If only.
The Chief leaned back and his chair creaked under the strain. "So what are you going to do now?"
It was better than an outright order to arrest her. More than Luke had hoped for. "I want to follow the Haywood-Smiths, investigate their associates in the jewelry business, maybe search the house—."
The Chief's laugh erupted like a loud belch from deep within his enormous gut. "You're shitting me? Who do you think's gonna pay for the resources? Who'll authorize them? Me?" He shook his head. "The Haywood-Smiths are one of Melbourne’s most notable families. They have influential friends, they have a financial interest in dozens of companies around the country and they give a small fortune to charities for Christ’s sakes. We’re not going to stir up trouble over a pissing little insurance scam.”
It didn’t help ease Luke’s anger to know his boss was right. “The insurance companies might think differently.”
“It's a lost cause, Tanner. Give it up."
"I'll watch them," Luke said. "You don't need to spare anyone else."
"I can't spare you. The answer's no." He returned to his paperwork.
A small part of Luke registered the stupidity of what he was about to say but somehow it got lost amongst the fierce anger burning inside him, blinding him to everything else. "No,” he said, trying very hard not to shout. “You can't let her go to jail. She doesn't deserve it. Do you understand me?” He pointed, wanting to stab his finger into the Chief’s fleshy chest but restraining with the last remaining ounce of self-control he possessed. “I will not let her go to jail for something she didn't do."
The Chief shook his head and sighed. "She's got her claws right into you, hasn't she?” He leaned forward and his chair groaned. “Tanner, don't throw a brilliant career away over a woman. Especially a McAllister woman. They're all scum."
Just when Luke’s anger should have erupted, it disappeared. Replaced by a sickening sensation that churned his stomach. Is that how he sounded to Lily? Like a blustering autocrat who tarred an entire clan with the same brush? Oh God. No wonder she hated him. No wonder she wanted him gone from her life.
The Chief had got one thing right—Luke was a fool.
Well, not anymore.
"How about you let me decide if she's worth it." He stood and the backs of his legs pushed the chair into the wall.
"Don't do anything stupid, Tanner. I'm warning you, your job is on the line if you're caught doing anything unauthorized at the Haywood-Smiths."
"Guess I better not get caught then." Luke opened the door and marched out.
"Tanner! Tanner, get back here!"
CHAPTER 6
Lily knew it would be Luke ringing her doorbell. He seemed to have a habit of turning up unannounced after dark. So when she opened the door and saw him standing on her front porch, she was prepared this time and took only a fraction of a second to close it.
Unfortunately he was quicker and shoved his foot in the gap first. “Just hear me out,” he said. “That’s all I ask.”
She opened the door but didn’t move aside. “Why should I?”
He looked all dark and broody with the light casting shadows beneath his eyes and sharpening his cheekbones. Serious. Sexy.
Down girl.
“Fine,” he said, shifting his weight. His hands were empty this time, no handcuffs, although they could be stuffed into his back pocket. “But I really don’t think you want your neighbors overhearing this conversation.”
Were they going to have a conversation about their sexual encounter or about her imminent arrest? Either way he was right. She opened the door wider and stepped out of the way.
He grunted but said nothing as he moved past her. They didn’t touch but her awareness of him felt just as strong as the night before. It rippled through her like a warm breeze, settling into her core with comfortable familiarity.
She sighed. She was such a loser to still want him so badly after the way he’d treated her. He’d made it clear he hated her family, her background and even himself for having feelings for someone like her. Someone he placed on a level with sewer rats.
He was dressed in all black—jeans, T-shirt and runners. No cuffs in the back pocket. She followed him down the hall to her lounge, trying not to look at his tight ass. Oops, no such luck.
“Go get changed,” he said, spinning round and catching her in the act. Fortunately he didn’t seem to notice her embarrassment because he focused on the top of her head instead of her face. “All black,” he said. “And comfortable clothes.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to do some surveillance tonight.”
“Outside the Haywood-Smith place?”
“Yes.”
She could have kissed him. Finally some action, and not of the arresting her kind. Thank God he’d been able to convince his boss she was innocent.
Boy, that sounded like she’d only had sex with him to get her out of her predicament. So not true. She’d had sex with him because he looked damn hot and his kisses had driven her libido crazy.
She smiled at him. He didn’t smile back. No sex before their surveillance then. Good. Right. Good. Fine with her. Good.
In her bedroom, she changed into a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt. She found a black cap and decided to take that too.
“So why am I tagging along?” she asked, opening her bedroom door. “I thought it would be against police protocol or something.”
He stood in the middle of the small lounge room as if sitting down was somehow forbidden by his cop code of ethics. “It is. But this is a ... special circumstance. I can determine where the hidden camera is located based on the footage I’ve seen but I don’t know where the others are. You do since you disabled them successfully.”
“We’re going inside?”
“Maybe.”
“Are we allowed to do that?”
His gaze narrowed and she took that to mean cops could do whatever the hell they liked.
“Let’s go,” he said. She grabbed her backpack, still holding the things she’d used to get into the Haywood-Smith house two nights before. He led the way out to a black Lexus SUV parked out the front of her building.
“New car?” she said, sliding into the soft leather passenger seat.
“Kind of.”
“Nice.” A bit too nice for a cop’s car. Where had Luke got the money for it?
They drove across town via the freeway, taking the Toorak Road exit. After a lame attempt to break the ice by discussing the weather, Lily gave up and they traveled the twenty minute journey in silence. By the time they reached the Haywood-Smith’s street, the tension inside the car was thick enough to bog a truck.
Luke parked two mansions up on the opposite side of the street behind a BMW and in front of a Porsche. The Lexus blended right in.
“This isn’t your car, is it?” Even though she whispered, her voice sounded loud in the quiet cabin.
“No.”
So his boss was going all out on this one. She doubted the cops had Lexus SUVs to spare so for Luke to be able to get one, his boss must really want to nail the Haywood-Smiths. She relaxed into the leather and blew out a long breath. She felt better knowing she had the full weight of the force behind her. And Luke. It definitely felt good having him behind her.
And on top of her, inside her, and...
She opened her window to let some cool air into the hot car. A hushed silence, broken only by the chirp of insects, cloaked the street. Not even the sounds of traffic from the nearby main road dared be heard, as if the wealthy residents had somehow paid for everything to be quiet. Not that those residents or their houses could be seen behind the hedges and high fences with their Keep Out signs.
“So now what?” she asked after what felt like two hours but was only two minutes according to the clock on the dash.
“We wait.” Luke hadn’t taken his gaze off the large iron gates across the Haywood-Smith’s drive. “And watch.”
“Okay.” Af
ter another minute, she added, “What are we watching for?”
“Anything out of the ordinary. Comings and goings. That sort of thing.”
Lily didn’t think they would learn much from watching the driveway but she did as told and watched too. Easy. It was the waiting part she found difficult, especially with Luke so close she could reach over and caress his thigh.
She dug her nails into the leather seat near her own thighs to stop herself committing a dumb mistake.
It was his aftershave. That had to be the reason she felt suddenly out of control. It surrounded her, blending with his own musky scent to fill her nostrils and attack her nerve endings until they were raw with desire.
Don’t look at him, don’t look at him, don’t look at him.
She looked at him. He was still watching the gates so she kept on looking, admiring his strong profile, the straight nose and sensual lips. Nothing had changed in two years. Not him and not her response to him.
She became aware that she was stroking the leather seat and stopped. Concentrate. On the house, not on Luke.
She turned to watch the driveway but after a few minutes of silence, her nerves stretched to snapping point. “Okay, I can’t stand it anymore. If you’re trying to drive me crazy then you’re doing a good job.”
“Why would I want to drive you crazy?” His gaze remained on the gates. In fact, he hadn’t looked at her directly since his arrival on her doorstep.
She threw up her hands and slapped them down on her thighs. “How should I know? Maybe it’s some new form of police interrogation. Don’t speak to the suspect after having sex with her and she’ll admit everything.”
“You’ve already admitted everything.”
She gritted her teeth to stop from screaming at him.
“Sorry, Lil, I just don’t like talking during surveillance.”
“Crap. You once told me how you and Tommy knew each other’s life stories after your first surveillance together. So it must be me. You don’t want to speak to me.”
He sighed. “Okay, I don’t want to talk to you because we’ll only end up talking about last night or about our breakup or something like that.”
“So?”
“So I’m a guy. I don’t like discussing that stuff.”
“Then we’ll discuss sports.”
“You hate sport.”
“The weather?”
“It’s summer and hot. End of discussion.”
“My mother?”
His gaze slid to hers. “Definitely not your mother.”
She grinned. “Got your attention though.”
Surprisingly, he grinned back. “Your mother is hard to ignore.”
Lily sighed. “Oh yeah.” The silence settled again as they both returned their attention to the gates, but the tension had eased. “She thinks I made a mistake sleeping with you.”
“You told your mother we slept together?” He groaned and looked up at the roof. “Great, now I have to live with the knowledge that she knows.” He shifted his gaze to her. “She’s not going to come after me with a gun is she?”
“No! She doesn’t have a gun. That I know of.”
“Stop discussing our sex life with your mother.”
“We don’t have a sex life anymore. Last night was a one off.” Definitely a one off. No more sex with Luke. Ever. Not even if he begged her on his hands and knees, naked and with his tongue—.
Whoa!
She slid the window down all the way but no amount of breeze could cool her.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “A one off.”
She turned to look at him, expecting him to be watching the gates but instead he was watching her. The light from the nearest street lamp reflected in his eyes, making them appear glossy in the darkness, and she could just make out the grim set of his mouth. She suddenly felt a little dizzy, as if the world outside the car was spinning yet she was standing still amidst the turmoil.
She swallowed. “Good.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Good.”
She gripped the seat to regain some equilibrium but it was no use. It was too hard to keep control with him looking at her like there was something hanging from her nose. They should have been watching the gates but he didn’t seem to care. She should remind him, should say something...
She opened her mouth but before the words could get out he leaned over and kissed her. Then all rational thoughts fled too and she was alone, with Luke, in the car, with a very basic need driving her to kiss him back. It throbbed like an ache way down inside and between her thighs. She wanted him to touch her there, feel him inside her again.
She pressed her hands to the back of his head, pinning him against her. But he didn’t seem to mind. One of his own hands explored under her t-shirt. He expertly unhooked her bra then filled his palm with her breast.
Heat trickled along her nerves and plucked at her skin, leaving sheer pleasure in its wake. She groaned. He groaned in response and deepened the kiss.
The flash of a passing car’s lights lit up the cabin and they sprang apart like two teenagers caught in the act.
“Hell,” he muttered.
She shook off the disappointment and tried to look on the bright side. Considering she’d just been telling him sex between them was a no-go zone, she’d escaped with her dignity in tact. And her underpants. A lucky thing, passing traffic.
“Sorry,” he said, breathing hard.
“S’okay,” she said, shrugging.
He sat back into the shadowy recesses near the driver’s side door, as if he was trying to get as far away as possible. Any further and he’d be falling onto the road.
“No big deal.” She attempted a smile. It faded as his face moved back into the circle of light cast by the streetlamp.
He looked anything but casual. He watched her intently from beneath half closed lids, his big body set like stone as if he were trying to control a powerful force. If there had been more light she might have been able to figure out if he was angry or perturbed or merely broody, but she was stuck with the semi-darkness and her own instincts. Something was bothering Luke.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Yeah, you said that already.” She looked out the windscreen because looking at Luke made her eyes watery. She didn’t want to be watery, she wanted to be strong and confident around the man who’d torn her heart in two. Instead, she focused on the gates and sucked on her top lip. The taste of Luke lingered on them, sweet and edible.
“No, I mean I’m sorry for...” he let out a long sigh, “for being such an asshole.”
“Which time?”
“Huh?”
“Last night when you cuffed me? Or when you broke up with me? Or how about now when you kissed me?”
“I’m not sorry for the kiss.” He shifted in the seat as if he couldn’t get comfortable. After a few moments, he said, “I’ve got something I need to say before we go any further.”
“We’re not going any further, you and I. We stop here. No more kisses, no more sexual advances of any kind. After we sort this fiasco out, we’re not even going to talk to each other anymore. Get it?”
“Then I best say what I want to say now.” He rubbed his palms down his thighs.
Lily waited. Although her patience was already shredded to pieces, she was determined not to prompt him. Let him sweat it.
“I should never have broken up with you,” Luke said. There. The words were out and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now everything would be fine.
But saying it didn’t make him feel any better. Nor did it soften Lily’s expression. By the wan light, he could just make out the tightness of her lips, her rigid back. She turned to look out the windscreen at the Haywood-Smith house and it wasn’t until several excruciating minutes had passed that her body began to relax.
Good. Hopefully she was thawing out.
“Too little too late.” The casualness with which she said it stabbed him straight in the heart.
Only fools hope.
“Let me explain first,” he said. He waited, expecting her to cut him off but she remained silent, tight again. “Today I realized what a first class asshole I had been to you when I found out who your family were.”
“Today?” She grunted. “And you call yourself a detective.”
He sucked in air between his teeth. This wasn’t going so well. It didn’t look like she was about to throw off all her clothes and admit her undying love for him. “What I said ... the reasons I gave ... well, they were—."
“Don’t.”
“Let me go on, Lil. Your family—.”
“Don’t. Really.” She pointed to the iron gates across the Haywood-Smith drive. They were opening. “Someone’s leaving.”
He reached for his night vision goggles and focused on the Ferrari. Max Haywood-Smith was driving, his wife in the passenger seat.
“It’s both of them,” he said, training the goggles on the car as it sped off down the street. “Let’s go.” He hung the goggles around his neck then reached through the gap between the seats to grab his backpack.
“Now?”
“No better time.” Although right in the middle of his apology was damned inconvenient. He’d have to try again later.
If she let him.
CHAPTER 7
Luke got out of the SUV, closed the door then opened it again when he saw Lily was still inside. “Coming?”
She blinked at him from the passenger seat. “Yeah. Sure. Just give me a minute to, ah, get ready.”
He waited while she pulled on her black cap, checked herself out in the rear view mirror, adjusted her hair and grabbed her backpack. Why was a master thief’s daughter nervous about breaking into a place she’d already broken into?
“It’s okay, Lil,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” she said after a moment. She cast him a wobbly smile and his heart did a little flip. God, she was beautiful. “Let’s go.” She got out of the car and strode across the street, purposeful and confident once more.
“That’s my girl,” he murmured to her retreating back.
“I’m not your girl.” Lily pulled her cap down low and stood to one side of the security camera attached to the Haywood-Smith’s gate. She held a black rag in one hand which she threw up towards the camera. It missed its mark and fluttered back to the pavement.
You Again (a novella) Page 4