“Did you always want to be a teacher? You’re good at it.”
Cali basked in his praise. “Thanks. I enjoy it, but I really only got into it because I loved art. I knew I needed some sort of income while I tried to make it as an artist. It wasn’t until I was student teaching that I got the teaching bug.”
“What kind of art?” he asked.
“Painting,” she said. “Watercolors mostly.”
He leaned back and draped one arm over the top of the booth. His shirt draped open and his T-shirt spread over his chest. Tight. “Are you good?”
“Of course. The first painting that I ever exhibited sold for a thousand dollars.”
His eyes widened. “I’m impressed.”
Cali grinned. “Don’t be. My mother bought it.”
He laughed. “Well, maybe she had good taste.”
“She did,” Cali admitted. “But I think she might have been a wee bit prejudiced.”
“I didn’t see any of your work in your apartment.”
She glanced down and realigned her silverware. “I haven’t painted since Mom got sick.”
The waitress appeared with two plates weighing down her arms. She dropped the plates with a thud and refilled their coffees. They ate and talked about casual stuff, his job, her job.
She finished and pushed her plate to the side.
She watched him butter his toast, then he forked a bite of her eggs from her plate and put it in his mouth.
“Oh.” He grimaced. “I forgot. We weren’t sharing.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine.”
He sat there staring at her with a smile on his face. A sexy smile. Were they going to sleep together tonight?
“Tonight you’re sleeping in your jeans,” she said, then couldn’t believe she’d said it out loud.
He dusted some crumbs from her chin as his smile widened. “Deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Brit followed Cali to Tanya’s apartment. He didn’t get out of the car, afraid if he did, he’d be too damn tempted to kiss her. So he simply watched her go inside. Then he went to check on Rina. He’d told Rina last night that she wasn’t to leave the hotel and was to order meals from room service. But since when did women listen? He rode the elevator up to the tenth floor.
“Who is it?” Rina asked hesitantly when he knocked.
Good, Brit thought. Her fear would keep her in line and hopefully alive. “It’s Detective Lowell.”
The door swung open and Rina stood there wearing nothing but a white towel. And it wasn’t a big towel either. “Come in.” She arched one shoulder and smiled seductively.
Brit’s gaze swept over her once before he took the step. Inside, he focused on the sun streaming through the window. When he glanced back, her towel had dropped a little lower.
“Why don’t you get dressed,” he said, his voice controlled.
“Why?” she whispered. “You see something you like?”
Brit spotted her clothes on the bed. “Get dressed.”
She snatched up her clothes, and turned to go into the bathroom. But a step away from the door, she let the towel fall to the floor. Brit got a nice view of her naked ass. Then she turned around and gave him the full Monte.
She wiggled her fingers at him. “You want to take a shower with me?”
He couldn’t say he didn’t appreciate the view, because he did. But there wasn’t an ounce of him that wanted to do more than appreciate it. “I said, get dressed.”
“Your loss, because I’m good.” She walked out.
Brit stood there, waiting to feel something more. Like regret. But nope. He hadn’t even felt the normal male twitch. Considering it had been eight weeks since he’d buried himself inside a woman, it seemed odd.
He heard the shower spray, but instead of thinking about the woman who’d just appeared naked before him, he thought about Cali. Of how damn good her towel had smelled when he buried his face in it. If she’d made him the shower offer, he’d be rock hard and getting wet right now.
This morning, when he’d woken up with her on top of him, he’d entertained several ideas of how to proceed. All of them involved getting her naked. Thankfully, she’d taken the edge off his desire by taking a nosedive to the floor.
Letting out a breath, he settled into the hotel chair.
In a few minutes, Rina stepped out, looking wet and annoyed. “So if you’re not here for a freebie, whatcha want?”
His impatience brought him to his feet. “I want to make sure you understand how serious this is.”
“I told you last night. I didn’t tell anyone.”
“And what if Payne did?”
She frowned. “I can’t stay here forever. I’ve got to work.”
“No, you don’t. I could get you some help until you got back on your feet.” He recalled making that offer once before. Of course, she hadn’t taken it.
“Why? I like my job.” she said sarcastically. “I’m good at it.”
“You want to die like Payne? Because let me tell you, it wasn’t a pretty sight.”