by Regan Black
Clouds gathered in his eyes. “Why not stay here with me?”
She arched her brows. “Did you want the reasons in alphabetical order?” She hoped not, since any desire to resist was fizzling fast.
“Chronological,” he challenged.
She actually tried to accommodate his request before she gave up and picked up the phone. He took it from her grasp before she even realized his intent. “Leo,” she warned. “I can’t stay overnight.”
“Who’s around to even know?”
Calvin, the patrol team who’d helped rescue Leo, Sergeant Hulbert, who had to notice she didn’t come back with her partner, plus the hotel security team. “Plenty of people saw me come in with you.” They’d definitely passed two or three surveillance cameras on the way to his room.
“Why would anyone bother to track when you leave?”
She wasn’t about to share that cautionary tale. He was so close she could touch the burnished gold scruff shading his jaw. “Are you growing a beard?” Not quite twenty-four hours ago, at dinner, his jaw had been smooth as silk.
“Not your best segue,” he said, dragging his knuckles across the whiskers. “It was an attempt to insulate my face from the cold front.”
“Needs more time.”
“Agreed.” He stared at her with such concern an observer might think she’d been the one in need of rescue. His gaze slid down her body, and her nerves tingled in anticipation. “Stay. Here.”
“Leo.” She was suddenly all too aware of the utter disarray of her uniform. Boots and coat and hat by the door, her uniform shirt unbuttoned.
“We haven’t even talked about Lara,” he said.
She rolled her eyes at the obvious ploy. “You know I would’ve said something if I had news. Go eat and stay warm.”
He caught her hand, laced his fingers with hers and gently tugged her back toward the table. Her pulse raced and her skin tingled all over. “I’m the one with news,” he said.
“What?” That revelation cooled her right down again. “You followed a lead to that alley?”
“I’m not talking until you’ve eaten half a sandwich and had a cup of hot chocolate.”
“Is that a threat or a bribe? It’s not smart to aim either one at a police officer.”
He pulled out her chair, waited for her to sit. Then he leaned down, putting them cheek to cheek. “You can take care of yourself,” he said, his lips brushing her ear.
The brief contact set off a chain reaction, and an insuppressible tremor flowed down her spine. More, she thought, her mind on the man rather than the case or the food. Somehow, she managed to keep her hand steady as they ate in silence jam-packed with anticipation. Not awkward, just aware.
As much as she wanted to stuff her face and hurry this along, she couldn’t bring herself to rush the meal. No one cared where she was, as long as she was safe, and believing otherwise was starting to feel paranoid. Her goal was to be healthy, mind and body, as a cop and as a woman, and in all of her relationships.
So she enjoyed the food and relished a hot chocolate dessert. Leo told her a story of sledding with his younger sister after a big winter storm and she could almost see their rosy cheeks and hear the wild laughter. She’d had similar fun and escapades with neighbor kids growing up, but it wasn’t the same as having someone there with you all the time, sharing the good and the bad.
“I always wanted a big brother,” she said without thinking.
He smiled. “I hope your mother explained that families rarely work that way.”
She rolled her eyes. “Lara’s lucky to have you. That’s all I meant.”
“Did you need a big brother in your corner?”
“No.” She didn’t care for the protectiveness in his tone. Leo didn’t need more worries. “These days I have Calvin. And Sergeant Hulbert. That’s plenty of oversight already.” And still she’d been duped by her lousy, drug-dealing ex. She tried to laugh, but it sounded croaky to her. “You’ve held back long enough,” she said, stacking their dirty dishes on the cart. “Spill whatever led you into that alley.”
“One condition,” he began.
She shook her head. “No. No changing the rules now. Talk.”
Leo refilled his coffee and took a cautious sip. “The councilman we saw at the club.” He snapped his fingers. “What’s his name?”
“Keller?”
“Yeah, that’s right. He was doing some press near the college when they opened the shelter. Promised a safe place for anyone with concerns about heat or whatever.”
“Sounds about right.” The man had done the full circuit of local radio and television this morning, promising assistance. “It will be interesting who pays the bills when they come due.”
“You don’t seem to like him,” Leo said. “Why?”
She rubbed at her face, wishing for her fleece sweats and fuzzy socks. “I don’t dislike him. He talks a great game, but he’s a politician and it always falls to those of us on the front lines to fulfill his promises.” She waved off the political tangent. “How does that tie to Lara?”
“I went inside to help them finish setting up. As people trickled in, I saw a man wearing a scarf like the one I gave Lara for Christmas.”
“Leo.” The lecture was right on the tip of her tongue.
“The scarf was clean, Aubrey. Cashmere, too, and it was a distinct Cincinnati Reds pattern. Lara loves the team. I talked to him about baseball, but I didn’t push him or anything.”
“You’ve given up on the aggressive inquisition approach?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Will you ever let that go?”
Not a chance. “As a first impression, it’s a lasting one,” she teased. Sobering, she propped her elbows on the table. “You were warm, in a shelter, doing good work. People were arriving, so why leave?”
“The man with the scarf said he got it from a nice girl.”
“You showed him a picture of Lara?”
“No. Didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.” His lips tilted in a sheepish grin. “See, I can learn.”
“Good to know. That doesn’t mean he got the scarf from Lara.”
He stared at her. “Do you really think there are two girls out there sharing their cashmere scarves?” Without waiting for an answer, he continued. “He was the first person who’d seen Lara. I hadn’t heard anything out of you or Rosie or Grant all day.”
She sat on her hands before she got up and hugged him or did something equally foolish. “Leo, no one is giving up.”
He rolled his shoulders, restless. “I asked the volunteers about where they’d picked up the man with the scarf. Hearing there were others who didn’t come in...” His voice trailed off.
“You went looking.”
“She doesn’t leave people behind. I had to go.”
“Leo.” Her heart swelled with love. It was too soon, too silly, too impossible. Calling it compassion or infatuation was a copout. She was falling for Leo. There wasn’t any other explanation for the hard squeeze behind her sternum or the sweet, fizzy tenderness that didn’t fade. Unless she took a leave from work and simply kept herself glued to Leo’s side, there was no way to protect him from himself.
As tempting as that idea was, considering her feelings for him, taking leave meant one less person available to help in crises like this storm.
“Maybe it wasn’t smart.” Leo picked up a steak fry and broke it in two. “But what if she was stuck? What if she wasn’t helping someone, but in serious trouble? What if she needed me?”
All questions without answers. “You’re worried, with good reason,” she said. “If I could wave a magic wand and make her appear, I would.” When they did find Lara, and she had to keep believing in a positive outcome for Leo’s sake, she would be hard-pressed not to shake the girl senseless for putting her brother through this heart-wrenching orde
al. “The shelters aren’t the only places to ride out the weather,” she said. “If your sister is half as determined as you, she’s found a safe place.”
“None of Grant’s people have seen her, either. I checked with him before I went down that alley.”
She did her best to suppress her reaction to Grant’s involvement in an active PPD case. Leo needed that additional ray of hope.
“What’s really your beef with him? It felt more personal than the vigilante rant you gave at the meeting.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Come on, Aubrey. Is it so hard to open up?”
“I don’t usually,” she said. Here, away from the precinct and the man in question, she could speak freely. She bit her lip and decided if he could learn and change tactics she should give him the same courtesy. “The campus security chief sent you to Grant because he’s known to pick up cases that fall through the cracks of normal police work. Your sister isn’t that kind of case.”
“But you warned me that the PPD wouldn’t put much into the search.”
“Leo.” She pressed her fingers to her eyes for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “Everyone, Grant included, has reminded you that your sister is an adult.”
He scowled, but didn’t comment.
“Grant has connections, from his years on the PPD and through his business as a club owner. He’s good for the community overall. I just think he runs the risk of undermining the system when he takes on his own projects. Lara is an active case.”
“All right. I can see your point.”
She appreciated the olive branch. “My opinion isn’t the popular one. And to be fair, I know his reputation of helping starts with how he gives first responders a way to stay busy while rehabbing an injury or whatever. He was also one of the first business owners to create a house policy that gives potential victims a way out if a date is going badly.”
“A cop can only respond to a crime that’s been committed.” Leo’s scowl had softened into contemplation. “Does Grant intervene too early?”
“In my opinion,” she said. “More than once Grant has called in PPD just in time to hear a confession, handing detectives open and shut cases.”
“That bugs you.”
“It does,” she admitted easily.
His finger circled the edge of his coffee cup. “I respect your point of view, but I can’t be sorry more people are searching for Lara.”
“I wouldn’t want you to be. Your sister isn’t mentally unstable or physically ill, so I doubt she’ll risk frostbite or worse when there are other options. That means someone will spot her eventually.”
“Do we know that?” Leo stretched his arms wide, then folded his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
She scolded herself for ogling again. Why did they have to meet at the precinct over an official report? “Pardon me?” She’d lost the thread of the conversation.
“Do we know she’s stable?” He dropped his arms back and sat up straight. “Seriously. Who pulls this kind of stunt? Shutting me out has never been an option.”
Someone committed to her agenda. Aubrey kept the thought to herself. “I’m pretty sure we do know,” Aubrey replied. “There would’ve been other signs of emotional or mental issues long before now.”
“I don’t know.” Leo pushed back from the table and paced the width of the room. “She loves me.” He tapped his temple. “That’s a pretty big indicator she’s got a faulty wire or two.”
Why did he think he was unlovable? The guilt and misery on his face stirred up those all-too-willing urges to comfort and soothe. Along with a new temptation to offer him a distraction they could both enjoy. She admired his tenacity and his conviction that Lara was in trouble, even when it made her job more difficult. “You’re nine years older than your sister?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“What did she do when you went to college? Did you call every week?”
His gaze drifted to some point in the past and his lips shifted into a half smile. “She cried. Until she finally believed that I wasn’t going away to school. I stayed local, lived at home. I couldn’t leave her alone with our mom.”
Clearly, those hadn’t been easy years. Whatever had happened to their family, the siblings had formed a deep bond to survive. It sure would be nice to know if pushing would help her understand Lara’s actions or just cause Leo more pain. She was still debating when he stopped in front of the window. She immediately worried about him standing in the draft but managed to keep quiet.
“It’s beautiful,” he said, watching the storm outside. He held out a hand. “Come watch with me.”
She joined him at the window, done resisting this closeness that felt so right. Big, fat snowflakes had turned her city into a sparkling wonderland. At least from this vantage point several stories up. Down on the street, the conditions were creating dreadful hazards. She hoped people stayed in so everyone could be safe.
A plow and salt truck rumbled by and Leo slid his arm around her waist, drawing her close. She couldn’t help checking the windows across the street for any faces aimed their way. And what could she do about it if she saw anyone?
Turning into his arms, she relaxed against him. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
“I’m glad you and Calvin found me. I might still have to file a complaint.”
“Do tell.” She liked the glint in his eyes when he teased her.
“Isn’t shared body heat the best tactic for preventing or resolving hypothermia? I feel like you didn’t do everything possible.” He touched his forehead to hers. “Seriously, thank you, Aubrey.”
“You’re welcome.” She wanted a kiss, needed the tangible, incontrovertible evidence that he was better. Stronger than he’d been when she found him.
His lips brushed across hers, a mere whisper of what she craved. “Thank you for saving me from myself. Again.”
“Serve and protect,” she said. “That’s me.”
“Hmm.” His hands linked at her back and he leaned away to study her face. “So you’d do all of this for anyone you found on the street?”
She nodded, inexplicably delighted by the way his mouth kicked up at one corner.
“So I’m nothing special?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Her fingers trailed up and down the placket of his thermal Henley shirt. The fabric hugged his shoulders, emphasized his sculpted form. “Why weren’t you wearing this earlier?”
In lieu of an answer, he kissed her. A kiss full of glorious intention loaded with an invitation to so much more. She unbuckled her belt, setting it and her gun aside. Then she gave herself over to the moment, to this man, doing her best to send her excess body heat into him.
His fingers worked under her uniform shirt and silk undershirt. She shivered at the first contact, sighing into the sweet, welcome feeling. His hands weren’t icy anymore. His hot palms cruised up over her ribs to cup her breasts. She arched into the touch, her nipples straining through her bra. Under her hands, the muscles of his back rippled with his movements until she was ready to claw off his clothes and strip him bare. Again.
“It’s too hot in here,” he said, trailing kisses along her throat.
Leo had such a talented tongue and lips. And teeth, she added as he nipped and soothed her skin in turns. “No such thing for you tonight.”
He hummed, low in his throat. “So this.” He kissed her hard, slid his hands up and down her back. “This is only therapeutic activity.”
“I hope not,” she admitted breathlessly.
He laughed, holding her so close the sound vibrated from his body right through hers. She’d never known laughter could be so erotic.
“I can’t think of a better way to chase off any hidden cold spots.” He eased away from the window, drawing her closer to the bed. “Stay.”
Slo
wly, she drew his mouth down to hers. Any argument she might have posed was beyond her now. She took her time with the kisses, lingering over every point of contact, learning what made his breath hitch, what made him sigh.
Had anything ever been this perfect? Her heart fluttered in her chest, merrily reminding her she’d never experienced anything quite like this before. He tempted her in new, amazing ways and thanks to his job, he’d be gone before her past mistakes could dim the glow of a hot, fast and oh-so-enticing connection.
She eased back, just out of his reach, and unbuttoned her shirt. His gaze locked on to the movements, and a thrill jolted her pulse to a new high.
“Aubrey—”
The lights went out. The sudden silence of a power outage always took her by surprise. She found the absolute lack of ambient noise as refreshing as it was intimidating. With no distractions, she could hear the snow and ice pelting the window as the wind gusted.
“Aubrey?”
Her entire body homed in on Leo’s voice, yearning for him, as if they’d been separated by a continent rather than a few feet. “I didn’t do it.”
His laughter might as well be a beacon in the dark. “Just making sure you didn’t disappear.”
Here, with him, was the only place she wanted to be.
She could just make out the shape of him, one more substantive shadow in the layers of darkness. “Give me a second.” She moved toward the door, dutifully double-checking that the emergency lights were on in the hallway.
The minimal glow was creepy. Up and down the hallway, other doors were opening, heads peering out.
“Trouble?” Leo’s hand curled around her shoulder.
She squeaked and jumped, instantly ashamed of herself. “Looks good.”
His low, brief laugh was so much better than the pain in his voice when he worried for his sister. “Afraid of the dark?”
“No.”
“What if I told you I was?” His lips grazed the back of her neck.
She scooted back into the room. “Are you?”
“Just a little.” He pressed the words into the sensitive skin at her nape.
