Cop's Passion

by Angela Verdenius

  “I haven’t been around lately.” Her eyes dared Belinda and Matt to say anything.

  Matt’s gaze narrowed, while Belinda dropped her gaze to her coffee cup.

  “And we’ve been busy.” Mike looked directly at Matt.

  Uneasy, Matt looked away. Maddy couldn’t blame him, she could just about see the silent menace in Mike’s gaze and he wasn’t even looking at her.

  “I see that you’re a nurse,” Mrs Bernard broke into what threatened to be an uncomfortable silence. “Been one for long, dear?”

  “Ten years.” Maddy took a sip of coffee, wishing she was anywhere but here. Wishing her family was anywhere but here.

  Unnoticed by anyone, Mike’s fingers traced a small pattern on her lower spine and immediately feeling his reassurance and strength, she managed to relax a little. “This is nice coffee, Mrs Bernard.”

  Mrs Bernard smiled.

  “So.” Mr Lovett looked at Mike. “You’re a police officer.”

  “Yes.” Mike’s gaze was direct.

  “Great career options,” Mr Lovett continued.

  “Dad,” Maddy protested, knowing exactly for what he was fishing.

  “Hoping to make commissioner or something one day?” He continued, ignoring his daughter.

  “Not at all,” Mike rumbled easily.

  “Not planning to stay in the Police Force for long, then?”

  “Actually, yes, I am.”

  “Right. As what?”

  “Dad!” Maddy protested again.

  Mike’s hand swept soothingly up her back, but his gaze remained on Mr Lovett. “I like my job just fine. I like my life. Maddy likes me. That’s all I care about, Mr Lovett. Got a problem with that?”

  The silence in the room was a stunned one. Mike’s blunt words hung in the air and the Lovetts could only look at him with open mouths.

  “Oh, dear,” Mrs Bernard said faintly. “Michael, darling, that wasn’t polite.”

  “Neither was the questioning,” Mike returned. “I’m just laying it on the line.”

  “I think you’re embarrassing Madeline.”

  “Far from it.” Maddy looked up from where she’d been studying her hands. Looking around, her gaze met Mike’s. He regarded her steadily, his eyes honest and direct. She smiled at him. “Feel free to continue.”

  His eyes crinkled a little in amusement as her mother murmured, “Now, dear, don’t be difficult.”

  “I like Maddy being difficult,” Mike drawled. “It makes life so much more interesting.” His gaze sweeping the watching faces dared them to say anything different.

  Matt glowered but couldn’t meet his gaze for long, and Maddy could sense the enmity coming off him.

  Obviously searching for something to say, Mrs Lovett took a sip of coffee before saying, “I see neither of you had time to change before coming here. Busy morning?”

  “Always busy.” Maddy placed the cup on the coffee table. “How have you been, Mum? Dad?”

  “Good.” Mr Lovett leaned back on the sofa. “Company is doing well.” He was watching Mike closely, trying to read something behind his inscrutable expression.

  “Glad to hear it.”

  “You could always come on board,” Matt began.

  “I’m happy doing what I do, Matt. So how are things with you both?”

  He took a sip of coffee. “We’re doing well, aren’t we, darling?”

  Belinda nodded eagerly. “Next week we leave for Brussels. Matt’s going over there to check in to see the new branch manager, and while he’s there I’m going to hit the shops.”

  Whoopee-ding. Just the thought almost made Maddy’s eyes cross. “Delightful.”

  “And Jeannie is coming, too.”

  “Really?” Just the memory of the skinny bitch almost made Maddy’s eyes cross again.

  “Yes, and - oh, here she is now.” Belinda sprang to her feet.

  Maddy glanced around as Mrs Bernard got to her feet.

  “Jeannie!” Mrs Bernard gestured to her. “Your step brother and his friend are here.”

  Step-brother? Maddy’s heart fell. Jeannie Bernard, of course. Bernard. Jeannie Bernard must be Mrs Bernard’s stepdaughter, making her Mike’s stepsister.

  The stepsister she’d thrown out of her home.

  Oh shit, if Mike knew, what would he do? Say?

  As though Mike felt the sudden tension in her, his hand stilled on her back and he sat up straight, his gaze going from her suddenly ashen face to Jeannie’s face.

  Jeannie air-kissed Mrs Bernard before sitting next to Belinda. Every line of her dress skimmed her slim curves and she looked regal, elegant and effortlessly stylish.

  Looking at her, Maddy felt overweight and under-dressed, which, she silently thought to herself, was all correct.

  “Jeannie.” Mike nodded to her, but there was no affection in his tone or face.

  “Michael.” Jeanne nodded back to him but her gaze was fixed on Maddy. “Well, we meet again.

  If Jeannie was waiting for an apology, she could wait until Hell froze over. Maddy arched a brow at her. “We do.”

  “You’ve also met?” Mrs Bernard gave a tinkling laugh. “If I’d only known. It’s like a reunion here!”

  Mike’s shoulder was suddenly against hers as he sat forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “You two have met?” His proximity was comforting and supportive.

  “At my house, yes.” Maddy looked at Belinda. “Jeannie and Belinda came calling. We had an interesting conversation.”

  Belinda smiled nervously.

  Jeannie picked up a delicate biscuit and took a small bite. “Not a very gracious conversation, if we must be frank.”

  Oh boy. “Probably not the best conversation to have right now, either” Maddy said.

  “I agree. It wasn’t the most polite conversation of the year, but then, we don’t want to go into your details, do we?” She turned smoothly to Belinda. “So darling, tell me all about Brussels.”

  Relieved at the diversion of unpleasantness, Belinda started to tell her about the planned trip.

  Mr Lovett looked between Maddy and Jeannie in puzzlement.

  Mrs Lovett shook her head at him before engaging Mrs Bernard in conversation.

  “Well,” Mike said quietly in Maddy’s ear, “Care to fill me in?”

  “Not really.” Maddy reached for a biscuit.

  Jeannie paused to glance pointedly from the biscuit to Maddy.

  “Don’t worry,” Mike said after a pause. “I think I can guess.”

  She could feel the anger in him. “Really?”

  “Oh, yeah. I know Jeannie.”

  Maddy leaned close to whisper in his ear, “My condolences. I know my family.”

  He turned and whispered back, “My condolences.”

  They grinned at each other.

  “How about we get that box and blow this joint?” Mike suggested.

  The idea held more appeal by the second. “Fabulous idea.”

  Mrs Bernard wasn’t so happy, but Maddy’s family seemed a little relieved. Maddy gave her mother a polite kiss goodbye, nodded to her father and accompanied Mike to the store room.

  “So.” Kneeling beside the box, he looked into it. “Want to talk about Jeannie?”

  “Want me to get heartburn?”

  “I take that as a no?”

  “Correct.”

  He glanced up at her. “If she was going on about your weight, ignore her. Jeannie has no satisfaction in life and the only thing she can control is her weight. That makes her a sad case.”

  “You have to admit, she looks better in clothes.” Maddy said it half jokingly, but she couldn’t hide the wistfulness in her tone.

  “Don’t you dare let her snide comments get to you.” Mike’s eyes flashed. “And I’m betting your family issues are to do with the same thing.”

  “How did you guess?” Genuinely surprised, she looked at him.

  Catching her hand, he pulled her down so that she knelt beside him. “Just a hunch that
you proved correct.” Slipping his hand around her nape, he drew her forward so that their foreheads rested together and they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Is that why you were so reluctant to get into my bed fully naked?”

  “Um…what do you mean?” Guiltily, she dropped her gaze.

  “No, look at me.” When she reluctantly obeyed, he gazed steadily at her. “There’re no secrets between us, Maddy. I knew there was something wrong.”

  “What are you, a mind reader?”

  “No. But Cindy is pretty easy to blackmail.”

  Her eyes widened. “She told you? That push-over!”

  Mike chuckled. “But obviously you got over your shyness long before she spilt the beans to me. And for that, Maddy Lovett, I admire you.”

  She surveyed him warily. “What else did she tell you?”

  “Not much, but if ever Robert crosses my path, I’ll ream him a new one.”

  Mortified, she closed her eyes. “I’m going to kill her.”

  “You can’t kill good friends, it’s not polite.” His tone warming, he pressed a light kiss to her nose. “I’m glad you didn’t let your fears come between us.”

  “Cindy is pretty persuasive.”

  He frowned, even though his eyes twinkled. “You mean it wasn’t my manly physique? My handsomeness? My big donger?”

  “Mike!” She slapped his arm, half laughing, half anxious as she glanced over his shoulder. “Your mother might hear.”

  “She’s gone back to her guests.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because she’d never be impolite enough to leave them for long.” His arm slid around her waist and his smile was decidedly wicked. “Just as it would be impolite of me not to remind you of how much your body turns me on.”

  One calculated tug and she fell into his arms. He twisted and pulled her beneath him, and she laughed and struggled. “No, Mike! Good God, not here!”

  “Aw, come on, Maddy. Just a little slap and tickle?” He caught her face between his hands and kissed her deeply, lifting his head to allow her to catch a breath while he licked his lips. “Mmmm, yummy. I can’t wait to taste other lips.”

  “Mike!”

  “All that cream for me.” His eyes glinted darkly. “I can slip my tongue deep and-”

  Clapping her hand over his mouth, she blushed while half laughing. “Not here in your mother’s house.”

  “I wasn’t going to.” He grinned. “Running around naked in front of my mother and your family is not a turn-on. I want to run after you when it’s just us two. Now that’s more fun. I can take you anywhere I want then, over the table, the sofa, the-”

  Slapping her hand over his mouth again, Maddy struggled to a sitting position. “Stop it.”

  Mike’s hand slid up her thigh as he moved with her, coming up onto his knees either side of her thighs. His grin was so hedonistic that her heart bumped hard and her panties - oh lord, they were getting damp. “This is not the place for it.”

  “I agree.” Leaning forward, he kissed her lightly. “Let’s ditch this place, go home, and boink like bunnies.”

  She laughed. “You? Boink like a little, fluffy bunny?”

  “A big bunny, then.”

  “A big, demented bunny.”

  A loud throat clearing sounded, and Maddy tipped her head back to see her brother, Jeannie and Belinda in the doorway. Matt looked annoyed, Jeannie smirked, and Belinda was blushing.

  Not caring one whit and showing it quite clearly, Mike winked at Maddy. “It’s a date, then, hot stuff.”

  Normally she would have curled up and just died, but Mike’s brazenness simply made her sense of the outrageous come to the fore. Not one to back down, Maddy allowed him to pull her to her feet, and when he slipped an arm around her waist from behind and leaned his chin on the top of her head, she arched her brow at her brother. “Problem, Matt?”

  “Just came to check that everything was all right.” Matt scowled at her

  “Just dandy, as you can see.” Bending her leg, she ran her foot up the inside of Mike’s calf. “Even better when we get home.”

  Matt glared at her while Belinda bit her lip.

  Jeannie ran a scathing glance over Maddy, which she met with a raised eyebrow.

  Behind her she could feel Mike’s tension and she knew he was waiting for his stepsister to say one word, any word. Oops, it would be better if she got in first.

  “Well, Jeannie,” she purred. “I have curves enough for any man but as you can see, they’re all for Mike. He likes something to hang onto.” Leaning back against him, she smiled sultrily. “I can take some of the rough stuff, and the tender stuff, and you know what? As long as Mike likes me the way I am, and as long as I like the way I am, I don’t give a rats arse what anyone else thinks.”

  Jeannie’s mouth curled in disdain. “Keep fooling yourself. Every woman secretly wants to be slim, and so does every man wish it.”

  “You keep believing that, Jeannie,” Mike growled. “And you look at yourself in the mirror when saying it. Most men want a lady who can enjoy life, who can eat without picking like a mouse at their food, who isn’t afraid to be a full woman and embraces her curves.” Turning his head, he kissed Maddy on her cheek. “I love Maddy just the way she is. Her curves make me hot, and her humour makes me laugh.” Rubbing his cheek against hers, he added quietly, “I don’t care what anyone thinks, as long as she is happy.” He speared Matt with a look. “I don’t expect her to conform to a type, and that’s why we’re so happy.”

  “She got a prize in you, didn’t she?” Matt returned nastily. “Or maybe not, seeing as you don’t aspire to anything.”

  “Oh, I sure did get a prize,” Maddy replied with a snap at the implication of Mike’s profession. “I got the best prize around. I love Mike, I love him as a man, a cop, and just as plain old Mike. And I’ve never been happier. So put that in your sour pipe and smoke it, brother. Mike’s given me more love and shown more acceptance that any of my own family ever have.”

  “Oh, Mads, that’s not true,” Belinda began, her hands fluttering helplessly.

  “Yeah, it is.” Maddy shrugged, her hand resting on Mike’s arm. “I love him and he loves me. That’s all that matters.”

  Matt started to say something, but Mike growled behind her, an inarticulate word that had Matt turning on his heel and stalking away. Belinda followed, her hands still fluttering helplessly as she tried to keep up with his strides.

  Jeannie cast them both a sneering glance but when Maddy just waved cheerfully to her, she swore and stalked off as well, her skirt moulding nicely to her figure.

  Just as Mike’s hands moulded to Maddy’s breasts. “Wow,” he said. “You’re hot when you’re feisty.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself when you’re being all protective and blatantly blunt.”

  “Blatantly blunt. My, that’s a big word for you.”

  “Gee, you must be rubbing off on me.”

  “At last something is going right.” Mike gave her a last nuzzle before turning and picking up the box. “Let’s go. I want to get home and run around naked.”

  Shaking her head laughingly, Maddy went ahead of him down the staircase, through the foyer and out into the sunshine.

  Her family was gathered around their cars, obviously preparing to depart. They looked over at Maddy and Mike.

  Mrs Lovett smiled and waved her hand. “See you later, Madeline.”

  Mr Lovett nodded at Mike. “You ever want to aim higher in your career, come and see me.”

  “Dad,” Maddy said mildly, “that’s just plain bloody rude.”

  “Now, dear,” Mrs Lovett said as her father went red with annoyance. “He’s just trying to help.”

  Linking her fingers together, Mrs Bernard tried to pretend that nothing had happened. “So nice of you to pop in, Mike, and introduce us to Madeline. I do hope we’ll see more of you, dear.”

  Jeannie muttered something below her breath.

  Mike looked at Maddy a
nd winked.

  For once, not caring about anyone else’s opinion, Maddy linked a hand through Mike’s arm and smiled up at him. “Let’s go home.”

  Mike dropped the box on top of the car bonnet and turned to Maddy. He looked down at her long and hard, his gaze searching, and Maddy’s smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

  He looked across at her family and Maddy followed his gaze. Her brother wore his usual disapproving expression, Belinda fluttered nervously, Mrs Lovett had a strained smile and Mr Lovett was annoyed. Mrs Bernard was a little anxious, as evident by her hands wringing.

  Turning back to Maddy, Mike smiled slowly. Dipping his hand into his pocket, he dropped down on one knee.

  “Mike?” Unsure what to make of the strange behaviour, Maddy reached out to him.

  Mike grabbed her hand, turning it over so that her fingers rested in his big palm. “Maddy.” His vice was that familiar deep rumble she loved so much. His gaze was earnest, every bit of humour having faded away. He looked so serious that she started to really worry.

  “Do you feel all right?”

  “Never better. And never surer that this is the right moment.”

  “Right moment for what?” What on earth was he doing? What was he talking about?

  And then all Maddy’s thoughts blew in every direction as he pulled a box from his pocket and held it up. Mike released her hand to open it, and she could only gasp at the ring that glittered in the sunshine. “Oh….Mike…” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Is that…is it…?”

  “Yeah, Maddy, it is.” Taking her hand again, he looked steadily up at her. “Marry me, Maddy. Make me the happiest man on this earth and be mine forever.”

  There was a stunned silence behind them, but Maddy only had eyes for Mike. Tears blurred her vision and she could only nod.

  The smile that curved his lips touched her heart with the tenderness that shone from it and was echoed in his eyes. Mike took the ring and slid it neatly onto her ring finger, a perfect fit. Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed the back of it before pushing upright to cradle her in his arms.

  “I love you, Maddy,” he said, looking down at her. “For now and always, through sickness and in health, and in every moment you drive me nuts or give me a boner in inappropriate places. Especially the boner, though I think the nuts part will be pretty common, too.”