But instead of telling him to piss off, Ryan gestured for him to enter. It was unexpected and enough to pique his interest.
As he stepped into the room, he glanced across to where Faith lounged in the open doorway, arms folded across her chest, positively bristling with disapproval. He might think she didn’t like him, except he’d seen her initial reaction.
Oh, she liked him all right.
She just didn’t want to admit it.
He remembered the sensation when their hands had touched. His cock twitched in his pants at the memory, taking him totally by surprise. How long since he’d reacted to any woman. Actually, he knew exactly how long. Twenty-three years, four months, and three days. The last time he’d been with Lily, before they’d been separated and he’d lost her forever.
Banishing the memory, he crossed the room, putting the tray on the counter and turning to face them.
“I’d like Ash to hear this,” Ryan said.
She glanced between the two men, uncertain.
“Come on, Faith, trust me. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
She chewed on her lip while she thought about it. They were nice lips, not full, but wide and perfectly shaped. His gaze ran over the rest of her. She was tall for a woman and slender, her breast small but still visible beneath the shirt she wore and her legs were endless.
She was about as different from Lily as it was possible to get. Lily had looked like Tara, petite and blond. And she’d had a sweet disposition. Ash doubted Faith had ever been called sweet in her life. She was all sharp prickles, and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to smooth those prickly bits.
Finally, she nodded and headed for the counter with the coffee. “Might as well. You’d tell him anyway once I’d gone. But coffee first.”
After pouring a cup, she added milk and without waiting for them to say anything else, she carried it through into the living area and settled herself on the corner of the couch. She took a sip and grinned at Ryan. “Actually, I know why you took this job. I might sell my soul for coffee like this.”
“Really?” Ash murmured. Though it wasn’t actually her soul he was interested in.
She ignored him. Maybe it was time to test how indifferent she was. He strolled across the room, shrugged out of his coat, and tossed it on to the back of a chair. Her gaze swung around to stare at him, her attention fixed on the shoulder holster he wore and the Desert Storm pistol slotted in the holster.
She turned to where Ryan still stood in the doorway. “Are you carrying?”
Lifting his jacket, he revealed the shoulder holster. “We are licensed,” he said when she frowned in disapproval.
“Don’t you like guns, Detective?” Ash asked.
“Faith doesn’t think anyone but the police should be allowed to carry weapons,” Ryan answered before she had a chance to speak.
“Really?” he murmured. “Why is that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know why a law-abiding citizen would need a gun.”
He curled his lips into a smile. “Would it make you feel better if I took it off?” He held her gaze as he unbuckled the holster, slowly stripped it off, and dropped it on the chair. “There. Unarmed and at your mercy. Or would you like to…pat me down. Check to see if I have anything…concealed.”
Her gaze dropped. He was quite aware that in his leather pants and T-shirt there was nowhere to conceal anything. “I can promise you there’s nothing but me in here, but I’ll understand if you want to check for yourself.”
As he’d guessed it would, her gaze dropped to his groin. Oh yes, she was interested. Even if she didn’t want to be.
Ryan cleared his throat, loudly. Blinking, she glanced away, but a faint flush tinged the skin of her cheekbones.
Ash couldn’t help but wonder if the two had been more than partners at work. If they’d had a relationship that Ryan had finished when he he’d come to work for the Order. But he didn’t think so. He wasn’t getting any of those vibes from them. At a guess, they’d been nothing more than friends.
He was glad.
After strolling across the floor, he took the chair opposite her, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Ryan gave him a narrow-eyed look but took the place on the sofa next to Faith.
“So,” he said. “Tell me what happened this morning.”
She put her empty cup down next to his feet. “I was leaving the hospital—”
“The hospital?” Ryan asked. “Are you still having problems?”
Annoyance flashed across her face. “No. I told you—it was just a follow-up. I’m fine.”
So had she been ill? He added it to the list of questions to ask Ryan.
“Anyway, as I said, I was leaving the hospital, when I was approached by a priest.”
“A priest?”
She frowned at Ryan. “Will you stop interrupting, and I might get through this. A priest and he asked if they could talk to me. There was a second man and they had what looked like it might have been a government-issue vehicle—you know those black SUVs.”