“Luke.” The way she said my name on a breathy moan sent a shot straight to my cock.
“I love the way you say my name, Letty.” I cupped her breast hard, pinching her nipple between my fingers.
Just then, an alarm sounded from her phone.
“Shit. I have to get ready for work,” she grumbled. “Although I’m sure I can spare a few more minutes.” The sultry undertone amped me up, and when she pushed against my groin again, my vision hazed. Which was only going to make this harder.
“I’m going to need a lot more than a few quick minutes, Letty Girl. I don’t want anything about this to be rushed.”
She turned to face me, placing a soft, delicate hand on my chest. “So you don’t regret last night, then?”
“Fuck no. Do you?” My heart stopped beating. She had admitted to having a crush on me last night, but what if reality didn’t live up to her fantasies? If she wanted us to go back to friends, I would do it. But now that I had the taste of her on my tongue, pretending like that was enough would be pure torture.
“Not even a little bit.” She tilted her head up, seeking a kiss, which I was more than happy to provide. My tongue swiped across her lips, and she opened for me. I wanted to plunder her mouth, roll us over so that we were touching everywhere all at once, but I pulled back instead.
That was my only regret. Not getting enough time with her in my bed before the real world popped the fragile bubble we were living in.
She rolled out of bed and got dressed in last night’s clothes.
“Let me walk you back to Harpoon’s,” I told her. I threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and followed her to the frontdoor.
Before I opened the door, I pulled her to me for another kiss. Her arms wound around my neck like she didn’t want to let go.
“You’re working second shift today?” she asked as we walked back to the bar to get her car.
“Yeah. I won’t get in until after midnight.” I made a mental note to talk to Captain about my schedule. I wasn’t the most senior officer, but I was higher than a couple of the newer guys. I shouldn’t have as many second or third shifts as I had been assigned lately.
We made plans to talk later. I waited until she had driven away before I turned back to Wyatt’s house.
* * *
“Did you enter the notes from Jesse’s interview?”
Monroe was sitting at his desk, typing away on his phone. We had interviewed Jesse Collins yesterday about the break-in at his music shop a few months ago. As it stood in our timeline, this was the first break-in that went from a three-person team to a two-person team. We still had more incidents to review, but if the trend stayed the same, we would see the two-person team continue through the current day. Somewhere between three and four months ago, there may have been a falling-out within their crew. If we could just identify that person, they could be the key to nailing the other two.
“Not yet. I’m doing that now,” he answered.
I stood at his desk and waited for him to get to work. After a few seconds of me hovering over him, he huffed out a breath and put his phone down.
“Is this how it’s always going to be? Juliet had a doctor’s appointment today, so I was getting an update. I’ll do the notes in a fucking minute.”
“You couldn’t be bothered to go to the doctors with her. Nice.” I shook my head. It wasn’t any of my business, not anymore. Instead, I walked back to my desk and started working on identifying leads and similarities between the break-ins.
“Fuck that,” Monroe said, getting up to follow me to my seat. “Of course I wanted to go with her, but I had to be here so I could work with your grumpy ass on this fucking case.”
“Just get the notes in the system, Monroe. That’s all we need right now.” I was paying doubly close attention to what information was recorded and how the evidence we gathered was being handled.
“What’s your problem, Wilder? If it’s about Jules and me, I’m sorry, okay? It was a fucked-up thing to do, but I don’t regret it either.”
I didn’t give two fucks about him and Jules now. I’d had months to come to terms with the end of my marriage, the betrayal, the pregnancy that wasn’t mine.
I had my sight set on brighter horizons. Coppery-red ones with the cutest freckles and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen.
It was protecting her that was all that mattered. And if Monroe was a threat to her, then yeah, I had a big fucking problem with that. I still had no proof, and my investigation into the note left on her car had stalled out, especially without the backing of the department. Whoever it was stayed clear ofevery camera, came and left on foot, wore no distinguishing clothes.
“Just trying to get the job done, Monroe.”
As he stalked away, I followed him from the corner of my eye. My phone buzzed, and I lunged at it, hoping to see Scarlett’s name.
