“Oh, I definitely need.”
In an instant he’d moved half out of his seat and thrust his fingers in her hair, holding her still as his mouth crashed down on hers.
Chapter Five
Shock rushed through her, momentarily shutting down her brain and her ability to move.
Not that he was giving her much of a chance to get away or think. His tongue swept past her lips, delving deep to find hers. The kiss was angry, almost punishing, and entirely too hot.
Shoving him away seemed pointless, especially when the actual kiss physically felt so right. So sensual, and probably a little sinful, given their history. But the taste and scent of him was overwhelming her senses and overriding any logic that might’ve kicked in.
So, just for a moment, just this one instant in time, she was going to pretend that things could’ve been different. She was going to let Colin McLaughlin kiss the hell out of her—no matter his reasons—and she was going to like it.
She slid her hands up to catch his shoulders, kneading the muscles she found there as she used her tongue to spar with his. The fingers in her hair tightened, and he tugged hard enough to make her head fall back.
He lifted his mouth slightly and then bit her lip, hard enough to make her cry out, then moved to trail hot, openmouthed kisses down her chin to the curve of her neck.
Hailey groaned, her eyes fluttering open to stare blindly at the ceiling as his tongue did magical things at the curve between her shoulder and neck.
Heat slid through her body as moisture gathered between her legs. She’d gone from zero to sixty in seconds. Though not really. He’d been slowly accelerating her on all levels since last night at the pub.
The sound of a car driving by pulled her back to reality and apparently did the same for Colin. He pressed one last kiss to her neck, almost tenderly, before he lifted his lips.
“Aye, you’re right,” he admitted on a rasp. “I want you, Hailey. And maybe I have always wanted you.” He lifted his head and met her gaze. His green eyes glittered with desire and yet a steady control that made her heart sink. “You should come back to my house.”
“Tempting, but I have other plans.”
The scrutiny in his eyes, and the effect it had on her hormones, had her squirming.
“Of course you do. Perhaps that’s a good thing. You see, it would never be more than sex for you and me.”
Swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat, she gave a mocking laugh. “Well, you can tell your balls to stop shriveling. I’m not looking for a ring from anyone right now.”
“You wouldn’t get one. Because I am hoping to settle down sometime soon. Start a family of my own.” His smile was cold. Scornful. And she knew what was coming before he said it. “But you, Hailey, you’re not exactly marriage material. I’m sure you understand.”
Ouch. A hundred fucking times, ouch, even if she’d braced for it.
“No. I’m probably not.” She forced a yawn. “And that little impromptu make-out moment was super fun and all, but pretty golden boys aren’t really my type.”
His eyes darkened with irritation. “Aye, well you already tried for my brother and failed. Fortunately, he’s taken for good now.”
“Screw you.” Tired of low blows, she tried to shove him completely away. His fingers in her hair kept her trapped. “You know I never had any interest in Ian.”
“Actually, I don’t know that.”
“I’m sure Ian told you all about my reasons. Why I did what I did.”
“Aye.”
“And it doesn’t change anything? Doesn’t make you understand at all?” She shouldn’t have even asked, because the bored expression on his face gave away his response.
“Why would it?”
“No, I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t.” She moistened her lips, still swollen from his hard kiss, and noticed that his gaze tracked the move. “You’re by the book. You don’t break rules. It’s all very black and white in your world, Deputy McLaughlin.”
“It comes with the territory. I expect the worst in people and hope to be surprised.” He paused. “Some would call that optimism.”
“Or assholism. Whatever. Want to let me go, now that we’ve established we’d be great sexually, but it’s never going to happen?”
“It could happen.”
“Not with me.”
“Aye, with you, if I wanted. With anyone. There aren’t really a lot of women whom I couldn’t fuckin’ have, you understand?” He said it so offhandedly that shock ripped through her. “I don’t tell you this to sound like a complete wanker; it’s just the simple truth. The badge, the accent, the McLaughlin name, it all means I’ve never lacked for female interest.”
“Wow, your level of arrogance right now might just be toxic.”
“Perhaps, yet I’m a decent person, Hailey, and there lies the difference between us.” He finally released her. “And, sure, maybe you had a shining-star moment where you helped my niece—and I do appreciate that—but a zebra can’t change their stripes.”
“Okay, you know what? I’m done with you and your fucking euphemisms.” She pulled completely away and restarted the car.
A moment later she flipped a U-turn and got them back onto Highway 20, heading toward the north end of the island.
She welcomed the heavy silence because it gave her a lot of room to scream at herself in her head.
Kissing Colin had been a terrible idea. What had she been thinking? Hell, what had he been thinking? Actually, that last one was a stupid question. Clearly he’d been thinking with the wrong head and was probably kicking himself as much as she was right now.
When she arrived at the parking lot near the bridge, she pulled in and didn’t say anything, just waited for him to leave.
She didn’t have to wait long. He opened the door and climbed out right away. Resting his hands on the roof of the car, he leaned down and looked inside, in what had to be some kind of classic cop move.
“Stay out of trouble, Hailey.”
“Now where’s the fun in that?” She tilted her head and gave him a saccharine smile. “Have a good night, Colin. Or, you know, don’t.”
“Hmm.” He started to close the door, calling out, “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”
I’d rather you didn’t, she thought, and hit the gas the moment he’d stepped away from the car.
“Seriously? Don’t you take a day off?”
Hailey gave a wry smile to Jen, the nursing supervisor on duty, as she passed her in the hall.
“Hey, I was gone this morning. And I’ll be gone again shortly. I just wanted to drop by and see little Randy. How’s he doing?”
Jen scrubbed a hand down her face and sighed. “He’s good. A little more talkative. His mom came to visit today and kept promising him he’d get to go home soon.”
The sudden nausea in her stomach had Hailey freezing. “Seriously? They can’t send him home. No one’s buying that story about him getting ahold of a hot iron. I mean, isn’t there already a history of abuse allegations?”
“Social Services is investigating. But, Hailey. Sweetie.” Jen approached her and caught her hand, giving it a small squeeze. “Look, you sure do help heal some of these kids while they’re here, but you gotta mentally let it go when they leave. There’s just no way you can save them all.”
“I know,” she whispered. But, oh God, she wished she could.
“For now, go visit him. I assume that’s why you’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s been asking where you were.”
“I knew he would be. It’s why I came.”
“You’re a good person.” Jen returned to her seat. “Half the nurses here would be three beers into their day off by now.”
Maybe. But she wasn’t the only one who got a little too emotionally involved with her job.
She made her way to Randy’s room and tried to keep her expression upbeat, despite the bad news about his mom.
Coming here tonigh
t had always been her plan. Dropping by at some point for at least a half-hour visit. When she’d shot down Colin’s invite back to his place, this was half the reason.
The other half was she did have a tiny bit of common sense left. Sleeping with a guy who clearly hated you—no matter how hot the chemistry was—could only lead to trouble.
She stepped into Randy’s room a second later and watched as his gaze—at first nervous—lit up with happiness.
“Hi, Hailey! You came to see me?”
“I sure did.” She grinned and approached his bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay. I hurt sometimes.”
“I know you do. But they give you good medicine that helps, right?”
“Yeah. Then it doesn’t hurt.” He paused, staring at her from beneath the bandages. “They said you weren’t working today.”
“I’m not, but it doesn’t mean I can’t drop in and say hi for a bit.” Seeing the genuine happiness in those wide blue eyes confirmed she’d made the right choice.
Her original plans for the evening had been for Thai takeout and a movie on cable, followed by that overdue bubble bath. But those simple pleasures could easily wait another hour.
She pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed. “Now, Randy, I want you to tell me your favorite show that you’ve gotten to watch on TV while you’ve been here…”
Thursday morning came far too early.
Colin yawned as he poured his travel mug full of coffee and then stirred in the cream.
His sleep last night had been for shite. He’d been restless and all too awake, unable to stop thinking about the doe-eyed devil of a woman who had his hormones twisted up like Christmas tree lights.
And that bloody hard-on he’d sported all night had just put him in a complete crap mood.
She was a seductive little witch that he had no business getting involved with. What had he been thinking, inviting her back to his house? Or kissing her in the first place?
She’d been provoking him. Making him so bloody angry. And somehow that anger had mutated into a driving need to kiss her. To have her criticism melt into moans of desire. And he’d known he’d hear them if he kissed her.
And he had. Grabbing here and kissing her had been instinctive and primal. And he hadn’t given a damn about the consequences. Neither had he stopped to consider that after one taste he’d be hooked like an addict.
It had turned him into a complete, unapologetic asshole. Just remembering some of the words that had come out of his mouth made him cringe. If his mother could’ve heard him, she would’ve cuffed him upside the head.
He owed Hailey an apology. No matter how bad of a taste last night left in his mouth, how much he wanted to blame her, he wasn’t that big of a wanker. He wasn’t the guy who made girls cry, and, bloody hell, he’d sensed she was near it a couple times.
Well, either near tears or near putting her fist in his face.
Colin yawned again and turned off the coffeepot. After grabbing his travel mug, he headed out the door.
The patrol car that he took home at the end of the day was parked outside. He climbed inside and checked in for work.
“All right, Hailey, let’s see just what kind of trouble you’ve been into.” Whether he needed to apologize to her or not, he still had a promise to keep—to check up on her arse.
After typing her license plate into CAD, he waited for her information to pull up.
The information that popped up on the screen a moment later had his frown deepening.
Clean record. Spotless. Not even a speeding ticket. But what she did have, interestingly enough, was a protective order. He typed in the respondent’s name on the order, his date of birth, and waited for the information to pull up.
When it did, he narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. Curt MacGregor…the name sounded a little familiar. Maybe their paths had crossed.
Well, it seemed Curt had a Mount Vernon address, so he wasn’t an island boy.
He gave a slow whistle. “But look at that record.”
The man certainly got in and out of trouble frequently enough. Thefts. Assault. Three DUIs.
Shutting his laptop, he shook his head and backed the cruiser out of his driveway.
Later he’d look deeper into why Hailey had a protective order against this guy. If he went by what he knew about her, knew about her family, it wasn’t a complete surprise.
First things first though, time to work.
When he arrived at the precinct, he checked emails, reports and other general stuff that he took care of at the start of his shift.
“How’s it going, McLaughlin?”
Colin glanced up from his computer and grinned at the older deputy settling in at the desk next to him.
“Doing great. How are you, Jack? How’s the family?”
“I’m good. Family’s good. Same old, same old. But you…” Jack tilted his head, “…heard you were spotted at the hospital with your niece and some gorgeous woman.”
“I really shouldn’t be surprised how fast word spreads on the island,” he drawled, shaking his head. “She’s no one.”
“Really?” Disappointment flashed across his friend’s face momentarily. “Well shit. Theresa and I were hoping you might’ve found yourself a nice girl.”
Hailey a nice girl? He bit back a bark of laughter.
“She used to be a friend of my sister’s.” He would leave off all the sordid details. “Nothing romantic there in the least.”
Wanting to shag her until the disdain in her eyes was replaced by desire wasn’t romantic, it was just simple lust.
“Too bad. It’s not that we don’t like you coming over to the house for dinner alone; we just want you to be happy. You know, find someone.” Jack glanced back at his computer and typed a few keystrokes. “You deserve someone great after the bitch.”
The bitch. Funny how the woman who’d been his well-liked fiancée was so fondly hated now. But then, leaving a guy at the altar did tend to earn you a negative label.
With the memory of Brenda fresh in his head, he waited for the familiar stab of sadness. Humiliation. It might be there, but it had grown fainter over the past year. Even last month, really.
Letting the subject of Brenda die quick and hard, Colin stood and adjusted his holster.
“I’ll just be heading out.” He glanced over at Jack’s desk. “Are we meeting up for coffee this morning?”
“You know I need my caffeine.” Jack waved his hand in the air without looking up. “I’ll call you.”
By the time his shift was over, Colin was a little moody, and he couldn’t really explain why.
He drove home to drop off his cruiser, and debated calling it an early night, but then there was always the option of going to the family pub. Though neither really appealed.
He was restless. Irritable. His thoughts jumped back to the person who’d gotten so deeply under his skin in the last couple days.
Didn’t she say something about it being her day off?
Before he realized what he was doing, he’d climbed into his truck and was on the road heading toward Deception Pass and the bridge that led him off the north end of the island.
Aye, maybe he’d drop by and offer that apology.
“Finally.” Hailey turned off the faucet and swept her hand into the bathtub filled with bubbles.
The temperature was almost too hot—which meant it was perfect for her.
A couple days overdue, maybe, but it was never too late for the indulgent bubble bath she’d been trying to make happen. Especially when it was already her Sunday and she had to return to work tomorrow.
She slipped off her fluffy purple bathrobe and hung it on the hook on the door, then moved to climb into the tub.
The hot water and scented bubbles sluiced over her as she leaned back with a sigh.
Wonderful.
She must’ve been in there fifteen minutes at least when, over the Mumford and Sons album blaring on her iPod, she realized
someone was knocking on her door.
She sat up in the tub, water splashing over the rim as she hit the Pause button on her music.
Another hard knock sounded, making her frown. Who the hell could that be? The realization kicked in before she’d even finished that thought.
Tanesha. Hailey had left her sweater in the car the other night and Tanesha had mentioned she would probably swing by to drop it off tonight or tomorrow.
Stumbling out of the tub, she grabbed the bathrobe and slipped into it.
Maybe it was tacky to answer the door half-soaked, wearing a robe, but this was her coworker who’d seen her coated in various body fluids after some crazy days at the hospital.
“Coming.” She rushed down the hall and reached the front door, twisting the knob to open it. “Hey— Oh fuck.”
Chapter Six
“Hey, baby girl.” Curt MacGregor stepped past her into the house. “I’m surprised you answered, with that bogus court order and all.”
Panic ripped through her and Hailey tightened the knot on the belt of her robe.
“It’s not bogus, it’s a real fucking order. Curt, you need to leave.”
He spread big, beefy hands in front of him and gave a slow smile. “Well you opened the door.”
“I didn’t realize it was you.” And never, ever again would she assume it was someone else and just throw open the door without checking the peephole.
Clearly, Curt was in no hurry to leave now, as he walked past her and glanced around the house as if checking if someone else was here.
Crap, she wished she weren’t alone. Her only phone—her cell—was on the counter in the kitchen, charging. Maybe if she could get past him and grab it she could call the police.
Her stomach sank as if the weight of a bowling ball were in it. If she called the police one or two patrols would show up outside her house, and all her new neighbors would know. Would talk. They’d assume what people always did. That she was trouble. That she was trash. That she ran in bad circles.
The gossip would start all over again. She just wanted things to be normal for the short time she had in this quiet neighborhood.
Kilty Pleasure Page 5