thug who dropped out of school to pursue a life of crime.”
Andi wadded her napkin into a ball on her lap. “I beg to differ, Mr. Thunderhawk, but many of the crimes today are committed by people with college degrees. Look at Ted Bundy. He was handsome, charming, articulate and was studying to become a lawyer. I doubt anyone would describe him as a street thug or a high school dropout.”
In the Arms of the Law Page 11