Shame on Him

Seven. Seven times I’ve had the pleasure of kissing Dallas so far. Seven mind-blowing times and as hard as it is to believe, each time gets better and better. We’ve spent every single day of the last week together going over notes for the case. Well, not every second was spent going over notes. Some of that time was spent kissing, tasting, touching, and doing everything except having sex. And everything but discuss what’s going on with us now—not how he’d wanted to kiss me since the first moment he saw me, not how he tried to pretend like that first kiss never happened, or how absolutely insane it is that one day we hated each other and the next we can’t keep our hands off of each other.

“You are such a bad liar, Lorelei. Anyway, I bet he would have said yes if you asked him to go to Doug’s wedding with you,” Paige tells me.” Especially after he gave you an orgasm on Kennedy’s desk.”

Kennedy pops up from the bed and stares at me in horror. “WHAT? I’ve touched that desk this week! Jesus Christ, I’m going to have to bleach my hands!”

I really need to stop confiding in Paige; she can’t keep her mouth shut.

Ignoring Kennedy’s outburst, I look at Paige. “I didn’t want to put him in that position. It was bad enough he had to witness how horrible my parents are; I don’t think he’s ready for a gay wedding.”

Paige sighs. “Tell me again about the first time he kissed you. It’s like something right out of a movie.”

“Wait, did I hear about that? I just know you two haven’t been able to keep your hands off of each other every time I see you in the office and now thanks to you I’ll have to burn my desk. Did you do something weird for the first kiss?” Kennedy asks.

“Oh, my God, Kennedy! He stalked toward her like a tiger going for his prey. Didn’t say a word, just slammed her up against her car and laid one on her,” Paige tells her excitedly.

“He didn’t exactly slam me up against the car.”

Paige raises her eyebrow at me.

“It was more of a push. A really, really hot push.”

“Nice. I knew you two would finally get your heads out of your asses and hump like rabbits,” Kennedy says with a smile.

“There is no humping going on!”

Kennedy stares at me in shock. “What do you mean there’s no humping going on? I saw him grab your ass the other day. Why isn’t there humping?”

I shrug and walk over to my vanity to add some nude lip gloss to my lips.

“It’s not like I don’t want it to happen, it’s just . . . it hasn’t. I don’t know. We get to a certain point and he always backs off. With the way he teeter-totters back and forth, who knows, he’s probably changing his mind about me again.”

Kennedy snorts. “Bullshit. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He would throw you down on the floor of the office, screw you ten ways to Sunday, and still want more.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to make the first move. I mean, he was the one who kissed you first,” Paige adds.

Make the first move? I wouldn’t even know where to begin with someone like Dallas. I’m not used to a man like him—someone who takes charge so fully.

“I think you need to get drunk. Liquid courage works wonders,” Kennedy says with a nod.

“I don’t get drunk. You know that.”

“You also don’t wear anything other than a suit, swear like a truck driver, kiss hot-as-balls men, or solve murders. I’m pretty sure you’re already out of your comfort zone, Lorelei. Might as well add one more thing to the list,” Paige says with a laugh.

She’s right. And I’ve never been happier. I just don’t know if I’m ready to throw that much caution to the wind right now.

“As much fun as it is to talk about humping and drinking, what’s going on with the case?” Kennedy asks.

“It’s such a mess. I still think his ex-wife is hiding something, but Dallas disagrees. She’s never been in any kind of trouble, never done anything shady that would make anyone suspect her, but there’s just something about her I don’t trust.”

Paige laughs and cocks her head at me. “Um, could it be the fact that you think Dallas slept with her?”

I huff indignantly. “No! It has nothing to do with that.”

Much.

“Did you even ask him if he slept with her? That doesn’t seem like something Dallas would do,” Kennedy adds.

Of course I haven’t asked him. That would just scream “jealousy.” I’m not jealous of Stephanie Covington. Even though she’s ten years younger than I am and has the body of a porn star.

“It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t think we need to question her again, so we aren’t. We’re doing everything together so I’m just going to go along with it.”

“Just because you’re playing nice doesn’t mean you have to do everything he says. If you have a gut instinct about something, you should always go with it. Or at least argue your case. I’ve heard you know a thing or two about doing that,” Kennedy says with sarcasm.

I shake my head at her. “Fine. I’ll mention it to him again. He’s just convinced that Miles is guilty. I’ll admit, the guy is slime, but I just don’t see him shooting someone in cold blood. He’s kind of all talk. And he’s got an alibi for the time frame that Richard was killed,” I tell them.

“Well, don’t back down. You’ve come a long way, Grasshopper, but there is still more to learn,” Kennedy says in her best kung-fu voice.

Just then, Snowball jumps up onto the bed right next to her and hisses.

“Oh, my God, seriously? Get the fuck away from me, fur ball!” she shouts.