“We’re having a charity auction to raise money for the LSERT.”
“Oh, I can donate some food and gift certificates.”
“That would be great.” Karsyn grins. “But not exactly what I was thinking. See…” She crosses and recrosses her legs, a sign she’s nervous. “We’re having a bachelor/bachelorette auction, and we need a few more women. Would you be willing to auction off a date with you?”
“Do you think anyone would mess with all these people connected to cops?” I’m quick to assure her. “This, after all, is to benefit the LSERT. They’re too scared to want to do anything nefarious.”
“It’s the perfect way to get to know people in town,” Karsyn adds. “And we can vouch for almost everyone. Live here long enough and you’ll get to know them all.”
I can see her weighing the pros and cons in her head. Given the way her eyes brighten up, I think she wants to do it, but something is holding her back.
“I’m doing it,” I speak up. “It’s for a great cause. I work with the LSERT and I can vouch for the good work they do. So does Karsyn. The money we raise with this event will go a long way toward community policing and helping to keep power on for residents during the hot summers.”
“That’s something I haven’t dealt with yet.” She brings her bottom lip between her teeth.
“It’s all about what we can give back to the community, and we do that in many different ways.”
“So you’re saying it would look good, for me as a new business owner, to participate.”
Karsyn purses her lips. “What I’m saying is it could get you in front of the community in a way you haven’t been yet, and perhaps get more business.”
A slow smile spreads across Eden’s face. “If you think it’s a good idea, then I’m all for it.”
“Great! I can drop off the information to you tomorrow. What time will you be here?”
“Open til close.” She rolls her eyes in an exasperated way. “I’m still looking to hire someone to help me out. Until then, it’s me, myself, and I.”
“Girl,” - I stop to take a drink of my coffee - “I completely understand what you’re saying. There’s no rest for the wicked.”
“Or the weary.” She winks as the doorbell chimes, letting her know someone else has come in. “It was nice to meet you, ladies.”
“You too.” We wave at her before she goes to take her place behind the counter.
“She’s nice.” I watch her interact with her new customer.
“And gorgeous. She’ll be an asset to the auction.”
“You sound like we’re a bunch of horses getting ready to run the derby,” I complain before taking a bite of my cake.
“Speaking of horses. I heard you spent the night with Sully last night.”
My cake goes down the wrong way as I realize what she’s just said, causing me to hack and cough.
“Do you need the Heimlich?” She giggles.
I shake my head, coughing and wiping the tears from under my eyes. “Karsyn, I swear to God, one day you’ll be the death of me.”
“As long as I see that shocked expression on your face before you go, it will totally be worth it.”
Chapter 15
Sullivan
“Pass the fuckin’ ball, Ransom.” I hold my hands up, showing I’m open. He glances over at me, trying to find a place where he can do as I’ve asked. He’s being double-teamed by Cutter and Devante.
“Whatcha gonna do now?” Cutter talks shit to his brother. “We’re all on you like white on rice.”
“Get a new analogy.” He lobs the ball over his head, about as far from me as he can get.
Since they’re both surrounding him though, it allows me to make a break for it, but so does Tank, who’s on their team. I see him diving for it, so I do the same, knowing I’m taller than him and have longer arms. We hit the hardwood floor together, but I manage to tip the ball in favor of my team.
This will fucking hurt tomorrow, or maybe even tonight, but I can’t deny how good it feels to get physical on the court. This is something I needed, especially after having to deal with Frank Gentry.
The two of us push ourselves up on shaky arms.
“You alright?” he asks, bending over at the waist.
“Fine, you?”
He nods. “Good save.”
I laugh. “Way to make me work for it, old man.”
“Fuck you, Sullivan.”
Before we can say anything else, the game is back on this side of the court. My team is ahead by ten points, but that doesn’t mean we stop playing. We play harder when they make another basket. I’m guarding Cutter, who makes a mistake, allowing me to swiftly steal the ball from his hands and breakaway from the group. I push the ball down the court, before I grab it in my hands and jump, slamming it into the hoop as I grasp the edges, hanging on.
“You would have to make a show out of a slam dunk,” Cutter gasps.
“Maybe you need to up your cardio, that way you can catch me next time.”
“Ask your sister, my cardio’s just fine.”
All the guys on the court make an oohhhh noise as Cutter and I get nose to nose against one another. “You’re lucky I like you.” I point my finger in his face.
“Don’t point at me, Sully.” He lifts his hand to swat mine down.
I don’t know what happens, but I push him.
Harder than I mean to.
He stumbles, but doesn’t fall. It takes him more than a few steps to regain his balance.
Immediately Ransom runs to his brother and Devante runs to me. “He’s your sister’s fiancé, let this go,” Devante says, grabbing hold of my shirt, forcing me to look at him. “Things are heated because we’re playing ball. Walk it off.”
“My sister should be off-limits for trash talking,” I yell, doing my best to fight him off, but Devante is much stronger than I give him credit for. He’s easily holding my arms down to the side.
Ransom says something to Cutter. Whatever it is, it causes him to stop pushing against his brother. He turns around, putting his hands above his head, interlocking his fingers. When he turns back around, he comes over to me. “I’m sorry, that was out of line.”
“It was,” I agree. “But I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“You’re right, she’ll stay off-limits for trash talking. It’s been a rough day.”
I reach out to shake his hand. “Rough day here too. We’re cool, brother.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.” I pull him into a hug. “Now let’s get this game over.”
When I pull into the parking lot of my apartment complex, luck is shining down on me. Shelby is doing the same in her spot a few places away. Getting out, I wait for her. I’ve wanted to see her all day.
“Did you work out?” She eyes my tank top and gym shorts.
“My second favorite kind. I played a game of pickup basketball at the rec center.”
She walks toward me, shaking her hips, letting them sway in the dim light bathing the parking lot. It’s sexy as hell the way she carries herself. The way she tempts me with a little look, a small purse of her lips, or just the heat apparent in her green eyes. We’re a hair's breadth apart when she stops. “What’s your favorite kind of workout?”
Reaching out, I grab her by the chin, forcing it up slightly so I can see her face. “I think you know what my favorite kind of workout is, Counselor.”
Heat flares between the two of us, but when she reaches out to grab my waist, I flinch.
“Are you okay, Sully?”
“Went down hard fighting Tank for the basketball. Knew I’d feel it either tonight or tomorrow.”
She lifts up my tank top, whistling as she sees my sides. “You’re gonna have a nasty bruise in the morning.” Her fingers lightly graze the skin, causing me to shiver.
“Part of the game.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, but right now it surely feels like one.
“Why don’t you come up to my apart
ment? I have that huge soaking tub. It’ll do you good to relax those muscles.”
“If I come up to your apartment is relaxing all I’m gonna do?” I raise an eyebrow at her, aware of how often we’ve been alone and how often we’ve ended up undressed.
“Your virtue is safe with me, Sully,” she giggles, reaching out to take my hand in hers.
“I was worried.” I lean down, kissing her softly on the lips. “Let me go get some clothes to change into, and then I will gladly use your soaker tub.”
We walk in comfortable silence, holding hands until we get to her apartment. She drops my fingers and fishes around for her keys. “Don’t take too long.”
“Trust me, I want to get back to you as soon as possible.”
Both the cop in me, and the man who’s finding himself caring deeply for her, wait until she gets inside and hears the lock put back into place before I take the stairs to my apartment. Even I’m surprised at how quickly I’m taking them; I can feel just how bruised I am, but I want to get back to Shelby. It’s a need I’m not able to explain – this feeling of wanting to be close to her. I’ve never had it before.
In my past relationships I’ve not been the guy so caught up on his girl he wasn’t able to have a life outside of her. But with Shelby? I find myself wanting to talk to her throughout the day. A phone call to ask how it’s going, to see if anyone has displeased her.
This is all new territory for me, and it’s scary. Because no matter how bad I thought my heart was broken before.
Shelby Bruce could ruin me.
“How often do you soak in this thing?” I ask as I’m waiting for the water to fill the tub.
She shrugs. “Not nearly enough. It was honestly a big perk when I moved in, one of the plusses that had me picking out this apartment.”
“I’m sure the cop car in the parking lot was one too.” I smirk.
Reaching into the tub, she flicks water at me. “You didn’t live here then, thank you very much. Anyway,” - she rolls her eyes - “I had grand visions of buying one of those tray things, sitting in here every night after a long day and catching up on my computer work in complete relaxation.”
“How many times have you used it?”
She grins bashfully, a tiny dimple popping out in her right check. It’s almost so small I can’t see it, and I’m not sure I’ve noticed it before.
“Three times.”
“Three times? Counselor, we gotta work on that. Sure you don’t wanna take a dip with me tonight?”
Her eyes meet mine before they move down to my waist where I’m bunching up my shirt in my fingers, getting ready to pull it up and over my head. She’s still watching and I raise an eyebrow. “Little privacy, huh?”
“Sorry,” she mumbles before turning away.
“Just kidding, Shelby, you can look all you want.”
And look she does. She turns back to me, letting her eyes roam my body. She makes a visual feast out of me, and damn do I wish I had the energy to put the chemistry between us to good use.
“Anybody ever told you, you look too good to be true?”
I laugh, reaching down to take my shorts off. “No.” I lean against the cabinet, pulling my socks off. “Can’t say they have.”
“Someone should have told you,” she whispers.
“Someone did.” I walk over to her. “You.”
The moment between us ends with smiles on our faces.
“Get in,” she instructs. “I’ll wash your back.”
It’s heaven as I dip down into the bordering on hot water, but it’s exactly what my sore muscles need. This tub is big enough for me to stretch out in. The steam rising up around me creates a hazy kind of dream-like state. Leaning forward, I let Shelby wash off my back, moaning when she presses hard to get the knots out of the muscles.
“You carry a lot of tension in your shoulders.” Her breath tickles my ear.
“Always have, probably always will.”
For what feels like hours she works on my shoulders and upper back. When she finishes, I’m jelly. “God, what did you do to me?”
“Hopefully made you feel good.” She stands up from where she’s kneeling beside the tub. “You take your time in here. I’ll go fix us something to eat.”
Reaching out, I grab hold of her hand. “That’s not why I came here, Shelby.”
“I know.” She smiles softly. “I didn’t want to be alone tonight either. Eating dinner by yourself sucks, especially when you’ve found someone you like to eat with.”
I didn’t have to say a word, but somehow she understood. “Thank you.” I pull her hand up to my lips, kissing it softly.
“No need to thank me, I like having you around.”
“I like having you around too.”
As I watch her leave the bathroom, I wonder how quick is too quick. When I decide I don’t want to answer, I lay my head back against the tub, close my eyes, and relax with a smile on my face.
Chapter 16
Shelby
As I leave the bathroom, I chance another look back at Sully. He’s already rested his head against the tub, and seems to be deep in his thoughts. I can’t help but wonder who takes care of him, after he takes care of the rest of the world.
My heart speeds up to scary levels when I realize I want to be that person for him. It’s the first time I’ve ever had those thoughts about someone else. I would have to have them during one of the most transitional points of my life.
Shaking my head, I walk to the kitchen, trying to figure out what I can make him for dinner. I haven’t been grocery shopping in a while. I’m very much content with cereal and a banana for dinner more often than not, but I know that won’t do for the man in my bathroom.
Rifling through the cabinets, I spot some rice. Pulling it out, I check the expiration date, because I’m pretty sure I brought this from my old apartment. Sweet, two months to go.
“He’ll want something to off-set the carbs.” I look behind me toward the bathroom. “A man who looks like that doesn’t eat many carbs.”
Throwing the freezer door open, I find one lone bag of broccoli I bought sometime when I planned on losing the ten pounds I gained when I moved here. “Hopefully it’s not freezer burnt. God, Shelby, you have nothing here to impress anyone.”
I’d be laughing if it wasn’t the truth. At least I know I have chicken marinating in the fridge. It’s what I was going to fix myself. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s marinate and bake chicken.
I quickly get it in the oven, along with the broccoli into the microwave and rice on the stove top. I’m assuming Sullivan’s still in the tub since I haven’t seen or heard from him. Making a mad dash for my bedroom, I take off my work clothes only to debate with myself about what to wear.
Normally I wear a tank top and shorts, but it feels exposed with Sullivan here. Even though we’ve seen each other naked, there’s a part of me that wants to prove we can hang out with each other. That not every time we’re in the same space, we have to act on this crazy lust we feel for one another. If all we have is lust, then what are we doing here?
Lust sizzles and fades.
Love and true feelings remain.
Sighing, I pull my hair back into a ponytail. It’s not that I love Sullivan. I could, but not yet. There’s still so much we don’t know about one another. Secrets I haven’t shared, and I’m sure there’s plenty he hasn’t either.
When I’m comfortably wearing a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, I move back into the kitchen.
I’m not prepared to see Sullivan standing there, waiting on me.
Damn does he look good in my kitchen.
For precious moments I don’t make my presence known. I want to watch him, commit every tattoo and muscle to memory, to know exactly where each drop of ink begins and ends. Only those that mean something to him know these things. He’s a notoriously closed book to most he meets, but the more I’ve hung out with him in the past year, the more he’s opened up to me.
But it’s in these quiet pieces of time, where I can admire him without him knowing. They show me more about the man than anything else can.
He’s leaning against the counter, a soft smile on his face as his fingers move on his phone. Looks like he’s opted for comfort too. Sweatpants hang low on his waist, a worn t-shirt covers the top half. It says Paradise Lost High School Basketball.
“Did you play?”
His head shoots up. “You’re ninja quiet,” he laughs.
“You were involved.” I gesture to his cell phone.
“I’m being harassed by Karsyn to be a bachelor in your auction.”
“You already agreed,” I argue.
“I don’t really remember agreeing.”
Going to the oven, I open the door, before bending to check the chicken. While bent, I cast a glance over my shoulder. “Pretty sure you agreed.”
His eyes are staring at my ass. “You stay like that, and I’ll agree to anything you want.”
“Then tell Karsyn you’ll be auctioned off with me.”
He puts the phone on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do I get to bid on you?”
My pulse speeds up. “If you want.”
His tongue peeks out from between his lips, caressing them, leaving a trail of moisture behind. “Oh, I definitely want.”
“Let’s hope you’re the highest bidder.”
“Been savin’ my pennies.” He winks.
Clearing my throat, I straighten up, grabbing a potholder. “Chicken’s done, and so is everything else.”
“Let me get you something to drink,” he offers. “What do you want?”
I drank with him last night, and I make it a habit not to drink two nights in a row. “There should be some sweet tea in there.”
He finds it, putting two glasses on the counter, and pouring from the pitcher. “You like three ice cubes, right?”
“I’m impressed you remember that about me.”
“Oh, Counselor, you’d be surprised. But why three?”
“Two isn’t enough and four waters it down.”
Sullivan (Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team Book 5) Page 9
