Kiss Me

by Tory Richards

  “If I let you leave here and something happens…” He purposely let his sentence trail off.

  Emma pinned her gaze on him, one well-shaped brow arching high. “You’re forgetting one thing, officer, I can still call for a cab.”

  Mike shrugged. “Good luck getting one any time soon. It’s almost midnight and with all the Halloween parties going on tonight they’re probably all pretty busy taking calls from other dizzy, harem dancers.” He paused for a moment. “And it’s detective,” he corrected.

  It was the first time Mike commented about her costume. Until then Emma had half hoped he hadn’t paid much attention to it. Now she became self-conscious. The way his gaze was moving over her made her wish she’d chosen the carrot. At least that would have covered her completely.

  “Detective,” she corrected in a sassy tone. “I guess I have no choice but to let you do the gentlemanly thing and drive me home. Just let me get my coat.” She walked away before he could say another word.

  On her way to the ladies room, Emma couldn’t help wondering what she was getting into. There was clearly something about Mike that drew her to him, a definite chemistry between them. In addition, she liked his sense of humor. She wasn’t at all certain she was looking for a relationship, although it was apparent Amanda thought she was. One thing was certain though; Mike wasn’t looking for a relationship. Since he was letting her believe he was still married, that was the only conclusion she could draw. The question of the century was, why?

  Slipping into her coat, she left the ladies room, noticing the party was beginning to wind down fast. Someone had finally turned off the disco lights. The soft glow of the fluorescent bulbs overhead revealed the dancing had stopped. Muted sounds of conversation and mild laughter had replaced the music as the few partygoers left behind had formed into small, tight groups. Frankenstein waved to get her attention, shooting her a kiss when she glanced his way. Laughing, Emma tossed him one back.

  Mike was waiting for her at the snack table, munching on a celery stick, the leafy green part hanging out of his mouth and dripping water down the front of his black shirt. He’d removed his mask and somehow appeared even more dark and dangerous. Sexy, which was probably why she said what she did when he was within hearing range.

  “I hope your wife doesn’t mind you taking another woman home.”

  Not so much as a blink gave his true feelings away. “Let me worry about that.”

  Taking her by the arm, he led her towards the door. It was on the tip of Mike’s tongue to tell her the truth, but he’d let it go on for too long. After tonight they’d probably never see each other again anyway, so what did it matter? Just because they’d run into each other twice in one week didn’t mean anything.

  Mike wasn’t big on kismet. He was a realist, believed in facts, black and white and what was in front of his nose. He had to see it to believe it. He hadn’t always been that way. Maybe his mother was right, he’d let his situation with Sharon harden him. Turn him into a cynic. What man wouldn’t grow a little bitter when the woman he loved and thought loved him just walked away?

  The second they stepped through the door, a crisp autumn breeze whipped over them. The chill in the air was undeniable. Mike watched Emma pull her coat more closely around her as they walked through the parking lot to his truck. He glanced down to see the wind wreaking havoc with her hair. Leaves from the maple trees nearby were flying about their heads and shoulders and by the time he opened his truck door, Emma was laughing and trying to keep her hair out of her face and mouth. The low seductive quality of her laugh sharpened his senses, hardening his determination to ignore it.

  “I love this kind of weather!” Her soft voice drifted away on the wind. Turning toward him, she paused between him and the door he’d opened, looking up at the unclouded sky. “Fall is my favorite time of year,” she admitted cheerfully. “I love the crisp clean air and the sound of howling wind whipping through the trees. Don’t you?”

  Although she’d asked a question, Mike got the impression she wasn’t expecting a reply. He’d never given the time of year much thought. But for a moment he allowed his gaze to follow hers upwards, before slowly lowering to meet her eyes. The parking lot light reflected the innocence in Emma’s eyes. The urge to kiss her was so strong at that moment that it made him shake. He actually started to crowd her against the truck, pulling back when a moment of sanity returned.

  “We’d better go, it’s getting late.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mike, you probably have to work tomorrow.” She swung around to get in.

  Mike didn’t bother correcting her. If all went accordingly tomorrow, he’d be spending the day out on Bear Lake with Melissa for some quality father-daughter time. He figured he better get in as much time as he could before she started talking about dances and boyfriends. These days all he had to compete with were the weekend slumber parties at her friends’ houses. So far he’d managed to talk her out of having them at their place. Having one teenage girl in the house was bad enough, but there was no way Mike was going to subject himself to a bunch of girls on the brink of womanhood. He’d seen the way they ogled anything male. A clear sign their hormones had kicked in. Mike figured he needed that kind of trouble like he needed a hole in the head.

  Touching Emma as little as possible, he helped her into the cab, closed the door, and took several steadying breaths as he walked around to the driver’s side. By the time he climbed in, he was halfway in control again. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad being cooped up in his truck with her after all. It was worse than bad. As soon as the cab filled with the heat he’d turned on, he caught her light fragrance. Not the perfume Emma was wearing, but her. In an effort to take his mind off her, he reached forward and turned the radio on low, but that only intensified the atmosphere with the slow, sultry tune of an old love song.

  Hell! There was no escape. The sudden image of them making love made his blood come to a full boil. He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair while trying to pretend he wasn’t harder than stone in his pants. Maybe if he talked to her it would keep visions of them together out of his head. “Are you warm enough?” As soon as the words passed through his lips he wished he could recall them; it was hotter than a furnace in there.

  “Yes, thank you. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I moved about a month ago.”

  Mike’s gaze swung her way but all he saw was the glitter of her eyes in the darkness. “Am I heading in the right direction?” he asked with a chuckle of dry humor.

  Her soft laugh overrode the music playing on the radio. “Yes. I moved into one of the new townhouses down on the lake.”

  For the second time his head swung Emma’s way. “Bear Lake?” That was the only lake around that he knew developers were building on now.

  “Yes, you know where it is?”

  He nodded with disbelief, clenching his jaw. “Yes, I know where it is.” He couldn’t believe it. She was actually living on the very lake he spent most weekends fishing with Melissa. If he didn’t know better, he’d think there was more than just coincidence working against him.

  Thinking of his daughter, Mike wondered how the Halloween party had gone at her school. He’d offered to chaperone, but she’d begged him not to, saying it was bad enough some of the other parents were going to be there, baby-sitting, if he remembered her words correctly. They didn’t need a cop around on top of that. His daughter hadn’t been a teenager long enough to know what every parent of a teenager already knew, that sexual curiosity and experimentation was right around the corner. Mike dreaded those coming days, recalling what his own youth had been like once he’d hit puberty. He’d lusted after everything in a skirt, including some of his teachers.

  He’d gone through the last three years of high school with a constant hard on until one of the cheerleaders had taken pity on him and put him out of his misery, educating him in the art of love. Mike snorted to himself. Love, hell, it had been lust pure and simple. The thought of something like that happeni
ng to Melissa made him sick inside, but he knew it was going to happen eventually because it was part of life. Still, God save the punk who tried to get fresh with her and he found out about it.

  The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his ominous thoughts and, shooting Emma a glance, he reached for it where it was clipped onto his belt. He just happened to be driving beneath a street light and was able to make out that her eyes were shut, but instincts told him she was just resting.

  “Yeah?” he said into the mouthpiece.

  “It’s me, Dad.”

  An instant smile formed on his mouth at the sound of Melissa’s voice. She sounded tired. “What’s up, kid? Everything okay at the party?”

  “Oh, we left there an hour ago. I’m at Casey’s now. I just wanted you to know before you went to bed.” Casey was Melissa’s best friend and her house was one of the few places where he allowed her to sleep over. Secondly, the fact that she didn’t have any brothers around was a definite plus. He’d never allow Melissa to spend the night with one of her girlfriends if there were boys in the house.

  “And?” Mike could always tell when there was something else on her mind.

  “Well, I know we had fishing planned for tomorrow, but…”

  “Spit it out kid,” he encouraged when she hesitated.

  Melissa cleared her throat. “Would you be very upset if I didn’t go? A group of us from school want to go river rafting tomorrow and then picnic at the park and I thought, well, you wouldn’t mind. Casey’s parents are going,” she was quick to add.

  Mike knew what he wanted to say, but something totally different came out. “Bear Lake isn’t going anywhere; we can fish any weekend. You go rafting with your friends and have a good time, just dress warm. And call me with all the details before you leave in the morning.”

  She said goodnight and Mike released a long breath, snapping the phone back into its clip. It was starting already. Tomorrow was probably just the first of many canceled outings between them.

  Chapter 7

  Emma opened her eyes, glanced at Mike, and asked the obvious. “Was that your daughter?”

  “Yep.”

  She smiled at his brisk response. “Sounds like you were being dumped,” she continued.

  “Yep.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Thirteen going on twenty,” he supplied, keeping his eyes on the road. The turn off to Bear Lake came into view and he made a sharp left. “You have a grown daughter; how did you handle it when Amanda turned thirteen?”

  Emma chuckled, not correcting his assumption about their relationship. After all, she had raised her. “There’s nothing to handle; you can’t stop them from growing up. All you can do is guide them and hope they make the right choices. And support them when they go their own way and it’s not the path you would have chosen.”

  “You make it sound so easy. What about…” He hesitated, obviously growing uncomfortable. “Sex education?”

  “Some of that she’ll get in school.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he retorted, casting her a glance.

  “I don’t mean that.” Emma laughed softly, realizing where his fears were heading. “They teach sex education in school, remember? In addition, you should be talking to her about it at home. You might let your wife handle that particular discussion.”

  He remained quiet after that and Emma knew why. Smiling to herself, she glanced up in time to see a large tan buck step into the middle of the road, freezing in the headlights of the truck.

  “Mike!”

  He slammed on the brakes. The truck swerved back and forth on loose gravel and for a moment it seemed they weren’t going to stop in time. Emma grabbed the dashboard to keep from being thrown against it, and finally the vehicle came to a skidding halt.

  “You okay?”

  His concern warmed her. She nodded, forgetting he probably couldn’t see it in the darkness. “Isn’t he beautiful?” she whispered, reaching out blindly and touching Mike on the arm. She couldn’t take her eyes off the huge animal as he stood there quivering, his large brown eyes staring directly at them. He looked noble and proud, almost as if he were posing for a picture that would portray his whole species.

  “Good thing it’s not deer hunting season,” Mike quipped, his voice slightly strained. “He’s a prime target right now.”

  Emma shot him a scowl. “Just like a man,” she responded, taking note of the impressive antlers on the buck. “I see a lot of deer around here. Sometimes I look out my back door in the mornings and they’re right there, stealing apples off the crab apple trees.”

  “Really? About what time is that?”

  She picked up on the interest in his tone, chuckling in spite of herself. “Forget it, detective. I’m not going to be the cause of some poor helpless animal becoming someone’s dinner. You—” Her remark was cut off by the unexpected sound of gunfire. She jumped. “What…”

  “Get down!”

  Emma had time to see the buck take off before Mike grabbed her and forced her down on the seat. Another shot followed closely behind the first one, shattering the window in the door next to her. She screamed. Mike swore viciously, gunning the engine to get out of there. They were on a stretch of isolated road and though the shooter was after the buck, right now they were the sitting ducks.

  “This isn’t hunting season,” Emma said from her crouched position, looking up at the shattered window in her door. Glass had sprayed everywhere but her heavy wool coat had saved her.

  “Those rules don’t apply to poachers,” Mike said in a tight voice, sparing her a quick glance while reaching forward for his radio. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded.

  “Stay down and don’t move, you’re covered in glass,” he ordered in a hard voice while driving the truck at a dangerous speed.

  Emma listened quietly while Mike called the station to report the incident, hearing him say he’d meet them back there in half an hour. She wondered what he thought to find in the dark but didn’t question him, appreciating his urgency in getting them away from there. Whoever had done the shooting had terrible aim. A shiver ran over her that had nothing to do with the cold air rushing in when she thought about what could have happened. She’d never liked guns and being shot at only enforced her feelings.

  “Were you cut by any glass?” Mike questioned with concern in his voice, slowing his speed when they were far enough away from the area. He turned on the dome light.

  Meeting the fierce look in his eyes, Emma smiled to reassure him. “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m sorry this happened.” His gaze moved over her quickly before determining she was okay and turning off the light again.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Emma insisted, beginning to feel cramped on the floor. The sudden turn Mike made told her they were entering the Bear Lake Townhouse parking lot.

  She grabbed for the seat when she lost her balance, but it was Mike’s thigh her fingers clutched instead. He sucked in his breath. “I’m sorry!” she gasped with embarrassment, realizing she’d hurt him. The muscle beneath her hand flexed, becoming harder and more defined. She released him at once.

  “An old war wound,” Mike explained, deciding it was a lot easier than telling Emma the truth. Experience taught him that most people didn’t question war wounds; however, in his experience, knife wounds acquired in a fight with a motorcycle gang leader were always a source of interest to someone who wasn’t a cop.

  Mike didn’t feel like going into any details about how he received that injury. He’d only mentioned it in the first place to disguise the truth behind his reaction. She hadn’t really hurt him, but her fingers had come dangerously close to his crotch when she’d grabbed for the seat. A couple inches over and she would have gotten a big surprise.

  “What’s your building number?”

  Each townhouse had a large brass number over the garage door and the streetlights enabled Mike to see them as he drove past. The two-story houses o
f brick had wooden flower boxes at each window on either side of the front door, and a chimney he suspected wasn’t just for show. He liked that the developer had opted for building around some of the original pines and birch trees, instead of cutting them down. It gave the place a rustic, established look.

  “I live in the last townhouse closest to the lake, building ten.”

  Mike parked his truck in a spot directly in front of Emma’s door and turned off the ignition. As he walked around to her side he caught the reflection of the moon on the glassy surface of the water, noting her nice view of the lake. He opened the door and glanced down, the dome light revealing she’d been showered with glass. It was all over her coat, the seat, and the floor.

  Their eyes met as he held out his hand. If she didn’t get cut before it was over, it would be a miracle. “Let’s take this slow.” Emma put her hand trustingly in his, letting him guide her out. “Don’t move,” he ordered when she had her feet planted firmly on the ground. Reaching up, he began to unbutton her coat.

  “What are you doing?” she questioned, looking around the darkened parking lot.

  “What do you think I’m doing?” he asked with a crooked grin, enjoying her sudden discomfort. “I’m taking off your coat. I want to shake the glass off before we go inside.” If she thought it was odd he said we, she didn’t show it.

  “I’m not sure I want to give my neighbors a strip show,” Emma explained, glancing around to see if any curtains were being pulled aside. “A lot of them are elderly, and nosey.”

  Mike’s eyes captured hers, his fingers hesitating beneath her chin. If he were an old man and happened to glance out the window in time to see Emma’s scantily clad body in a harem outfit, he’d die a happy man. “Think they can’t handle the heat?” he teased.

  “I don’t know, what do you think? This body could be a lethal weapon. I wouldn’t want to send anyone to the hospital with cardiac arrest,” she teased right back.