“Did she always want to be a defense attorney?”
“I don’t think so. I’m not really sure. She always wanted to help those in need, so public defender makes sense.” She frowned. “I wish she wasn’t working against us, but it makes her happy. It gives her a sense of purpose and I can’t find fault with that.” She fell silent for a couple seconds.
“You two go to the Silver Spur often?”
She blinked and thought about it a moment. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting him to ask.
“More recently than we normally do. It seems like we’ve had more to celebrate or Denni’s wanted to dance more in the last few weeks than in a long time.”
“Do you only go for her?”
“Not entirely, but usually. Once in a while I’ll want to go out for a drink, but my Fridays are ladies night and the atmosphere in there is less than relaxing.” She shook her head. “It’s more like a meat market. I typically prefer to hang around the house, maybe cook or take a long hot bath or have a Netflix binge.”
“You like to cook?”
“I love to cook, but rarely bother for just myself. It loses something when there’s no one else there to enjoy it with.”
“That sounds nice. I can feed myself, but it’s nothing special. Just something to eat when I’m tired of diner food or take out.”
Chapter 25
Warren glanced over at Hayley where she sat in the passenger’s seat of his pickup watching him. He’d been surprised when she hadn’t pushed to find out where they were going and had started asking questions, not as if she was interrogating him, but like she was really curious about him. He finally turned the tables on her, asking some questions of his own, which she’d answered. He got the feeling she didn’t like talking about her parents, but pretty much anything else seemed to be fair game.
It took them almost an hour to reach the tiny town of Garrett. It was just a little community in the mountains west of Blackjack, not very big, but cute and homey just the same. He pulled into one of two restaurants in town. He’d been up here a few times and tried them both but he liked this one better. It wasn’t fancy. In fact, there was a sign inside the door that said no cell phone use inside the cafe, Grandma’s rules. There were photos of wildlife along the walls and the few times he’d been here, the food had been amazing.
“Where are we?” Hayley asked as he pulled up and parked on the street in front of the little diner.
“Weren’t you paying attention?”
Her face turned pink. “I was paying attention to you and our conversation.”
Heat spread through Warren. He knew she was normally very observant and had noticed several issues in the squad room before they’d actually happened. A suspect getting ready to start a fight, two officers arguing, and managed to get someone on them before they turned into major events instead of minor ones. That she was so absorbed in him made his jeans grow a little tight.
“I thought dinner in Garrett would be nice. Have you been here?”
“Never.” She opened the truck door and slid out as he did the same.
“You’ve lived in the area all your life and never been here?”
She was looking around, taking in the clean but not touristy town.
“I knew there were mountains in the county, but I’ve never needed to come over here, and never thought about it when I had time to kill.”
“Then I’m glad I could show you something new.” He waited for her to come around the truck and held out one hand. “Come on, the food here is great, you’ll see.” It surprised him when she took his hand and let him lead her inside, but he went with it. He knew how to behave on a date, it had just been a long time. Longer than he cared to think about.
Dinner had gone better than Warren had dared to hope. They’d talked a little more about their families and their pasts, then moved on to movies and books. They hadn’t read much of the same thing, but he’d been surprised to discover that she loved action movies and would rather watch shoot ‘em up films or westerns over a chick flick. Her words, not his.
They’d lingered for more than an hour, then decided to splurge and have desert too, but their dinners had been so big and filling they’d decided to split a piece of pie. It only took them a few minutes to decide on blackberry, made fresh right there in the diner. Warren had had it before, but he swore it tasted better when he shared it with Hayley. They talked while they finished the pie and when he realized they were waiting for them to leave to close, he paid the ticket and walked her out to the truck, taking her to her door.
Standing beside her in the pale glow that made her hair shine almost auburn, he couldn’t resist the urge. He moved slowly so she would have time to turn away if she chose, but he lowered his head until his lips brushed across hers.
Awareness sparked between them. The world narrowed until all that mattered was the two of them, the soft press of lips, her mouth opening beneath his. The taste of her kiss, blackberries and something sweeter. Her arms went around his neck and he was only vaguely aware of his hand pushing through her hair to cup the back of her head as their kiss grew deeper.
He didn’t know how long they stood, lost in each other, but when he finally drew away, she gazed up at him with half lidded eyes. He wanted to get her in bed, but didn’t dare to hope it would happen tonight.
“I’d love to see you again.”
“I think that can be arranged.” She gave him a sultry smile. “But we’ve got to get back before we count tonight as done, and that’s going to take a while.”
“You’re right.” He opened her door and waited while she climbed up and was settled before closing the door and going around to his side. A second date made him hopeful that maybe she was as attracted to him as he was to her. Yes, he wanted to get laid, but that wasn’t all this was about. If it was, he would be stupid to do it with someone he worked with, especially now. But it was about more. He really liked her.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, how’s Cooley?”
Warren glanced over at Hayley before he started the truck.
“He’s doing better. He’s been conscious and has been talking to Maggie and a few others. We’re trying to keep from smothering them, but at the same time take care of anything they need, it’s a delicate balance. He was hurt pretty bad, but he’s lucky it wasn’t worse and it will take a while but he will recover.”
“That’s good. I’m glad he’ll recover.” She fell silent for a few minutes and he maneuvered the truck out on the road back toward Blackjack. “Have they given you a schedule yet?”
“Kind of, but it’s not really set in stone. Assigned hours are kind of bankers hours, eight to five, but if we need to work late to talk to someone after they get off work, or if we need to work on a weekend, we do, we just flex it out as much as possible.”
“To avoid overtime.” She nodded. She knew how it worked. Get as much done with as little overtime as possible. It was how it worked all over.
“Yeah.”
“What’s your plan for tomorrow? I know you worked all weekend are you working, going in late?”
“We did work all weekend and Zeke has some appointment tomorrow, I’m not sure what offhand, so we’re not starting until noon. It will also give us a chance to catch a couple people at home after work that we’ve been trying to talk to for a few days and haven’t had any luck catching.”
“What if you still can’t catch them?”
“Then we’ll probably give up on catching them at home and go talk to them at work.”
She nodded, but didn’t say anything else for a while.
The silence between them was comfortable. They’d talked a lot since he’d picked her up and now it was nice to watch the stars above as they made their way down the mountain from Garrett.
They were halfway back to Blackjack when she spoke again.
“I’d like to keep this just between us for a while, if you don’t mind.”
“You mean not tell anyone we’ve gone out?
”
She turned and looked out the window a moment.
“Yeah, I mean not tell anyone. Just for a while.” She turned back to face him. “If people find out we’re dating now, they’ll assume we were dating while you were still one of my officers.”
“And that will hurt you.”
“It will cost me respect. I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I don’t want to lose that.”
Unable to resist he reached across and picked up her hand where it sat in her lap.
“I don’t want that either. You’re good at what you do and I don’t want to make it harder.” He took a deep breath and thought about it for a moment. “I don’t mind keeping this under wraps for a while. To an extent.”
“What do you mean?” she sounded suspicious.
“I mean I don’t mind going out of town for dates, keeping things a low profile around Blackjack. But if this lasts very long, I’d like to take you to meet Nancy.”
“That would be okay.” She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I don’t want it to sound like I’m embarrassed, only that it wouldn’t be prudent to flaunt it around so soon.”
“No, I get it. It’s a valid concern and I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”
“Thank you.” Her words were barely more than a relieved sigh.
Warren squeezed her hand. “I want to make it work. Hurting you, either personally or professionally, won’t help with that.”
Hayley fell silent again and he couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking.
Chapter 26
She wasn’t sure if she was trying to talk herself into it or out of it. Hayley really wanted to invite Warren in when he took her home. The kiss, there moonlight street of Garrett, left her mind sizzling and her body hot and aching for release.
They’d known each other a while, it wasn’t like a real first date where two people started from scratch as they got to know each other. She knew more about him, and what kind of person he was than most romantic interests did after several dates. She’d seen his file. She knew what kind of cases he’d worked and had no doubt he was a good man.
But it was their first date. What would he think of her if she invited him in? If she invited him to stay the night? He’d agreed to keep whatever this was between them under wraps, at least for a while, and that made her feel better about seeing someone who used to be under her command but she was still nervous.
She was still debating with herself when they reached the lights at the edge of Blackjack. With only minutes left to decided she decided to throw caution to the wind. Most of the time she was too planned, too strict on what she could and couldn’t do for one reason or another.
A glance at the dashboard told her it was almost eleven.
“What are your plans after you drop me off?”
“Nothing much. I’ll go home, let Jake out, then probably watch a few minutes of something before going to bed.”
“Jake?”
A ghost of a smile curved his full lips and she couldn’t help but remember the spark of heat that had shot through her when he’d kissed her. “Yeah, Jake’s my lab.”
An idea struck her. “As in ‘Feed Jake’?”
“Yeah, I know it’s an old song, but it’s been one of my favorites for a long time.”
“It’s a good song.” She fell silent again the last few minutes until he turned down her street. “Will Jake be okay until morning?”
Warren’s brows shot up and he turned to look at her a moment, then turned his attention back to the road.
“Yeah, he’d got a dog door, he just doesn’t like to use it unless he has to. Are you sure that’s what you want?” He pulled his pick up into her driveway beside her car and killed the engine.
“I’ve thought about it most of the trip home.” Hayley unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to faced him. She reached out and took his hand. “I’m worried about what people will say if they find out, but even that doesn’t make me not want to do this.” She leaned close and pressed her lips against his.
A low groan rumbled from his throat as he opened his mouth beneath hers and let her show him how badly she wanted him to come inside. Her world once more narrowed. She was aware of him, his hand in hers, her leaning forward in the seat and him. The rest of the world no longer mattered.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he broke the kiss and looked down at her.
“If we don’t go inside, someone’s gonna come along and find us necking in the car like teenagers. Then all hopes of keeping this under wraps will be gone.”
She took a deep breath and realized he was right.
“All right, you ready to take this inside?”
“Sure.”
Hayley turned back to her door, opened it and slid out. Going to the door, she unlocked it without waiting to see if he was following. The warmth at her back before she got the door open told her he was there. After fumbling with the keys and lock, not from the dark but sheer nervousness, she finally got the door unlocked and open. She let them inside, standing aside so he could come inside. She’d barely closed the door behind them and turned around to face Warren when his head lowered and his mouth covered hers in a kiss so hot and desperate all she could do was wrap her arms around his neck and hang on.
“I’ve wanted you for months,” he murmured between scorching kisses.
“Really?” she gasped as she tried to draw breath.
“God, I want to touch you.” He trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck as his hands slid around her waist and up under the hem of her sweater.
Heat raced through her body sparks flying to her brain, as she couldn’t bite back the low moan at the simple touch.
“This isn’t the place for this.” He pushed the neckline of her sweater aside so he could kiss the bend of her neck where it swept out to join her shoulder.
A shudder of pleasure raced through her.
“You are so sweet, so hot,” he murmured against her skin. “Hayley, where’s the bedroom? Or even the living room?”
It took a moment for his words to sink past the haze of pleasure fogging her mind.
“Down the hall, last door.” She tugged at his t-shirt, wanting to touch him as he’d been touching her. But his hands pulled away from her. She hoped he was going to pull the shirt out of her way, but he didn’t. She squealed in surprise when he bent down and swept her off her feet. The haze in her mind cleared instantly. “You can’t carry me. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“Watch me.”
“I don’t want you hurt. I’m too big to carry.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as he started down the hall. As he stepped in the bedroom door, she was glad she’d picked things up before she’d left for work that morning.
“You’re just right.” He tossed her gently in his arms and caught her again before setting her on her feet beside the bed and covering her protests with another scorching kiss. His hands went to her waist where he inched her sweater up bit by bit while his tongue trailing along her neck stole everything from her mind but what was happening between the two of them.
Chapter 27
He couldn’t wait to get her clothes off and see if she was as amazing beneath them as she was in them. Warren had no doubt she was. But that didn’t help as his fingers fumbled at the hem of her soft sweater. Though, he knew the skin beneath was even softer. His fingertips had touched it a few moments before. Her skin was nearly as sweet as her kiss. He had to tear himself away as he lifted the clingy sweater off over Hayley’s head.
The soft breathless moans and her hands pulling at him only served to stoke the flames of his desire. She tugged at his shirt. It took him a moment to realize she was speaking, not just letting out wordless gasps.
“Off.” She tugged at his shirt again.
Reluctant to take his hands from her, he did anyway. Reaching behind his head, he pulled the shirt off in one swift, practiced move. “Better?” His voice had lowered to a husky bass.
“Much.” Her gaze dropped to his newly bared skin and her hands wrapped around his ribcage sending sparks of heat and desire through him as she leaned closer. His let his hands fall to her shoulders and slide lower as she leaned in and dropped a kiss over his nipple. He bit back a groan and eased her back onto the bed.
Warren had waited too long to get his hands on Hayley, there was no way he was going to let this be over too soon. He wanted to touch, to taste, to tease every inch of her and wring as much pleasure out of them both as he could manage.
It didn’t take long until the only thing that mattered was each other. The slide of their skin against each other, the taste of their bodies.
Warren had been with more than a few women in his thirty-three years, but there was something different about Hayley. Her every sigh, her every moan, and every time she cried out in pleasure did something to him that had never happened before. It made his own pleasure stronger. Just knowing he was pleasing her made it better for him.
He took his time, kissing and caressing every inch of her body. Wringing every ounce of pleasure from both of them he could manage, until when they finally came together it was in a rush of heat and tender passion that left them both screaming with their release and gasping for air when they found it.
As he collapsed beside Hayley on the bed, breathless and exhausted, he didn’t think he’d ever felt anything as amazing. As mind blowing. For some reason he felt like it was more than sex, almost like it had been a melding of some kind. He wanted to ask if she’d felt it too, but couldn’t think of a way to say it that didn’t sound totally stupid.
Instead, he waited until they were both able to speak again.
“Mind if I use your restroom?”
“After that, you can use anything you want. Including me. Again. But the bathroom’s right there.” She pointed to a room off the bedroom.
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