“So that’s how you knew where I lived. Why? Why did you follow me home?”
“I don’t know.” He half whispered.
“Do you ever answer a direct question?” Holly asked.
“Yes, of course.”
“Then why did you follow me home?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“Why not?” She pushed.
“Because I don’t even know the answer to that myself, damn it.” He relented.
Holly was stunned by his response. “Back to tonight, I really think it would be best if I go in solo.”
“The only way that is going to happen is if I go too and sit at a table away from you so that I can observe. That way I can keep an eye out for anyone suspiciously watching you. The second condition is that when you leave, you drive to my place—not yours.”
“Fine, but you will keep your distance.”
“It’s a deal. Here is my address and here is the key to my house. Bring an overnight bag so you can spend the night.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Holly insisted.
“You’re no fun.”
“Oh, I am fun all right—you will just never know about it.”
“Tease.”
“Ten.”
Brock stuck out his tongue.
“Oh that really helps your case!” She declared.
“What time should we arrive?” He asked.
“How about seven?”
“Sounds good—I will get there and get in place and you can arrive about 7:05pm.”
Brock arrived at O’Donnell’s shortly before seven and grabbed a corner table that gave him a perfect view of the door as well as the bar. He kept looking for Holly and checking his watch. “She should be here by now.” He thought to himself. Checking his watch again, it read 7:15pm. He was starting to get angry when he noticed a gorgeous brunette wearing a short black mini skirt and legs that wouldn’t stop, sitting with her back to him at the bar. “It can’t be.” He whispered. “Could it?” How the hell could he have missed her coming in? A small crowd was starting to form around her, but why wouldn’t they? She was stunning.
“Is this seat taken?” He heard someone say.
As he looked up, a cute redhead was looking at him waiting for a response. “Uh—no.”
“Do you mind if I sit down then?”
“Go right ahead.” He said still looking towards Holly.
“She’s pretty, right?”
“Who?”
“The woman at the bar that you won’t take your eyes off of long enough to notice me.”
Brock turned toward the woman sitting next to him. “Let me introduce myself—my name is Brock—and you?”
“Lisa. I have never seen you here before.”
“You must come here quite a bit.”
“Now and again.” She replied.
“So you know a lot of people here right now?”
“A few, but there are some newbies here tonight including the brunette that you keep looking at.”
“So what is the normal crowd like?”
“Pretty much the college scene.”
“Are you one of them?” He asked trying to see if he could get any possible information on who to keep an eye on.
“What brings you in here?”
“Did you just ignore my question?” He asked in a surprised tone.
“If I was, would I be too young for you?”
“Age is only a number.”
“Good to know. Speaking of numbers, here’s mine.” She said as she pulled out a pen and wrote on his palm. “Well, I have to bounce—I have a paper to write by tomorrow morning. Nice meeting you Brock—I hope you know what to do with that number.”
“Nice to meet you too Lisa.”
At a quarter to nine, Brock watched Holly get up from her barstool and head to the door. “I will give her five minutes.” He thought to himself as he watched the other patrons in the bar. After the five minutes had passed and no one else had left, Brock decided it was time for him to leave too.
Holly kept checking her rearview mirror, but it didn’t appear that anyone was following her. She had taken a longer route to Brock’s house just in case. Pulling into his driveway, her first impression of his house was that it fit him well. It was a brick ranch style home that looked to be very homey. She couldn’t wait to go inside and give herself a tour. Using the key he had given her, she unlocked the door and walked in locking the door behind her as she felt the wall for a light switch. “Found it.” She said aloud. Flipping it on, she slowly made her way into the kitchen. She was amazed how large and current it was. A lot of space to entertain she thought to herself. Next, she headed down the hallway passing a bathroom and two bedrooms—again very neat and tidy. The door at the end of the hallway was closed and she assumed that it was Brock’s bedroom. Even though her mind was screaming not to open that door, her hand reached forward and opened it. Flipping on the light switch, her eyes were immediately drawn to the large bed that took up a great deal of the room. She noticed that it was taller than most and oh how it looked inviting. Not being able to help herself, she removed her shoes and climbed up onto the bed and laid on her back with her eyes closed enjoying how soft and comfortable it felt. A moan escaped her lips.
Brock couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Holly stretched out on his bed and when he heard her moan, he nearly came undone. “Comfortable?”
Holly’s eyes shot open and she scrambled to get off of the bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—I shouldn’t have…”
“Honestly, I didn’t mind the scenery. I was just thinking that I wish it was me that made you moan and not my damn bed.”
“I need to get home.” She said as she tried to run past him.
Brock grabbed her on the way by and pulled her tight to his body. “I don’t want you to leave.” He whispered.
“We can’t do this.” Holly said shaking her head and averting her eyes.
“Why not? I know you want to—I sure as hell want to.”
“It will never work—I have seen these types of relationships and they never work.”
“Those relationships aren’t us.”
“But they could be.”
“So you would rather suffer and deny yourself a chance at what we could have?”
“No! Of course not, but one of us has to be reasonable here.”
“Reasonable? That is what you think you are being?”
“I’m scared.” Holly finally admitted.
“Of me? Did I give you a reason to be scared?” He asked as he searched her eyes.
“No, I’m not scared of you. I’m scared of letting myself have feelings for you and getting hurt. I’m scared of turning this page; because once we do there is no going back. When it ends, and it will end—I will be the one to get transferred, I will be the one to have to uproot and leave. Not you. Not that long ago, I was in a relationship—hell I was engaged to be married and that all crashed and burned. I don’t know if I am even ready for another relationship. Relationships drain you—they suck the life right out of you.”
“What the hell did he do to you?” Brock asked with concern in his voice.
“What makes you ask that?” She defended.
“Oh, he did something all right. Did you not just hear yourself?”
A tear formed at the corner of her eye and Brock instinctively reached up and brushed it away with his thumb. She shook her head no. Brock led her to the bed and made her sit down with him while he held her hand. “Tell me what he did.”
“I came home early to surprise him, but it was me who received the surprise. I found him in bed with my then best friend. I guess it had been going on for quite some time. Right under my nose! I am a fucking detective and I didn’t see that one coming. I think I am in the wrong line of work honestly.”
Brock reached up to brush away another tear and his hand lingered on her face. “You are beating yourself up over nothing.”
Fire shot out of her eyes as
she jumped off the bed. “Fuck you.”
“I could only hope that is where this ends.”
Holly leaned down grabbing her shoes and headed for the door. Before she could get there, Brock had grabbed her from behind holding her arms to her side. “Let go of me!”
“No, not until I explain.”
“You have a lot of nerve asshole.” She shouted.
“Good! Get pissed off, but make sure you are pissed off at the right guy.”
“You’re the only one I see in this room.” She said looking around.
“Not the way I see it at all. This ex of yours is here too, you can’t get past what he did to you and you’re blaming me for being a guy.” He said as he pressed her up against the wall with his body. “Yes, I am a guy, and I think that you are the sexiest woman I have ever met in my entire life. You can’t group us all together into one neat little package and classify all of us as losers. I have never, and I stress, never cheated on anyone. I don’t believe in it, I don’t condone it, and I sure the hell don’t do it. When I told you that you were beating yourself up over nothing, I was referring to your fucking ex—he’s nothing. I can appreciate that you were hurt and angry with what he did, but you shouldn’t waste one more minute thinking about the asshole.”
“I wasn’t—and I don’t.” She defended.
“What?”
“I wasn’t upset when I walked in. I was more relieved than anything. I have written both of them off as mistakes in my life.”
“Then why can’t you give me—us a chance?” Brock asked quietly.
“You don’t know how badly I want to, but relationships just don’t work out for me. They never have.”
“Fine.” He relented.
“Fine? You are going to drop it? Just like that?” Holly asked.
“No. That is not where I was going at all.”
“Then what the hell are you talking about?”
“You don’t want a relationship—I do, but I will settle.”
“Settle for what?” She asked, confusion written all over her face.
“The only solution that I see to this whole situation is to become friends with benefits. It’s a win/win situation. We both get to have great sex, there are no expectations that are normally unspoken when in a relationship, and best of all, there are no breakups. You seem to have a hang up with breakups, so this is the perfect solution!”
“You have lost your ever loving mind.” Holly concluded.
“Have I? Here is a sample of what you would be experiencing if you agree. Now close your eyes and just feel.” Brock pulled both of Holly’s hands over her head and pinned them to the wall with one hand while his erection pressed into her backside.
She could feel his warm breath before she felt his tongue trace a line from behind her ear down her neck to her pulse point stopping to nip at her neck, which sent chill bumps throughout her body. He ran his free hand ever so lightly down her arm following the contour line of her body to the side of her breast and lingering before continuing on to her waist stopping at the hem of her mini skirt. His mouth had traveled down to her shoulder as his hand moved under her skirt and began its ascent. His fingers could feel the moisture of her arousal and quickly found the swollen nub and began to massage it. Moments later Holly’s body was racked with shockwaves as her climax consumed her. Her ears were ringing and her body was tingling like never before.
Brock released Holly’s hands, took a step back to reach down and pick up her shoes before handing them to her. “See you at work tomorrow.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Holly didn’t have a clue how the hell she drove home after that. She didn’t even remember arriving at home for that matter. She just found herself sitting in the darkness of her garage with the car turned off. She slowly made her way into the house as her phone began to ring. “Detective Cavanaugh here.”
“Holly? It’s Brock. There was another rape tonight. The address 1611 Falcon Drive, apartment 403—meet me there as soon as you can.”
“I’ll be right there.” She said as she got back into her car and headed to the address.
Holly arrived just as Brock was getting out of his car. She ran to catch up with him. “What do we know?”
“Only that the perp smelled of alcohol and cigarettes.”
“Sounds like our guy.”
“Yep, the victim is still inside from what I am told—put up one hell of a struggle too.” Brock noted.
“I think it would be best if I questioned her since I am a woman.” Holly suggested.
“Fine—I will see what I can come up with while you are doing that.”
They walked into the apartment together and Brock stopped in his tracks. “Lisa?”
The woman looked up and recognized Brock immediately. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Holly looked from Brock to this woman and back to Brock. “You know each other?”
“No—yes—sort of.”
“I want him out of here—for all I know it could have been him that did this to me!
Holly gave Brock a puzzled expression before telling him to wait outside and then she turned back to the victim. “I am Detective Cavanaugh, do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
“As long as that man stays the hell away from me and gets out of my apartment.”
“How do you know Detective McClellan?”
“What? He’s a detective?”
“Yes, do you know him in a personal capacity?” Holly continued.
“I met him tonight at O’Donnell’s. I had a drink with him and gave him my telephone number.”
Holly raised her eyebrow at that little piece of information. “So you had never met him prior to tonight then?”
“No—never.”
“You mentioned that you were at O’Donnell’s tonight. Was this the first time you had ever been there?”
“No, I go there a couple nights a week. You look kind of familiar now that I think of it. Wait a minute—you were there tonight too weren’t you, sitting at the bar?”
“Yes, I was. We had a lead on a serial rapist case and O’Donnell’s was the connecting link between two of the cases, so Detective McClellan and I wanted to check it out undercover. I was supposed to be the bait.”
“Well that didn’t work now did it?” She screamed.
“Let’s concentrate on you right now. Lisa, you just told me that you go there at least two times a week, so you know who the regulars are and you noticed Detective McClellan and me right away as someone who had never been in there. Would that be correct?”
“Yes, I even made that comment to the other guy.” Lisa stated.
“The other guy being Detective McClellan?” Holly asked.
“Yes.”
One of the ambulance crew interrupted, “I’m sorry Detective, we need to take her to the ER and get her checked out and do a rape kit on her.”
“Do you mind if I come to the ER and wait for you. I have a few more questions for you.” Holly asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Is there anyone I can call for you in the mean time?”
“No, I am from out of town—I don’t have any family here.”
Holly walked over to Brock as Lisa was loaded into the ambulance. “Well we now have a third connection to O’Donnell’s.”
“Did Lisa tell you we just met tonight?”
“Yes, she did.”
“So you know that there is nothing going on with she and I?”
“That isn’t important right now Detective McClellan.”
Brock was stunned that Holly had gone back to being formal with him—back to being the ice queen like when they first met. “Were you able to get anything solid?” He asked in a forced tone.
“I am going to head to the hospital and see if I can’t finish the interview there. I think you should stay here and see if he left us a clue.”
“Fine.” He said in a clipped tone as he walked back into the apartment. After spending two hours with
the CSI team and coming up empty, Brock headed into the precinct as he didn’t feel like going back home. At 4:00am he decided to get an hour or two of sleep and lie down on the couch in his office.
Holly spent the night in the hospital waiting to speak with Lisa and then consoling her for the remainder of the morning. She arrived at the precinct at 8:00am to find Brock asleep on the couch. She couldn’t help but stare at him. He had a hand tucked under his head and the bicep still bulged. Her eyes continued down his body to notice his rock hard abs and muscular thighs. She was too busy staring to notice that he was now awake and staring at her. “Admiring the view?” He said with a grin on his face.
Startled, Holly stammered “I’m a—I ah—I just got here—I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“That’s okay—I need to start going back over these files. I pulled the whiteboard in from the situation room so that we can start to chart out where the victims lived, how close they live to O’Donnell’s since that is the key component, and see if there are any other similarities. I am going to grab a cup of coffee—would you like some?”
“Sure, that would be great.”
“How do you like it?”
“Pardon me?”
Laughing, “The coffee—how would you like it? What did you think I meant?”
“Nothing—sorry, I’m sleep deprived and my mind isn’t as sharp as I need it to be. Black by the way—I like my coffee black.”
Brock was back minutes later with two large cups of black coffee and set one down in front of Holly. “Thanks—I really needed this.”
“So were you able to get any additional information out of the latest vic?”
“Not a whole lot other than she is pretty observant and not only picked us out as someone new to the bar, but she also knows most of the regulars. She said she gave you her number. Is that true?”
“Yeah, she did.” He replied.
“Is that normal?”
“Is what normal?”
“Women throwing their numbers at you in bars.” She added.
“She didn’t throw it at me—she wrote it on the palm of my hand.”
“What? Are you kidding me?”
“No, see?” He said holding up his palm. “I couldn’t even get it all washed off!”
Seal It With A Kiss (McClellan Trilogy) Page 5
