by KB Winters
His deep laughter brought a smile to my face, the sound, so rumbly, reverberated deep in my chest—and other parts. “I thought it was a pretty good compliment.”
“Think again,” I said, unable to hide my giggle.
Eventually, we had all the boxes from the moving truck scattered all over Jamie’s condo, every single one in the room indicated on the box.
“Your organizational skills are one of my favorite things about you, Jamie.” Along with just how well he filled out a gray t-shirt.
“Thanks, I think.”
I laughed at his tone and made my way to the kitchen because that was the room to unpack first. It was where the food and coffee lived. I worked on my own for more than an hour while Jamie set up his bedroom, a place I had no intention of going if I could help it. The temptation was strong and, unfortunately, the attraction was even stronger.
“Ready to eat?”
“Holy shit!” I whirled around and glared at his stupid, smiling handsome face. “You scared the hell out of me, Jamie.”
He laughed. “Who were you expecting?”
I shrugged, still on edge while my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest. “Hell, I don’t know. Damn! You scared me.”
“Sorry.” He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight, and like the weakling I was, I leaned into that hug. I wanted the warm strength of his arms, his masculine scent invading my senses, and most of all, I wanted to hear the wild beat of his heart in my ear.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Maddie.”
I looked up into his eyes. “I know. It’s just, hell I don’t know what it is Jamie. I’m jumpy and out of sorts, that’s all.”
His brows dipped into a low, concerned vee. “Did something happen? Talk to me.”
I smiled and cupped his cheek because he really was the sweetest man I ever met, wrapped up in that big, strong body. “Nothing specific, Jamie. It’s just life in general, I guess.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, feeling my nipples bead against his rock hard body.
“Positive.” I took a step back and grinned. “You’re sweet for worrying.”
“Sweet?”
The word came out on a low growl, and before I could take another step away, Jamie’s mouth crashed down on mine, demanding and intense.
It was a totally unexpected kiss, but holy hell, it was the mother of all fucking kisses. In fact, I was sure that no one in the history of the world had ever been kissed as thoroughly as he was kissing me.
His lips were soft, but his scruff scraped the edges of my lips and chin. He tasted like the cinnamon gum he chewed nonstop, and suddenly, it was my favorite flavor, Jamie and hot cinnamon gum. It was fantastic. My nipples were as hard as diamonds and my panties got wetter by the second, and when Jamie pressed his whole body against mine, I shuddered and let out a sigh.
God, yes. I wanted this kiss and what it was leading to more than anything in that moment. But my brain chose that moment to step up and inject logic into the proceedings.
Jamie’s your friend.
Your best and only friend.
But I like him. A lot.
But relationships don’t last, and you’ll probably lose him.
That reminder was the equivalent of a bucket of ice water mixed with acid all over me, and I took a step back, chest heaving with breathlessness.
“Jamie.” My eyes were wide as I stared up at him. “That was…wow.”
His lips curled into a satisfied smile. “It was.”
“It was also a bad idea.”
“It was?”
I nodded, seeing the future in quick takes laid out before me. From that one kiss, we’d wind up naked and having fun, a lot of fun, but after that would come awkwardness and accusations and eventually, goodbye.
“It was. I should, uh, go.”
Feeling sad and disappointed and so turned on I wanted to scream, I fled Jamie’s condo like it was on fire.
Chapter Fourteen
Jameson
Checking something out. Be in a little later. Ellison.
That was the message I sent to Agent Beck from the lobby of Savannah’s brand new office building. The men in my family were big on asking forgiveness rather than permission, and I was no different. It was easier to apologize if it didn’t pan out than to argue with Beck who was at times, irrational.
Fine. That was Beck’s response. I couldn’t help but smile. She seemed like a capable agent, but whatever her true motives were, she did a shit job of keeping her emotions in check.
“Ms. O’Connor will see you now.” The almost invisible assistant approached as quiet as a ninja, appearing in front of me like a goddamn ghost. “Ready?”
“Yeah, I am. Thanks.” She led me to the same office where Beck and I had spoken with Savannah last week. “Good morning, Savannah. How are things?”
She looked up, an amused smile on her face. “Things are…better every day, thanks. You?”
I shrugged. “Most days I’m not sure. Not bad, not good, just moving along.” She motioned for me to take the seat across from her and leaned back in her leather chair, her fingertips pressed together in a steeple formation.
“You’re not here just to check up on me.” It wasn’t a question. Savannah was a smart woman with good instincts.
“Not just, no.” I sighed and sat a little taller, looking her right in the eyes so she would see me as the law and not as Charlie’s younger brother. “I was hoping without Agent Beck around we could talk a bit more openly.”
“Is that so?” Her brow arched in suspicion.
“Yeah. I just want to know anything you know that might be useful to solving the murders. I don’t give a shit about anything else.”
Savannah assessed my words with a slow, thoughtful nod, and she opened her mouth just as the office door smacked open.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Charlie glared down at me like he thought of me as the enemy.
I sighed and turned my gaze back to Savannah. “Anything?”
“I’m talking to you, not her,” he growled.
I looked up at my brother with a bored expression. “And this isn’t your clubhouse, and you’re not her attorney, so I don’t need to hear from you at all, Charles.” I knew that would piss him off because it had for as long as I could remember.
“Go away, Jameson.”
I stood and got in my brother’s face, not because I wanted to fight him, but because sometimes it was useful to impose my height and weight advantage just to remind him that yes, I could kick his ass. If I wanted.
“No.”
“Don’t make me tell you again.” He bumped my chest with his, growling and angry.
I pushed him away and turned to Savannah.
“Look, I know you know Beck has some kind of hard on for you or your family or the Ashby family, but if I bring her back, she won’t be asking and certainly not nicely. I just want to know what you can tell me about Mueller.”
“Charlie. Relax, I’m okay,” Savannah admonished, her tone gentle and affectionate, her gaze filled with nothing but love for my brother.
I turned to Charlie, not intimidated by the angry gaze he threw at me. “Bro, I don’t know what the fuck your problem is with me, but we’re talking about a double murder. This shit isn’t going to go away. The feds see two upstanding citizens gunned down for no reason, everybody has to answer questions.”
“Have a seat, Jameson and ask your questions.” Savannah made a gesture for my brother to calm down, and he stood behind her like a bodyguard.
“Were you serious the other day when you said you thought Mueller might be a cop, or were you just trying to get a rise out of Beck?”
It was something that stuck with me, more so when I couldn’t find much on Mueller past twelve years ago.
“A little of both, actually. Something beyond the sex trade business was going on with him, and I never knew what, but given the family business, a cop is always a safe assumption
.”
“Good point. Anything else?”
She nodded. “Yeah, there was something about him I couldn’t quite figure out. Sometimes I got the impression he was more than a crooked priest with nasty habits.”
“Anything specific?”
Charlie opened his mouth to speak, and I blew out my irritation in a loud sigh. “Jesus Christ, Charlie. I’m your brother. There’s nothing you’ll have to corroborate or testify, just anything that might point me in a helpful direction.”
Savannah remained cool and calm. “Nothing all that specific anyway, just that Ronan got away with things he shouldn’t have. Things that no one is connected enough to get around. He should have done at least a few years in all the years he did business, but he never did. Neither did Mueller.”
“Until now,” I reminded her.
“Until now,” she echoed. “And now the tri-city area is crawling with Feds and I’m curious why.”
I stroked my chin, a grim reminder that I’d skipped my Monday morning shave in my hurry to question Savannah.
“Me too, Savannah. So far, they’re being really tight-lipped on that particular detail.” I got up from the chair and flashed a grateful smile at her. “Thanks for answering my questions.”
“No problem, Jameson. I’m happy to help.” I started toward the door when she called out to me. “It’s not me Beck has a hard-on for, it’s the Ashby family. She offered to help me in exchange for dirt on them. Keep an eye on her. And watch out for your girl, Madison.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Savannah.” I didn’t spare a glance for my brother before exiting the office and then the building, wondering what in the hell I was missing about Mueller. I would keep digging until I found answers, no matter who it pissed off.
“Where have you been?” Beck pounced as soon as I walked into the precinct, an eager little pup nipping at my feet with an excited smile on her face.
“Checking out some leads. Why are you smiling? What did you find?”
“Not me. Marshall. Come on.” I followed her down the dark hall with the flickering light and into the room commandeered by the Feds. “A little bit of his old-fashioned gumshoe detective work and he uncovered video footage of Mueller and Sadie Ashby, having what looks to be a romantic dinner.” Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement and a fair bit of happiness.
I watched the footage with extreme focus. She was right, it did look like they were having a romantic dinner, but maybe that was just the setting: a nice Italian restaurant with dim lights and candles on the tables.
“It’s not that unheard of that they might do business together if he’s dirty, right?”
Beck deflated but only a little. “Of course not, but this gives us a good reason to question the woman. Maybe even search the manor.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Beck. No judge is going to approve a search warrant based on this footage,” Marshall warned, his tone even and certain, like a man who knew what he was talking about.
“I know, but if we just show up to question her, anything could happen.”
While Beck and Marshall bickered back and forth, I wondered if I should give Madison a heads up that the Feds were going to Ashby Manor and that they were going to wait until the sun went down to show up. Instead I opted to text an invite.
Jameson: Dinner tonight? I’m buying.
It took a couple minutes for Maddie to respond with a thumbs up and a smiling emoji.
Madison: You’re always feeding me.
Jameson: 8 pm my place.
Her response was an eyeroll emoji, and my shoulders relaxed because when we went to Ashby Manor, she’d be at my place. Safe and sound.
“What do you think, Ellison? Eight-fifteen we swoop in and get some answers.” Beck was positively giddy about getting inside the Ashby family home, and Savannah’s words replayed in my head.
Mueller wasn’t the only one who had secrets.
“Yeah, sounds good.”
I had no good reason to question Beck, but my instincts told me to dig deeper into the woman who could determine the trajectory of my career on the police force.
Chapter Fifteen
Madison
I knocked on Jameson’s door and waited. No answer. I rang the bell and still there was no answer. I shot off a quick text.
Madison: WYA?
His answer came a few minutes later.
Jameson: Running late. Spare key behind left shutter.
Madison: I was promised dinner.
I responded quickly, wondering what in the hell he was up to. It wasn’t like Jamie to be late, but I knew the job and the double murder had changed things.
Jameson: I’ll pick it up on my way home. Promise.
I rolled my eyes at the phone, found the key and went inside, ignoring the warning bells clanging in my head that this was a bad idea. I had no problem visiting when Jamie was home but using a key to get inside and having free reign of the place felt intimate. Too intimate for friends. Then again, I didn’t make a lot of time for friends, so maybe this was perfectly normal in male-female friendships.
It was that damn kiss. That was why I felt strange being here without him. That was why it felt too intimate. Friends didn’t kiss like that. That definitely wasn’t a normal part of friendship, kissing like hormonal teenagers in the back seat of a car and then replaying it over and over again in my head. No, that wasn’t normal—no matter how hot it was—to relive that kiss so often that I could still feel his lips on mine. Those thoughts definitely strayed far outside the line of friendship.
In fact, Jameson found me sometime later, dinner as promised in his hand, me staring off into space, body stretched out on one of his sofas, my mind replaying the kiss for at least the thousandth time, imagining what would have come next if I was brave enough to let it go there.
“Honey, I’m home!”
His loud, deep voice startled a gasp out of me and I sat up with a glare for him. “You scared me. Dick.”
Jamie flashed a satisfied grin without a hint of apology. “What were you thinking about, I wonder? And why are you always so jumpy?”
Nope. No way. Not going there. I jumped over it to my own question. “Busy day policing the city’s bad guys?”
He set the paper bag with the red logo on it on the coffee table and laughed. “Something like that.”
“You’re not as slick as you think you are, Jameson Ellison.” My words caught him off guard, and for a short moment, guilt flashed in his eyes, but he covered it quickly.
He straightened up and headed toward the kitchen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Is that how you wanna play this?”
I pushed off the sofa and followed him. “The Ashbys own a few cops in the tri-city area and someone gave them the heads up that the Feds were coming to question Sadie. Do with that info what you will.”
It was kind of sweet and a little insulting that he wanted to protect me from the chaos.
Jamie handed me a beer, his expression unreadable. “Then why did you come?”
“Because I’m fucking hungry. What did you bring? I’m famished.” I grabbed the bag and plopped on the couch, removing sandwiches and fries from the bag.
I spread our mini feast out on the coffee table and popped a fry into my mouth. “You bring ranch dressing with these?”
“I did.” Jamie handed me a little plastic container and I dipped a fry into it.
“You know, Madds, if you aren’t comfortable over there anymore, you can always stay here. I have two bedrooms and we can split the bills.”
It was a generous offer and not all that surprising but a terrible idea.
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
His brows dipped in confusion. “Why? We’re friends, and this could help us both.”
“Because,” I sighed heavily. “That kiss the other day proves we can’t be the kind of friends who live on top of each other, or we’ll be naked all the time.”
A thought that appealed to m
e more than it should. Bumping into Jameson fresh from the shower? Yes, please. Early in the morning with messy hair and pajamas? Hell, yes, please.
He blinked twice and grinned. “Again, I don’t see a problem with that.” He bit into his sandwich on a chuckle.
“I value your friendship too much to risk you’ll get bored and run away rather than tell me you want to start banging someone else.”
He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “I would never do that to you, Madds. Besides, maybe that kiss was a fluke of nature and if we tried it again, it would be awful. Like siblings kissing.”
There was a gleam in his eyes that worried me but also turned me on. My nipples beaded tightly against my t-shirt, and I worked hard to suppress the shiver that went through me at his challenge. “Okay, kiss me again and if it’s awful, we can be roommates.”
I should’ve listened more carefully to the warning bells that sounded in my head, instead I shrugged and issued my own challenge. “If you’re sure your ego can handle it, I mean, I’m pretty sure it was the heat of the moment and all that.”
Jamie huffed out a laugh to let me know what he thought of that. There were no words, just action as he reached out to me and pulled my body flush up against his, an action so strong and commanding it soaked my panties instantly. One big hand tilted my head back as it cupped my face and seconds later his lips were on mine, strong, capable and totally in charge.
My whole body smoked from the heat his kiss stirred within me and when his other hand began to roam my body, sliding through my hair and down my back until one large hand cupped my ass, I let out a strangled moan and felt his answering smile against my lips. But I wasn’t the only one affected, and that made me throw myself into the kiss even deeper, pressing up against the impressively hard package behind his zipper.
Damn, he was big, and I just knew he would be a good lover. Too bad we aren’t going there. Really too bad because Jamie’s kiss made me delirious. I felt like my skin was coated in hot lava and everywhere his tongue touched, started a new fire. I could hardly think straight, and I didn’t want to, not until this crazy inferno between us burned itself out.