Cole looked out across the park. Is that what she had done? Taken the game with a sexy stranger too seriously?
Truth or Dare on a girls’ weekend. After dinner they decided to move out of their comfort zones and find a bar that didn’t cater to middle-class twenty-somethings. They found one on the outskirts of D.C. Another round of drinks, and the game was on.
“Him.” Her sister and three girlfriends had pushed her out of the booth. “We dare you to kiss that guy.”
Cole had noticed him even before her sister pointed him out. He was hard to miss, even in a room full of men. Even from the back. He wore a leather jacket with a lot of miles on it and jeans that hugged his hips and thighs like they were happy just to be along for the ride. And then he turned around.
He was gorgeous; hard-eyed, hard-bodied, and so laid back it seemed as if he didn’t care if the world kept on spinning or not. Thick black hair with a tendency to wave, light eyes. He didn’t show any emotion, just went very still as their gazes met.
Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of the dare. Maybe it was what she’d been drinking. Or maybe it was just lust. She wanted him with an awful urgency that felt truer than any sexual craving she’d ever had before. Like steel to a magnet, the force of attraction was undeniable.
It was as if she’d been waiting all her life for this moment, even if it was a total lie and he probably was everything he seemed, bad-news-dangerous, and then some. But she was just drunk enough to want to find out. She had reached up on tiptoe and kissed him.
A few more kisses and a couple of slow turns on the tiny space that served as a makeshift dance floor, and she’d left with him. She never looked back.
“Earth to Cole.”
Cole glanced up.
“Where did you go?” Becca had her serious face on. “And why are you blushing? “Oh. My. God. You still have a thing for the bastard. You’re thinking that if you spent time together you might patch things up? You’re an idiot!”
Several nearby park visitors glanced their way.
“Uniform, Becca.” Cole said the words quietly.
Becca’s turn to blush. “I’m sorry. I forgot. Respect for the badge.”
She turned to the people looking their way. “She’s my sister. We fight. Get over it.” She looked back at Cole. “Better?”
Cole pulled her sister to a nearby bench and made her sit. “I know this won’t make any sense to you but I need something from Scott. Maybe just to hear his side of the story of what went wrong.”
“How can there be another side to what you saw with your own two eyes?”
“I don’t know.” Cole closed her eyes for a moment. “But I never heard what he had to say. I ran away.”
Becca stared at her for a long time then nodded slowly. “You need closure.”
“I hate that expression. But, yeah, I guess that’s what it is.” Cole took a deep breath. “It’s been two years. I have to do something. You, more than anyone, know I haven’t been able to move on.”
Becca brushed a stray hair from her sister’s cheek. “Promise me you won’t let him hurt you again.”
“I’m armed, Becca.” She grinned as her sister eyed with alarm the pistol she wore. “That’s not what I meant. I have Hugo.”
Becca smiled. “How is that bruiser of yours?”
“At home alone, probably ready to chew my upholstery. He hates days when I’m called in for desk duty.”
They rose and hugged. “You be careful. And tell your ex if he so much as makes you tear up, he’ll have to deal with your newly edgy hormonal big sister.”
Cole laughed and hugged her sister. “Love you, too.”
As she walked back to her cruiser, Cole realized the decision was made. She was going to do this.
She had made only one other rash decision in her life, and it had cost her, emotionally, everything she had. At least this time, she knew what to expect.
Trouble.
As she slid behind the wheel her cell phone beeped with a text.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Cole laughed. Becca could so read her mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
Scott pulled into the driveway of a modest-sized two-story Colonial house on Eastern Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There were no other cars parked there yet. He was early. That didn’t help his state of mind. Going home was like taking a dive headfirst into murky waters with unknown hazards. Showing up early only meant he’d have more time to think about that dive.