Her body jolted and she whirled as he said loudly, “Sweetcheeks.”
He looked down at her stunned face, wrapped an arm tight around her neck and yanked her right into his body. Again without hesitation, his head came down and his lips hit hers, hard, where he kissed her, just as hard. Then his head came up and he tried to ignore her soft body pressed to him, her tits crushed against him, the scent of her perfume and the fact that the vibe in the room had electrified.
He also tried to ignore the fact that her face showed she was openly struggling against being dazed and being really, really pissed.
“What you doin’ here, baby?” he asked before she could speak.
She blinked.
Then she asked back, “What?”
His arm around her neck tightened and she was forced to press closer. His other hand hit her waist and slid around to the small of her back, pulling her even closer.
“You didn’t tell me you were comin’ to the Station,” he informed her.
“I –” she started, belatedly struggling by pushing her neck against his arm.
Before she could say another word, he looked at Rutledge.
“Best thing that happened to me, gettin’ shot, man, I cannot tell you.” He grinned at Rutledge as Rutledge’s mouth dropped right open, Rocky’s body turned to stone and then he looked back down at Rocky who was now glaring at him, her eyes full of fire. “Reunited me with Roc,” he muttered to her then looked back at Rutledge. “Take another three bullets if I knew that was what I was gonna get.” He kept grinning. “Luckily I didn’t have to.” He again looked at Rocky and asked softly, “Did I, baby?”
“You –” she began, her eyes sparking, beyond pissed and he dipped his head again and brushed his mouth on hers.
He lifted his head and saw the fire in her eyes was muted and she had fallen silent.
He looked back at Rutledge. “Never know what life’s gonna bring. Lyin’ there, blood oozin’ out of me, thinkin’ that’s the end and, weeks later, I find out it’s actually the beginning. You get what I mean?”
Rutledge kept staring at him, seemingly frozen, then his eyes darted back and forth between Rocky and Layne and he nodded.
“Holy fuck,” Layne heard muttered and he looked beyond Rutledge to see Sully had arrived, coming up the backstairs, he was standing just beyond Rutledge’s desk and he was staring at Rocky and Layne.
“Yo, Sul,” Layne greeted and Sully’s body jerked. Then his eyes darted between Rocky and Layne.
They finally stopped before he gave himself a seizure and then he greeted back, “Layne, buddy, Rocky, um… hey.”
Rocky moved in his arms like she was trying to turn toward Sully but his arms locked tighter and she was interrupted when they heard Colt coming.
“Yeah, Feb, honey, do me a favor and…” Layne heard and his eyes moved to see Colt walking toward Sully, his attention diverted, he was on the phone with his wife, February.
Colt’s head turned, he caught sight of Rocky and Layne and stopped so abruptly he looked like he’d hit a wall.
Layne stifled a laugh.
Rocky’s body got even tighter in his arms.
“Shit, Feb, I’ll call you back,” Colt muttered into his phone and immediately flipped it shut, his eyes never leaving Rocky and Layne. “Tanner, hey, what’s up?”
“Came to talk to you and Sul but Roc showed so now I’m gonna take my woman for a coffee. I’ll come back. You gonna be around?” Layne answered.
“Your woman?” Sully whispered but Colt didn’t speak. His brows shot up and his eyes shot to Rocky.
“Yeah,” Layne answered Sully like a kid would say, “Duh”. “You gonna be around in an hour?”
“Um… sure,” Sully replied.
“Great, be back,” Layne said and then he nodded to Colt then to Rutledge then he turned Rocky toward the stairs.
She yanked her neck out of his hold on the stairs but surprisingly didn’t pull her hand from his when he captured it. She stayed stiff but silent and unresisting as they walked out of the Station and down the two blocks to Mimi’s Coffee Shop.
He knew she was pissed but he didn’t know the intensity of it until they hit Mimi’s and he started to stop them but she tugged his hand and kept walking.
Layne wanted her in Mimi’s. Mimi’s was a public place where he had the possibility of keeping her under control.
Rocky, however, had no intention whatsoever of going to Mimi’s and unless he wanted to drag her in there kicking and screaming, he had no choice but to follow.
She didn’t go far. She stopped outside the door to his office, the brass plaque next to it saying “Tanner Layne Investigations”, yanked her hand from his and lifted her other hand. Her eyes cut to him and they were scorching. Opened palmed, she slapped the door and then jerked her head at the knob.
He watched her thinking he’d forgotten this too, though, seeing her face he wondered how the fuck he did. She didn’t get pissed often but when she did, she got pissed. Sometimes, he’d be pissed too, because they were fighting. But if he wasn’t pissed, and she was, he invariably made her more pissed because she was cute as hell when she was angry and he didn’t shy away from informing her of that fact.
Like now.
“Jesus, Roc, forgot how cute you get when you’re pissed.”
Her eyes narrowed and her shoulders jerked.
“Open the door, Layne,” she bit off.
He grinned, turned to the door, pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked it. He opened it, swung his torso in and punched in the code to the alarm.