“I wasn’t sure what you liked.”
“Both. Can I get us some drinks?”
“There’s Coke and beer in the fridge.”
She turned and walked to the kitchen, returning with a Budweiser in each hand.
“Good choice.” Another thing he liked about Cara. No pretense, no fussiness. She liked a beer as much as the next guy, he thought with a laugh.
“What?” she asked as she sat down next to him, crisscrossing her legs.
Damn. She’d put her panties back on, Mike thought, realizing he’d been hoping she’d be commando beneath the shirt.
“Hey, cut that out.” She rearranged her position so she was sitting in a more ladylike way, her legs dangling from the couch and crossed primly at the ankles.
He rolled his eyes. “Get comfortable. Sit back the way you were,” he said, wanting his visual back. Whether or not he could actually see anything, he didn’t want her acting shy and prissy around him.
Instead of listening, she reached for the beer bottles, which she’d already opened, and handed him one. He took a long pull and set it down on the table. Then he stood, reaching for the waistband on his sweats.
“What are you doing?” she asked, almost spitting out the beer in her mouth in an effort to swallow and stop him at the same time.
“Taking off my pants.”
“For God’s sake, why?” Her cheeks turned pink in an adorable blush.
“I figured if I got more comfortable, then you would too.”
“Fine!” She bent her knees and crossed her legs once more, this time her shirt riding up high enough to show him the small triangle covering her and a nice expanse of pale skin on either side. “Now cut it out and sit down. I’m not eating naked.”
He laughed and flopped back onto the couch before digging in and handing them each a slice of pizza.
“Who’s winning?” she asked.
“Knicks were,” he said, but he’d long since stopped caring about what was on the screen. He tried to remember another woman who’d distracted him from sports. And couldn’t.
They ate in occasional silence, talking in between, comfortable in a way he really enjoyed. He didn’t even mind the fact that they were in his small apartment, a place he usually reserved for private time away from the job and any undercover assignment he’d been on.
“How are things going at Havensbridge? How’s the girl you were worried about?” Mike asked her.
Cara blinked in surprise. “You remembered about that?”
“It was important to you. So yeah, I remembered.”
Pleasure flashed across her face, her rosy glow reminding him when she’d come apart around him in bed. He shifted, his erection growing harder, and he wasn’t ready for her to notice. Soon, but just not yet.
“She’s fragile,” Cara said of Daniella. “And lonely. She even admitted she’s picked up the phone a few times to call her ex, but she didn’t.”
The sadness and worry in Cara’s voice pricked at Mike’s heart. “All you can do is trust she’ll do what’s best for her.”
“You can’t trust people to do that,” Cara said, glancing down, and they both knew she was referring to her mother.
Mike didn’t reply. There wasn’t anything he could say to reassure her. Sometimes life sucked and you had to make the best of it and go on. They finished eating in silence.
Cara crumpled her napkin and leaned back against the sofa with a loud sigh. “I am so going to have to work this off tomorrow.”
His gaze traveled from her still-crossed legs to her full breasts, watching as her nipples hardened beneath his hungry stare, before he met her gaze.
“Why not work it off tonight instead?” he asked.
At his suggestion, her eyes darkened to a deep blue color. “How about dessert instead?” she asked coyly.
Before he could reply, she’d unfolded her legs and stood. “Lose the sweats,” she said, hands perched on her hips as she gave him an order.
This was a new Cara. She usually let him call the shots, but now she was in charge and damn, it was hot.
His lips twitched as he tried not to grin. “I thought you didn’t want to eat naked.”
“What I want to eat now I can’t enjoy unless you’re naked.” She impatiently tapped her bare foot against the rug. “Well? You’re wasting time. Lose. The. Pants.”
Mike’s breath escaped on a whoosh of air. All the blood in his body traveled south immediately.
He rose and dropped his sweats to the floor. Dazed by the loss of blood to his head, when she pushed his shoulders, he easily fell onto the couch and Cara lowered herself to the floor beside him. She edged between his thighs. Then she grasped his erection, wrapping her smaller hand around his aching shaft. Slowly, she drew her palm up and down, up and down, mimicking sex, pulling him in deeper. And when she covered the head with her thumb, rubbing moisture over the top, sensation shot straight to his balls.
He groaned and fell back against the cushion. He barely caught his breath when she slid his erection into her mouth, enclosing him in rich, moist heat. He had to see, to watch. Forcing his eyes open, he looked down to see her run her tongue up and down the length of his shaft. He threaded his hand through her hair, absorbing the silken feel, the shallow movements of her head as she licked him, tasted him. Each time she reached the top, she paused to suck at the crown before drawing him in deeper once more.
Her wet mouth and the friction of her hand built sensation on sensation. He couldn’t not move. Couldn’t take it and began pumping his hips upward, thrusting himself against the back of her throat. She managed to keep up and soon he was boiling, ready to explode. But he wasn’t about to come alone.
He tapped the side of her cheek with his hand and she released him with a slow, teasing withdrawal that had him shaking in his seat. She glanced up at him with wide eyes, glazed with desire. No doubt she’d enjoyed the giving, and that more than anything fired him up.
“Get over here,” he said on a low growl.
To his surprise, she didn’t argue. She levered herself up to the couch. With one swift pull, he tore off her underwear and tossed it to the floor.
“That’s the only pair I have here!”
“We’ll figure something out later. Now come.” He patted his thighs.
She raised an eyebrow. “Condom, Mike.” Her voice sizzled with the same heat he was feeling.
“Shit.” He never forgot protection. Not knowing how he was conceived, the position pregnancy had left his mother in. The bedroom felt like it was miles away.
“But I’m on the pill,” Cara said, so quietly he almost hadn’t heard.
Relief rushed through him.
“I’m safe,” he promised her.
Her eyes lit up at his meaning.
“Me too. There’s been no one since y—”
He didn’t want to hear the end of the sentence, so he lifted her by the waist and brought her over his lap as she grabbed his shaft, placing it at her opening. Even with the light connection, he knew she was wet. Ready. Probably aching, he thought, just as he was.
Once she’d positioned her knees on either side of his thighs, he released her hips and thrust up at the same time she slammed down onto him.
“Oh God,” she moaned, the sound seeming to tear from deep inside her.
He knew what she meant. He felt her everywhere. “Ride me, baby.”
Her eyelids flew open. “Don’t call me—”
“Baby. Yeah, I’ve heard.” And he’d find out why another time.
Now he reached for her, sliding his hand over her shoulder to her neck, feeling her pulse hammering beneath her skin. “Ride me, Cara.”
He kissed her quickly and then she was off, lifting herself up and down, milking him in slick heat, her wet sheath contracting around him with each slide up and release. She clenched him tightly, taking him higher with every slide. When their bodies met once more, she twisted her hips, clearly searching for pressure he was only too happy to give.
He slid his hands between them and found the right spot. The slightest touch and she shook violently. A loving pinch and she lit up, exploding around him.
“Oh God, oh God, Michael.”
He thrust his hips upward, slamming home, lost to thought, to reason, to anything but the incredible sensations crashing into him harder and faster until he felt his release explode inside her body.
Seven
At his sister’s request, Mike headed into The Family Restaurant, located on the edge of Serendipity, for lunch and a chat. Sam, he knew, had also been summoned. Mike made his way into the dinerlike restaurant, which had been in the Donovan family for generations. Macy Donovan, the hostess, a pretty woman with light blue eyes and dark hair, smiled at his entry and gestured toward his siblings seated in the back.
On the way, he passed tables of people he’d known forever and nodded in greeting, stopping at the Barron brothers’ table, where Ethan, the oldest; Nash, their middle brother; and Dare, his officer and the youngest sibling, were eating burgers.
“Hey,” Mike said, encompassing them all with a sweep of his gaze.
Ethan rose. “Good to see you, Mike.”
“Same.” He slapped his old acquaintance on the back.
Mike and Ethan were the same age, having gone to school together, and Dare and Sam, though a couple of years apart in age, were also now close. Back in the day, Ethan ran with a troublemaking crowd, smoking, drinking, and generally raising hell until he’d gotten himself arrested, his parents died, and he’d subsequently bailed on his brothers and Serendipity for ten years. Mike’s high school friends had been tamer but no more interested in education than Ethan’s. They’d both gotten out of town and had that in common. Ethan returned to town a year or so ago, now a millionaire who developed weapons software the government paid big money to acquire.
“How’s Faith?”
Ethan’s always-hard expression mellowed. “Good, man.”
“Heard you were a dad,” Mike said, as shocked now as he was when he’d heard the news. He shook his head. “Ethan Barron, a father.”
Both his brothers grinned. “Can you believe it?” Nash, the lawyer, asked.
“Don’t know why you’re talking. You’ve got twins,” Dare said to Nash with a chuckle.
“Jesus.” Mike broke out in a sweat but had to admit Nash looked as happy as his older brother. And Ethan, well, he appeared calmer and more grounded than he ever had. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
“Congratulate Faith for me, okay?”
“Why don’t you come for dinner one night and do it in person?” Ethan said.
“Uh—”
“Bring a date. I’ll have Faith give you a call and set it up.”
Mike managed a nod. “Sounds good,” he said, even if dinner with the newly minted family man had Mike itching inside the damned suit he had to wear for work.
“I’ll let you get back to your lunch,” Mike muttered, and headed toward his siblings, his mind on Ethan’s last suggestion. Bring a date.
It was a week after he’d gotten home from New York City with Cara, and Mike knew that request would be make-or-break. They’d seen each other this week at work, and, as if by mutual agreement, they hadn’t changed how they treated each other at work. No verbal or physical acknowledgment of the fact that they now had a relationship. But that didn’t stop the covert looks he gave her when nobody was looking or the heated ones she returned when she thought the same. He couldn’t help but admire the curvy body beneath the uniform or stop focusing on those bright blue eyes beneath the fringe of bangs.
Neither had had time to get together during the past week, but he’d called her at night, texted her on occasion, and found himself thinking about her at odd moments. Things he’d never bothered to do with a female before her.
Yeah, she’d gotten to him.
But going out on a real date with another couple, even at their house, meant going public, and he had no idea how Cara would feel about that. She’d made it clear she didn’t want trouble at work now or after he was gone. He understood. Yet he, the guy who didn’t do relationships, wanted people to know she belonged with him, and Ethan had given him an excuse to ask.
Sam mentioned they were going to Joe’s tonight—Sam, Cara, Dare and Liza, and the rest of their group of friends. Mike knew firsthand what happened when Cara went to Joe’s. Some guy ended up noticing and propositioning her, and that was something he wanted to avoid. Which meant it was time to talk.
“Hey, you’re late,” Erin said, tapping on her watch.
Her voice brought him out of his own head and back to his surroundings.
“We ordered for you,” she continued.
“No problem.” Mike didn’t care what he ate as long as he did. He was starving. “A phone call ran long and I stopped to catch up with Ethan Barron.” Mike settled in a chair next to Sam.
He glanced at his siblings. Since it was the middle of the week and a workday, Mike wore a suit. He’d spent the morning in meetings with the mayor—wasn’t she a pain in the ass—and then with other town officials who’d requested a face-to-face. Sam, who’d come back to work on Monday, was in uniform, back on patrol; Erin was also dressed professionally in a skirt and blouse.
“Not that I mind meeting you guys, but you sounded upset,” Mike said to his sister.
Erin’s hazel eyes met his. “It’s about Mom.”
“Mom?” Sam and Mike asked at the same time.
“Not Dad? I thought you’d be concerned about Dad,” Sam said.
Mike agreed.
“Except Dad’s doing well enough, all things considered. Mom’s jumpy.”
“Erin, honey, wouldn’t you be if you were her?” Sam asked. “Look at all she’s been through with Dad.”
“It’s more,” she said firmly.
“I think you’re overreacting,” Sam said.
Mike frowned at his brother. Erin was one of the most compassionate and insightful people he knew. If she said something was wrong with their mother beyond the obvious, he believed her.
“What makes you think there’s more?” Mike asked her.
“After she overreacted to the whole Facebook conversation last week at dinner, I tried to talk to her. She clammed up. Didn’t say she was fine, didn’t say she was overreacting, she just pursed her lips and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ That’s not Mom. At least, not how Mom is with me.”
“That’s true.” Ella was close to Erin and never shut her out. She rarely shut anyone out.
“Sam?” Erin asked. “You’re going to hang with Dad tonight, right?”
He nodded. “Can you talk to her? Or at least just keep an eye out and tell me if you notice anything…different?”
“Sure,” he said, giving in, though from his tone of voice Mike could tell he thought Erin was nuts.
“How do you think everyone took the changes that I want to implement at the station?” Mike asked Sam.
Erin raised an eyebrow. “You mean changing everyone from partnering up to singles except on the night shift?”
“Word spread as far as the D.A.’s office?” Mike asked.
Erin shrugged. “We have to have something interesting to talk about.”
“Makes downtime more boring, but everyone’s okay with it,” Sam said. “Especially since we got guys retiring in June and you’ll be able to add shifts to the rookies’ schedules.”
Mike nodded. “Good.”
Before they could change subjects, the waitress came with their meals and they all got distracted, important subjects off the table.
No sooner had he arrived back at his office when his cell rang. A quick glance told him Lauren was calling. Hopefully she had information on the open case. Something that would put his father out of the running on any issues that cropped up. But Mike’s gut told him he wouldn’t get so lucky.
In the week since she’d been home from the city, Cara’s life had returned to normal. Normal me
ant she worked, she visited Havensbridge when she could, and she didn’t see Mike unless they were at work. When they acted completely professional at all times.
Unless she thought no one was paying attention. Then she studied him, her mind taking her back to that night in Manhattan, and she wanted nothing more than to be with him that way again. But she was busy, so busy she barely had time to think. Until tonight when she was off for another two days. First Joe’s, and then she hoped she’d see Mike. Her place or his, she didn’t care.
Lost in thought, she was startled when Mike’s assistant called out that she was wanted in his office. She glanced around the room. Everyone was either busy at their desks or changing shifts, so there were a lot of people coming and going, and nobody seemed surprised that the chief had summoned her.
She headed for the private room in the back corner, pausing in the doorway for a calming breath. Hard to be calm when Mike sat at his desk, wearing a charcoal-gray suit and a deep lavender tie, looking sexy as ever.
Then his dark eyes lit on her. “Come in and shut the door behind you.”
Cara did as he asked and remained standing, not comfortable that he needed a word now. Here. “Something you need, Chief?”
“Have a seat,” he said, in a serious voice that made her stomach pitch uncomfortably.
She gripped the sides of her chair. “What’s wrong?”
He muttered something under his breath. “You think something has to be wrong for me to talk to you?”
“Well…We’re at work. So I figured it’s work related and something’s up.” They hadn’t discussed the case they were working on, and she’d figured he hadn’t had any word from his contact yet.
His cell rang and he frowned. “Hang on.” He glanced at it and held up one finger. “I’ve been expecting this,” he said, and took the call.
“Good to hear from you,” Mike said, looking pleased. He paused, obviously listening. “You two sure work fast.” His deep laugh rippled through Cara, bringing back memories of the two of them having fun together in New York, laughing, having sex…
“I’d love to,” Mike said into the phone. He listened, then, “Sure.” Some more listening, and he replied, “Am I bringing someone?” He met Cara’s gaze and held on tight. “Yeah, I am.”
Perfect Fit Page 10