by Em Petrova
It also didn’t help that the only person she wanted to talk to hadn’t answered her texts.
She’d left Jess three in total, one asking him to dinner. When dinnertime came and went, she tried another tack, foregoing a meal and suggesting he meet her in the park for a run. After that, she’d felt pretty embarrassed and only sent him a silly meme of a dog waving.
She hitched the strap of her gym bag higher on her shoulder and reached for the door handle just as her phone vibrated with an incoming text. She stopped on the sidewalk and pulled out her phone.
As soon as she spotted Jess’s name, her heart gave a very hard, very telling squeeze. Okay, that was more than an I-like-you squeeze.
When she glanced at the text, her heart jolted again.
I’m so sorry I didn’t reply to you. I was away, but I’m a rotten friend for not explaining why. Can I see you soon?
A smile spread over her face, the first real smile since the shooting.
She quickly thumbed a response. Yes, I’m about to hit the gym but I already worked out today. I can skip leg afternoon.
Haha. I’ve got a few things to do here. Then I need to start on that family tree.
Her thumbs poised over the screen. She could insinuate herself into his day… or walk into the gym and hit the weight room again.
If you’d like some help with the research, I’m up for it.
She held her breath. Somebody stepped up to the door beside her. “Excuse me,” he said.
She apologized and moved away from the entrance she was blocking. Heart thrumming faster, she waited for Jess’s reply.
If he didn’t want help, she wasn’t out anything, she tried to remind herself. She was probably depending on him to keep her mind off things more than she should anyway.
The text popped up.
Give me an hour to clean up. An address followed.
Avery flicked her gaze up to the sign hanging over the entrance. She wasn’t going to work out yet again and get sweaty before going over to Jess’s place. In fact, maybe she should go home and change out of her spandex pants and tank top.
As she turned to head back to her apartment, she found herself smiling intermittently. Each time she caught herself doing it, she felt a small pang of guilt. Should she be happy at all after the error she’d made in the grocery store parking lot that night? After all, the man she’d shot was still in the hospital, having undergone a surgery to repair the damage her bullet had done. He sure wasn’t smiling.
But it was part of the job—she had protected that woman and maybe a bystander who might have tried to jump in and stop him from hurting his girlfriend. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t see the squad car pull up to the curb beside her until she heard the whoop of the siren.
She spun to see Reggie’s smiling face. He rolled down the passenger’s side window, and Avery stepped up to the car.
“Reg, it’s good to see you.”
“You too, Ave. Comin’ from the gym?” He noted her hair in the ponytail and her attire.
Rather than try to explain, she nodded. “Been there a lot lately. You don’t realize how boring being off is until you’re forced to be.”
“You should come by my house this weekend. Delilah’s been asking about you. I’ll throw some burgers on the grill.” He grinned.
Avery nodded. “I’d like that, thanks. You doin’ all right? Where’s your sidekick?”
“Reassigned. I’m solo street patrol only for now.”
“Oh man, I didn’t mean to screw up your job too.”
“It’s okay—I don’t mind just cruisin’ around looking for speeders or people running red lights.” He gave her a serious look. “You heard about that guy’s girlfriend, didn’t you?”
Avery blinked. Her mind hadn’t caught up to his words. “What do you mean?”
“She was pregnant that night he was roughing her up. I guess before you arrived on the scene, he’d punched her in the stomach a couple times, and she lost the baby.”
“Jesus.” She dropped her face into her palm.
“You shouldn’t feel bad about takin’ some scum like that off the street, Ave. I’d have done the same damn thing. Only I wouldn’t have just nicked his heart—I would have exploded it.”
“Well, now I feel like you’re just bragging.” She didn’t know how to feel about what Reggie had just told her. In the end, she went with what she knew about humanity—many times you couldn’t explain their actions. You just tried to keep them all safe.
Feeling worn out from the conversation, she gave Reggie a nod. “Get on with ya. Call me with a time for those burgers.”
“I will. Delilah will be happy to see you. Take care of yourself, honey.”
“You too.” She threw him a wink, and he pulled away from the curb.
All the way back to her apartment, Avery’s mind lingered over all he’d said. Then she realized something very important—she’d been filling her time with workouts to try to distract herself. Fact was, she might not welcome the time away from her duties, but she needed it to process what she’d done, to get her head on straight.
She changed into jeans and a decent top in case she and Jess went out for a bite to eat later. After pulling her hair from the elastic band, she ran a brush through it, letting it fall around her shoulders in waves. Then on second thought, she added a dash of berry lipstick.
Appraising her appearance in the mirror, she tried to remain calm when it came to Jess.
He’s just a friend.
A really hot friend with a great backside.
She wouldn’t mind putting her hands on that big chest of his either.
Or peeling his shirt off his chiseled body.
Get hold of yourself, Avery. You’re doing research, not fulfilling fantasies.
She was eager to arrive at his place at the hour mark, but she forced herself to be ten minutes late. When he opened his door for her, he smiled down into her eyes. Her heart gave a happy skip, and she knew it was well worth the wait.
* * * * *
Christ, she was more stunning than he remembered, and Jess couldn’t stop staring at her mouth. Her full lips looked as if she’d just eaten a pint of berries, and more than anything he wanted to swipe his tongue across them and taste her.
Instead of acting this out, he led her into his condo. The worst of the mess was hidden away—dirty clothes in the washer and his sheets changed. At least there weren’t dirty dishes, and the floors were relatively clean. All it took to spruce up the place was plumping a couple of pillows on the gray sofa.
He stopped in the living room, and she looked around herself. “Nice place. Also, that’s the longest sofa I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m tall and like to stretch out.”
“It’s got four cushions instead of three. Did you have to special order that?”
He chuckled. “You’d be surprised what’s out there if you’re looking for it.”
He found her smiling up at him. But closer study of her features revealed a hesitation in her eyes.
“Let me show you around, and we’ll grab some drinks before digging in.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I admit I have no experience with ancestry research.”
“If you have a few leads, we should be able to find a jumping off point.”
He nodded. “C’mon.” Having Avery in his house was making him feel edgy. His body was screaming for him to touch her, that there was an interesting, athletic and thoughtful woman within reach and his bed wasn’t far off.
Lately, he’d taken any beautiful woman to bed. But with Avery, it wasn’t only about wanting to abuse those lips of hers long into the night or plow between her strong thighs.
Christ, he wanted to stare into her eyes while he did it.
The notion didn’t just scare him—he felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Each time he’d felt that strong pull to get closer to a woman, he crashed and burned.
She stepped up to the wall of big windows overlookin
g a personal terrace. From there, it led down several flights of steps to reach the community pool.
“This is a nice condo. The grounds are kept up beautifully, and I love the pool.” Avery’s comment roused him from his thoughts.
Jess watched her. She was still, not fidgety. At ease here with him. But he hadn’t mistaken that concerned look in her eyes when he’d opened the door to greet her. Something was eating at her.
Same as him. They were one hell of a pair, weren’t they?
He stepped up closer, gazing at her instead of the view of other condos with terraces overlooking the pool. “I like your hair today,” he blurted.
She turned her head slowly, a light coming into her eyes. “Thanks. I just let it out of the ponytail. I probably wear one too much. I’m going to be one of those women with a receding hairline from having my hair pulled back. At work, I keep it tucked into a bun so nobody can make a grab for it.”
As she spoke, she’d pivoted toward him. And Jess was damn good at reading body language. Very good.
She had a come-hither look to her, and he had to clench his fists at his sides to keep from grabbing her up and slamming his mouth over those sultry lips of hers… delving his tongue into her mouth and taking what he wanted. Giving her what she asked for with one simple look.
She dropped her gaze and then returned it to the view. “I bet you don’t get out there to swim much.”
“You’re right. I work a lot, and I’m away from home.”
She glanced back at him. “I saw that computer setup in your living room as we walked through.”
What she referred to was the equipment he used to listen in to the phone calls between Moreno and his friends the system used to hack everything that was deemed un-hackable.
He gave an awkward chuckle and moved to the fridge rather than answer her. Pulling open the door, he looked inside. “I’ve got beer and sweet tea.”
“A pale ale?”
“From a local craft brewery.” He held up a bottle, and Avery’s eyes lit.
“Oh, Reggie and I stop there sometimes.”
Damn. Reggie wasn’t the name of a beloved pet.
She came forward, and he handed a bottle to her. She expertly cracked it open and brought it to her lips as he did the same.
Shit—he had to know. “Reggie?”
She smiled. “My partner.” Suddenly, her smile fell away and a crinkle cemented itself to her brow. “I saw him before coming over here. He said some things…”
God, Jess hated seeing her all twisted up this way. He fought to remain in place and not draw her into his arms, push her head down on his chest and assure her that he’d handle everything that came her way.
There it was—he was a protector by nature and most women didn’t want anything to do with that.
Especially not a strong woman like Avery.
She glanced up at him, and whatever expression he had on his face gave her pause. “Reggie’s married. Actually, he invited me over for burgers this weekend to visit with his wife.”
“Ah.”
Avery went on, “That isn’t all he said, though. He told me more about the man I shot. His girlfriend…”
Seconds ticked by. Jess swallowed hard and stepped in. “Was pregnant.”
She nodded.
“I heard.” He reached out, his hand angling toward her cheek to cup her face, to feel if her skin was as soft as it looked. But he touched her arm instead. “You know you did the right thing, Avery. He made a move that was easy to mistake as a threat. You don’t need to be ashamed for shooting that asshole—any one of us Rang—” He broke off. “Any law enforcement officer would have seen him reaching for his waist and taken the shot.”
She set aside her beer and folded her arms over her chest. Looking up at him like his momma or one of his sisters-in-law would when he’d gone overboard and they wanted answers.
He looked back.
She arched her brow.
He gave a short laugh. “Shit. You caught that, huh.”
She nodded.
“Grab your beer and come to my seven-foot-long couch so we can talk.”
He just had to hold himself back from doing all the dirty things playing out in his fantasies since she’d walked through his front door.
Chapter Five
As Avery settled in one corner of the sofa with her beer in hand, her nerves hit. Sitting so close to Jess… God, was she sweating?
Being up close and personal with the bulge of his muscles and how his jeans strained across his thighs, something she didn’t see when they were seated across from each other in a coffeeshop, she was definitely sweating.
He cast her a long look, as if sizing her up, assessing whether she could handle what he was about to tell her.
At this point, she wouldn’t be surprised to hear he worked for the CIA. The man seemed to have information that the ordinary citizen wouldn’t.
He pushed out a sigh.
She waited.
“Even though I told you, you would have probably guessed that my job deals with the law. But I’m not a city cop, a trooper or even a Texas Ranger—not anymore.”
“You were, though,” she said, sipping the beer that had a bright, crisp flavor.
He nodded. “Not that long ago either. A bunch of us Rangers were pulled from all over the state and given orders to raid this compound. Some radicals trying to kick up a fuss, a call to arms for the country and all that. In the end, we pulled together and took them down, and that got us recognized.”
She nodded for him to continue.
“I work for a division of Homeland Security.”
Her eyes widened with surprise. She hadn’t expected that.
He gave a nod at her reaction. “Special forces units spattered throughout the country, and we make up the Southern Division.”
“So you’re the big guns, and it seems like I carry one of those cap guns that shoots a flag that says bang.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. None of us are bigger or smaller. We’re all in the same game, working for the same things. I just happen to handle…” He waved at his computer system. “…some darker shit,” he finished.
She processed this for a moment, and he finished his beer. She watched his throat work with each swallow, and each swallow made her hotter for him.
“And your daughter? Where does she fit into all this? Did your wife disapprove of your choices?”
“Girlfriend at the time. And no, she approved. I was a state trooper, and she was young enough that she liked the spotlight that threw on her. She could tell her friends and family that she was dating a trooper, and it made her feel important. Things weren’t that serious between us, but then she got pregnant and I offered to marry her. After that, I saw how she really felt about me, and that was she felt nothing at all. She refused my proposal and said she’d raise the child alone. I agreed…” He trailed off and pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger.
Avery couldn’t watch the struggle passing over Jess’s rugged features and not make a move to comfort him. She scooted across the cushions toward him.
He dropped his hand. “I shouldn’t have agreed to let her raise the baby on her own. I was stupid. Still am to have let it continue. But I backed off, agreed to stay on the fringes of Madison’s life, because I didn’t want to be that guy who pops in and out of her world when I wasn’t working, which was too often to be consistent enough for a child. Anyway, none of it is a reason or even a good excuse. I was a shit, and I’m damn lucky Madison even approached me in that coffeeshop.”
Avery rested a hand over his. When he turned his palm up and meshed their fingers, warmth seeped into her and a flutter started in her belly. “We’re all human,” she said. “And we can’t always see the big picture at the time. But you’re right that this is an opportunity to bridge the gap between you and Madison.”
He nodded. “That’s maybe more than I can hope for. But I’m going to do a damn good job on this project fo
r her.”
“And I’ll help, if you’d like.”
His stare intensified, and his throat worked once more. Then he moved close enough for her to touch. Or to slide into his lap.
Straddle him, grab him by the hair and kiss him.
She didn’t move a muscle, even to breathe.
Slowly, he unlaced their fingers and lifted his hand to cup her face.
Oh God, she’d been wanting that touch so much, and she’d been thrashing herself for it for days.
His gaze burned into hers. “Know what I want?”
She couldn’t breathe for the pounding of her heart. Shaking her head wasn’t even a possibility, because she was frozen in place by that dark stare on Jess’s face.
“This.” He moved in.
His lips crashed over hers.
* * * * *
Fucking hell, she tasted like beer and woman and all the good things in the world. As Jess tangled his fingers into her hair and angled her head to give him deeper access, she moaned out, and he issued a growl in reply.
He swiped his tongue over hers, slow flicks that grew in strength. Each pass shooting his desire higher. His dick hardened, aching behind his fly. And if he didn’t pull it out and shoot one off soon, his balls would explode.
“Jess…”
“Avery. Christ.” He yanked her across his lap. She felt solid and warm, her hip and one buttock settled against his groin. He resisted the urge to grind his cock into her.
When she lifted a hand to his jaw and scuffed the pad of her thumb back and forth over the stubble growing there, the kiss took on a whole new dimension.
It went from bold, raw desire to heart-stopping tenderness.
He nibbled at her lower lip, sucked the soft flesh into his mouth. She moaned and flashed him a look that drew him to a complete halt.
Dammit. He couldn’t go on and not risk his feelings. The game was fucking dangerous, there was so much at stake.
“Avery…”
She moved in his lap, throwing a leg over him and straddling him.
Fuck, her breasts were smashed against his chest, just begging for his hands.
