Travis sighed, knowing it was time to fill Matt in on his side investigation. He’d been neglecting their ongoing cases this past week and a half, and his partner deserved an explanation.
Quickly, he explained the situation. When he finished, he didn’t like the frown he saw on his partner’s face.
“I don’t like this,” Matt said in a wary voice.
“Why? I’m just helping out a friend.”
“A friend? No, you’re on another one of your crusades, man.”
Travis returned his friend’s frown. “It’s not like that.”
“Really? From what you just told me, it sounds like this woman isn’t in the greatest state of mind. She’s scarred, and you want to heal her.” Matt let out a deep breath. “You can’t keep doing this, Travis.”
“It’s not like that,” Travis repeated, his voice firm.
“Really? Last month you decided Ginny Roberts needed to be saved,” Matt reminded him, naming a young female deputy who’d only been on the force for a year or so. “You found out about her abusive boyfriend and decided it was your place to remove her from that situation.”
“The guy would’ve killed her if I hadn’t stepped in.”
“What about that teenage prostitute you took in last year? You moved her into your goddamn house, man, until you could track down her family.” Cutting him off before he could explain, Matt just sighed. “You can try to save a million women, but none of them will bring back Jess.”
A muscle flinched in Travis’s jaw. “This isn’t about Jess.”
Matt looked unconvinced. “Whatever you say, buddy. Just be careful, okay?”
Travis waited until Matt left his office before slamming both fists down on the desktop. This wasn’t about Jess, dammit. He’d come to terms with his wife’s death. He’d even taken that pointless leave of absence the chief had prescribed. For three months, he’d lounged on a beach in Belize, bored stiff and eager to return to Chicago. He was a new man when he returned, his grief replaced with the need to work.
This wasn’t about Jess. It was about Rachel.
The memory of their explosive kisses filled his head. Maybe a part of him did want to save Rachel, but that wasn’t the only reason he was doing this. He wanted her. From the second he’d laid eyes on her in that department store, he’d wanted her, and the extent of his need disturbed him more than he would like to admit.
He hadn’t been this drawn to a woman since Jessica. Before Rachel, it had been about sex. Satisfying his needs with brief affairs and the occasional one-night stand. Yet he knew that if he took Rachel to bed, he’d gain no satisfaction unless he managed to keep her there. The question was—for how long? What exactly did he want from her?
More than a roll in the hay, he’d told her, and he’d meant it. Rachel still bore scars from the past and he got the feeling she’d never been seriously involved with a man. Hell, she could be a virgin for all he knew. Yet that didn’t deter him either. He wanted…something from Rachel. He just wished he knew what that something was.
Focus.
Right, he needed to focus. So what if he could still taste her lips on his mouth? So what if his cock grew hot and hard at the thought of what would have happened if he’d taken her up on her offer to come inside? Right now, they still had to understand why Carrie had done what she had.
He reached for the file folder and spent the next ten minutes going over its contents. After he’d found what he was looking for, he reached for the phone and dialed Rachel’s number.
“So, you see, I’ve highlighted all the names with the initials BF,” Travis explained as he and Rachel bent over the list of hospital staff.
It was difficult to concentrate when Travis was sitting so close to her. When his spicy aftershave made her so dizzy she saw only jumbled letters on the pages in front of her.
I should have gone to his office, Rachel thought ruefully.
When Travis had called earlier in the afternoon, he’d suggested she drop by the station, but instead she’d asked him to come over to her apartment later. She hadn’t wanted to see Travis while surrounded by police officers, especially since her thoughts were so naughty they bordered on criminal, and probably warranted her arrest.
God, why did she feel such need for this man? Two weeks ago, she’d been happy with her life. She hadn’t needed a man. She hadn’t wanted a man. She’d been content to work on her designs during the days and watch sitcoms in the evenings, and not once had her body shown any signs of wanting to betray the celibate existence she’d banished it to.
And then came Travis, and suddenly her neglected body was running the show.
“I’ve crossed out all the females on the list,” Travis continued. “But that’s because we’re working under the assumption that BF is male.”
“Right.” She tried to follow his words, but it was hard to when he looked so darn edible. The top two buttons of his crisp white shirt were unbuttoned, tempting her to pop open a few more buttons so she could get a good look at his chest.