She blinked five or six times, shook her head, and frowned. “You really think it’s okay to flirt with me when you’re on duty?”
A blush accompanied her snarky comment. He liked that, the way he could see the pretty reds in her cheeks.
“Yes. I don’t think you’ll report me. Because then I’d have to explain how I found you in the subway.” Flirting with a suspect was unprofessional, but he couldn’t help himself. When he was around her, even his reservations about her mental health flew out the window.
The blush deepened, and she turned away to cross the threshold of the store. He followed, studying the flesh exposed on her lower back where the tank top ended an inch or two above her waistband.
No panty lines. God, she was killing him.
All the blood in his body made a determined bee-line to his groin. For whatever reason, seeing her dressed was almost sexier than seeing her naked. He reviewed several ways to peel the spandex from her legs in the ten steps it took to arrive at the coolers on the far right side of the store.
“Since you’re insisting on following me, big guy, you can help with the shopping.” Chloe pulled out two gallons of vitamin D and passed them to him, then got two more. “I hope Frank’s here. He usually lets me borrow a cart.”
“What’s with all the milk? You drink all this?”
“No. It’s for my neighbor. She’s getting the stain out of my roommate’s jacket. A stain you’re responsible for, I might add. You should be paying for this stuff.”
“How is it my fault?” He reached out and took the other two jugs from her, taking advantage of his long fingers to manage two gallons in each hand.
“Thanks.” She bent over to retrieve a bottle of rum from the shelf opposite the cooler and he got an eyeful of the smooth skin of her breasts and the hint of a nipple. She caught him looking and turned away with a quick spin. “Perv.”
“Hey, you’re the one who picked the outfit. So, how is you having to buy four gallons of milk my fault?”
“You chased me and then I ran into the hotdog guy. If you hadn’t chased me, I wouldn’t have gotten crap all over the jacket and risked the wrath of Daisy Mae. You don’t want to see her angry.”
“Well, just tell me what you were doing at those crime scenes, and I’ll stop following you.” He trailed her down the aisle and around the corner to the right. The store was one of those catch-all sorts of places that had odds and ends of almost anything. A canister of butane fluid joined the bottle of rum. Down another row, she plucked a plastic bag full of zip ties off a peg.
“I was watching. Like all the other people.”
“Right. Just hanging out barefoot and naked under a borrowed trench coat. ‘Cause you just happened to be walking by after your morning shift at the park flashing unwary passersby.”
“Yep. That’s it. Gosh, detective, you are so smart. You close all your cases this fast?”
They arrived at the front counter and she leaned on it with both hands.
“Frank? Frank! You here? I need to borrow a cart.”
A short forty-something-year-old man with light hair at his temples and a paunch exited a room to the left holding a box full of cigarette cartons.
“Hey there, Chloe. You buying stuff for Muriel again?” The clerk put the container down on the floor behind the counter and picked up the rum bottle. “I got a cart, but you know her daughter said no more of this.”
“Shit, she was here too?”
He nodded and set the alcohol back down on the counter.
“Look, I need it. Or Daisy Mae is going to have my ass. Please? I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Frank smiled at her and shook his head. “Hey, you wanna keep that crazy ol’ lady in booze, that’s your business. I just sell the stuff.”
“Thanks, Frank.” She shot the clerk a huge smile and Greiff wondered what he’d have to do to get a grin like that directed his way.
He used his body to subtly move her aside and put the milk on the counter. Frank flicked a look at him, then at Chloe, raised one eyebrow, and started to ring up the items.
“Hey, can I get a pack of—”
“Oh no you don’t. You need to quit that crap. Those things will kill you.” Chloe crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at him. The gesture plumped the flesh up in a rather tantalizing way. He looked back at her face and she frowned harder and cocked her head.
“You sound like my partner. Last pack, then I’ll quit.”
“No,” she replied.
“No?”
“No. If you’re quitting, you’re quitting. None of this namby-pamby stuff. Cold turkey, gorgeous.”
“Really. Well, if you’re not going to let me have my smokes, you’re buying me dinner.” He still had one cigarette in the pack in his jacket pocket.
“Excuse me?” she sputtered.
“You heard me.” He took his wallet out and handed Frank two twenty dollar bills. Her eyes widened and she intercepted the change before he could take it from Frank. The store owner chuckled under his breath and made himself busy putting the purchases in a small grocery cart. “And I’m not satisfied with the answers you gave me earlier.”
“I’ll buy you dinner. With your change.” She crumpled the money in her fist and shoved it into her purse.
“You have like eight dollars there.” Frank pushed the cart out from behind the counter and he took it, giving the other man a brisk nod. “It’s not possible in this city to eat on eight dollars.”
“Watch me.” The tight, round globes of her ass as she sauntered out the door ahead of him tempted the wrong head, and he swallowed hard against the carnal nature of his thoughts. Cute butt or no, he had to keep the blood in his body oxygenating the brain he used to think, not the one that led him into one idiotic place after another. The woman might be crazy, and he knew she’d been in the apartment today with the trussed-up burglar. He figured if he went back to earlier scenes, he’d pick up her smell there as well.
Those facts did little to dissuade the growing affection in his heart and genuine feeling of enjoyment he got from being around her.
Chapter Four
They stopped at the steps leading up to her apartment building and she grabbed hold of one gallon of milk and the bagged items.
“You going to help me carry this stuff inside or just stand there staring?”
“Think it’s okay to leave the grocery cart here? It’ll grow legs and walk away the minute we clear the door.” He looked her over from head to toe again; the sight of her shiny pink toes filled him with amusement and wonder. Her pants seemed to be black and her top was an indistinguishable grey, but her nail polish stood out. Maybe because it was attached to her nails chemically. He didn’t know the reason but being able to see it filled him with quiet happiness. When he was a kid his mom painted her nails pink like that.
She cleared her throat, and he took in the annoyance on her face. It was hard not to stare at her. The first woman he’d seen in color in years. The sunlight brought out the freckles on her cheekbones and the natural coral color of her lips. No makeup on at all.
Man, she might be nuts, but she was stunning.
“The cart will be fine. No one bothers our stuff. C’mon. Help a girl out and do some heavy lifting.” Her flip-flops thwacked the concrete stairs.
He picked up the three remaining jugs of milk and ascended the steps after her. She stood to one side to open the door for him and he brushed her chest. The touch stoked the embers of desire and he gave himself a mental shake.
“Thanks. Where we going?”
“Upstairs. Although I’m not sure it’s safe for you to know where I live.”
She crossed the lobby to the elevators. The aging, shabby building wasn’t a bad place overall. The walls and ceiling needed paint, the carpet could use a scrubbing, but it looked structurally solid and didn’t smell terrible.
“I’m a cop. One of the good guys.”
The elevator arrived with a ding and they stepped inside.
“Right. And I’m your friendly neighborhood freak who is supposed to do her best to remain incognito. I should have taken off already.”
He turned to study her profile while she worried her lip and fidgeted. “You’re serious. You really believe that you can become invisible?”
“I don’t just believe it. I know it. You’re the first person who’s ever been able to see me when I was working my mojo.”
There didn’t seem to be an acceptable response to the statement so he faced front again. “And why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Fire away.”
“What’s with the mismatched outfit? You coming off an all-nighter or something?” The elevator dinged at the third floor, and the doors slid apart. “Not that I care. I’m no fashionista myself.”
“I couldn’t tell what color my socks were in the dark.” True enough.
“Oh.” She led the way down the hall. “This door on the right here.”
The reek of pungent herbs and an earthy, dusty substance wafted from the wreath. He snorted hard to try and dispel the stench.
A quick knock and the door opened to reveal a little girl, five or six years old, with braided pig tails and the dark smudge of eye shadow halfway up her forehead. Her cheeks were coated in something greasy, and her lips—and a good chunk of her chin—were covered in what he assumed to be matching lipstick. He smiled at her and she beamed in return.
“Hey, Mattie. I went to the store for your grandma. You want to take this for me?” Chloe extended one arm until the bag with the lighter fluid, zip ties, and rum dangled in front of the child.
“Okay. Grandma said if you got here while she was going pee to have you leave the milk by the door.” The child backed up a few steps and Chloe leaned in far enough to put the milk on the carpet at the edge of the tile inside the door before turning to him and repeating the process. Her feet never breached the doorway, just her upper body as she bent over.
A faded couch was visible from where he stood, flanked at opposite ends by an old end table holding a lamp and an empty bird cage. The noise of a television set barked in the background, spewing fake laughter and screams.
Chloe’s hand hit him square in the chest with a thump and he looked down in surprise. He’d moved and hadn’t realized it.
“Don’t cross the threshold. Bad things will happen if we go in without her invitation.” The skin on her face paled beneath the smattering of freckles on her nose and cheekbones.
He had the absurd urge to kiss her, drag her into his arms, and hug her until the thing that frightened her went away.
“What? Some kind of crazy hoodoo going to get me?”
“Yes.” She turned back to the kid. “I’ll be back with the rest of the stuff, okay? Might take some time.”
“Okay.” The child shut the door with a thump.
***
Chloe looked the detective over and rolled her eyes. She paused at her apartment long enough to chuck her purse inside. He followed her back to the elevator and she wished she’d put on a different outfit. One with underwear and a bra. The man was so hot most of her thoughts were consumed with taking clothes off, not keeping them on. And he kept looking down her top at her boobs. Part of her, the perverse part, wanted to yank the tank top up and flash him to see his reaction. She’d been naked loads of times in front of people, but they didn’t know she was there. It made the whole nudity thing seem mundane.
Except for where he was concerned. Every time she felt his gaze moving over her butt or breasts, hell, even the back of her neck, arousal curled in her belly and set goose bumps marching over her skin.
“So, what else do you have to get for your neighbor?”
“A pigeon and a cheesecake.” She peeked at him from beneath her eyelashes and caught him leering. “You can buy the cheesecake as well, since I’m providing you with a peep show.”
He chuckled and shrugged. “Can’t help myself.”
“Right. Look, if you keep doing that I’m going to have to insist on tit for tat.” They continued down the hallway, he with both hands shoved in his pockets, Chloe with her arms swinging freely.
“And what would that imply?” His voice dropped an octave, bringing the damned goose bumps out in force.
“Simple. I show you mine, you show me yours. Although, you’re in the red right now, since the subway incident.” The words thrilled her. She’d never had the opportunity to engage in this kind of banter. She should be on the road and headed for a new town and existence. Instead she was here, defying protocol, flirting with a hot-ass cop, and outright challenging him to a sex game.
“I disagree. If I accept your challenge, it starts now. We’d have to start over again, so technically I haven’t seen any naked body parts.” He pressed the button on the wall to call the elevator.
She glared down her nose at him and crossed her arms over her breasts. The effect didn’t work too well, since he was much taller, but she gave it her best impervious-haughty-queen-bee try. His lips twitched and he stepped closer. She narrowed her eyes, fighting the jumble of excitement and nerves in her belly before taking a step of her own forward. The front of her flip-flops bumped into his dress shoes.
“I think you’re trying to work the system here.” The heat of his body and the connecting thread of sexual arousal had brought her closer than she realized, and their chests collided.
“Maybe. I’m attracted to you.” He put his left hand on the wall next to her head. “I want to kiss you.”
“Yeah?” She ran one finger down his tie, tracing the pattern. The elevator bell chimed and the door slid open. A few steps to the right and she could be inside. The intensity in his eyes held her still.
“Yeah.” He brought his right hand out as well and stroked the exposed skin at her waist between the tank top and pants with his thumb. “May I?”
Her heart sped up, and she grabbed the front of his shirt for support. No one had ever asked to kiss her before. She nodded, lips parting in anticipation. He bent over, coming closer, his blue eyes enveloping her. He smelled like cigarettes and scotch. Not her favorite smells, but on Greiff, she could overlook it.
Impatient to close the distance, she went up on tip toe and kissed him, impetuous, a little too hard, and off the mark. He chuckled under his breath, brought his left hand to her waist, and leaned away from her.
“Sorry.” She looked at the floor next to his shoe, feeling like a dork. “You taste like cigarettes.”
“I’ll get some gum. Come here. Let’s try this again.” He tugged until they touched from chest to shins, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Embarrassment burned through her.
The rasp of his stubble on her neck electrified her. He moved up to her jaw with light brushes of his mouth. With strong fingers, he grasped the back of her head and turned her until she faced him. This time Greiff took the lead, with a caress across her lower lip, then the upper. The third touch encouraged her to move her hands around his neck and clasp her fingers together. She slid her tongue over the seam of his mouth tentatively, and he responded with a slow sweep of his own, tracing his fingertips over her back to grab her ass with both hands.
His erection swelled between them, and she knew that her nipples were going to show through her shirt to anyone who saw her for the next half hour at least.
Holy crap. She didn’t even care about the cigarettes. The guy should hold classes on how to kiss a woman. She could die right now. Everything about it was so wrong. Making out with a cop who knew about her little gift, and probably thought she was an escapee from the funny farm.
Their tongues rubbed together, and she played with the fuzz on the back of his neck. He needed a haircut. Greiff broke away and bit her jaw before trailing down to lick a hot line up to her ear. His stubble tickled the crook of her neck, and she burst into laughter, shying away from his mouth. He chased her, repeating the motion, and she giggled aga
in, slid her hands beneath his suit coat, and smacked his ass, hard.
“Ow, hey now.” Greiff stood up tall and grinned at her. “Spanking in public is a no-no.”
“How about in private?” She grabbed the back of his belt.
“Everything is negotiable.” He pressed the button for the elevator again and the doors slid open. She didn’t remember them closing.
The desire to fall into a fantasy of a future with him, even as a boyfriend for a few months, taunted her. She shoved it ruthlessly aside. She had to leave town, didn’t she? Perhaps her next stop should be someplace smaller. After the summer camp fiasco she was done with nature. But a medium-sized city like Detroit would do. Their economy sucked as bad as the rest of the country and that always meant an upswing in burglaries. Perfect stomping grounds for a creep-busting gal with the ability to turn transparent.
The most she could hope for at this point in her relationship with Greiff was a quickie to remember a hot-ass cop with a five o’clock shadow and the inability to color coordinate. Not a bad memory to take with her.
Chapter Five
“The elevator won’t wait forever.” He pushed a lock of hair away from her forehead and smiled. He hadn’t had a woman stare at him with thoughts of getting naked written in her eyes for quite some time. “Unless you want to go back to your place.”
She backed over the threshold, tugging on his belt, and he followed until he crowded her against the back wall.
“We have to get the cheesecake, the pigeon, and return the shopping cart to the store. And I don’t have sex with people I’ve only known for a few hours. I need at least a twelve-hour quarantine period.”
Greiff stroked the pulse fluttering in her neck with his thumb, smiling as it increased. Her pupils enlarged and he bit his lower lip. “Okay, doll. Whatever you say.”
He got closer, inhaling the sweet smell of her shampoo and body wash. Her chest hitched on two short indrawn breaths, and her eyes grew even larger in her delicately boned face. The skin over her cheek bone was a velvety soft landscape under his fingertip. He traced the rim of her ear. She turned her head, caught the digit between her teeth, and nipped at it, the shock of the pain sparking into his hand sending a jolt of desire straight to his groin. It pushed him past control.
Covert Craving Page 3