by J. H. Croix
“I suppose we might be on the way to trouble,” I murmured, drawing a finger along his jawline.
“It’s fair to say so. I broke all kinds of rules to get your attention. I probably should care, but I don’t.”
My heart thumped hard as I smiled.
He grinned, giving my hips a squeeze. “Let’s get you decent in case anybody shows up. The way it looks right now, I arrested you and fucked you in my car.”
“Isn't that what you did?” I asked, laughter bubbling up.
“I suppose so,” he finally said with a laugh.
“Was it worth it?” I asked, my laugh fading and vulnerability creeping in again.
His gaze sobered, and he nodded. “Every minute of it.”
I carefully untangled myself from him. As I settled into the passenger seat, I glanced up. “You even have mistletoe,” I said when I caught sight of it hanging from his rearview mirror.
“That I do.”
“I know people are supposed to kiss under the mistletoe, but what’s it mean anyway?”
Finn angled his head to the side. “My sister insisted on it. She says it brings love and peace.” He paused, his gaze sobering. “I went along with it because for me… You’re it.”
Epilogue
Finn
One year later
It was a year later to the day from when I ‘arrested’ Jana. I was meeting her at a holiday party held at Daisy and Tristan's place. As soon as Daisy swung the door open, my eyes landed on Jana. She stood in the archway, a glass of wine in her hand. She wiggled her fingers, gesturing for me to come to her. Being besotted as I was, I started walking past Daisy, only stopping when she said my name.
I spun back around. Daisy’s eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile. “Were you planning to say hello, Finn?”
“Oh yes. Hello Daisy, how are you?”
“I'm fine. How are you?” she asked sweetly. “It's nice to have you here. It looks like you brought a gift.”
I glanced down, realizing I’d forgotten about the gift bag I held in my hand. Jana had ordered the gift for the evening, but I'd been given instructions to pick it up.
“For you,” I said, handing the gift bag to Daisy. “No bloody idea what it is. I was just doing as I was told,” I explained.
Daisy laughed and waved me toward Jana. “Carry on,” she said with a grin.
I walked over to Jana, immediately dipping my head and dropping a kiss on her neck, pulling her close. I'd been in London for a few weeks and had just returned to Seattle last night. In the past year, I’d finally resigned my position as a police officer. I'd set up a foundation with funding and services for victims of domestic violence and hired an attorney to negotiate strategies to heed the rights of defendants while resolving problems with endless continuances for victims. Ray Sutton had eventually had his day in court. He had been convicted of felony assault against his now ex-wife after far too many continuances.
Lynne Sutton had held up through the long waiting period for the trial, if only because Ray put himself in a worse position by violating the original no contact order. She was involved in the work with my foundation. While I’d resigned from active duty, I stayed on to do training with new officers. With Jana finishing law school, she’d shifted into a different role in the practice with Zoe and was busy being a brilliant defense attorney.
I drew back with a smile when Jana nipped at my ear. When I met her gaze, she tilted her head to the side. “You forgot something.”
“What? I took care of picking up the present. I already…”
She shook her head slowly, sliding her hand along my belt. “Your cuffs. You promised…”
“I didn't forget.”
She flashed a grin and shrugged, stepping back at the sound of her name.
Zoe walked over to join us, two glasses of wine in her hands. “Want one?” she asked.
At my nod, she handed me the glass of wine. Within moments, Ethan had joined us, and we meandered into the living room. The evening wore on with Jana nestled at my side on the couch. After we left and I slipped into the car beside her, her eyes caught on the cuffs hanging on the stick shift.
“Aha. This is where you left them,” she said with a sly grin.
I no longer had my patrol car for obvious reasons. I returned her grin. “I thought it was fitting.”
“What's fitting?”
I hooked my finger over the cool metal and lifted them, the light catching on the ring dangling from one of the cuffs. She grabbed them for me, her eyes slamming to mine.
“Is this…?”
My throat tightened with emotion as I stared into her eyes. “I thought it made the most sense to ask you this way considering how we met. I can't imagine living without you so…”
My words trailed off when a tear rolled down her cheek. Suddenly, she nodded and flung herself at me, promptly bumping her head against the rearview mirror in between us.
“Yes, yes!”
“You didn’t let me finish,” I murmured with a laugh into her hair.
She drew back, her eyes bright with tears. “I interrupt a lot. That’s one of the things I love about you. You don’t mind.”
As I chuckled softly, my heart pounding steady and true, she held her hand out.
“Where's the key?” she asked, her eyes on the silver band dangling around the cuffs.
With her in a lush pile of curves on my lap, I had to maneuver to get my hand in my pocket, but I managed. I handed the small key to her. Once she had the cuffs open, I slipped the ring on her finger.
***
Thank you for reading Naughty Wish! I hope you enjoyed Finn & Jana’s story. Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter at http://jhcroixauthor.com/subscribe/ to get a free copy of another one of my books!
In the meantime, please enjoy two other books - All I Want & Burn For Me. Both full-length novels are here for you to enjoy for a limited time!
xoxo
JH Croix
All I Want
By J.H. Croix
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 J.H. Croix
All rights reserved.
ISBN-10: 1978147457
ISBN-13: 978-1978147454
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All I Want
Dallas
One kiss that burned so hot, I never forgot.
Five years later.
Audrey… the hottest woman I’ve ever known and my sister’s best friend.
I was half in love with her for years.
I moved on, and so did she.
The universe rolled the dice.
A dark, snowy night—no joke.
I find her walking through the darkness.
Christmas is right around the corner.
She’s so d*mn tempting, I can hardly think.
Maybe rules are meant to be broken.
Maybe second chances are real.
Audrey
I’ve only fantasized about Dallas for, oh, too d*mn long.
One wild kiss. Five years ago.
I’ve never forgotten it.
He’s tall, dark and dangerous…for real.
FBI Agent, sexy man extraordinaire.
He couldn’t be bothered with me.
Maybe because he thought I was too young.
I’m not anymore.
*This is a steamy, full-length standalone romance with a guaranteed happily-ever-after. No cliffhangers. Nothing but steamy romance & HEA!
Chapter 1
Dallas
Snowflakes floated down f
rom the night sky, skidding off my windshield as I drove north. I rolled my neck from side to side in a weak attempt to ease the tension bundled there. The digital clock on my dash told me it was past midnight, and I’d not so wisely left Boston when it was already dark for my drive to Maine. Through the darkness, the highway sign loomed. Haven’s Bay showed clearly in the darkness, the light snow doing little to obscure the view. The moment I saw the sign, tension unspooled inside me. Haven’s Bay was the place I went when I needed to get away, although I hadn’t been here in almost four years. It was home in a way that nowhere else was.
A short trip on a side highway and then I was traveling through the quiet downtown. Holiday lights glimmered through the falling snow. The town might as well have been straight out of a postcard with old colonial homes lining its streets, trees decorated with lights and a tall Christmas tree standing in the center of town. No one was around. Hell, who would be at this hour when it was barely above ten degrees outside and snowing?
A winding road led out of town, and I turned off onto another long road. This was past the lovely, manicured part of town where the locals who’d been here for years and years lived. It was a mix of mansions and beach cottages. Lobstermen and fishermen rubbed elbows with the wealthy in Haven’s Bay. The common link was their love of the ocean, their family’s roots here in Maine, and the hardiness to stand strong through the harsh winters.
I passed by a car half in the ditch. I slowed to check to see if anyone needed help, but whoever had slid off the road was gone. I figured someone else had come along to help.
Despite the cold, I rolled my window down, savoring the salty scent of the ocean rushing through the window. I turned down a familiar driveway. I was about halfway down when my headlights illuminated a figure walking down the drive. My focus had been hazy because I was absorbing the feeling of coming home. Otherwise, I’d have noticed the lone pair of footprints along the side of the drive sooner. Everything sharpened. Aside from desperately needing a break from work, I was here in Haven’s Bay for a reason. An old family friend had asked me to check on their home over the holidays. There’d been a rash of burglaries in the area in recent months.
I slowed to a stop beside the person, rolling down the passenger side window.
“Excuse me, you’re…”
I meant to tell the person they were trespassing. My words petered out when I saw who it was. My heart lunged, and my mouth fell open.
“Audrey, what the hell are you doing here?”
I swung into action, climbing out quickly and walking around to her. So many questions tumbled through my mind, I didn’t know where to start. I took the heavy bag she had clutched in her hands.
“Dallas?”
“Yup. It’s me. I’m sure I have more questions than you, but let’s get you inside.”
She was covered in snow and visibly shivering despite her fluffy down jacket. Worry rolled through me. It made no sense for her to be walking through the snow in the dark, much less for her to be here. I surmised the car in the ditch belonged to her. She didn’t resist when I opened the passenger door and all but shoved her inside. Once I was back in the driver’s seat, I cranked the heat up, flicked the interior light on, and looked over at her.
She pushed her hood back with a sigh and turned toward me. Her dark brown hair was damp on the ends, and her hazel eyes looked weary in the soft light. My entire body tightened. I hadn’t seen her in five years, and she was as beautiful as ever. With her wide eyes, her high cheekbones, her slightly crooked nose that tipped up at the end, and her lush, full mouth, she was an odd combination of regal and endearing. Oh, and sexy as hell.
I knew where she was supposed to be and where everyone believed her to be, and it most certainly wasn’t here in Haven’s Bay. It was her father who had asked me to come check on their family home. Her family had long since moved away from here year-round, yet they’d kept the home. I’d grown up just down the street. Our families had been friends until my family blew to bits, but that was another story. Right now, I knew Audrey was supposed to be in Italy on a skiing vacation with her fiancé. In fact, her father, Warren Edwards, had mentioned just last night they’d miss her for the holidays.
“Hi Dallas,” Audrey said, her words falling softly through the hum of the heaters blowing over us.
She peeled off her gloves and held her hands in front of the heat, her gaze dropping from mine.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Italy?”
She looked back at me. Bitterness and pain flashed in the depths of her eyes. She swallowed, the sound audible in the small space of the car.
“I’m not.”
“Clearly.”
I waited. I was very good at waiting. I also didn’t mind silence, no matter how tense it was. This helped immensely in my job as an FBI agent. Most of the time, I loved my job. I savored the chance to sit down with criminals in the interview room and outwait them through the heavy silence until we talked in circles to the heart of whatever dark matter they were tangled within. My skill in interviews and in leading investigations had gotten me promoted quickly through the ranks. This past year had worn on me as I’d overseen an ugly web of an investigation related to human trafficking. My specialty was in untangling financial fraud and money laundering cases. Sometimes following the money led to very sad places.
Right now, the small mystery of why Audrey wasn’t in Italy swept the cobwebs of those worries out of my mind. I welcomed something else to fill the space.
“I found out he was seeing someone else,” she said, her tone level and flat, as if she was consciously wiping it clean of emotion.
Anger scored through me—hard and fast.
“Matthew was seeing someone else?” I asked, my calm, controlled tone belying the fury I felt inside.
I’d fucking hunt him down and make him pay. Later though. Not now. Not with Audrey sitting beside me, pain coming off of her in waves. I sensed it because I knew her. Too well for my own good.
She was almost always level and controlled. Once, only once, had I seen her let go of her precious control. No matter how hard I’d tried to shove that memory away, it was rather insistent. Audrey was forbidden to me, or so I’d convinced myself. I also wanted her more than any woman. Ever. I’d pushed her away because I’d felt I must. Her family meant too much to me. Five years ago when she was home for the summer from college, I’d let things go too far. We’d come so close to fucking, it had taken more discipline than I’d known I had to put a stop to it. She’d been glorious when she let go. I vividly remembered the feel of her slick channel pulsing around my fingers. I gave myself a hard mental shake.
She nodded, her gaze fixed out the window. There was nothing to see but the snow falling softly, and the wind occasionally sending it in little swirls in the darkness.
“He’s a fucking idiot.”
She looked back at me, weariness lining her features, and lifted one shoulder in a graceful shrug. “It doesn’t really matter. Can we get to the house?”
There were so many things I wanted to say, but she was clearly exhausted. That much was obvious. I nodded quickly and started driving. When I said the driveway was long, I meant it. It was almost a full mile long. I used those moments until we reached the half-circle at the end to rein in my fury at Matthew. I needed to pummel the guy, and even then I’d still be angry. Yet, that anger wouldn’t do much for Audrey, and Matthew was nowhere near here.
That was another thing I was good at—compartmentalizing. Tucking emotions and details away to save for when the time was right.
I rolled to a stop in front of the house. It might’ve been five years since I’d seen it, but it was just as I’d remembered. A charming cottage with trees clustered to one side and a lawn stretching behind it. I would be able to see the ocean waves crashing against the rocky shoreline in the morning.
“Wait here,” I said before hopping out and jogging through the snow on the front walkway.
I kicked my boots on the threshold
as I stepped inside. I quickly turned on some lights and the heat. Spinning to head back outside, I found Audrey dragging her bag out of the back of my SUV. I snagged it from her.
“So much for waiting,” I said, hoping to annoy her.
She straightened and rolled her eyes. Perfect. I’d rather her be annoyed than see that bitter, sad look in her eyes just now.
I grabbed my bag out of the back, hooking them both in one hand. She walked alongside me, kicking at the snow on the slate walkway with her boots.
In short order, we were inside. She went upstairs to shower, while I took stock of what was available in the kitchen.
I spun around when I heard footsteps. Audrey stood there, her glossy brown hair falling around her shoulders. She wore a faded sweatshirt and cotton pants that clung to her curves.
My cock twitched, and I ignored it. Just because I wanted Audrey and had ever since she’d been old enough for me to think about her that way didn’t mean I could have her.
She crossed her arms and eyed me.
“Tell me why you don’t want me,” she said, her eyes flashing and dark.
Her question was so out of the blue I was unprepared. A bolt of lust hit me so hard, it nearly buckled my knees. Thank fuck I was standing beside the counter.
Chapter 2
Audrey
Dallas Tate stood before me—in all of his ridiculous, sexy glory—and opened and closed his mouth, his hand curling around the edge of the counter.
Good. I’d rattled him. That was no easy feat.
Dallas had starred in far too many of my fantasies. Once, only once, had he given me the slightest clue he might want me as much as I wanted him. The clue involved the best orgasm I’d ever had, thanks to his expert fingers. But no sex. Right when I’d reached for the buttons on his jeans, he’d shoved me away so fast, I literally fell off the bed.