Hours ago, when I’d gotten off of work, I couldn’t help myself from going into the building upon seeing her familiar car.
Everything was still up in the air.
And now? Now I was on my knees in Hastings’ shower with my hands on her hips and my face inches away from her mound.
“I’m not taking you today,” I said.
“You already told me that,” she murmured, her hands going through my hair.
I looked up at her, feeling the spray of the water hit the back of my head and slide down the length of my back.
It was already getting colder.
We’d need to hurry this up.
“I was talking to myself,” I admitted sheepishly. “Spread your legs.”
She did, propping one foot up onto the soap holder as she looked down at me and with expectation on her face.
I grinned and worked my way up her leg with the soap, starting with her feet.
She giggled when I worked my fingers between her toes.
“When I’m fat and super pregnant, I want you to do this exact same thing,” she murmured softly, looking down into my eyes.
My face hopefully showed my willingness to do that for her.
“I should probably be scared about this baby,” I admitted. “I should probably be cautioning myself because we don’t know each other all that well. But I’m fucking excited. Somebody that loves me unconditionally sounds like a damn good thing.”
Her eyes were hot as she said, “He will.”
“He?” I teased.
She shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t have a feeling either way it goes. But I’m going with he because it’s better than saying ‘it.’”
I smoothed my hands up her leg until I reached the apex of her thighs.
“Do it,” she ordered.
I wanted to.
I really did, but…
“If I do it, I don’t think we’ll get out of here without doing it,” I teased. “And we’ve done this a bit backward. But for now, I want to get to know you. When we do finally get back to that point,” I said as I guided her leg back down and did the other foot all the way up to her upper thigh again. “I’ll know you. And you’ll know me.”
I handed her the soap and she looked like she wanted to shove it back into my hand and force me.
I almost wanted her to.
But she didn’t.
We ended the shower with her getting out because it was getting on the verge of too cold, and me hurrying through the shower using the bar of soap to wash my hair as well as the rest of my body.
By the time that I got out, I was shivering and wondering if Hastings would cuddle with me.
She did not disappoint.
When I got to the bedroom in my sweatpants, water droplets still dripping down my back, it was to find her in the middle of the bed with her knees crossed in front of her, staring at me.
I came to a halt at the end of the bed.
“All you have to do is tell me yes or no,” I found myself saying.
Her brows raised. “Yes.”
I chuckled softly before saying, “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“You were going to say that you would sleep on the couch if I wanted you to,” she admitted. “And I don’t want you to.”
She patted the bed and I didn’t stop my urge to crawl into it.
It was soft. Softer than anything I’d ever slept on before in my life.
I groaned and fell face first into the bed beside her.
She snickered and touched her fingers to my back.
“Tired?” she teased.
“Exhausted,” I answered, turning my face only to have her hip fill my vision.
I tugged her shirt softly so that she would lie down beside me, which she did seconds later.
“Come cuddle me, I’m cold,” I rumbled, feeling the heavy pull of sleep start to reel me in.
She moved so that she was lying down beside me, then kicked her feet so that the blanket that she was under was mostly covering me.
I pushed my nose into the space between her arm and the bed and inhaled.
She’d put on something that smelled sweet since she’d gotten out of the shower.
The scent clung to her and reminded me of how she’d smelled that first night we were together.
“I like the smell of whatever lotion you’re wearing,” I mumbled softly.
“Deodorant,” she teased. “I didn’t put any lotion on.” She paused. “Though maybe I should have. My best friend, Suzanne, likes to tell me that I should be wearing anti-aging cream, even at my age. She says that it’ll help prevent wrinkles.” She snickered. “I mostly use it right before bed, but I’ve been out for a couple of weeks now. Ran out in Alaska and never got more. I need to make a run by the mall tomorrow and get some.”
I inhaled again. “Then your deodorant smells super good.”
She turned so that she was facing me, and I reluctantly peeled my eyes open to stare into her eyes.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I found myself saying.
And though I was tired, I still couldn’t get the sound of her skull cracking against the floor out of my head.
I hoped that Patman fucking choked on his tongue in his sleep.
“What happened today?” she correctly guessed. “I shouldn’t have grabbed him. But he’d been making these comments about my mom all night and it was getting to the point where it was pissing me off. Added on top of that, he taunted me, touched me a little too hard, and did the same to my sister? I couldn’t say that I was altogether rational at that moment in time.”
That made me get pissed all over again.
And, in order to go to sleep, I knew that I needed to shut the conversation down fast, or all the work she’d done over the last hour to calm me down would be null.
“I need you to go to sleep,” I murmured. “In the morning, we’re going to talk more about him. But right now? We’re going to go to sleep. I’m going to hold you. And we’re not going to mention his name in this bed ever again.”
She moved so that we were pressed together from shoulder to thigh.
Her head came to rest on the pillow beside my shoulder.
“Okay, Sammy,” she said.
“Sweet dreams, Hasty Cake,” I mumbled, not feeling the pull of sleep at all. “I’m here if you need me.”
She pressed a kiss to my bicep and went to sleep.
Just. Like. That.
Chapter 14
I need a double shot of ‘go fuck yourself.’
-Coffee Cup
Sammy
The last fucking thing in the world I wanted to do was get out of bed, but unfortunately, I had to work to make money.
And to make money, I had to get out of bed. I had to peel myself out of Hastings’ arms and go.
But she was so warm, and her shapely thigh was thrown over my belly, just above my cock.
I groaned and moved until I was out of bed and standing beside it, staring down at the girl that had quickly started to mean something to me.
Her eyes popped open and she squinted at the clock that I’d been looking at for the last twenty minutes.
“You’re up early,” she mumbled, her eyes closing once again.
“I’m actually up late,” I admitted. “I skipped my workout, which would’ve usually had me up an hour and a half ago.”
She mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘that’s nuts.’
Grinning, I went to the bathroom and took care of business, grumbling to myself when I realized that I didn’t bring my deodorant over.
Spotting Hastings’ that was on the counter next to the sink—and the spare toothbrush I’d stolen last night—I swiped it on and then inhaled deeply.
Yep, that was the smell that had driven me nuts over the last months.
Finishing up with washing my hands, I came back out of the
bathroom to find the bed empty.
Slipping on my pants and uniform jacket—the rest of my gear was at the station—I found my socks and shoes and then walked out into the main room to find it empty.
Backing up, I glanced in her office to see her writing away on her computer.
I watched her for a few long moments, her face a mask of concentration as she put her words into the computer. Her fingers were flying a hundred miles an hour, and the little quirk of her lips as she smiled at her computer screen made me curious to know what she was writing.
“What are you writing?” I asked.
She froze mid-keystroke and looked at me over her shoulder.
“I’m writing about my hero.” She paused. “You.”
I blinked. “You’re writing about me?”
She shrugged her shoulder, which brought my attention to the t-shirt she was wearing.
Mine.
The one that I’d been in the night before.
And she wasn’t wearing anything else beneath it, causing her breasts to shift underneath the soft fabric.
“When I opened my eyes this morning, you were standing there in front of the window. The morning sun was pouring in all around you, and I’d never seen anything sexier in my life.” She paused. “So I came to write about it.”
I looked at the chair that was beside her.
It was old. The leather was cracked on the arms, and the cushion looked like it’d seen better days.
Deciding to give it a try, I walked to it and sat down gingerly, pleasantly surprised when it bore my weight.
Then I went about putting on my socks and boots before I could delay no longer.
“I have to go,” I grumbled as I stood up.
Walking over to the chair, I pulled her chair that she was sitting cross-legged in and bent over her, using the arms on either sides of her waist as support.
She watched me come with a gleam in her eyes.
“I want to go to your doctor appointment,” I said. “The next one that you go to, can you try to make it on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or the evening on Friday?”
She tilted her head back as far as the chair behind her head would allow her to go before saying, “I’ll call and change my appointment. I had one for next week on Monday.”
I dropped my lips down onto hers and said, “I can make that one. I’ll just have to switch with Louis. He won’t mind.”
“Louis?” she asked, sounding cutely confused.
“Louis. Louie. He’s my cousin. He lives three duplexes down and is married to Calloway,” I explained.
Understanding dawned. “I know Calloway. Actually, I know most of the women. It’s the men that I don’t do well around, so I avoid them.”
I pressed one more kiss onto her mouth and said, “You can keep doing that. I don’t mind.”
She slapped me on the thigh. “Go before I never let you leave.”
“That sounds awful,” I teased. “Like something that would drive me insane. Being stuck with you all day, every day?”
She pinched me this time. “Get out of here, Sammy. Let me write about you.”
With one last kiss, I reluctantly pulled myself away and stood up.
“Have a good day.” I paused. “And if you ever need to do any book research, I’m your man.”
She gave me a smile that would’ve brought me to my knees if I wasn’t late for work.
“Take care of yourself, Mr. SWAT man. Don’t go to Walgreens if you can help it,” she teased. “Pew, pew, pew.”
My laughter was still on my lips as I opened the front door and closed it behind me.
It was only as I was two steps in the direction of my bike that I realized I should’ve locked it.
I looked up at the cameras and pulled out my phone.
It rang once before she answered. “Why are you standing there like that?”
“You need to lock yourself inside,” I ordered.
She snorted. “I’m in cop row, silly. And I have cameras. Nothing will happen here.”
I didn’t care.
“I would feel better about leaving,” I said. “Please, for me?”
She sighed and I heard her get up. Seconds later the door opened, she offered me a mock glare, and then she reclosed it.
The lock sounded as it clicked into place and then she said, “Happy?”
“Immensely,” I purred. “Have a good day, Hasty Cake.”
She laughed. “That name is funny.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
I wasn’t really sure if it was or not, but I liked it.
“Bye.”
I hung up and pocketed my phone before jogging to my bike.
I was officially late.
Luckily, my cousin came out of the door of his own duplex at the same time, and I realized I wasn’t the only one late.
I gave him a chin lift and he got on his bike about the same time as I did mine.
We rode together into town and parked right next to each other at the station.
My eyes went to a familiar vehicle in the parking lot, and I narrowed my eyes.
“What is he doing here?” I grumbled, seeing the man that had ‘East Texas Police Academy’ on his door.
“Hopefully, just collecting his last paycheck,” Louis said as he watched the man talk outside by his car to a couple of cops.
Patman caught us looking and his smile fell off his face.
“I hope he fuckin’ croaks,” I grumbled to myself, turning to go inside.
There was silence for a few seconds as we walked into the bullpen and past all of the people that filled it.
When we arrived in the SWAT training room where our lockers were located, Louis finally asked what I was sure had been on his mind since last night.
“So you knocked a girl up.”
I looked over at him out of the corner of my eye.
“Maybe,” I admitted.
Yeah.
“That’s the girl you were telling us about,” he said. “At the Back Porch last week. The one that’s been gone a month. The one that you like.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that. He’d already connected all the right dots.
“She’s the manager for all of our duplexes,” he continued. “Is that all she does?”
I shook my head. “No, she’s an author. I think the manager thing is on the side. More of a favor to her parents. Her sister is a nurse.”
“Interesting.” He looked at me, eyes gleaming. “You smell like flowers.”
I looked over at my cousin and flipped him the bird. “That’s because I’m wearing Hastings’ deodorant.”
He blinked. “Why?”
“Because I didn’t want to go all the way home to get mine and have to leave her place any earlier than I did,” I said. “You’ve never worn Calloway’s deodorant?”
He shook his head as if the thought offended him. “No.”
I snorted and suited up for the day.
Except, the first half of my morning would be filled with paperwork and reports.
Hence the coming in about two hours earlier than I wanted to.
Only to find Patman’s ass at the station.
Asshole.
I gritted my teeth and started to work on my paperwork.
I was about two reports in when we were interrupted about twenty minutes later.
“What the fuck is Patman doing here?”
At Dax’s angry words, I got up and walked out of the SWAT area to find him standing in the middle of the bullpen, bullshitting as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Obviously asking for a death wish,” Louis grumbled as he came to stand beside me.
“What did he do now?” Ford asked from beside me.
Ford’s woman, Ashe, had gone through her own bout of trouble with Patman. But, where Patman had hurt my girl, he hadn’t been able to touch Ford’s. Ashe trained in mixed martial arts—at least she had be
fore she’d been pregnant—and Patman had tried to pull some bullshit on her during police academy. She’d caught on rather quickly and had shown him up, and he hadn’t liked it very much.
I’d thought that after Ford had given him a very stern talking to, along with Luke, that Patman would cool it.
Obviously, he hadn’t if yesterday’s actions were anything to go by.
I turned on my heel and went back to my desk.
I needed to get back to my paperwork. I was fuming all over again when I thought about the smile on Patman’s face from just a few moments ago when he’d come in like nothing was wrong.
I think, had Patman not been too smug of a bastard, I would’ve been okay.
I think, had he stayed in the main room, away from me, I would’ve been able to make it through the day without fucking him up.
But he didn’t know when to leave well enough alone.
And obviously he’d thought Luke was fucking joking when he said to stay away from the station.
But, obviously Patman had no clue.
He thought his senior status at the station meant something.
That ‘senior officer’ status took a flying leap out the window when he’d decided to try to hurt Ashe. Now he was nothing at the police station because he’d been relieved of his duties. Now all he did was teach at the police academy. Though, when the new recruits for the PD came into the station, he tagged along as an advisor in a special capacity. He wasn’t allowed to teach any hand-to-hand contact. Which was something we obviously should’ve paid attention to last night.
Somebody had definitely dropped the ball, that was for sure.
His twenty-year streak had come to an abrupt halt last night. I would make sure of it.
“What’s going on?” Malachi asked as he walked through the door, his gun belt half-on as he looked down to buckle it.
“Patman body-slammed Sammy’s new girl to the ground last night at the citizens’ police academy,” Louis murmured as they watched him through the doorway, and I struggled to write my report. “His new pregnant girl. And Luke told him not to come back here. Yet he’s here, acting like he still works here, even.”
I could feel Malachi’s eyes on me.
“Pregnant?” Malachi asked.
I nodded once, jaw clenched, and filled out another line on the form.
Say It Ain't So (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 9) Page 12