by Lori Foster
She sounded as if he’d asked her to swim with sharks. “And Dad, too. You’d like them.”
She had nothing to say to that so Riley pressed her. “What about your folks? Do you visit with them at all?” He wouldn’t really be surprised if she’d broken all ties, but it’d be a shame. When all was said and done, family should be there for you, and vice versa.
“They’re gone now.” There was a wistful, sad note to her voice. “Mom died years ago from cancer and Dad passed away from a stroke two years after. The farm was sold and my brother and I split the profits. That’s how I bought my house. I’ve been sitting on that money for a while.”
Riley had wondered about that. He didn’t imagine a small-town reporter earned much income. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I loved them, but I was never very close with them. We had a...strained relationship.” She hesitated, and Riley wondered if she’d pull back now, if she’d return to being evasive. Instead, she shrugged. “They thought I was snooty.”
With almost no prodding at all, she continued to open up to him. In his experience, reporters pried into anyone and everyone’s life, but clammed up when it came to their own personal issues. He couldn’t help wondering if her openness was a compliment reserved for special people. Did she feel safer with him? Did she trust him?
“Snooty, huh?” He pretended to study her head to toe, then nodded. “Circumspect, yes. Meticulous, maybe. But not snooty.”
“Thank you.” She tucked in her chin to hide her smile. “My brother still accuses me of thinking I’m better than them.”
“Do you?”
“Think I’m better? No. But I’m certainly wiser about how I handle my life.” Her long look seemed like a warning, one he fully intended to ignore. He would have her, and soon. “My parents had a great farm that they let go to ruin because they refused to do any real work. It should have been worth five times as much, but they’d never taken care of it. The house was so run-down it had to be demolished. There wasn’t a piece of furniture or a dish to be salvaged.”
“No mementos at all?”
“A few photographs that my brother and I split. My folks didn’t believe in cherishing the past or planning for the future. They had the barest medical coverage and of course, it wasn’t enough. Now my brother seems just like them. He flits from one job to the next, one woman to another.”
Sounded like a lot of guys Riley knew, men who wouldn’t grow up and so, at least in his opinion, weren’t really men.
“He’s already spent his inheritance and doesn’t have a thing to show for it. I asked what he intended to do when he retired, but he just laughs and says he has a lifetime to worry about it. He hasn’t learned at all.”
“But you have?”
“Absolutely.” She met his gaze squarely. “The house is an investment in my future, but I have others as well. If I get sick, I’ll be able to take care of myself, not rely on others or end up in the care of the state. I’m careful about everything I do and I don’t give in to impulses.”
Impulses like sexual desire? Did she hope to deny the chemistry between them? Riley didn’t correct her but he knew different. He could be persuasive and he never gave up easily.
At his long silence, her chin lifted. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
She looked self-conscious but forged on. “Do you have a retirement plan? And you mentioned your place. Do you have your own house or are you renting?”
The inquisition so surprised him, Riley laughed. “Tell me, Red, are you curious for personal reasons, sizing me up as husband material, or are you mentally working on that damn article?”
She stiffened, but she didn’t lie. “A little of each maybe, though it’s certainly too early to be thinking about anything serious between us.”
“You really think so?”
Her face went blank, then pink with confusion. She forged on. “And I wouldn’t write the article without your permission. It’s just that the whole community hero angle worked so well with Ethan, I know people would eat up a life story on you.”
He ignored that because his life wasn’t anybody’s business. “But you’re personally interested, right?”
She chewed on her lips again. “We’re not involved, Riley, so it’s more curiosity than anything.”
“I want to be involved.”
She pressed back in her chair. She blinked, studied his face, then looked down at her hands. “You know, Riley, it occurs to me that this could get pretty muddled.”
“How so?” Riley felt strangely sated. He’d had a delicious meal, cozy conversation and the sight of Regina seated across from him. It was the kind of setting he could get used to—the kind of setting he hadn’t wanted again until he’d met her.
He knew exactly how he’d like to end the day, but after everything she’d confessed, he had his doubts about her cooperation. He could be patient, especially since all indications led him to believe he’d eventually win.
“You say you believe me about the attacks.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t you think we should keep the personal and the professional separate? Won’t it be hard for you to be objective if we’re...well, sleeping with each other?”
Objectivity had flown out the window within hours of meeting her. He drank the last of his iced tea and nodded at her plate. “What I think is that you should eat some of this great dinner you fixed.”
“I am eating.” She took two more bites, then went on in a rush. “Why would you believe me when no one else does?”
“It’s easy enough to understand. You finish eating and I’ll tell you a story, okay?”
“All right.”
She still only picked at her food, but he felt better knowing he hadn’t completely ruined her meal. “Back when I was a new evidence tech, before I became SWAT, I got called to the scene where a guy had broken into his seventeen-year-old girlfriend’s house. The mother had forbid the girl to see him anymore, but when she left to go shopping, he snuck over. When the girl tried to send him away, he got unreasonably furious, choking her and banging her head on the wall a few times.”
Regina’s head came up, a broccoli floret dangling from her fork. “Dear God.”
“The mom got home in time to pull him off her,” Riley assured her, but as usual, the bitter memories filled him with anger. Too many times, he hadn’t been able to make a difference. “The detectives got there just before me, but the boyfriend had already fled. They were speaking with the mom and daughter, and the dad who had just arrived home. Patrol tells me that the mom wants to prosecute the guy, but the daughter doesn’t. When I explain that her boyfriend committed a Felony One—aggravated burglary—which carries the same sentence as murder, the mom starts backing up, too.”
“But her daughter...”
“Has purpling choke marks on her neck and bruises on her cheek and temple. Still, she just kept saying, ‘But I love him. He didn’t mean to hurt me.’”
Regina threw down her fork. “Well, what in the world did he think would happen when he manhandled her that way?”
“Men like that don’t concern themselves with the victim. And with the daughter spouting all the classic I-have-no-self-esteem phrases that you get from abused women, there wasn’t much we could do. The dad was noticeably silent, only occasionally saying, ‘I think I just need to have a talk with the boy.’”
“Unbelievable.”
“No, honey, unfortunately it’s all too believable and cops run into that crap every day. We had to leave with no charges filed because the victims wouldn’t prosecute. I was pissed, the other detective was scratching his head and then the female officer says, “I can tell you what’s going on in there. Dad’s beaten Mom up a few times and the daughter knows it. Mom doesn’t want to say anything because she might get another beating and the poor girl thinks this is normal behavior because she’s lived with it for years.”
Riley’s hands fisted on the tabletop. He wouldn’t te
ll Regina that eventually the girl had run off with the jerk—and died because of it.
Subdued, Regina left her seat and came around to Riley’s side. Immediately, Butch did the same. He ran from his bed, stretched up with his paws on her thigh and begged to be held. Regina scooped him up close, rubbing her nose against his soft fur but speaking to Riley. “I’m sorry.”
Riley gave her a one-arm hug, pulling her into his side. Because he was still sitting, his face was level with the subtle swell of her breasts. Well, her breasts and a fuzzed-up, irritable Butch who didn’t want Riley to touch her.
The dog was too territorial, but Riley understood how he felt. “Yeah, me, too.” He forced his gaze to her face. “But you know what, Red? It taught me something. There are all kinds of perspectives and things we never see. And women, God bless them, are pretty damned intuitive. If you say someone is after you, I’d be an idiot not to take you seriously. And, believe me, I’m not an idiot.”
She gave a small, tremulous smile. “Thank you. It... Well, it feels better, safer, just knowing someone isn’t writing me off as a nut.”
Riley pushed back his chair and came to his feet. Oh yeah, he knew exactly how Butch felt because the urge to hold her was nearly overwhelming. “Tell you what, Red. Let’s put the dishes away, then go to the living room and you can tell me everything that’s been going on.”
“Everything?”
“From the beginning. Maybe we’ll be able to sort things out.” He put his hand at the small of her back and urged her away from the table. “Do you think Killer can entertain himself a few minutes?”
The dog managed a sideways glare and a roll of his lip, but when Regina put him in his bed, this time he circled, dug at the bedding for a few seconds, then plopped down to sleep with his nose noticeably close to his rump.
Her kitchen was so immaculate, it didn’t take any time at all to put things away. The leftovers went into matching containers in the fridge. The dishes were rinsed and put in uniform order in the dishwasher. Regina was so orderly, so clean, it unnerved Riley a bit.
Would she expect everyone to be that tidy? Curious as to how judgmental she might be, Riley said, “You’ve been to Rosie’s place before, right?”
“Yes, why?”
“How’d you like it?” Rosie was tidy, but nowhere near as big a neat freak as Regina.
She thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “From the first time I stepped into Rosie’s house, it felt cozy, like a home.” She gave a soft laugh that sank into him. “But Rosie’s that way. Very warm and open and friendly. I like her a lot.”
Satisfied by her answer, Riley smiled. “Yeah, me, too.”
Together they washed the pans, Regina cleaning and Riley drying. Damn, but he had a good time doing it. Just being with her calmed something turbulent inside him, making him feel more at peace with himself and his life. But slowly the serenity of the moment expanded into heightened awareness. He wanted her, and not having her was torture.
When her hands were completely submersed in soapy water, Riley moved behind her. Holding her waist so she couldn’t slip away, he deliberately pressed in, relishing the feel of her full bottom against his groin. A short groan rumbled in his chest.
One day soon, after she’d accepted him, he’d take her this way, from behind, sinking deep, feeling her buttocks on his abdomen and thighs. He’d be able to cover her breasts with his hands, toy with her stiffened nipples, slip his fingers down her belly to her...
“Riley?”
He ignored the hardening of his body, the surge of lust, to nibble carefully on her ear. Without intentional thought, he further aroused her, letting his breath tickle her ear, using the edge of his tongue to tantalize the sensitive nerve endings along the tendons in her neck. “You don’t want to sleep with me yet, Red, but you will soon. In the meantime, a little kissing won’t hurt anything, right?” Before she could answer, he dipped his tongue into her ear, then gently sucked her earlobe. His accelerated breaths fanned the delicate, baby-fine hairs at her temple.
“No.” Her hands went still, just dangling over the edge of the sink, not quite in the water, not quite out. She tipped her head back to his shoulder and closed her eyes.
Riley leaned around her to see her face. “No what, honey?” He pressed one hand from her waist to her belly, spreading his fingers wide in masculine possession. His thumb dipped into her navel through her clothes, pressing gently, symbolic of so much more. Few people understood the erogenous zones of a woman’s body, how small touches, when combined just right, could elicit carnal reactions.
In his training, he’d learned a lot about pressure points that could cripple, but the reverse was also true. He knew the places where exquisite, almost unbearable pleasure existed.
He could make her come, right here, right now, without undue effort, and that knowledge had his entire body straining in need. But he didn’t want to push her. The constraint cost him, making him tremble and turning his voice hoarse. “No, you don’t want me to do this, or no, there’s nothing wrong with it?”
“There’s nothing wrong with it.”
A shudder rippled through him; she’d seemed so wary of sexual involvement with him that any capitulation now felt like a major triumph.
Suddenly she turned and plastered herself up against him, breasts to abdomen, belly to groin. “I want to kiss you, Riley. I just don’t want you to expect it to lead to bed.”
“All right.”
Her green eyes narrowed with mingled surprise and uncertainty. “All right, what?”
He settled his hands on her hips, urging her closer still, so he could feel the rounded, feminine contours of her body. “All right, you can kiss me. Go ahead.”
“Oh.” She looked at his mouth, licked her own, and Riley nearly lost it.
“Hurry up, Red.”
“Okay then.” With her soapy hands sliding around his neck, she went on tiptoe and her mouth touched his.
Riley waited, his heart thundering, his erection straining, his testicles tight. With ruthless determination, he gathered his control around him and kept his stance relaxed, his expression calm, when in reality his emotions bordered on savage. He’d never wanted any woman the way he wanted Regina.
Her warm velvet tongue licked out again, this time over his lips. “Riley?”
“Yeah?”
“Open your mouth for me.”
That did it. As carefully as he could manage considering the tumultuous raging of his libido, Riley gathered her fully against him. With her heartbeat echoing his, he opened his mouth but didn’t let her take the lead. His tongue slid in, deep and slow, mating with hers, teasing, showing her with his mouth how he wanted to take her with his body. Their hot breaths mingled, their hands clutched. Her body relaxed and sighed into his, so soft and fluid and feminine; his grew more taut with pounding lust.
He’d promised himself only a few kisses when he started this, but then he hadn’t counted on the effect of her full and enthusiastic involvement. Before he’d even had time to think it through, he had a small breast in one hand, a firm, lush cheek in the other.
Their groans sounded at the same time.
Her nipple stiffened against his palm, a plea that he couldn’t ignore. Using only his open palm, Riley brushed his hand over her again and again, abrading her nipples, giving her only so much. Her fingers tightened in his hair. She pulled her mouth away to gulp for air. “Riley?”
She said his name as an invitation, an appeal for more. “Regina...”
The sudden furious yapping of the dog startled them both. As if he’d only just then realized their physical closeness, Butch ran wild circles around them, snapping at Riley’s leg without actually touching, making his discontent with the situation well known.
It hit Riley that his control had definitely slipped. For that brief moment, he’d lost all sense of himself, acting solely on need. It was an awesome, almost frightening admission. No one, not even his wife, and not even the worst imaginable sc
ene, had so much as caused a flicker of loss in his innate control. He’d considered it an unchangeable part of him, like his height and bone structure.
One glance at Regina’s hot face and he wanted to curse. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “No. No reason to apologize.” She smoothed her hands down the front of her blouse, realized they were wet and tucked them behind her. Her smile was entirely false and self-conscious. “Would you like coffee?”
Strangely insulted, Riley stared at her. They’d shared a killer kiss, he’d had his hands all over her, and she wanted to continue playing proper hostess. “What I’d like,” he muttered under his breath, “is to finish what we started.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” He needed a distraction and fast. The obvious distraction was now chewing on his heel while growling like a banshee. Riley reached down for Butch, but with his expression so dark the dog tucked in his tail and scurried away with due haste. Issuing a grievous sigh, Riley caught Butch with one hand and held him up close. Regina stood next to him like a fretful mother while the dog tried to brazen it out, grumbling, snarling and looking to Regina for rescue.
“Shh,” Riley soothed while stroking the narrow back with one finger. The dog was smaller than his foot, his legs no thicker than Riley’s baby finger and he fit fully into one hand. Butch quieted just a bit, giving Riley a suspicious look reminiscent of Regina’s. “Good boy. See, I’m not so evil, huh? I saw that you weren’t actually biting me, just trying to scare me off. You don’t trust me with Regina. But you’re going to have to get used to me touching her, buddy, because I intend to touch her a lot.”
Regina said, “You do?”
Riley slanted her a look. “Since we’re done here, let’s go into the living room. The sooner I can figure out what the hell’s going on with your attacker, the sooner we can get beyond it.”
Regina dried her hands, neatly folded the dish towel to hang over the bar and hurried after him. “And then what?”
“And then I can concentrate on just you.” He smiled at her over his shoulder, a deliberate smile, hot and suggestive. She stopped dead in her tracks, blinked twice, then followed him into the room.