Love Money

by Jami Wagner

“How the hell do you know a guy like Jimmy?” I ask, ignoring his question.

  Jett groans and rolls his eyes. I do the same thing when he finally looks at me.

  “I swore I’d never get involved with another guy selling drugs and guess where I am?”

  “Charlie, it isn’t like that.” He reaches for my hand. I twist and move away from him.

  “I saw you sitting there with him. You can’t talk your way out of this.”

  “You sat with him, too,” Jett argues. “Tell me, why does he think you are his key piece to his money?”

  “Oh my god, is that why you’ve been so into me? Was this all a game to you to get me to tell you where the money is?”

  “You have it?” His eyes widen, and the grin on his face is unstoppable.

  “Unbelievable! I was fooled.”

  “No, you weren’t fooled, Charlie. Everything I feel for you is real. But so is this situation we are in. You have to trust me. I’m not the bad guy.”

  “Says the guy who was in the same booth with the man who wants to kill me.”

  “I won’t let him do that.”

  “You won’t be able to stop him. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

  “I know enough,” he says. “And I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  The soft look in his eyes, for once, has me thinking before I speak. Jimmy is good at manipulating people. What if I’m not the only one? What if Jett is just another pawn in his game?

  “Tell me why I should trust you,” I say.

  He sighs and his chin drops to his chest. “I can’t.”

  I nod. “You should go. I can’t—”

  “Hey,” he says. He places his finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I am the last person you need to worry about. I am crazy about you, Charlie Campbell, and everything that comes with you.”

  Jett’s lips crash against mine, and I’m pretty sure what should be a gentle moment is ruined by the animal way I wrap my arms around him and kiss him harder.

  For what? One more moment to pretend my life isn’t a mess. To pretend for one more moment that I met this great guy who might actually really like me. I should push him away. Slap him. Something. Anything. But I can’t.

  His hands hold steady at my hips, gripping tighter as he settles down onto the couch. His affection at this moment meets my core and causes our lips to move faster.

  “Holy fuck, Charlie.”

  “Don’t stop kissing me,” I say, pulling his lips back to mine.

  He wraps his arms around me and lifts, switching our position to where he's now on top of me. I hitch my legs higher as he skims his hands over them, moving up until the touch my stomach. I breathe in deeply as one hand makes it way to my breast. He tickles the lining of my bra before reaching back to unhook it. Then his hand is there, covering my right breast and squeezing gently. I couldn’t control the moan that comes from inside me even if I wanted to.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispers, his lips now making a trail over my cheeks, neck, and all the way till he can lift my shirt and cover my nipple. He sucks hard, and I buck my hips against him.

  My hands make quick work of their own, stripping my shirt over my head and shimmying off my bra before I tug the back of his shirt. He sits up only to pull it off before his lips move back to one nipple while his hand massages the other.

  I wiggle to let him know not to stop, but also to sneak my hand between us. I unbutton his jeans and slide my hand down until I have him in my hand.

  He pulls away from my breast to groan. It’s the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard. I keep working him, my hand moving up and down as he kisses my core. He scoots out of my reach when his mouth meets the top of my shorts.

  I look down at the same time he looks up. A wicked grin takes over his mouth. With one jerk my shorts and panties are headed to the floor.

  His tongue swipes against my center, causing my hips to rise. He moves an arm over my abdomen to hold me down as he licks faster and deeper.

  “Jesus, Jett.” I can barely make out the words between trying to catch my breath.

  With every stroke, I lose more and more control. I cry out when everything goes black and my entire body glosses over with a humming vibe.

  By the time I’ve brought myself back to the moment, Jett has stripped bare of the remainder of his clothes and is gliding a condom over himself. His gaze drifts up to mine. He smiles and captures my mouth with his own. He nudges my legs farther apart as he positions himself over me.

  He slides in slow. His kiss stalls as he takes in a deep breath. He pulls his hips back and as he pushes in again, he takes my lips back against his.

  I lift my hips to meet each thrust. The movement makes him work faster and harder and harder until he grabs my hips, switching up back to where I’m on top. As I settle down onto him, the groan he releases could be mistaken for a growl.

  “Fuck, Charlie.”

  His words prompt me to move faster, and I do, until we are both crying out with our release.

  I slow to a stop and begin to crawl off of him so he can take care of business, but he stops me.

  “Don’t move,” he says. “I’m not ready to let go of you.”

  His arms hold tight around me. I hug him back.

  I’ve been hurt more times than I want to admit, and the idea of Jett being another one of those people, eats me up inside.

  I snuggle into him and take a deep breath.

  I’m sick of starting over, and with Jett … if only he could’ve been the guy I needed him to be, I wouldn’t have to.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Charlie

  Every time I stare at this damn teddy bear, I want to scream. I know I squeezed it, but it’s a big bear. What if I didn’t squeeze it hard enough?

  Pans clatter in the kitchen, where Jett is supposed to be cooking lunch. He says I can trust him, but I still have this feeling he isn’t telling me something. Like he doesn’t want me to know everything. And if he’s the good guy, what kind of reason could he have for keeping something from me?

  I mean, I know he’s hiding something for the fact he never told me why he was with Jimmy or how he knows him. Then again, I didn’t either. Is it better or worse that we don’t share?

  I don’t know. Which is exactly why telling him where I think the money might be isn’t in my plans. Especially when I’ve decided I don’t want to know if it’s there or not. Not yet anyway. The only reason I want to know is so I can give it to Jimmy and you’d think that because of this, I’d have cut into it by now, but knowing Jimmy, the moment he has what he wants, I think he’d kill me anyway. I’d be a loose end and he wouldn’t want that. Not knowing where the money is … I think that’s best right now.

  But sending Jimmy back to jail, that’s still something that could happen.

  “I have an idea,” I say, stepping into the kitchen to find Jett in only a pair of sweat pants. I like it. I like it a lot and maybe this whole not being able to leave the other one’s side has some pros to the situation.

  Although, hot body or not, we are still in a mess that we need to find a way out of.

  I might not want to tell him where I think the money is, but I do want to run my idea of getting Jimmy out in the open to him. Maybe he can help me.

  “By the way you’re looking at me, I hope it’s the same idea I have,” Jett says. The half grin he gives me … well, maybe I can save my plan for later.

  No. no. We can’t waste time. I need to think about Sam—who thankfully stayed with Max last night. Not myself.

  I scrunch my face into a smile. “Let’s save that topic for later.”

  His bottom lips pops out, but then I kiss him until he smiles.

  “I was thinking of a way to get rid of Jimmy,” I say cautiously and wait for his answer.

  Jett stops moving, but he doesn’t look at me.

  “And you have an idea for this?” he asks.

  “Yes. He doesn’t want to be seen in public,
so if we get him in public, call the police, and tell them where he is, it will be easy.”

  The pregnant pause that hangs between us makes me shift my stance. Does he not agree with me?

  “I don’t know, Charlie,” he says.

  “You don’t think it’s smart?”

  “Of course it’s smart, but if it were that easy, wouldn’t it have been done by now?”

  “By who? No one has more motive than me to lock him back up.”

  “Not true.”

  I fold my arms at his answer and wait for him to continue. When he doesn’t, I ask, “And what is your reason?”

  “To keep you safe.”

  “If that were the case, wouldn’t you have done that before he invited us both to the diner?”

  His head tilts slowly as he says, “Yes, but it’s complicated.”

  “How?”

  He shakes his head and sets down the bread and butter knife.

  “I think it’d be easier to just give him the money.”

  He can’t be serious.

  “We’re back to this, huh?” I toss my hands up before leaving the kitchen.

  “Back to what?” Jett follows me. “Back to the whole reason we’re here? Yeah, he wants his money.”

  “And you think I should just give it to him.”

  He swallows and nods. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Well, as you said, if it were that easy, wouldn’t it have been done by now?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It means if I had the money I’d give it to him, but I don’t and I don’t know where it is, soooo, we need a different plan.”

  “You don’t know where it is?” His eyes go wide. “Like you never did, or you just don’t know now?”

  “Jett, you sound almost more interested in knowing where it’s at than Jimmy does. I don’t like it, and I’m about to tell you to leave.”

  He shakes his head and smiles. “No, I just … you never knew about it, did you?”

  I toss my hands up again. “No. I just said I didn’t.”

  He smiles grows and he pulls me into him, kissing me before I can think twice about it. I kiss him back, but it doesn’t change anything.

  “Jett,” I say, giving our mouths distance to breathe, “what is going on? What aren’t you telling me?”

  He kisses me one more time and then says, “I can’t tell you.”

  “Oh my god! If you say that one more time, I will lose my shit.”

  “Charlie, I want to tell you everything. God, do I want to. It’s just not that easy. All I can tell you is that your sister’s boyfriend stole from Jimmy, and if what they say is true, he gave the money to your sister, who supposedly gave it to you.”

  “Yes, I’ve gathered that much on my own, Jett, thanks.” I roll my eyes.

  “We’ll think of something. Your sister clearly had a plan if she wanted to keep you and your nephew safe and—”

  “What?” I ask. He just called Sam my nephew. “I never told you that.”

  He stiffens. “Told me what?”

  I move out of his arms and hold my hand out to keep distance between us. “I never told you that Sam was my nephew.”

  “I …”

  My breaths start to come quicker and my stomach begins to twist.

  “How do you know that?” I ask.

  “I …” he stutters again and steps for me.

  “How do you know that?” I yell before he can touch me.

  “Because I’m a cop, Charlie.”

  My mouth clamps shut and I step back, hitting the wall.

  Holy shit.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jett

  I about cracked and admitted everything yesterday when Charlie made the comment about where the money is. For a brief moment, I thought I was about to solve everything. If I got my hands on the money, I could pull Jimmy in for conspiring to get his hands on it again. I’ve got enough evidence to prove he stole it in the first place. I’d been so caught up in that moment, excited this might actually be over and she and I could be together in peace, but then her face fell and I knew I’d said the wrong thing.

  Now … now I’ve definitely said the wrong thing—the right thing to be honest with Charlie, but definitely, definitely the wrong thing for my job and our safety.

  Captain is going to be furious. The whole fucking team actually. I just broke the number one rule. Blowing cover in the middle of an assignment. My reason? I let emotions get the best of me in yet another case. The difference? I won’t fail this time. It’s no longer an option. I’d rather die than watch the woman I love be killed in front of me.

  Although, if she would blink or say a word right now, that’d make me feel a lot better.

  “Charlie?”

  “Wha, wha cop …?”

  I move to grab her hand, but she slaps mine away.

  “What do you mean you’re a cop?” she asks.

  “I’m undercover,” I say.

  Her gaze snaps to mine and her eyes narrow. “Go on.”

  “I can’t exactly tell you—”

  “If this is true, I’m pretty sure not telling me anything is a moot point now that you just dropped that bomb on me.”

  I flinch. She has a point.

  “Fine,” I say and it’s clipped. I don’t want it to be, but she doesn’t get to be the only one who’s mad here. She kept stuff from me too.

  “I was in the middle of an assignment to bring in Clint when Jimmy escaped. Once I got wind of it, I put some things together. I took advantage of the situation and made the choice to bring in two guys at once. Clint will be easy, but Jimmy?”

  Charlie’s eyes never leave mine, but she also doesn’t say anything.

  I go on. “I could just bring Jimmy in, but the money has been missing more than five years. Finding it would mean advancement, and I …”

  “Advancement. So you’re here because you want a better job and not because you want to protect me?”

  “I’m here for both. I wasn’t supposed to meet you. You weren’t supposed to be a part of this.”

  “I didn’t exactly have a choice, Jett.”

  “I know.”

  “You lied to me,” she says. “About everything. This whole thing between us was just a job to you, wasn’t it?”

  “I lied to protect you and technically, I didn’t even know who you were until yesterday. So, no, you weren’t just a job to me and you still aren’t even though you’ve been a part of this the whole time and never once thought to mention, hey someone wants to kill me, but I’ll still date you.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” she says, and for the first time since I admitted who I am, her features soften. “I … you felt safe and I liked having something not shitty in my life, okay? I’m sorry.”

  This time when I move for her, she doesn’t jerk away.

  “I’m sorry, too, but that doesn’t change the fact Jimmy will kill us both if we don’t give him something.”

  “Ugh,” she groans. “Why can’t we just have a simple relationship that isn’t all threats, cops, lies, and love money?”

  “Love money?”

  “Yeah, love money. If my sister really did take it, someone made her do it, and she only took it because her love for Sam meant she’d do anything to protect him. Love money.”

  I smile. “Makes sense, but if that’s the case, where would she have put this so-called love money?”

  The moment Charlie licks her lips and looks away, I know she isn’t telling me something.

  “What is it?”

  “Well, I might know.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t know where it is,” The moment she told me that earlier, I couldn’t not smile. She’s innocent, and I want to keep it that way.

  “I don’t. It’s just that, as Jimmy and Clint made it clear they wouldn’t leave me alone till they have it, I started to think. Sam and I have only moved twice since Kenzie was killed. I would have found it by now, but there is one place …”

  She t
urns and heads down the hall and into Sam’s room, with me right on her heels.

  I follow her gaze. A giant teddy bear that probably sits tall enough to reach my mid-thigh is stuffed under a desk.

  “You think it’s in there?” I ask.

  “Where else would it be?”

  I speed walk to the kitchen, grab a pair of scissors, and pass her as I head for the bear.

  “Do it neatly, if you can,” she says quickly. “Sam doesn’t know anything, and if I can sew up the bear so he doesn’t notice, that’d be great.”

  A man will kill her if he doesn’t get this money and all she can think about is making sure her nephew doesn’t notice his bear was torn open.

  I flip the stuffed animal over and start at his neck, cutting down the back. When I’ve cut the length of him, I start to pull out the insides.

  Shit.

  Nothing but stuffing. Damn it.

  “Wow. I thought for sure that’s where it was,” Charlie says from the doorway.

  “It’s okay. We have time to figure this out.”

  “I still think we should just lure Jimmy out of hiding.”

  I nod, but if we do that, the case will still be left unsolved. I glance up to her. Maybe it’s time I accept my reality. I might not be able to solve the case and keep her safe at the same time. Jimmy will be furious when he accepts that she doesn’t have the money, and if I don’t take him in before then, he’ll kill us both.

  “I’ll figure something out,” I tell her.

  I have to let this go and tell Captain everything, but I just … what if I can still do both?

  “I’ll help.”

  “No. You’re too far in. Let me and my team take it from here.”

  “But—”

  “Please, Charlie. I want to keep you safe and I can’t do that if you’re trying to do something behind his back. If it ends badly, that’s it. He’ll kill you. You know I’m right.”

  Her bottom lip drops as if she wants to say more, but she clamps it shut and nods.

  “Thank you,” I say and kiss her forehead.

  “Is there anything else I should know?”

  I keep my focus on the scissors in my hand. If someone killed my sister, threatened me and my family, and then someone told them to sit back and do nothing, I wouldn’t listen.