***
The next morning I wasn’t so sure I loved him.
Especially when the horrible man wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone.
“Bring me coffee,” I muttered from underneath the pillow that smelled like the devil currently tickling my feet.
He snorted, and slowly slid the covers up the back of my calf, and further up until he reached the apex of my thighs.
“Gotta go, pretty girl. Just giving you a wakeup call before I take my run,” he said against the skin of my back, just above the shorts that I’d stolen from him last night.
My nipples pebbled, and goosebumps chased his hand as he leaned down and gave my ass cheek, that was, indeed, still covered in his shorts, a kiss.
“Mmmkay,” I whispered.
“Do you mind if I leave Reagan here with you, or do you want me to take her over to my sister’s?” He asked.
I felt his weight leave the bed, and moaned as he jostled me, making me wake up even more.
“She can stay,” I muttered.
“Okay, baby. Be back.”
Then he was gone and I was somehow completely awake.
I laid there for a good ten minutes listening to what sounded like Saved by the Bell.
Reluctantly, I unstuck my body from the perfection of Bennett’s bed, a bed I didn’t remember getting into, dragged the blanket off it, and headed into the living room.
Reagan was, indeed, watching the show that I used to love when I was a teenager.
“I wasn’t aware this was even on anymore,” I said as I dropped down onto the couch next to her.
She smiled at me.
“There’s not much on in the morning,” she informed me as she shoved her feet into socks.
I nodded.
“What time do you have to be at school?” I asked her.
She looked up at the clock hanging above the mantle, and scrunched up her nose.
“In less than an hour and a half,” she said. “Daddy woke me up because he thought I’d have to go to Aunt Payton’s, but you said I could stay.”
I patted her hand. “Have you eaten?”
She shook her head, turning those hopeful hazel eyes, just like her father’s, over to me.
“No,” she said softly.
I smiled.
“So…do you want some pancakes? Waffles? Bacon and eggs? Cinnamon rolls?” I asked, turning my head slightly sideways to study her.
She really was beautiful, and I’d bet my life that she’d grow up to be a heartbreaker.
Her eyes widened. “Can you make that?” She breathed in excitement.
I nodded. “Sure. I brought all the ingredients over with me. It’s in a cooler in the back of my car.”
She was practically bouncing in her seat.
“Can I help?” She asked enthusiastically.
I nodded. “Yep. Go wash your hands once you’ve finished putting your shoes on, and I’ll let you help.”
She smiled, shoved both feet into her shoes, and darted out of the living room, leaving me reeling with how excited she was over something as simple as making breakfast.
I stood from my blanket cocoon, nabbed my keys that were still lying on the coffee table next to my purse, and walked out the front door.
My eyes widened as I stepped outside and ran face first into a sweaty chest.
I looked up into the dark, fathomless eyes of a man with dark black hair, a cut underneath his eye, and a glare that was impressively intimidating.
“Eeek,” I said, stepping back.
“Sorry, darlin’,” the sweaty man said. “Is that your car?”
I nodded.
He pointed to the front tire. “Tire’s flat. You want me to take it to the shop and fix it?”
I blinked. “Ummm.”
“Uncle Sam!” Reagan crowed from behind me. “Nox is cooking me pancakes and is letting me help!”
“Nox?” Sam asked, both eyebrows going up.
I smiled half-heartedly. “Yeah, Bennett seems to think Lennox is too long.”
He nodded. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand.
I took it, shaking his scarred, rough one, and said, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Uncle Sam, will you take the cooler out of Nox’s trunk before you take the car?” Reagan jumped excitedly at my side.
Sam’s eyes left mine as he dropped my hand, and I licked my lips as I tried to not show how intimidating this man was.
“Yeah, baby girl. I can do that. Keys?” He asked.
That last part was directed at me, and I reached my arm out and popped the trunk using the key fob, then placed the keys in his hand.
“There you go,” I said shakily.
He winked at me and walked to the back of my car, lifting the heavier than a cement statue cooler out of my trunk, and placed it down at my feet.
“Anything else you need out of it?” He asked.
I nodded my head. “Y-yeah. My uniform.”
He walked back to my car, lifted the clothes that I had hanging in the back, and brought them back to me.
“There you go. I should have this fixed up before you leave, but Bennett tells me he’s taking you to work?” He double checked.
I nodded. “Yeah, he did say that.”
He smirked. “Alright then. Have fun making pancakes.”
Then, just as suddenly, he was gone, and I was in the kitchen making pancakes for one very excited little girl.
***
Bennett
“You get the car checked?” I asked Sam.
I’d stopped by on my lunch break, doubling checking that Sam got everything done that I’d asked of him before I handed the car back over to Lennox.
“Yeah,” he nodded, walking over to the car. “I put the tracker in like you asked, and checked it over for bugs. Then found this,” he said, holding up a black piece of metal.
“What the fuck is that?” I barked.
“Another tracking device. Figure I’ll plant it on something, and set up a camera to see if it’ll bring out anyone from the woodwork,” he explained.
I nodded. “Good.”
He tossed the device back on the top of his tool box and pointed to the back of Lennox’s car.
“It’s got a camera here, too.” He indicated something the size of a small coin. “It’ll turn on at any sudden breaks, or when it detects a breach in the alarm. It’ll run for twenty seconds, and then turn off.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Thanks man. I owe you one.”
He nodded. “Just get your girl to make me some of those cinnamon rolls I was smelling as I walked back to my place this morning. They smelled fucking great.”
I couldn’t help the smile that slid over my mind as I remembered the way I found Reagan and her cooking this morning.
Not only had she made cinnamon rolls, but she’d also made eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
“Cheyenne doesn’t make you cinnamon rolls?” I asked, teasing him.
In fact, Cheyenne didn’t make him cinnamon rolls. Not anymore.
Apparently, she was boycotting all things fattening, which meant the entire house had to deal with the same.
Sam narrowed his eyes at me. “Get out of my shop, kid.”
Laughing, I offered Sam my hand.
He took it, gave me a shake, and then released me.
“Cinnamon rolls,” he said again. “Bring them here.”
I nodded and walked back to my cruiser, and Michael.
As I dropped into my seat, I looked over at my informal partner for the second shift in a row.
“They find anything out about your car?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. Not that I mind. I kind of like when you drive me around.”
I snorted. “I’m not your bitch. And you’re more than welcome to drive anytime you want.”
He snorted. “That’s alright. I wouldn’t want to break your cruiser, too.”
&n
bsp; I shot him a look, and backed out of the driveway. “Fancy a trip to the hospital?”
Michael shot me a weird look, and shook his head. “I don’t care. Just don’t be surprised if a scene blows you out of the water.”
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline at that admission. “What?”
He shrugged. “Let’s just say that the ex and I aren’t really best friends. And she possibly hates me.”
Interesting. Really interesting.
I pulled into the lot of the hospital twenty minutes later, and pulled into a spot that was designated for emergency personnel.
“So what’s her name?” I asked.
“Joslin Downs,” he said simply.
I chose not to say anything else, instead walking into the emergency entrance.
I had to use a code to get in, but turned to the right once I was inside, walking in through the front doors.
The hospital was a flurry as nurses, techs, and doctors scrambled throughout.
I’d heard about a big wreck on the interstate, and had forgotten since I’d stopped by Sam’s instead of coming straight to the hospital like I’d originally planned.
“Maybe we should come back later,” I muttered, surveying the room.
“Fuccccck,” Michael groaned. “I think we should go, too.”
I turned to survey the room, quickly spotting the woman standing at the nurse’s station.
Tall, with sable brown hair, she looked like she’d be more suited as a model rather than a nurse.
She could easily compete with Lennox in the dress up department, but where Lennox was easy to get along with, and personable, this woman looked harsh, and unfriendly.
“That the ex?” I asked as I turned my back on the glaring woman.
“Yep,” he answered shortly. “Looks like she’s in one hell of a mood, too. Let’s get out of here before…”
“Bennett! Hey!” Lennox said excitedly.
I turned to find Lennox hurrying towards me.
She was wearing the scrubs I’d dropped her off in, at least the bottoms, anyway.
The top was now a t-shirt that said, ‘A team of excellence,’ on it.
She walked straight up to me, and buried her face into my neck as she hugged me on her tip toes.
I wrapped my arms around her and rested my head on the top of hers.
Her hair smelled like sunshine, as if she’d just come in from outside.
“What’s going on here? Is this from the wreck on the interstate?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Five car pile-up.”
I nodded, remembering the radio call.
“The kid make it?” I asked softly.
She shook her head. “No. The young boy died on the way to Children’s in Dallas.”
My stomach knotted.
The wreck had been horrific by itself, but a young child had been riding in the back of one of the trucks when it rolled, and he’d been impaled on a guardrail that they’d originally ran into.
I was just glad I wasn’t one of the first responders that had to work the wreck.
“Shit,” I exhaled, turning to look at Michael.
He wasn’t looking at us, though.
His eyes were on the woman across the room, and not the same woman who’d been glaring at him earlier.
This one was a Hispanic woman that looked vaguely familiar.
She had long, thick brown hair and her eyes were on the work she was doing in front of her.
She’d cast a surreptitious glance in Michael’s direction before it darted back to the cart in front of her.
Turning back to Lennox when she withdrew her hands from around me, I looked down to see her eyeing Michael.
“You remember Michael,” I said.
She nodded, and Michael’s eyes finally tore away from the woman to focus on Lennox.
“Good to see you again, Lennox,” he nodded his head.
Lennox smiled at him, glanced in the direction of the Hispanic girl, and turned back to Michael.
“You know Nikki?” Lennox asked.
Michael’s eyes flared at the mention of ‘Nikki’ and he nodded.
“Yeah, I do,” he answered.
It was then I realized just why the girl was familiar to me.
“Nico’s sister?” I asked him.
Michael nodded. “Yeah.”
Now it made sense.
It’d been two years since Nico had married his wife, Georgia.
And a little over two years since Michael had first met Nikki.
I’d seen her a time or two in the two years, but each of those times were when she was talking to Michael.
Heatedly.
Knowing when a change of subject was needed, I turned my attention to Lennox and asked, “Is there anything I need to bring for dinner tonight to your parents?”
Her eyes widened. “Shoot, I forgot about that.” She bit her lip. “No, you don’t need to bring a thing. Mom can handle it.”
I nodded. “I’ll come pick you up about ten minutes before your shift ends. I’ll wait for you outside, okay?”
She nodded, raised up on her tippy toes, and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks for coming, Bennett,” she whispered sincerely.
I smiled, and reached up to run a lone finger down the bridge of her nose. “Anytime, honey. I’ll see you around seven.”
***
Lennox
“Who was that sexy beast?” Melissa asked in awe as I walked up to the nurse’s station.
I smiled as I looked over my shoulder at Bennett and Michael leaving.
They were laughing about something, and would’ve kept doing it had Joslin Downs, the she bitch nurse from hell, not stopped them.
“Uh-oh,” Melissa whispered. “What’s this?”
“It looks like ‘Call me Nurse Jo-Jo’ found her next victim,” I mused.
“What are you doing here?” Joslin yelled, bringing the attention of not just those around her, but the entire fucking ER.
Bennett looked amused.
Michael, though, looked nothing close to amused.
Moving closer as inconspicuously as we could, Melissa and I found the nearest COW, or computer on wheels, and started standing there looking as if we were making ourselves busy, even though we were doing nothing close.
“Joslin, I live in Kilgore. I work in Kilgore. I’m a cop. There are times that we’re going to run into each other. Something I’ve tried to tell you time after time,” Michael explained patiently.
Joslin’s face darkened. “There’s no reason in the world you have to come in here. You just do it to upset me.”
Oh, here we go. Joslin’s ‘the world revolves around me’ attitude rearing its ugly head.
Joslin was the queen of making everything about her.
Joslin wanted her lunch break to be at ten instead of one, and she got it. Joslin wanted to work only week days, while other nurses senior to her had to work every other weekend, as was required in the medical center’s by law’s, and she got it.
Joslin wanted to work days, but there were no open positions. She got it and poor Gertrude got bumped down to nights.
I was fairly sure that Joslin had the ER director by the cock, but I wasn’t going to say that.
I also knew for a fact that she was fucking at least three of the doctor’s in the ER. Not that I’d ever say a word to the three of them when they thought they were being so discreet about it.
“Yeah, well I’m leaving anyway, so it doesn’t matter what the problem is. Have a good day,” Michael said, and stepped around the still hissing woman.
“Don’t you walk away from me!” Joslin hissed. “Why is it so hard for you to face your problems? Always running away, using your sickness as an excuse.”
Michael froze, and turned.
“Do not,” he said menacingly. “And I repeat, do not, say another fucking word, or I’ll have my lawyer drawing
up a defamation suit against you so fast you can’t even run to one of your fuck buddy doctor friends for support. Trust me on this, Joslin. You don’t want what I got.”
With that he stalked out the door, and for once Joslin had no comeback.
Bennett followed behind him shortly after, and it was only when I turned to throw wide eyes at Melissa that I saw Nikki in the corner, looking like her heart had been torn out.
Melissa watched me watch Nikki, and I was surprised when she said, “Nikki’s in love with someone. I guess now we know who.”
Yeah, I guess now we did.
Nikki was a phlebotomist.
She’d been working in the ER as long as I’d been there, and in the time I’d known her, she’d become a really good friend.
Although I didn’t see her as much as I would’ve liked, I still counted her as one of the friends I could rely on if I needed her.
And I’d known she’d fallen for someone.
I could tell almost two years ago when it’d happened.
Yet she’d clammed up, and hadn’t said a word about it ever since.
Leaving all of us to wonder just what exactly had transpired.
Turning back to Melissa, I inadvertently stepped out past my computer, effectively running into Joslin as I went.
“Watch where you’re going, heifer,” Joslin snapped, glaring at me as she passed.
I wanted to pick up the chart that was next to my hand and whack her upside the head with it, but I refrained.
Barely.
Instead I turned to Melissa as I’d previously intended to do, and said, “We need to get her out for a girl’s night. Get her to talk.”
Melissa nodded sagely. “Yes, yes I think we do.”
Four and a half hours later, exhausted and tired, I walked out the sliding doors of the medical center, and was grateful to see Bennett leaning against his truck waiting for me at the fire lane.
“Hey,” I said, walking up to him and practically dropping against his chest.
He let out a small oomph, and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
“What’s going on, Nox?” He asked softly against my hair
I smiled up at him for using that weird nickname, and sighed as I pushed away from him.
“Joslin Downs, that’s what,” I growled, crossing my arms across my chest.
“What? Why?” Bennett asked.
I lifted my lip in a silent snarl.
Kill Shot (Code 11- KPD SWAT Book 6) Page 10