Beneath Broken (Imperfect Heroes #2)

by C. J. Pinard

  Could I love again? Not sure. But maybe I needed to get under a man in order to get over one. That’s what Adria always said, anyway. A small smile found my lips as my eyes drifted shut.

  I woke the next day and went to work as I always did, but I felt so much more refreshed after a decent night’s sleep. About 10 a.m., my phone rang.

  “Harper Mathis,” I answered cheerfully.

  I was greeted with heavy breathing. Confused, I said, “Hello?”

  More silence, then breathing. Beginning to fear I had a pervert calling, I tried one more time. “If you don’t say something, I’m going to hang up.”

  “Harper, I need a favor,” a female voice breathed out.

  My eyebrows furrowed together even more. “Adria?”

  After a pause, she said, “Yes.”

  I grew very worried. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need a favor.”

  Now I rolled my eyes. “You already said that. Spit it out.”

  “I need you to buy me a pregnancy test.”

  My blonde eyebrows went from furrowing to hitting my hairline. “What!”

  “My period is two days late,” she said quietly, and I could tell she was now probably hiding in the orderly’s closet at the hospital where she worked.

  “Girlfriend, being two days late does not equal pregnancy. Calm down.” I was happy to feel like the level-headed one for once.

  She groaned, then said, “But you know me. I am regular as rain. Just do it, please?”

  “Seriously? Don’t you get free tests at the hospital?”

  She gasped, then replied, “Yes, but no way. Those bitches in the lab would never stop gossiping if I came in for a pregnancy test. No way. Please, on your lunch hour, go grab me a pregnancy test. I’ll owe you forever.”

  I sighed. “Okay, whatever you want. But you will owe me.”

  “Harper?”

  “Yes?” I replied.

  “Don’t get the cheap one. Brand name only.”

  I shook my head and hung up.

  Chapter 12

  Mason

  Hunter and I walked into Lenny’s Gym through the front door, and for some odd reason, it felt strange to be walking in here in the late morning instead of our usual afterhours workout.

  “You boys are early for your workout.”

  I smiled when I saw Janie, the smokin’ hot front desk girl smiling at us. Her short, dark hair shone bright in the late morning light and the tight turquoise tank top she wore showed off her tanned abs. She had a seriously hard body and was a bona fide flirt. Hunter always badgered me to “tap that” but something in my gut told me Janie would be a stage-five clinger that I wouldn’t be able to shake, so I resisted the urge to flirt heavily with her.

  “Nah, here on official business, if you can believe that,” I said to her with a smile I couldn’t help.

  She leaned both elbows on the counter so I would have to look down her shirt, but I kept my eyes on her brown ones. “Oh, and what’s that?”

  I glanced at Hunter, nodded, then back at Janie. Simultaneously, we pulled out our Tampa PD badges and held them up.

  She went back to an upright position and her eyes bulged. “Oh, my God. You guys are cops?”

  Hunter chuckled. “Yes. And now we have some questions.”

  “Uh, what kind of questions?” She swallowed hard.

  “First one,” I said, still turning on the charm, “is who is Silas Short?”

  A confused expression passed over her features and she said matter-of-factly, “He’s part of the cleaning crew, why?”

  “Cleaning crew,” Hunter said. “Like a janitor.”

  Janie frowned. “Well, we don’t call them janitors and maids but yes. He cleans after the gym closes.”

  “He’s not a personal trainer?” Hunter asked.

  Janie laughed. “Uh, no. Have you seen him?”

  “Do you have a photo of him?” I asked, trying not to act more excited than I was.

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t think Lenny keeps photos of the employees.”

  “Sugar, can you check Silas’s schedule for us?” Hunter asked.

  She looked annoyed at the nickname, then flicked a glance at me, then nodded. “Yeah, hold on.”

  Turning her attention to the computer, she pushed a few keys and said, “Yes, he’s scheduled to work tonight.”

  “Any way we can be let in tonight while he’s working?” I asked.

  She lifted a shoulder and let if fall. “I guess there’s no harm in that. I’ll run it by Lenny.”

  “You got a home address for Silas?” Hunter asked.

  She pushed a few more keys. “Here is it. 205 Westlake, Apartment 2C, Tampa.”

  Hunter typed with his thumbs into his phone, then pocketed the device. Looking up at Janie, he winked and said, “Thanks, sweetheart. See you later.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, then smiled at me as we turned to leave the gym.

  Once in the car, Hunter wouldn’t shut up.

  “What kind of weird coincidence is it that this creep works at our gym?”

  “I don’t believe in coincidences,” I said.

  He nodded and pulled the passenger side visor mirror down to check his hair. “We need to find out what this Silas guy has to do with Lenny’s and his strange obsession with nonprofit businesses.”

  “Thanks for that, captain obvious,” I said dryly.

  I hit the gas to get back to the station faster, determined to race him to our desks so I could run Silas Short through our computer systems.

  Disappointment flooded me when a background check of Silas came up unremarkable. The address and employer checked out, and he had a clean record. Not even a parking ticket on his record.

  On a whim, I decided to run his credit. Something about the way he had questioned all the victims about their tax-exempt status had me curious. I ran Silas’s credit report and could see he had an outstanding balance with the IRS of over twenty thousand dollars. This piqued my curiosity, so I contacted the IRS for more info. I knew there would be no instant gratification with this particular inquiry, but I would happily wait the few days it took the feds to tell me exactly how a janitor – excuse me, a cleaning crew member – got himself into such a significant tax debt. I just knew it had something to do with the reason he was stalking these nonprofit businesses. I just had to make the connection.

  “Find anything?” Hunter asked me.

  Nodding, I turned my screen toward him as he stood behind me with his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Turns out ol’ Silas owes the government quite a sum of cash.”

  He moved his face closer to the screen and then let out a low whistle through his teeth. “Wow, that’s a big chunk of change for a janitor.”

  Biting back a smile that Hunter had had the same exact thoughts as I did, I replied, “I agree. This little shithead is hiding something. I put in a request for the details with the IRS but it’ll take a few days. In the meantime, I say we pay the guy a visit.”

  Hunter’s blonde eyebrows dipped together. “You sure that’s a good idea? Might tip him off that we’re on to him.”

  I nodded and drummed my fingers along the desktop. “You have a point, asshole. We’ll just stick with going in to the gym tonight. You up for having your ass kicked in the ring again?”

  Hunter stood up straight and his eyebrows hit his hairline. “Ass kicked? If I recall, there was no ass kicking done by you last time.”

  “Tell that to the bruises on your jaw you covered with your wife’s makeup and the fact that you conveniently forgot to shave today,” I said dryly.

  “Fuck you, Oliver.”

  “You wish,” I snorted.

  “Lenny’s at nine?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  We fist bumped and then agreed to meet at the gym later that night.

  When my shift was over, I stopped by the drugstore to get a few random things. I will admit that I’m a completely lazy bachelor and buy common necessities at
the local chain drugstore when I need them instead of planning ahead for things. I needed stupid shit like paper towels and razors and hair gel. Yes, I use hair gel. I look like a 12-year-old if I don’t use it. However, my hair isn’t shellacked into submission like Hunter’s. My short, black locks still have a mind of their own, they are just a bit more… controlled.

  I located the paper towels easy enough but I couldn’t remember where the razors were. I found myself wandering down a random aisle and quickly discovered this was the one with the condoms and pregnancy tests. I had enough condoms at home – not that they’d been put to much use lately – and I clearly had no use for anything else here. I lifted my head to search the aisle markers for hair products when my eyes locked on a set of gorgeous blue ones, which widened in surprise.

  “Harper?” I asked, my body gliding toward hers without my brain’s permission.

  She slowly lifted her eyes to mine as a blush creeped up her cheeks. “Hi, Detective Oliver.”

  Her shyness was cute, but I felt we’d moved past formal pleasantries. “Call me Mase or Mason.”

  “Mason, nice to see you again,” she said quietly.

  I looked at her standing in front of the pregnancy tests and tried to control my raging heart. Trying to play it cool, I asked, “Looking for something?”

  “Um,” she replied, fumbling with something in her hand.

  I looked down to see a pregnancy test box in her hand, and disappointment washed over me. Did she think she was pregnant? By whom?

  “I need to find the razors,” I said, not sure why I felt the need to explain myself. I turned around, disheartened, but telling myself I needed to find another girl to focus my interests on.

  As I walked away, Harper’s voice stopped me. “Mace.”

  I turned slowly, acting cool. “What?”

  I could see she now stood with both hands on either side of her, the test box in her right hand. “It’s not what you think.”

  I chuckled and put both hands on my hips. “It’s none of my business is what it is.” I turned to walk again.

  “I haven’t been with anyone in over a year.”

  That stopped me.

  I slowly spun around and locked gazes with her gorgeous blue eyes. “What did you say?” With a mind of its own, my body began to glide toward hers again. I couldn’t stop it. I wanted to be near her.

  She swallowed hard and said, “You heard me.”

  I was now an inch from her body. I used my finger to tip her chin up toward me. Right there in the drugstore. “Say it again, Harper.”

  She blinked rapidly at me. “I haven’t been with anyone. In over a year. This isn’t for me. Scout’s honor.”

  Her pretty mouth twitched into a grin as the box dropped from her hand onto the floor to be replaced with her two fingers up next to her chin. Like she knew anything about being a Scout or Scout’s Honor.

  I used my hand to push hers down and then gripped her wrist, pushing it behind her waist and pushing her body into mine. I don’t even think I meant to do that last part, but like I said, my body has a mind of its own when it’s around her.

  “I believe you,” I finally said.

  She smiled, relieved, relaxed, but let me continue my hold on her wrist. “That makes me happy,” she whispered.

  My lips, now inches from hers, asked, “Why’s that?”

  “Because I find myself caring very much what you think of me.”

  There was just no choice. I had to kiss her, right here in the drugstore. My lips crashed down and controlled hers as they moved in sync with what I was doing. When my tongue snaked in for a taste, her lips opened even wider and invited me in. I instantly hardened behind my pants and with my body controlling my mind, I pushed my body into hers. In return, she pushed hers into mine.

  I felt her soft hands slide around my backside and push me harder into hers. This made me harder. I think my cock was about to explode in my pants like when I was 14 and had found a stash of my dad’s Playboys. I felt like such an immature ass. But at the same time, it was exciting and exhilarating – as much as I hated to admit that. I continued to kiss her, my fingers gliding up her neck and then gripping her hair by the scalp, pushing her head back to break the kiss. I began to run my tongue up her neck, lapping at the pulsing carotid artery there as I licked my way up to her jawbone. As I was about to capture her mouth again, I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

  I slowly turned around, my hands still around the waist of Harper’s professional black skirt suit, and raised my eyebrows at a guy dressed in security uniform – the one with his arms crossed across his massive chest.

  The drugstore has security?

  “What, dude?” I asked, annoyed.

  He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Take it outside, people.”

  I felt the urge to flash a badge at him, but resisted. There was no need for that. Grabbing Harper’s hand, I led her out of the drugstore and to the front of the store, and she pliantly followed.

  Once outside, we sort of stood there awkwardly with the sun blazing down on us. We never broke body contact, my fingers intertwined with hers, her body still a hairsbreadth within mine.

  “Now what?” I asked, gazing down at her.

  She smiled and let go of my hand. “Now I have to finish my shopping.”

  With that, she turned on the shiny black heel of her sexy shoes and strolled back into the store.

  All I was left with was a serious hard-on that I hoped would go away by the time I got back to the station.

  I got into my car and drove off, realizing I never got what I needed from the drugstore. But then I quickly realized I’d gotten a lot more than I had gone in there for, and decided to call it a wash.

  Chapter 13

  Harper

  My heart pounded out of my chest as I drove back to the office. After picking up the dang pregnancy test for Adria – which she was seriously going to owe me for – I couldn’t stop hyperventilating. It was like Murphy’s Law was in full effect. Anything that could and would go wrong – did.

  I about died twice when I saw Detective Oliver standing there as I was choosing pregnancy tests. As if I know anything about choosing them. I should have just picked the brand name one and been done with it, but I was being my usual selective self. I was never one to just grab and go. I had to compare prices, reliability, and quality before I paid for anything. Was this a personality flaw? I didn’t know¸ but what I did know was that it wasn’t something I could change, even if I wanted to.

  Like a movie reel playing in my head, I kept replaying the scene with Mason. My body flushed hot and red as the memory recycled itself. I didn’t know if I should feel embarrassed or exhilarated at the heated moments we had shared in the store.

  This attraction to him was unreal. Unlike anything I’d ever felt – and just admitting that made me feel ashamed and guilty. I loved Keith, we had a special connection for sure, but the way my body erupted into flames every time Mason Oliver was around sadly put that connection to shame. Pushing that shame into the back of my mind, I moved Keith out of my brain and concentrated on the situation at hand.

  Without even knowing it, I found myself in the parking lot of Tampa General Hospital and parked in the parking garage. I shook my head and opened the door to my Honda. I headed up to the intensive care unit floor I knew my best friend, the not-so-full-of-compassion nurse, worked on.

  Biting back a smile at the thought, I rode the elevator up and strode with purpose as the elevator doors opened toward the nurse’s station where I knew I’d find Adria – or least someone who knew where she’d be.

  I was relieved to find her smug face sitting in a chair, glaring at a computer screen as I strode up. I pulled the pregnancy test box from my purse and smacked it on the counter with a “You’re welcome.”

  As Adria’s eyes shot up to mine, her face blossomed into her signature smirk, and with a quick look around her, she slid the box from the counter and tried to awkwardly put it into
the pants pocket of her scrubs. I always got jealous that she never really blushed because the beautiful tone of her olive complexion.

  I watched the action with a little too much fascination and smiled smugly, saying, “Yeah, that’s not gonna fit in the pocket of your scrubs.”

  Her brown eyes grew wide at my sass, and she quickly retorted with, “Chickadee, I will shove this where the sun don’t shine on that waxed –”

  “How do you know I wax?” I asked, my lips twitching.

  Standing up, she tried to make herself intimidating but failed. At barely five-foot-two, I knew she’d spent her life trying to act tough, but she’d never succeeded to intimidate with me being five-foot-seven. I’d dominated her since college. So with one simple phrase, I walked away and called over my shoulder louder than I should have, “Call me when it’s negative so I can gloat.”

  She immediately snorted at that, because she knew I was right. I was always right. When would she learn?

  Saturdays and Cherry Garcia. My favorite day with my flavor. A marriage of cherry sweetness mixed with the irony of the Grateful Dead’s lead singer’s name infused into the name of the ice cream was just genius. The sugar and dairy combination exploded on my tongue as I made out with the metal spoon. My eyes were glued to the TV as I watched with baited breath to see who the baby daddy was going to turn out to be on this particularly trashy talk show I couldn’t turn off.

  My cell phone rang and I considered letting it go to voicemail, but I just couldn’t. Business owners don’t get a day off. I used the remote to pause the show and looked down at my phone. Adria.

  “You buying me dinner?” I answered.

  Sniffles, a squeal, and finally a sob. “Harper.”

  I stood up. “Adria! What? Tell me. It was positive?”

  She sniffled again and I could barely make out her words. “Gage… I just caught him… I was trying to surprise him on the boat…”

  “Where are you?” I demanded.

  Sniff. “In my car at the wharf.”