by Jenny Lyn
Sean unlocked the glove box and grabbed his .45–caliber pistol. He clipped it onto his belt while Erin watched, a small smile returning to her lips. Remembering what she’d said earlier about being turned on by him packing heat sent more blood rushing to his groin.
“Where’s the gun you said you were carrying in the bar?” she asked.
He patted his right ankle and climbed out before he did something stupid. Like smother her sexy mouth with a kiss. Toss her in the backseat and fuck like rabbits.
Sean opened her door and helped her out of his Dodge Charger. She’d pulled off the heels earlier, releasing a deep groan of relief that made his dick stir back to life. He grabbed his ever-present duffel of spare clothes and basic toiletries from the backseat, hit the locks, and followed her as she padded barefoot up a single flight of stairs.
She’d taken her spare key from Tess so she’d have a way into her apartment. It wouldn’t be any good after tomorrow anyway, once they had the locks changed. He stopped her before she slid it in the lock, pulling his gun from its holster.
“Is this the only door into your apartment?” he murmured.
“There’s a slider that opens onto the balcony, but you can’t open it from the outside,” she said, her breathing picking up, eyes going a little wide with alarm.
“Stay here. I’m going to make a quick check of everything inside.”
She gave a jerky nod, leaning against the building’s stucco wall.
Sean took the key and opened the door, then handed it back to her before he entered. Once inside, he went through every room, checking closets, under beds, behind curtains. Lastly, he checked the balcony before he returned to the front door where she waited.
“It’s okay,” he said. Her eyes tracked his gun as he secured it back inside the holster. Taking the overprotective, alpha-male thing a little far, aren’t you, Rembert? Okay, maybe pulling his gun in front of her had been a tad overkill. Next thing he knew he’d be thumping his chest and growling.
She let out a breath she must’ve been holding since he’d stepped inside, her shoulders drooping visibly. As soon as they crossed the threshold, and he snapped the door closed, he heard the shoes slip from her fingertips and hit the tile floor. He flipped the dead bolt, slid the chain in the latch.
Erin turned to him, motioning toward a hallway. “The guest bath is… Well, you know where it is now. I’m going to take a very long, very hot shower, so if you want some of that hot water I suggest you jump in there quick. Towels are under the sink. Make yourself at home.”
As she turned to leave, Sean caught her bicep, stopping her. “Erin, wait.” She looked at him warily. He trailed his fingers down her arm before he released her. “If we hadn’t been interrupted tonight by what happened in the bar, what would your answer have been when I asked if you wanted to get out of there?”
She swallowed, pulled her bottom lip through her teeth a few times. Maybe it wasn’t fair of him to ask her that question now, considering the state of mind she was in, but he had to know if she’d been feeling their connection too. For him it had been almost tangible.
“This is all an illusion, not the real me,” she said, gesturing to her hair and clothing. “I don’t dress this way. I don’t even own these clothes; they belong to Tess. This night out was the result of a silly bet I lost to her. She got to pick the place. I had to wear what she wanted me to wear, let her do my hair and makeup, attempt to be flirty and seductive, all of it to settle the bet.” She hesitated, shifting on her feet like he’d seen her do earlier when she was nervous. “So whatever mold you’ve poured me into, I can assure you it couldn’t be further from reality.”
He plowed a hand through his hair. “All right, fair enough. I admit I was turned on by your appearance at first. I’m a man, after all. Sometimes we think with our little heads first and our big ones second. But give me some credit. I knew after talking to you for thirty seconds you were different, that the outside didn’t quite fit the inside. And yeah, I was shocked when you said you were a doctor, but I took one look into those bottomless blue eyes of yours and knew you were telling the truth. That was the woman I was really looking at beneath the sex-kitten appearance. And guess what? She turned me on even more.”
At her headshake, he reined in his frustration.
“All night you’ve dodged telling me anything real about yourself. You wouldn’t have told me you were a doctor if that guy hadn’t collapsed. Why not?”
One smooth, pale shoulder lifted. “Because, in my experience, men don’t like it when women make more money than they do. They hate it even more when that woman oftentimes has to put her career ahead of everything else, including them,” she said.
“Sounds like you’ve dated some real jerks.”
“Perhaps. But then again, I can’t say that I blame them for wanting someone who doesn’t work twelve-hour shifts and is around once in a while when they get home. A doctor’s schedule can be a death sentence for a relationship, no matter how strong it is.”
“Cops’ hours aren’t much different,” he pointed out.
She frowned up at him as if this news had surprised her. “I guess you would know what it’s like then.”
God, he wanted to touch her. To smother her lush mouth with a kiss that said he understood where she was coming from because he’d been there as well. Her breathing had gone a little fast as if she might want him to do just that, and the pulse point in the hollow of her throat—the one he wanted to touch with his tongue—fluttered like a bird’s wings.
Instead, she darted away, mumbling something about taking a shower. Sean’s shoulders sagged with disappointment. He needed a shower too, but his would be a cold one.
* * * *
Erin stood under the shower spray, letting the scalding water soothe the tension in her body. She could almost feel the endorphins in her bloodstream popping like tiny champagne bubbles. Too bad she couldn’t open the top of her skull and let it wash away her rampant thoughts.
Sean was attracted to her. Not the illusion he’d met earlier, but her…the real woman beneath all the sexy window dressing. He still hadn’t seen her at her worst, hair shoved back in a messy ponytail, no makeup, dark circles under her eyes, baggy scrubs splattered in blood and body fluids. He hadn’t seen her exhausted, irritable, and drained after a horrible shift. Men liked to talk a big game until reality smacked them in the face. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. Chances were good Sean would run too when things turned sour.
Despite the obstacles, there was no denying her attraction to him, and not just on a physical level. There were a lot of other things to like about Sean—his character, his kindness, his determination. But yes, she wanted him in her bed. More so than any man she’d ever met, let alone dated. When she’d stripped off her damp thong, and the cool air caressed her bare sex, she’d almost come from that minor contact alone. How sad and desperate was that?
The water pressure dipped, and the temperature dropped several degrees, telling her Sean was in her other shower. Soaping up that amazing body of his, hands sliding over slick skin, water sluicing down his muscled back, through the crack of his firm ass… Her pussy throbbed, and her nipples tightened at the hot mental image. Erin braced her hands on the tiled wall of the shower and glanced down at her breasts, almost afraid to touch them for fear she’d go off like a bottle rocket, complete with the scream.
She finished bathing so as not to hog all the hot water, then climbed from the shower and toweled off. Once she’d combed the tangles from her hair, brushed her teeth, and covered the cut on her knee with antibiotic ointment and a fresh bandage, she dressed for bed in a pair of pink boxers and a white tank top.
After swiping up her phone from the dresser, she crawled to the center of her bed, then lay back, watching the blades of the ceiling fan make lazy circles. She heard the sound of Sean moving around in the other room and remembered she hadn’t offered him a pillow, a blanket, or even a glass of water.
“Some fine
hostess you are,” she grumbled to herself. He was, after all, there for a valid reason.
She’d pushed the possibility of someone breaking into her apartment aside while she’d been ruminating over her attraction to Sean, but the unsettling thought made her shiver with fear. How many times had she come home in the middle of the night, exhausted and hungry, without giving her safety a second thought? More than she wanted to acknowledge. Like most people, she’d grown complacent about making sure her windows and doors were locked up tight while she was asleep or out. Tonight was a stark reminder that she needed to be more careful. And how much it sucked to live alone sometimes. A roommate was out of the question, though. Aside from her unconventional work hours, Erin was too picky and prickly when it came to sharing her space.
Still, Sean was here out of a concern for her safety. The least she could do was see that he was comfortable on her couch.
Before she rose, she dialed Memorial Hospital to get a report on Henry. After being patched through to the ER and identifying herself, she was told he was stabilized. At this point, it was the best that could be hoped for. Erin left her number with the charge nurse to be notified if there were any complications overnight.
She dropped her phone onto the nightstand and wrapped a thin cotton robe around her body before she opened her bedroom door. After pulling a blanket and a spare pillow from the hall closet, she went to find Sean.
As Erin reached the edge of her living room, she halted her steps. Sean was standing at the glass slider looking down at the darkened courtyard behind her condo. He was naked from the waist up, jeans hanging low on his slim hips, long corded arms braced above his head on the door frame. His dark hair was still damp. Droplets of water glistened on his shoulders and back in the light spilling over him from the kitchen.
She wanted to go to him, smooth her hands up his muscled back, lick away the water still clinging to his warm skin. Know what that strong body felt like moving under her fingertips. What he’d taste like on her tongue. When she inadvertently sighed out loud, he turned his head her direction, then approached.
“Do you have to work tomorrow?” he asked, taking the items from her hands and tossing them on the couch.
At least he didn’t sound upset with her over their conversation earlier. Not that he’d been angry, more like he was confused as to why she was trying to push him away after flirting with him. She didn’t want to push him away, not really. He just needed to know upfront what she was like once all the false advertising had been stripped away.
For a moment she couldn’t reply to his question, too mesmerized by the sight of his sculpted torso so close. He had a light dusting of nearly black chest hair that thinned to a narrow strip and disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. A brief fantasy of following that treasure trail with her fingers and lips flashed through her mind.
Her cheeks flushed hot when she met his gaze. His eyes were heavy-lidded, almost as though he’d read her thoughts. Crap, she needed to get a grip on herself. They’d just met. They barely knew each other. She’d never had a one-night stand in her life, didn’t know how to handle this undeniable pull Sean had over her.
“I, um…go in at six p.m. I’m supposed to work a twelve-hour shift, but it can morph into more, depending on how busy we are. Saturdays are always busy.”
“We’ll call a locksmith first thing in the morning.” He propped his hands on his hips, drawing her attention back to the sinewy oblique muscles that ran above his hip bones—that well-developed area on a man’s body some of the nurses playfully called the “Vacuous V,” because when you looked at it, your mind went blank. Appropriate in this instance too. Sean didn’t have an ounce of body fat anywhere.
She nodded, forcing her brain to think of something else other than his mouthwatering physique. “I checked on Henry. He’s stable.”
“That’s good to hear.” He frowned. “Dude looked way too young to have a heart attack.”
“Cardiac arrest,” Erin corrected. “There’s a difference. Not a lot of warning beforehand. It could’ve been drug induced. He was in a bar partying.”
“Scary way to learn a lesson.”
“But a powerful one. I should send Tess a message letting her know too,” Erin said, hitching her thumb over her shoulder toward her bedroom. “Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. There’s water and juice in the fridge. The remote for the television is on the bar. If you like it cooler, feel free to adjust the—”
He held up his hand and chuckled, halting her embarrassing babbling. “Thanks for being so hospitable, but I’ll be fine.”
“Well, if you’re sure… Good night then.” She turned away and padded to her bedroom. Fleeing again.
“’Night,” he said to her back.
Chapter Four
Erin blew out a frustrated breath and rolled her head on the pillow to glare at her alarm clock. 1:08 a.m.
She’d been lying there for over an hour trying to fall asleep, but her overactive mind refused to cooperate. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Sean. Watching her as she’d approached him in the bar tonight. Smiling at her while they’d talked. Standing in front of that damn window half-naked. Then her fantasies took over.
She’d thought about masturbating, trying to take the edge off, but even that wouldn’t be enough to purge her brain of the carnal images of him above her, naked and sweaty, driving into her body. It would only leave her feeling empty, wanting the real thing. Especially when the real thing was achingly close and not at all opposed to the idea either.
Erin rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and sat up with a resigned sigh, swinging her feet to the carpeted floor.
She eased open her bedroom door and crept down the hallway, stopping halfway to listen for the sounds of Sean snoring in sleep. When she didn’t hear anything but quiet, she continued until she was standing at the foot of her couch, wondering what in the hell she was going to do now that she was there. Follow her instincts, she supposed. Give in to the sudden feverishness of her libido. Get herself into trouble, no doubt.
His eyes were open, watching her. Of course he is, he’s a cop, you nitwit. Did you think you’d be all stealthy and sneak up on him like a sex ninja?
The filtered moonlight bathed one side of his face while the other side remained shadowed. He hadn’t bothered with the blanket, and he still wore his jeans, the top button undone for comfort, she guessed. And God help her, was it ever hot knowing how easy it would be to slide his zipper down and take him in hand, inside her, or into her mouth. His feet were crossed at the ankles, hands resting on his stomach as his chest rose and fell evenly. He didn’t speak, barely blinked, only waited for her to do something.
So do something.
Gathering her courage, Erin licked her lips and stepped to the side of the couch, then straddled his hips and sank down onto him. He sucked in a sharp, hissing breath the second their bodies touched. She caught his wrists when he reached for her and pinned them above his head on the pillow. With his kind of strength, it was a futile effort on her part, but he allowed it nonetheless.
“Sometimes…after an intense emotional experience, people crave…sex,” she said, her voice just above a whisper and a little too shaky for her taste.
She noticed the muscle in his jaw jump, felt his body tighten beneath her, his cock hardening behind his fly. She fought the urge to grind against that thick ridge of denim-covered heat.
“You tryin’ to justify this in your mind? Assign it some sort of clinical explanation so it makes sense to you?”
Wincing at the tinge of anger in his voice, she shook her head once, even though he was right. That was what she was doing, rationalizing, because in her brain, everything had to have a logical explanation. “I don’t know, maybe.”
“So you weren’t feeling any chemistry between us before that guy collapsed?” he asked, curling his hands into fists, then releasing them. “Nothing at all?”
Stalling, she dropped her chin to her chest, close
d her eyes. If she said no, he would call her a liar, and he would be right about that too.
Erin wasn’t a virgin, nor was she chaste. She’d enjoyed certain aspects of the few brief relationships she’d been in, including the sex. Well, mostly the sex. But never had she felt with any of those men the kind of soul-deep attraction she felt to Sean Rembert. It had been instantaneous and persistent, not waning once since the moment she’d laid eyes on him. Even as she’d worked on Henry, subconsciously she’d remained aware of his presence. It scared the hell out of her, and she had a feeling Sean knew that.
“I didn’t expect to.” She met his gaze and found it tender. “Not like this.”
The pulse in his wrists spiked beneath her grazing thumbs. His expression softened with her admission. “I guess that answers one of my questions then.”
She nodded.
“It’s okay to want something, Erin. Even if you don’t understand it.”
Was he trying to convince himself with that sentiment as much as he was her?
“I need to touch you,” he said. “Can I have my hands back now?”
In that instant she knew he understood. Understood her confusion, her hesitancy, her desire to try to hold on to her fracturing control when it came to him. This was uncharted territory for her. It was disconcerting, yet irresistible, intoxicating. But as she released his wrists, that need for control slipped a little. When he pitched forward and plowed his hands through her hair, tilting her face back, it disappeared altogether.
His mouth covered hers, and her mind emptied.
Sean’s kiss wasn’t soft and tentative; it was dark and deeply possessive. It stirred something inside her she’d never felt before, aside from bone-jarring lust. A little voice inside her head whispered, “He’s different. This could be different.”
She returned the kiss with equal hunger, parting her lips so his tongue could slide over hers. The kiss went on and on, changing angles and intensity, until they both pulled away, mouths wet, chests rising and falling with their rapid breaths, hands still clutching at each other.