by Lauren Layne
She needed to get Luc Moretti to talk to her.
Which wasn’t likely considering she couldn’t seem to go five minutes without pissing him off, but honestly, the man was almost painfully easy to goad.
At least when it came to her.
“Hello, pretty lady.”
It was only pure shock that prevented Ava from jumping out of her skin. That, and Ava hadn’t grown up with two annoying siblings and not been in for a few nasty surprises.
Of course, her siblings hadn’t usually been, um, nude.
And they weren’t mid-forties and balding.
Mr. Indecent Exposure had found her.
And he was still very much indecent.
With her heels on, Ava was almost eye level with the half-naked guy, and she kept her eyes very, very carefully locked on his.
She’d been sort of assuming they were dealing with someone who was mentally ill, or perhaps under the influence. But up close, this guy seemed merely mischievous and perhaps not too bright.
His blue eyes were round and twinkling. This man was very aware of what he was doing, even if he was a little clueless about the consequences.
“Sir, I don’t want to embarrass you,” she said, keeping her voice mellow and easy, “but you seem to have forgotten a couple of important items of clothing.”
“Damn straight. Wouldn’t you, to win a bet?”
Oh yikes. That’s what this was about? A bet?
Still, Ava was nothing if not a skilled conversationalist when need be. Where was Luc?
She needed to keep Mr. Almost-Naked here, and touching the man was out of the question. Obviously. Somewhere along the way, the white tank top he’d supposedly been wearing must have gone the way of his pants.
She gave him an easy smile, never letting her gaze stray below his eyes. Reel him in, Ava. “Truth be told, I find it a bit hard to turn down a dare myself,” she said, her voice low and confidential.
Do not look down. Do not look down.
“Yeah!” He brightened, moving as though to sit down on the curb for a nice long chat. “See, you get it. I’ve been trying to explain, but—”
“Sir. No.” Ava held up a solitary finger. “Put your pants on.”
“But you said—”
“I said it was hard to turn down a bet, not impossible. Have some dignity, man.”
“But I have to stay this way until noon or I don’t win.”
She heaved out a sigh, resisting the urge to ask what prize could possibly be worth this humiliation. She looked around for Luc and his partner. Maybe this was why they’d wanted her to stay in the car.
Oh, wait, the car…
Ava hitched a thumb over her shoulder. “You do see the vehicle I’m standing next to, right?”
The man followed the direction of her point and for the first time, his impish smile slipped. “Shit. Are you…”
“A plainclothes police officer? Maybe.” She folded her arms across her chest.
He began to back away, and Ava shifted her eyes to the sky to avoid nightmares for a week.
“Sorry, sir. Ma’am. Sir. Officer. Um, I won’t bother you…”
“I’ll tell ya what,” she says, snapping her fingers. “I won’t turn you in, if you agree to put on some clothes and then knock some sense into your moron friends who put you up to this.”
But Naked Man wasn’t paying attention to her rather excellent advice. His gaze was locked behind her shoulder, his eyes wide and terrified.
Uh oh.
“Sims, Sims, Sims,” came the low, horribly familiar voice. “Did I just hear you impersonate a police officer, bargain with a known suspect, and then propose that he commit battery?”
“I like to think of it as a Good Samaritan thing,” she said, turning around to face one very pissed Officer Moretti.
“Or…citizen’s arrest?” she asked cheerfully when he didn’t respond.
Behind her, she heard Lopez’s slightly accented voice mingled in with the loud protests of the guy who was now being cuffed. Luc still hadn’t said a word.
“Is um…Lopez putting handcuffs on a butt-ass-naked dude?” she asked, pointing over her shoulder. “Because that’s gotta be an interesting visual.”
Luc continued to study her with dark blue eyes.
Ava heaved out a sigh. “Look, he found me. What was I supposed to do? Run away screaming?”
“Well you sure as hell aren’t to engage him in a conversation!”
“Well I wouldn’t have had to if you’d actually done your job.”
Luc’s eyes flared and he took an angry step toward her.
Interesting, Ava thought, eyes narrowing. Officer Moretti takes his job very seriously.
Behind her, she heard Mr. Naked explaining the virtues of following through on a dare to a very unsympathetic Lopez. The car door slammed and Lopez came around to interrupt Luc and Ava’s staring contest.
“We are going to need serious disinfectant in the backseat,” he said, gesturing toward the car.
Eeew.
Luc pinched the bridge of his nose. “Great. Fucking great. Okay, let’s take him in.”
Lopez set a hand on the small of Ava’s back, and Ava didn’t think she imagined the way that Luc’s eyes traced the motion.
“Sweetheart, this is where we part ways,” Lopez said. “Can’t let you ride along with the perp. Not that you’d want to.”
Ava gave a regretful glance at the backseat of the cop car where Mr. Naked had his face pressed to the window and was shouting something she couldn’t hear. “Do you think I could get his phone number? I think we really connected.”
Lopez arched an eyebrow and leaned in a little, his white teeth flashing sexily against his dark skin. “So you’re single, huh? Because I think I can give this perp a run for his money, if you know what I mean.”
“Jesus,” Luc muttered, shooting his partner a look. “I thought we agreed to try and get rid of Sims, not ask her out.”
Ava frowned, a little stung, even though he hadn’t made it a secret that he didn’t want her around. “You do see me standing here, yes?”
His eye skimmed over her, hot and angry. “Yes, Sims, I see you. I’ve been seeing you. But don’t think for one second that just because the NYPD decided to bend over for your network means I have to like the fact that you’re interfering with my job. Got it?”
Loud and clear.
But instead of responding, she ignored his outburst completely and turned to Sawyer as though Luc had never spoken.
“I’ll take a cab back to the precinct,” she said. “What do you say I take you to lunch, and you can tell me all about what it’s like to be the partner of this sweetheart of a superhero here.”
Lopez winked. “Love to.”
Luc growled.
Ava turned on her heel, pausing only to kiss the tip of her index finger before pressing it against the backseat window where Mr. Naked was continuing to holler.
She very deliberately did not turn around to see if Luc Moretti watched her walk away. And she definitely didn’t put a little extra wiggle in her hips just in case he was.
Okay, maybe she did that last part. Just a little.
Her eyes began scanning for a taxi as she began mentally compiling her story notes for the day:
Luc Moretti: a good cop? Probably. An ass? Definitely.
Simply following him around wasn’t going to cut it. Luc Moretti the officer was the cover of the story, but Luc Moretti the man was the heart of it.
This would only work if she could get at the man beneath the uniform. Figure out what made him tick. What he loved. Whom he dated…
Did he have a girlfriend?
She needed to know.
For research’s sake, obviously.
“Watch your back, Moretti,” she muttered to herself as she raised her hand to hail an approaching cab. “I’m about to get all up in your personal life.”
“What was that?”
Ava spun around and found herself toe to toe wi
th one very annoyed, very attractive police officer. Over his shoulders she spotted their squad car pull into traffic.
“Did Sawyer just leave you here?”
“I told him to.”
“Ah ha, so you left him to handle naked guy on his own.”
“He can handle it.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?”
“Thought you and I need to have a little chat,” he said.
Ava glared. “Thought we just did that when you berated me back there.”
“You were interfering with police business.”
“You sure you want to power-trip me this early in the game, Moretti? We’re going to be spending lots of time together. You might want to save your lectures for the important moments.”
Luc inhaled deeply. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“And you’re an absolute delight.”
Ava was pretty sure that neither one of them actually moved, but somehow they were closer than ever now, and she didn’t think it was her imagination that both were breathing harder than necessary.
And despite the cloudy skies, Ava was definitely feeling warmer than the weather warranted.
Confused by the unfamiliar onslaught of want, totally inappropriate given their circumstances and the fact that she didn’t even know the guy, her eyes helplessly found his.
Ava was both gratified and alarmed to see the same frustration and confusion in Luc’s expression.
Whatever was between them—this odd mix of attraction and distrust—he felt it too.
His forehead wrinkled in irritation before his head dropped toward her, bringing their mouths infinitesimally closer.
Suddenly, attraction was definitely winning out over distrust, because Ava knew if he kissed her…
She would kiss him back. Damn it. Damn it, that was so not what she needed to be feeling right now.
His eyes left hers to drop to her mouth and Ava felt her lips part, just slightly. It was an unbidden invitation, and from the flare of heat in his eyes he knew it. His mouth lowered, closer, and then—
“Excuse me, Officer?”
Ava jumped back so quickly she teetered on her high heels, and only Luc’s quick reflexes as he grabbed her elbows to steady her kept her upright. The warmth of his palms branded her arms, but he released her just as quickly to turn to the young woman who’d interrupted her.
The girl was early twenties, wearing too tight jeans and a too tight shirt that definitely worked for her toned curves.
She grinned as she caught the full impact of Luc Moretti in uniform. “It is you. Oh my gosh, can I get a picture with you? My uncle’s a cop, and he says you’ve done wonders to restore the department’s prestige.”
“Um.” Luc looked pained, and Ava was surprised to feel a surge of sympathy. She still had her suspicions that he secretly relished the attention, but it was clear he was embarrassed at the moment.
It was exactly the moment she needed to shake off the sexual tension.
Ava reached forward and plucked the cute brunette’s phone out of her hand. “Here, I’ll take it.”
“Thanks,” the girl said, her eyes never leaving Luc’s profile as he turned with a grimace toward the camera.
“Okay, I’ll count to three,” Ava said pointedly to the girl whose hand rested on Luc’s abs as she moved in close, apparently oblivious to the camera and Ava.
But the girl knew what she was doing. As Ava got to three, the girl turned her head toward the camera with a well-timed hair flip, and the result was a picture-perfect moment between a stoic cop and an adorable groupie.
Ava handed the phone back to the girl, who took it back reluctantly, likely because the motion meant letting go of Luc.
“So, Officer…” The girl’s eyelashes fluttered. As in actually fluttered.
Ava stuck her tongue in her cheek to hide her smirk. This should be good.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“I’m on duty,” he said, gesturing down at his gun.
The girl all but salivated and pressed on. “Oh, I know. I was thinking whenever you got off. Or another day, if that would be better.”
Luc’s smile never wavered, but Ava was surprised to see that the polite grin seemed almost pasted on his face, as though he’d rather be anywhere else. Which didn’t make sense. The guy was gorgeous.
“Actually, I’m sort of seeing someone.”
He was?
Luc’s announcement caused more of a tug than it should, but when she looked at him more closely, she noticed the way he wouldn’t meet the girl’s eye.
Officer Moretti was lying. And from the guilty look on his face, he didn’t lie easily.
Ava all but shook her head. As far as excuses went, it was merely okay. Not a good enough explanation for a girl who looked like a lingerie model and had confidence radiating off her in waves. Girls like this one would take I’m seeing someone as more of a challenge than a rejection.
“Lucky lady,” the brunette said, wiggling closer to Luc. “But look, if it doesn’t work out between you two, I can give you my—”
“Hear that, sweetie? At least someone thinks you’re a lucky lady.”
It took Ava several seconds to realize that Luc was talking to her.
Oh no. No freaking way…
But he merely grinned, reaching out a hand and pulling her closer. She opened her mouth to tell him off, but there was something in his gaze—desperation, maybe?—that had her hesitating. Ava let herself be pulled to his side, even sliding her arm around his waist, but the pinch she delivered to his side said he’d pay for the lie later. At least she tried to pinch. The man had, like, zero body fat.
The way their bodies pressed together caused a shiver of awareness to come over Ava. A shiver she ignored.
At least until he slid his hand over the small of her back, down over her waist until his fingers splayed over her hip as though they belonged there. And damn it, it felt like they did belong there.
Like she belonged here. With him.
Oh, this was so not good.
“Oh my god,” the girl said, her hand flattening against her chest. To her credit, she looked genuinely dismayed. “I’m so sorry. When I saw you guys standing here I thought you were arguing—”
“We were,” Ava said.
“Foreplay,” Luc interrupted huskily, as his gaze raked down Ava’s body. “It really revs her motors.”
“Revs my motors?” Ava asked, pushing against him in annoyance. Because annoyance was safer than arousal. “Are you kidding me right now with the woman-as-car metaphors?”
“You like it,” he said, looping his arm casually around her neck while giving the girl a boyish grin.
“You know what else I’d like?” Ava hissed. “If you took your police baton, or whatever it’s called, and shoved it up your—”
His mouth was on her before she could finish the sentence.
It was a quick kiss.
Just a hard stamp of shut-the-hell-up. There was no tongue, just the press of his mouth against hers, lingering only slightly, but the kiss rocked Ava all the same.
Luc, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected, and as soon as his mouth left hers, his eyes sought his admirer who was already walking away.
With a look of relief, he released Ava, who was still feeling a little unsteady from the feel of his lips on hers, however meaningless and quick it had been.
“What the hell was that?” she asked to his retreating back since he was already walking away.
He stopped and turned back. “What was that?” He turned around, but didn’t stop moving as he walked backward. “That, Sims, was a test.”
She started after him. “Yeah? What did it prove?”
“That I like your mouth a hell of a lot better when it’s not yapping. Now, you coming or what?”
Ava glared at his retreating back.
Yup, it was official. America’s Hero was a total ass.
But the man could kiss.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Luc had become a creature of habit.
Which shocked the hell out of him, because as a kid, he’d been all over the place. As a teen, he’d stopped just shy of being unmanageable.
But as an adult?
He was like clockwork.
Not because he was the uptight, rigid type. He wasn’t. But when your career was such that an average week involved transitions between life-threatening situations one day and mind-numbing boredom, it helped to fill everything in between with routine.
Coffee at the same place.
Grilled cheese from the same food cart every Friday.
Somehow, this structured lifestyle had seeped into Luc’s days off as well, because it was no longer a conscious decision to head to his favorite hole-in-the-wall diner for a late breakfast when he was off duty. It was simply what he did.
Luc had never been one of those introverted, solitary types. He loved filling most of his spare time with friends, family…women.
But these morning breakfasts?
These mornings were Luc’s time. To reflect. Think. Try to forget.
Which was why on a sunny spring Saturday, nearly a week after the indecent exposure incident at Chelsea Pier, Luc’s feet suddenly seemed incapable of moving when he walked into the Darby Diner and saw her.
Ava Sims.
Luc’s reaction to seeing Ava, not just at his favorite restaurant but at his favorite table, was too jumbled to sort out. Anger at her gall. Annoyance at having his solitude ripped away. Panic at what she might find out about him when he didn’t have his uniform to protect him.
Arousal. Definitely arousal.
Luc settled on clinging to the anger, and he let his scowl show it. The line between classy television reporter and stalker-paparazzi was proving very murky indeed.
Luc intended to ignore her. To walk right past her to a different table, to pretend she hadn’t just crossed a very serious boundary of harassing him outside of work.
And he started to do just that.
Right up until the moment he found himself sliding into the seat across from her.
“Sims.”
“Officer.”
Her eyes dropped briefly to his chest, and she blinked a little in surprise. “You’re not in uniform.”
“If you had a uniform, you wouldn’t wear it on your day off either.”
