Did Cali want Brit bonkers?
~
“I’m just saying don’t go looking for trouble.” Adams’ voice roared over the phone. For some reason, the sergeant felt the need to personally call Brit with another warning about Cali.
“I’m not looking for trouble.” Brit looked up at Tanya’s apartment building where Cali waited.
“Don’t mess up this case,” Adams said. “We might need her to testify.”
I’m not having sex with you. Brit recalled Cali’s words. Maybe he really should abide by her wishes until Humphrey was caught.
“Yeah.” Brit hung up and got out of his car to collect Cali. He frowned as he made his way across the parking lot, dreading having to tell her that he needed to postpone dinner until later.
The moment Cali opened Tanya’s front door, looking like sex in high heels, he knew he was in deep-shit trouble.
“Hi.” She smiled. Her red painted lips slid moistly across her white teeth. Her hair, long and wispy, hung loose around her shoulders. Her sweater wasn’t loose. Oh, hell it fit. Fit really nicely. And it was red. Like her shoes. Of course, he didn’t appreciate the shoes until after he noted how good the jeans hugged her hips and then his gaze followed them to her thighs . . . then down to her calves. The visual trip to heaven and back ended with a pair of red high heels. Shoes that he’d once heard described as, “fuck me heels.”
Not that there was even one thing indecent with Cali’s clothes—well, except the instant desire they induced in him to remove them.
“Uhh.” He let his gaze whisper over her. Up and then down. There wasn’t a safe spot, not one un-hot place to focus.
A gulp of desire squeezed out his breathing room. How the hell was he going to keep his hands off her?
Oh, hell, chances were he was going piss Adams off royally.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Just ride with me,” Brit insisted. “We’ll come and pick up your car later.”
Cali agreed and followed him to his car. As she slid into his SUV, her new shoes pinched a bit and so did her disappointment.
Okay, it sounded lame, but she’d bought a new outfit and took extra time with her makeup, and she’d sort of hoped for at least a little compliment. Instead, he didn’t even seem happy to see her.
Oh, he’d given her a head-to-toe glance, but he’d been frowning the whole time.
“Bad day?” Cali asked, when a few minutes later, he pulled into a service station for gas.
“Yeah.” He looked at her, frowned again and got out of his car to pump the gas. She watched him pull out his phone and try to call someone. It appeared they didn’t answer, because his expression soured again.
When he got back in, he looked at his watch.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
He released a deep gasp. “No. I’m supposed to be somewhere right now. I have something I have to do.”
Hadn’t he invited her to dinner? She had to work to not let her feelings show on her face. The she recalled the obligations of his job. Was he on call?
“Just drop me back off at Tanya’s to get my car,” she said.
“I don’t want you to be alone.” Concern tightened his eyes.
“I’m fine.” The rejection she felt in her chest pinched tighter than her new shoes.
“You’ve got a murderer after you. That’s not fine.”
“He doesn’t know where I am,” she said. “Besides, I’ve been staying by myself at night.” In some distant place in her mind she remembered last night’s dream. What was it her mother had said?
He palmed the steering wheel. “Not really. I set up office at the diner across from the motel. When I wasn’t there, I had my partner watching out for you.”
Her mouth fell open a little. “Why?”
He turned and looked at her, the frustration in his expression reading loud and clear. “Because I don’t want to see you hurt.” He reached out and ran the back of his hand down her face. “You look amazing. I didn’t even tell you that, did I?”
“No.” She cut him a grin. “But thank you.”
He looked at his watch again. “You know what? You’re just going to have to go with me.” He pulled into traffic then thumped his palm on the wheel.
She looked at him. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“You won’t.” He met her gaze. “Please come with me.”
Between her fear of being alone and the soft pleading in his eyes, she relented. Silence followed. “Where are we going?” She thought about the type of police business he did. Homicide work.
He shifted his shoulders. “My mother’s birthday party.”
She chuckled. “And I’m thinking it’s a crime scene.”
He clenched his jaw. “I wish. This could turn out to be a lot uglier than that.”
~
Brit led Cali into the restaurant. Hands down, this wasn’t a good idea. He paused. Hell, it could be a disaster on acid.