God, it was like they’d gone from testosterone archrivals to estrogen allies in less time than it took for them to take a piss. “Are you two finished?”
Both heads swiveled in her direction, neither one of them missing the hard edge to her voice.
Slanting her a mildly apologetic look, Lucas focused on Glen. “Do you have a time and place this is going down?”
“I’m working on it, but there’s no guarantee I’ll hear before the deal is over.”
Lucas dug into his pocket and pulled out a card. “You can use that number to get ahold of us.”
Her partner took the card, glancing between the two of them at the barest emphasis Lucas had put on us. “If this deal is meant to draw you out, Max, you know you can’t be anywhere near Blackwater when it goes down.”
“If you can’t tell me you’re absolutely certain it’s some kind of trap, I’m not sitting on the sidelines.”
Lucas crossed his arms. “There’s no way to know that, Max.”
“Then I guess we all understand each other.”
His expression darkened. “The only thing we all need to understand is that Blackwater wants to get his hands on you, Max. You can’t just waltz straight into the lion’s den and expect to come out unscathed.”
“If you didn’t want me involved in any of this then maybe you should have left me in Riverbend.”
“Max—”
“Don’t Max me. It’s not your career or your life that Blackwater screwed with. You don’t have people you worked with, people you trusted, friends, thinking the worst of you, that you’re one of the bad guys.”
“I know this is hard for you,” Lucas began.
“Then don’t sit there and expect me to stay out of it when we both know you wouldn’t if our positions were reversed.” Glen stood up. “I think that’s my cue actually. I’ll be in touch as soon as I hear anything else.” His gaze moved to Max, and she swore he was trying not to grin. “At least you’re finally involved with someone who makes as much sense as I do.”
“We’re not involved,” she and Lucas said in unison.
Glen nodded toward the door. “Well, while I’d love to stay and mediate for you two, I want to see if Burton disappears mysteriously when he hears about this potential deal.” He quickly drained the last of his coffee. “You two play nice.”
Nice apparently equaled quiet in Lucas’s book, Max soon realized.
He hasn’t said more than a few syllables on the walk back to Ashley’s. She wanted to think he was preoccupied with staying focused on their surroundings and making sure no one followed them from the diner, but she couldn’t entirely ignore the vibe that warned her there was more to it than that.
A vibe she’d felt since Wade’s name was mentioned.
As much as her ex was a total asshole, she’d always been convinced he was a good cop. Now she didn’t know what to think. His name being tied to a tip about a deal she had a vested interest in brought to mind a few questions.
Like had Wade realized who Glen had been talking to the day she called him at the precinct?
As soon as they were inside, Lucas stripped out of his jacket and got right down to business. “I need you to tell me exactly where the case is, Max. Any detail you can remember about where you saw the Russian stash it, any marker or anything at all would be helpful.”
“Or you could just let me go with you.”
“You’re not trained for that kind of thing and you know it.”
She did know it. She also knew she wasn’t crazy about sending him in there when she knew how scared she’d been the night Cara died. Scared enough to screw up a detail that she might not remember clearly until she was back inside the warehouse.
“So I’m not a covert operative. That doesn’t mean I can’t follow orders.”
He snorted, and she ignored him, focusing on what else she did know.
“You’re the one with the highly trained team. You mean to tell me you guys aren’t good enough to cover my ass in a situation like this?”
He took a step toward her, intentionally invading her space as though she’d be intimidated into backing down. “I don’t want your ass anywhere near a situation like this.”
“If there really is some kind of deal in the works, do you really think we can afford to waste time arguing about it?”
Something flickered on his face, and she cocked her head, waiting.
“You know something, don’t you?” When he didn’t answer, she ran the possibilities through her head and guessed. “You already knew about the deal.”
He finally nodded. “I was the one who set it up.”
Chapter Thirteen
Running her hands through her hair, she pivoted away from him, then spun back around. “You wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to find this weapon only to give it back to him. Why set something up?”
“To get him and his men far away from the warehouse, making it easier for us to go in and get the case.”
“I need to tell Glen.”
He cut her off before she reached the phone. “If Glen knows it’s a bogus deal, he could end up tipping off whatever cops are in Blackwater’s pocket.”
“Like Wade?” She shook her head, working through everything aloud. “But if Wade is working for Samuel Blackwater, why pass on any details about the deal? He’d want that stuff kept under wraps, especially after the way things went down the last time.”
“Maybe he plans to feed bad intel down the line and have the cops preoccupied elsewhere. Could be he’s hoping you really will show up. Or hell, maybe Wade Cummings is just pissed at Blackwater and doesn’t give a shit anymore.”
“So where does that leave us?”
“Me,” he corrected. “Not us.”
“Convenient how you get to decide what constitutes each us thing.”
Lucas sighed. “Are you going to be stubborn and not tell me where the weapon is?”
Really hating how he made it seem like she wasn’t using her head, she threw her hands up. “It’s in a floor grate. Southwest corner, near a painted Greek numeral or a symbol similar to that. I think. Happy now?”
“Come here.”
She shook her head, tempted, but determined to will away the horrible feeling in her stomach that she had somehow signed his death certificate by telling him. “I need a little space and you probably need to call people and coordinate things.”
When he didn’t disagree, she assumed she was right on the money.
“I’ll leave you to it then.”
Not surprisingly, he didn’t prevent her from heading to the bedroom. She tried not to pace as she waited for him to finish, or wonder if Wade and Lucas had more in common than she’d realized—and at the same time wished like hell she hadn’t come so dangerously close to losing her heart to him.
God, who was she trying to kid?
It was already his.
Feeling a little overwhelmed by that realization, Max flopped back on the bed. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, trying not to panic a little. She truly had gone and fallen for Lucas, the very same man who was doing his best to keep her out of the loop.
Maybe he was right to. Maybe she’d been insane to return to New York on her own thinking she knew enough to expose Blackwater somehow and get her life back.
Seemed like the only thing she’d been doing consistently since Cara’s death was overestimating herself. She hadn’t been able to disappear or get rid of Lucas. She certainly hadn’t been able to prevent Lucas from getting hurt or execute any kind of plan that involved clearing her name and exposing Cara’s murderer.
No matter how much she doubted herself, though, Lucas leaving her out of his plans still felt like a betrayal.
She sensed Lucas in the doorway long before he knocked on the doorframe.
“Look, I know you’re pissed at me.”
She didn’t let him go any further than that. “Good, then we can skip the part where I pretend I’m not really mad at you and jump
right to me asking you to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. It was apparently too much to ask that she feel sorry for herself on her own terms. “You got what you came here for, Lucas. Don’t you have a weapon to retrieve?” She raised herself up on her elbows.
Indecision crossed his face, and for a moment she thought he really was going to leave. Her heart constricted at the thought even knowing she might be better off if he did. At least then she wouldn’t be left wondering where they stood.
Without a word, he shut the door and approached the bed.
“Still worried I’m going to run?”
“You might strongly consider it if you knew what I was thinking right now.”
She was rather proud of herself when she let every dark and sexy nuance of his voice roll right off her—mostly.
“You and I are far from done with each other, Max.”
He stood at the foot of the bed, watching her, and for no reason that she could actually put her finger on, she wondered if she should be worried about that closed door after all.
“We’re not?”
He shook his head, placed a knee on the bed. “Not even close.”
“Now see, that is where you and I disagree.” She almost sounded convincing, though she wasn’t so sure she looked it by the time his other knee hit the mattress and he hovered over her.
“So I was wrong to think there was more than just adrenaline-based sex between us?”
She winced. He would have to go right for her weakest argument. “Even if there is more, now isn’t the best time to get into it.”
“Because you think I don’t trust you.”
“Because I know you don’t trust me,” she corrected. “But that’s only a part of it.”
She planted her hand on his chest, applying enough force to make him rethink whatever was going on in his head, and she bet it had something to do with kissing her judging by the way he kept staring at her mouth.
“I do trust you, Max. I just don’t trust you won’t get hurt if you’re a part of the retrieval team.”
“Hurt like you were?”
He nodded, and she shimmied up the bed, away from him.
“How come you’re the only one who gets to worry about one of us getting hurt? Why don’t I get to make the same call?”
“You did, the second you came back to New York alone.” He closed in on her, backing her up against the headboard. “Unless you weren’t trying to protect me by not contacting me as soon as you could.”
He wasn’t even done talking and already she felt like she was being set up somehow.
“Maybe my boss was right,” he continued. “Maybe you’ve had an ulterior motive all along.”
“You don’t believe that.” And he certainly wasn’t looking at her like she had some hidden agenda. Not unless he suspected it involved something very naughty.
Lucas caught her hips, tugging her down beneath him. “You’re not exactly giving me a lot to work with, Max.”
If she gave him much more, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to put herself back together if things ended badly. And if she didn’t know better, she’d swear he figured that out with no more than a good, long look.
Awareness brightened his eyes, and he curled his fingers around her wrists.
“Forgot your handcuffs this time?”
Whatever playfulness she might have glimpsed in his eyes earlier, evaporated. “No one is putting cuffs on you. Not Blackwater. Not the police. No one.” His tone dared her to disagree with that, with the unspoken vow that he’d do whatever he could to protect her.
He was right, though. She had done the same to him by keeping him in the dark, and she knew she would probably do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving him somehow.
Lucas gently cupped her face. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure I’m falling for you, Maxine Walker, and it has nothing to do with justice or revenge or retrieving any kind of weapon.”
All the air left her lungs in a shallow exhale that left her shaking inside.
His forehead rested against hers. “Tell me you believe that?”
“You’re only ninety-nine percent sure?”
He laughed. “The other one percent is too damn scared, but it’ll come around.” He opened his mouth on her neck, pulling at her skin.
“Maybe it should be scared. I got you shot.”
She felt him smile against her neck. “You know this isn’t all about you, right? Blackwater’s guys deserve a little credit for that one.”
“But if I had just agreed to go with you sooner—”
His mouth moved over hers, and she felt his impatience in the kiss, the slide of his lips, short and purposeful and more than a little untamed.
“This falling for me thing,” she began.
“So you were paying attention.”
She nodded, just not sure what to say now that she’d brought it up. Not sure how to get the words out that she was right there with him.
“It wouldn’t have happened if you had kept your hands to yourself, you know.”
She tipped her head back, watching him.
“If you hadn’t teased me in the truck or kissed me like that in the diner—”
Sensing a pattern, she finished, “Or seduced you in the cabin and later begged to be tied up.”
“And then you started looking at me like…” he trailed off, seeming to choose his words carefully.
“Like what?”
He raised his eyes to hers once more and the burning intensity there made every nerve ending hum. “Like I was all you needed.”
“Maybe you are.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close.
Their lips came together slowly, as if they were both exploring something new, something just as scary as it was amazing.
His hand slid beneath her shirt and shivery tingles broke across her skin as he trailed upward, stopping just under her breast.
“You are all I need, Max.” He kissed her again, deeply, then moved on to her jaw, her neck, sending delicious waves rolling down her spine and setting every part of her below the waist on fire.
Every part of her, period.
Lucas moved his hands lower, drawing one leg around his waist so he fit snug against her. Only the denim separated her from his fingers when he slid a hand between them and teased the inside of her thighs.
Moaning, she squeezed her legs together in hopes of capturing some of the sweet friction he worked that had her quickly panting against his mouth.
Just as eager to please him, she felt him tense as her fingers skimmed the edge of his waistband, but by the time she rubbed him through his pants, his hand closed over hers, increasing the pressure as he groaned against her lips.
He murmured something that sounded like, “Fuck,” and jerked her shirt over her head, tossing it behind him.
A wicked smile curved his lips as he openly appreciated her breasts. He drew a finger along her shoulder, slowly pushing her bra strap down.
God, she couldn’t take her eyes off him as he slipped a hand beneath her and unclipped her bra on the first try.
Her bra was gone and then the warm weight of his palm settled over her heart, firm and possessive. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
She shook her head. “Maybe I should see for myself.”
He cursed softly, as if reading her mind, and moved onto his back.
Remembering his injury, she hesitated. “Are you sure you’re even allowed to do this?”
A mix of desire and amusement glittered in his eyes. “That depends. Are you pulling out the whips and chains to get even with me?”
“Crossed my mind, but I figured I should save something for a rainy day.”
He laughed and pulled her down, settling her against his uninjured side. “I’m fine, Max.”
“Good.” She leaned in, running her mouth along his jaw. “No more lies or half-truths between us?”
Lucas
brushed the hair from her face. “No more lies.”
Not waiting for her to test how sore he was, he pulled her tight against his side and had her jeans halfway down her legs before she caught her last breath.
Luscious tension curled through her as he slipped a hand between them and caressed her sex straight through her damp cotton panties. Moaning, she closed her fingers around his zipper, and with a drawn-out tug that had him holding his breath, she worked it down.
His cock tented his boxers, and she drew a line from peak to base. His hips jerked and a harsh moan rumbled up his throat, the sound so primal, needy, she reveled in the power she possessed to please him.
“I want―”
She pressed her mouth to his, cutting him off. “This isn’t about what you think you want. This is about what you need, what only I can give you,” she whispered.
The corners of his mouth kicked up. “How long have you been waiting to say that to me?”
“At least the last five minutes.”
“And what exactly is it you think I need?”
She tugged his pants past his hips. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
God, she was killing him.
Lucas closed his eyes, dying a little more every second she traced his cock through his boxers. Just thinking about where this was headed, about the feel of her taking him into her mouth, had his entire body stretched taut.
Like she was unwrapping a gift she wanted to savor, she worked his boxers down, removing them along with his pants. Wiggling the rest of the way out of hers as well, she tossed them on the floor with the others.
She ran her fingers down his abdomen, circling the base of his cock.
Mother fuck—
He fisted one hand in the blankets, wishing he had something to brace the rest of his body against.
Max flicked her tongue across the broad head, and then kissed him there. A long, wet hot kiss that promised he was going to enjoy every freaking second of whatever she had in mind.
Riveted by the sight of her tongue sliding up him, he tucked her hair behind her ear, guaranteeing he didn’t miss one second of what she was doing to him.
She curled her fingers around the base of his shaft, pumping slowly as her mouth sank down to meet them. His hips surged upward on a wave of searing pleasure, and Max grinned wickedly.
Trust Me: The Lassiter Group, Book 1 Page 20