Careless

by Cheryl Douglas

  He hooked his thumbs inside of her thong and tugged them down. “Damn,” he whispered, standing back to admire the outcome of her drunken episode.

  Tori felt the heat rising up her chest, her neck, infusing her cheeks with color. Oh hell, no, he’s seen the tattoo.

  Mike felt like he’d just won the lottery. The sexiest woman he’d ever laid eyes on had his name inked on her luscious flesh. She couldn’t deny he was the inspiration behind the tattoo even if she wanted to. The badge with handcuffs and a gun were sweet enough, but seeing his name in the center of that shield was enough to make him want to drop to his knees and pay homage to the artist responsible for the masterpiece… and the woman who’d endured the pain in his honor.

  “I love it.”

  She closed her eyes. “I never intended for you to see it.”

  He tipped her chin. “Open your eyes.” He kissed her lips tenderly. “I said I love it. It’s incredible. You’re incredible.”

  Tori covered her hands with her face. “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. You must think I’m pathetic.”

  “I think you’re gorgeous… sexy… and I can’t even tell you how much that turns me on, baby.”

  She looked up, peeking through the gaps in her fingers. “Really? You don’t think I’m a total loser?”

  “No way.” He smiled. “But I’ve gotta know, why’d you do it?”

  “Like I said, we’d all had way too much to drink that night, and we got to talkin’ about the guys we’d been with. My friend, Roxie, said we should get tattoos in honor of the best lovers we’ve ever had… you know, to remind us that we shouldn’t be willin’ to settle for less.”

  Mike tried to quash the disappointment. He represented the promise of great sex to her, nothing more. “I guess I should be flattered you chose me, huh?” But he didn’t feel privileged, he felt insulted.

  “Hey, what’s wrong? I thought you’d be baskin’ in the glow of your triumph, not sulkin’ like a two-year-old.”

  “You didn’t get that tattoo because I meant something to you…” He tried to push past her before he said something he wouldn’t be able to take back, but she was on his heels by the time he made his way into the kitchen.

  “Why does it matter why I got it? The point is I did.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Most people get someone’s name tattooed on their body because…” They’re in love. God, he couldn’t say that. She’d think he was no better than her obsessive stalker. “Forget it, it’s not important. Let’s just forget it.”

  “Like I can.” She repositioned her dress. “I’ve had to look at it every day for the past two years. It’s been torture.”

  “Why?” He grabbed the letters off the counter, intending to retire to his room and study them until he had a handle on this guy’s motives. “You were hopin’ you’d be able to forget you ever met me?”

  “Yes.”

  He didn’t know why he was surprised by her brutal honesty. It was her trademark. “Yeah, well, I’m glad you haven’t been able to forget, ’cause I don’t think I ever will.” He headed down the long hallway toward the bedrooms.

  “Mike.”

  He didn’t trust himself to turn around, so he stopped in his tracks instead. “Yeah?”

  “You were more than an incredible lover. I felt something for you that night, something I’d never felt before.”

  She was constantly catching him off guard. When he assumed she would be sweet and vulnerable, she was a little tyrant, but when he expected her to have her back up, like now, she stunned him by letting her guard down. If she was willing to put herself out there, he decided he should have the courage to do the same. “I felt the same way.”

  “Really?”

  He turned to face her and immediately wished he hadn’t. There was no way he could fight his attraction to this woman. She was everything he’d always hated: loud, obnoxious, opinionated, reckless, and totally self-sufficient. He hated that most of all. Most of the women he’d dated were sweet, shy, and content to let him take the lead in the relationship, but he knew this little vixen would make him fight for every inch of ground he gained with her.

  “Really.”

  Tori linked her hands behind her back as she looked up at him under the veil of her long lashes. “So, where do we go from here?”

  “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone, but I felt that way once before, and givin’ in to that temptation caused us both a lot of grief. I don’t want to make that mistake again.” He winced when he saw the flash of hurt cross her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just—

  She held her hand up. “It’s okay. You don’t owe me any explanations or apologies. We both knew the score. It was supposed to be about sex, nothin’ more. If either one of us got our hopes up, then that was the mistake.”

  Mistake. He hated that word. If he never heard it again in his life, it would be too soon. “You weren’t a mistake, sweetheart.” It was time for him to lay it all on the line. “In fact, that night I spent with you was just about the best damn night of my life.”

  Tori looked like she wanted to believe him, but their past relationship had taught her to be skeptical of his random acts of kindness. He didn’t blame her. He’d never treated another woman as abhorrently as he’d treated her, and he had to face facts. The road to forgiveness was bound to be gutted with potholes.

  “I don’t—”

  Mike held his hand up. Not that he wasn’t curious to hear her response to his revelation, but he knew anything she said to him now would be impulsive. He wanted to give her time to think about what he’d said before she reacted. “We’re gonna be livin’ under the same roof, at least for a while, and chances are we’ll be hittin’ the road together for a stretch.”

  “What’s your point?”

  He smiled. It was nice to see the sassy little pain in his neck reappearing. “I’d like us to try bein’ friends.”

  “Friends?” She crossed her arms. “Seriously? The only time we’ve been able to stand bein’ in the same room together for more than five minutes was…” It was obvious they were both thinking about that night when their eyes locked and she licked her lips. “This is crazy. If we’re not fightin’, we’re thinkin’ about tearin’ each other’s clothes off. How do you suggest we pull this friends thing off?”

  She was right, but they couldn’t forge a bond on the basis of sex or rage, and he was beginning to realize he’d been seeking a connection with her for years, he just didn’t realize it until she’d walked back into his life tonight. “I’m willing to try, if you are.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Tori. I don’t wanna go on resentin’ each other. We see each other all the time. We can’t avoid it, so why not figure out how to deal with it?” He’d never had so much riding on a friendship. His gut told him she could be the one. He had no idea how they could make this work, but he was willing to go to any lengths to try.

  She took a step forward, looking hesitant as she extended her hand. “Okay, friends.”

  He grinned when he slipped his hand into hers. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

  “But just so we’re clear, just friends, nothing more. While you’re here, you’ll be stayin’ in the guestroom at the far end of the hall. My bedroom is off limits. Understood?”

  Mike had no doubt she’d be welcoming him in to her bed before long, but he didn’t feel the need to push the issue tonight. Tomorrow was a new day, and as long as he could look forward to seeing her beautiful face over morning coffee, it promised to be a good day.

  Chapter Five

  Mike Cooper was the most insufferable man Tori had ever met. He insisted on driving her to rehearsal and refused to leave until his father promised he wouldn’t leave her alone for a minute. Like Josh didn’t have better things to do than babysit her.

  “Uh-oh,” Nikki Spencer said, sitting down beside her. “I know that look. Who pissed ya off this time?”

  Nikki had bee
n like a big sister to her ever since Tori signed on with her father’s label, Titan Records. “Mike Cooper.”

  Nikki giggled. “You wouldn’t be the first girl to get all wound up over him.” Nikki fanned her face. “Lordy, I used to have a crush on that boy.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure, when I reconnected with my dad, Jay, Mike, and I were all around the same age. I thought he was just about the cutest guy I’d ever seen, but my daddy warned me about keepin’ my distance.”

  Tori knew it was silly to be jealous of a silly teen infatuation. Nikki was married to J.T. McCall, the sexiest cowboy ever to don a Stetson, and they had a beautiful little girl. “Did y’all date when you were younger?”

  “Na, I saw J.T. for the first time when I was about eighteen, and it kind of spoiled me for other men.”

  Tori glanced at J.T., looking sexier than any man should with a toddler on his hip. “I can certainly see why.”

  Nikki laughed. “Yeah, he still has that effect on women. Damn him.”

  “You know you’re the only woman he wants, Nik.”

  “I know; it goes both ways. He knows that.” Nikki covered her face, playing peekaboo with her baby girl, Erika, who giggled at her mommy’s antics. “But I wanna hear more about you and Mike. What’s goin’ on there?”

  Tori knew she could trust Nikki, but she didn’t even know where to start. “Your dad has him workin’ this case. He didn’t give me a choice, basically told me Mike was handlin’ it and I didn’t get a vote.”

  Nikki rolled her eyes. “Yup, that sounds like my dad. But why wouldn’t you want him on the case? According to Derek, he’s one of the best cops on the force.”

  Derek McCall was Nikki’s brother-in-law and Mike’s stepfather, which made them family, according to Nikki. She’d often told Tori that theirs was one big extended family, trying to insist she was a part of it now, whether she liked it or not. Thankfully, Tori did. She couldn’t imagine working with any other group of people now that the members of Titan Records had adopted her as one of their own.

  “I’m sure he is. That’s not the problem.” Tori took a moment to listen to Trey belt out his new hit single before she responded. “He and I…” She didn’t even know how to describe it. It wasn’t an affair, but to describe it as a one-night stand didn’t do it justice.

  Nikki covered her mouth as her blue eyes widened in shock. “No freakin’ way!” She slapped Tori’s denim-clad leg. “How could you keep this from me? When? Where? More importantly, how was it?”

  Tori didn’t embarrass easily, but the thought of relaying the dirty details of her night with Mike while his father stood less than twenty feet away was creeping her out. “Sssh!” Tori said, putting her finger to her lips as she glanced in Josh’s direction.

  “Oh please, you think Josh doesn’t know his son’s a player?”

  She felt an unexpected stab of disappointment. Of course Tori knew Mike was a player. She’d seen the endless parade of beautiful women who’d escorted him to various events over the past few years, but it still hurt to think she was just another notch in his belt.

  Nikki placed her hand over Tori’s. “I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me. You really like him, don’t you?”

  “No!” Tori lowered her voice when several stagehands turned around to stare at her. “I mean, we were together a couple of years back. I’ve barely spoken to him since.”

  “I can’t believe it was that bad,” Nikki said, in a stage whisper.

  “Believe me, it wasn’t.”

  “Ha! I knew it! It was that good, wasn’t it?”

  Only good enough to warrant center stage in her fantasies after all this time. “Yeah, but that’s not the point.”

  “Then what it is?”

  “You said it yourself, he’s a player.” Deluding herself wasn’t Tori’s style, and she didn’t put much stock in pillow talk.

  “So was J.T. when we got together. People change, hon.”

  “Not Mike.”

  “I don’t believe that. He just needs a good woman to tame him. They all do.”

  “Regardless, it’s gonna make it tough to live under the same roof with him, given our history.”

  Nikki choked on the water in her mouth as her eyes began to water.

  Tori tried not to laugh as she patted her friend on the back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to catch ya off guard there.”

  When Nikki finally caught her breath again, she said, “Uh yeah, you did. Okay, back up. I want to hear the whole story. You and Mike are gonna be living together? How the hell did that happen?”

  Tori was still trying to come to terms with the idea herself. “Like I said, your dad hired him to find out who’s been tailin’ me. He came back to my place last night to pick up the letters that jerk’s been sendin’ me, and it turns out he’d been there.”

  Nikki’s face drained of color. “Oh my God, are you serious?”

  “Yeah, ’fraid so. Fortunately, Mike handled the situation like a pro.” She smiled. “Of course, that’s what he is.”

  “So, that’s why he’s staying with you… in case this guy comes back?”

  “Yeah.”

  Nikki put her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that he’s there. I wouldn’t be able to rest if I knew you were in that house all alone. Does my dad know about this?”

  “I’m sure Mike or Josh has filled him in by now.”

  “Hey, they’re gonna find this guy, and until they do, Mike’s not gonna let anything happen to you.”

  “I know.” It wasn’t the stalker she was worried about right now. The bigger issue was how she was going to keep her clothes on around her new roommate.

  Mike was watching the seconds tick by on his watch as he waited for the first guy on his list to show up. Luc had offered to let him use one of the offices at Titan Records since his conversations with these guys would be off the record, for now. He couldn’t believe he was about to interview Tori’s past lovers. Just thinking about it nearly gave him an ulcer.

  As he reviewed his list of gut-wrenching questions, Luc popped his head in the door. “Hey, man, you got a minute? I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night.”

  “Yeah, come on in. Close the door. I’m waitin’ on a couple of people.”

  Luc raised an eyebrow. “By people, do you mean suspects?”

  “At this point, I’m lookin’ at the guys Tori’s been…” Mike clenched his fist under the table, hoping Luc couldn’t read the change in his demeanor. “Intimate with in the past two years.”

  “Since she got that tattoo, right?”

  Mike nodded. Just thinking about that tattoo set him off. When he’d seen it, he’d been riding a high, but he came crashing down just as quickly when he realized it meant nothing to her. He represented a night of great sex, a nice memory to haul out when she was feeling lonely, but he’d never be the kind of man a girl like Tori would give her heart to.

  Luc grinned. “Did she give you the deets about the tat? I’ve been tryin’ to get it out of her for weeks now.”

  If Mike told him he’d seen it and that he’d been the inspiration behind it, his new boss would know his relationship with Tori went too deep for Mike to remain objective in this case. “She didn’t wanna tell me either.” At least that much was true. She didn’t want to tell him, and she hadn’t intended to show him, but once again, their hunger for each other overshadowed their common sense.

  “So, tell me about these guys you’ve got your eye on. Anyone look promising?” Luc leaned over and glanced at the sheet of paper on the table between them. “Three guys, only three, in two years?”

  In Mike’s mind, that was three guys too many, but he couldn’t tell Luc that. “Yeah, only three.”

  Luc chuckled. “Hell, when I was single, that was a good weekend. You too, huh?”

  Mike couldn’t think about his other lovers when Tori and her safety was at the forefront of his mind. Thankfully, a knock at the door inte
rrupted Luc’s debriefing.

  Luc stood and extended his hand to Mike. “I’ll let you get on with it. I just wanted to thank you for doin’ this. Havin’ someone like you on this case makes me feel a hell of a lot better.”

  “No problem.” Mike reached across the table to shake Luc’s hand. “I’m glad you asked me to get involved.” He wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to take care of Tori the way he could.

  “Hey, Josh told me that dirtbag actually broke into her house last night?”

  “Yeah, but don’t worry, we’ve got it covered. If he’s stupid enough to come back, I’ll be waitin’ for him.”

  Luc smiled. “Glad to hear it. You’ll be stayin’ there with her until we hit the road?”

  “Yeah, that’s the plan.”

  “Sounds like a good one.” Luc pointed to the door. “You’ll fill me in on what happens here today?”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Luc opened the door and nodded to the man standing just outside as Mike stood up, beckoning him inside.

  It took everything in him to pretend this was just another case. He wanted to grab this guy by the neck and throttle him. As he extended his hand, he decided to put him on the defensive from the start. He’d usually go in for the softer approach, try to disarm his suspect with his good ol’ boy spiel, but this time he wanted nothing more than to intimidate the hell out of him. “Lieutenant Mike Cooper, we spoke on the phone.”

  The guy’s eyes drifted to the gun strapped to Mike’s waist. “Oh man, I didn’t know you were a cop. I thought you worked security for the record label.”

  Mike assessed his reaction. He was clearly nervous. “I’m consultin’ on this case. Don’t worry, our talk today will be off the record.” He pointed to the chair on the other side of the table once the man offered him a limp handshake. “Have a seat. I want you to tell me about your relationship with Tori Warner.” Mike would rather thrust hot pokers into his own eyes than have to listen to this.

  He folded his tall, skinny frame into the leather guest chair and linked his hands in front of him on the table. “Uh well, we met at the horse races. My old man was racin’ the front-runner, Blue Thunder. Tori had a lot of money ridin’ on his horse.” He chuckled. “She sure was gettin’ into it. Sexier ’n hell… a lady who knows how to pick ’em.”