“We’re even on that level, too.”
Buddy sniffs and whimpers as he looks up at Jack.
“You know I don’t leave the house without treats.” Jack pulls a doggy biscuit in the shape of a bone out of his pocket and tosses it to him. “Go on.” He nods my way. “You know you want to say it.”
“I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole.” I hold my hands up as if to punctuate the point.
The smile glides off Jack’s face as the two of us stare one another down as if we were having a standoff, and at this point, that’s exactly what it feels like.
Jack Stone.
I shake my head at him.
This was not the plan.
The plan was to come home and track down my escape artist of a sister. It never once entered my mind to fall into a puddle of lust with another agent. But then, I hadn’t counted on Jack Stone.
Whether I like it or not, he’s a force to be reckoned with. And judging by the way my body is pulsating with a heartbeat of its own, I would very much like to reckon with him. Most likely something quick and dirty. But a part of me is craving something more.
“How about touching this?” His hand runs down my arm before he pulls me in and lands a soft kiss on my lips.
Buddy lets out a sharp bark and the two of us bite back a laugh.
“He doesn’t seem to be a fan of you touching me that way.” My teeth graze over my lip as I tamp the laughter down once more.
“He’s a dog. What does he know?”
“I thought you said he was comparable to a Rhodes Scholar?”
“So now you believe in his scholastic abilities.” He inches in close and wraps his arms around me. “I say we train Special Agent Buddy on how to stand guard while his fellow agents exchange some intimate intel.”
“Intimate intel?” I ask as my own arms find themselves around his back.
“It’s the best I can do on the fly. Did you know I have a very hard time thinking when you’re around?”
“That does explain a lot.”
He frowns as he lands another kiss to my lips, but he doesn’t linger. Instead, he leaves me wanting more.
He hitches his head toward the parking lot. “How about we go back to your place?”
“Slow down, cowboy. You’re not getting anywhere near my bed,” I tell him.
“I was thinking about the hot tub.”
“That does sound good.”
He comes in for the kill again, or the kiss as it were, and no sooner do we dive into a whole other world than our phones buzz simultaneously.
We give a hard groan as we pull them out.
“It’s Hale,” I say before reading out loud. “Two college girls found dead at the Grand Meadows Hotel. The bodies had markings on them that resembled the same markings a couple of prostitutes had on them when they were killed last month. We got the official invite to the case.”
Jack and I take off for the parking lot.
Another night, another murder, and perhaps a serial killer on the loose.
Not to mention, Erin is out there somewhere just out of reach.
But justice is never out of reach.
It might be delayed, but we are bringing it home.
The End.
