Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Instead, she reached out and slid her hand around his neck, pulling him closer. “You’re going to break my heart,” she murmured.
And there it was. The lightning bolt of panic crashed over him hard. Yet oddly, he didn’t pull away. “No hearts involved,” he said instead.
“Right.” A flicker of something, suspiciously like hurt, crossed her face before she covered her emotions.
He didn’t like that she hid her thoughts from him, never mind that he’d all but instructed her to do so. Her tongue slid over her lush, pink lips, and the single stroke broke his control. He crushed his mouth to hers and kissed her for all he was worth. Kissed her to take away her pain from last night, to soothe the hurt he’d probably just inflicted with his careless but necessary words, but mostly to assure himself she was on board.
His.
For now.
To his relief, she reciprocated, opening to him and letting him inside. His tongue stroked and glided, tangled with hers, and suddenly, everything was right inside him once more. No more anger or jealousy or mixed-up emotions he didn’t recognize, understand, or know what to do with. He groaned and came down on top of her, unable to hold his weight up anymore and needing to feel her solid and real beneath him.
She threaded her fingers through his hair and held on, holding her own thrust for thrust of their tongues and bodies until the call of his mother’s voice brought him back to reality.
It wasn’t easy, but he dragged himself off her and flopped to his side, placing an arm above his head. “Dessert’s probably on the table,” he said, willing his overheated body to calm down.
“I thought that was dessert.”
He chuckled, amazed at her ability to go with the flow no matter the circumstances.
“But we shouldn’t be doing this here anyway.” She scrambled off the bed and paused at the small mirror, wiping beneath her eyes and fixing her tousled hair.
“I should go back first,” she said. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I was in the bathroom.”
As if his family wouldn’t figure out what they’d been doing in here? But Mike didn’t want to upset Cara by pointing that out. “I’ll be out in a few.” As soon as he wouldn’t embarrass himself, Mike thought.
* * *
After Mike’s ridiculously possessive behavior at his parents’ house, he and Cara managed not to cross paths for the next few days. Mike used the time to get himself under control and look into the cold case and the cash left in the evidence room for all these years. He wasn’t kidding when he said they needed to upgrade the computer system. The one they had was shit, and in this day and age, that wasn’t acceptable.
For now, he had to go with handwritten notes and people’s memories, and the only person in Serendipity who knew about the case wasn’t talking. He tapped his pen against the desk, thinking about various ways to approach this case. Why hadn’t the feds stepped in and taken the money? That was one key issue. If they had, the cash wouldn’t have been in the evidence locker for anyone to tamper with.
He frowned and thought some more. Finally, it clicked. He had a contact in the DEA from his undercover ops in the city who’d have access to any database. Too bad she wouldn’t help unless he went to see her in person, which meant a trip to New York. The drive to Manhattan would take only an hour.
Mike had just hung up the phone after arranging a meeting later that afternoon when the sound of familiar laughter drifted through his open office door. His gut clenched at the too-tempting, feminine sound. Mike rose to his feet and walked to the door, pausing to take in the scene in the squad room. A group of officers stood together, all men with the exception of Cara, who was still laughing at something one of the guys had said. Then she turned to Rafael Marcos and patted his cheek, a saucy grin on her face.
Mike wanted to be where the action was, not holed up in an office, and he strode out to join them. As soon as they noticed him, all laughter stopped, and everyone, including his brother, who was still on desk duty, went their separate ways and got back to work.
Mike frowned. Was that what his presence did to people? Was he that much of a hard-ass boss? He didn’t think his father operated that way, and as much as he wanted to make his mark while in Serendipity, a stifling workplace wasn’t something he desired. It wasn’t a healthy atmosphere for his cops—or for him.
“I didn’t see you on the schedule today,” Mike said to Cara, still silently mulling over his dilemma.