A Case of Love (15 page)

"So, what's going on?” she asked a man who looked to be a few years older than she was.

"Some kid got beaten up."

"Oh, wow. Is he all right?” she asked, playing dumb.

"Not he, she. Yeah, she's good, she wasn't raped or anything like that."

"No, but it's a crime when a kid can't even walk across a parking lot without some sicko attacking her,” another woman piped in. “Poor little Jackie, she may be a mouthy one, but she didn't deserve that."

"Jackie?” Kenzie asked, a thrill of excitement shooting through her.

"Jackie Stanton. She lives in that building over there. Poor thing, she's starting college at Monroe Tech this fall. I hope this don't ruin that for her."

Kenzie's mind was whirling, her fingers itched to sit down and start putting this on paper. But even as she turned, eager to get to the office, her eyes caught a glimpse of a figure crouched low on the ground, latex gloves on his hands, a camera up to his face as he took picture after picture of something he'd found.

"James!” she called, watching as he looked up, startled. A slow smile touched his lips as well as a bit of caution in his eyes.

"Mackenzie Hunter,” he said as he rose slowly, holding his camera carefully. Turning, he called out to his partner, waving at the ground while she nodded. Then, he came over to the barricade. “I don't have much time, but it's good to see you. When you going to let me buy you that drink I owe you?"

"How about this afternoon?” Kenzie offered, smiling up at the tall James. She'd met him at another crime scene and he'd flirted with her ever since.

"I doubt I'll be done here until later on tonight, Mackenzie,” he said, winking at her. “But if you're up for...say dinner and maybe a movie after..."

Kenzie opened her mouth to answer him only to feel a hand come down upon her shoulder, pulling her back against a hard, male body. She jumped, ready to turn and lambaste whoever held her.

"She can't, James,” a deep male voice said. “She's moving in with me tonight.” Hawk wasn't prepared for her retaliation and winced when a hard heel jammed into his foot through his shoe.

"I'm doing no such thing,” she hissed, shrugging off his arm and poking her finger in his chest. “Now go away."

"Can't do that baby, sorry. Since your apartment was trashed they have it cordoned off. You can't get back in there tonight.” He stared down at her, his eyes inscrutable. “You didn't seem to have a problem with my bed last night,” he said, loud enough for James to hear.

"Bastard,” she snapped, jerking away and bumping into James.

"Are you okay?” James asked, though he didn't look like he relished taking on someone of Hawk's size.

Mackenzie felt the heat flood her cheeks, knowing he'd heard what Gideon had said and wanted to sink into the ground. “I'm fine, James. Maybe I should just take a rain check on that drink. Thanks,” she said, turning and started to walk away.

Hawk followed her, reaching out and taking her arm, holding her so close she couldn't help but feel him, the heat of him against her. His scent seemed clean and spicy after breathing in the smoky smell that hung over the neighborhood. She could feel her heart racing and fought to calm it.

"We need to talk,” he said. “How'd you get here?"

"You want to talk about how I got here? They're called taxis, Gideon. Usually you wave your arm or whistle and they pull over, you get into the back seat and for a price, they take you where you want to go. Now if that's all..."

"Funny,” he growled. He looked around before propelling her towards another one of the hundreds of alleys in Monroe City. It smelled of decay and old baby diapers. Hawk dropped his hand off of her arm, pushing it through his hair instead. “I can't get you out of my mind,” he said bluntly, turning to glare at her as if it were her fault.

"It might be easier if you quit following me.” She'd meant the quip to come out as smirky and sarcastic. Instead, his words had sent a thrill of some forbidden pleasure through her, causing her voice to sound soft and husky.

His eyes narrowed and he took a step toward her, this time both hands reached for her, grabbing her arms and yanking her against his chest. “You think this is funny? I don't have time for this, for these feelings.” He pulled her up, his mouth coming down towards hers. “Dammit Mac,” he groaned, his lips finding hers.

Her hands were on his chest, not pushing him away, grasping fistfuls of his shirt, holding on as his lips took her on a rollercoaster ride of sensation. His mouth was hard at first, anger making him rough, lust causing his lips to burn against hers. His tongue probed at her lips, pushing past the barrier of her teeth to find the sweet passion of her mouth. She heard his groan, felt it as a physical caress and was lost.

With one arm, he lifted her from the ground, walking with her until her back was against the brick wall of the store bordering the alley. Her legs came up, wrapping around his waist, clinging to him as he devoured her mouth. She could barely breathe, erotic heat enveloping her body, leaving her moaning under his lips.

Then his hands were on her ass, squeezing the flesh under her pants, rubbing her against his erection, the shaft a hard ridge under his pants. He tore his mouth from hers, burying it in her neck, nipping at her throat.

"We can't do this here,” he whispered. “Come home with me, Mac.” His words were more a command than a request, bringing her back to herself.

She pushed against his chest, her legs slipping down and touching the ground. “Let me go,” she ordered, her voice shaky. “Put me down, Gideon!"

There was a note of panic in her voice, as if she didn't trust herself to be alone with him. She didn't, he was too tempting by half. Kenzie began to struggle against him until he dropped his arms, releasing her and stepping back. “Mac..."

"No!” she snarled, holding up her hand. She took a step away from him, cursing her shaking knees and the heat that still flared deep in her belly. “We can't do this again."

He took a step forward, holding his hand out to her. “Mac, come on,” he began. “We can work this out."

She ducked around his hand, walking backwards as she headed towards the entrance to the alley. “No, Gideon, I don't think we can. I think you will always consider me unable to handle what I do for a living and what I have to do to get the story. I can't choose between you and my career. Not now.” Kenzie stared at him for a moment, feeling tears start in her eyes. “It was fun, but..."

"Don't say it, Mac. Just...don't,” he argued, holding out his hand. “I don't give up so easy and neither do you."

She sighed heavily, her eyes moving over him. “It won't work.” She took one long last look and then turned away, heading out of the alley. Only when she was out of his sight did she allow any of the tears to fall, feeling them slide down her cheeks, helplessly.

"So,” Ang began, sitting with his feet cocked on his desk even as he was going through a new file. “When's the next date with the gorgeous Miss Hunter?"

Hawk slammed down the report he'd been reading, glaring at Angelo. “There isn't going to be one."

"What?” Ang asked, his feet sliding off his desk in shock even as he dropped the folder onto his desk. “You're kidding, right? There was so much heat coming off the two of you the other night, it was contagious. Carla took me home that night and almost raped my ass."

"Good for you and Carla,” Hawk said beneath his breath. “It's over. She dumped me, okay?"

"She dumped you?
Dumped
you?” Angelo sat forward, his voice carrying to some of the other desks in the bull pen. Heads turned toward them, surprise on some of the faces.

"Yeah, thanks for announcing it.” Gideon turned and glared at the people staring at him, meeting eyes until they all went back to their own business. “Do you mind if we don't talk about this now?"

"Hawkins! Gutierrez! Get your asses in here!"

Ang glanced over at Gideon and then they both got up, heading in to see what the Captain wanted.

Kenzie sighed dramatically, staring down into the frothy drink that Brett had forced upon her when she'd shown up at his hotel room.

Brett, sitting across from her on the small love seat in the sitting room of his suite, glared at her. “Okay, that's it. That's the sixth sigh from you in five minutes. What's the deal?"

"I don't want to discuss it,” she said, taking a sip out of the pink liquid in her glass. It was sweet, almost nauseatingly so. “What is this?” she asked, grimacing.

"You like it? It's my own recipe. You take a bit of everything in the wet bar and then add strawberries out of the complimentary fruit basket and blend it really well.” He took another sip of his own drink, reaching out and opening another of the small bottles of liquor before pouring half into his glass and stirring it with his straw.

"Do you know how much those little bottles go for?” she asked, amusement sparkling in eyes that had seemed dead when she'd arrived. It was the first time she'd seemed almost human since he'd opened the door.

"Yeah,” he grinned back at her. “Just think of Dill's face when he sees the bill. Maybe that will teach him to go on his own damn spying jaunts. I'm tired of being his whipping boy all the time."

"Brett, don't you even try to put that one past me. You like digging into Dillon every chance you get and you know it.” She giggled suddenly, taking another sip of the almost too sweet beverage. “I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he gets the bill."

"Me too, but I'm thinking that a vacation might be a good idea right now,” he leaned forward and tipped the other half of the small bottle of what she saw now was tequila in her glass. “Drink up, little girl. Then I'm treating you to a filet mignon and the most decadent chocolate mousse in history."

"I'm thinking you're trying to get me drunk so you can trick me into incriminating myself, so you have blackmail material in case I ever tell Dillon about this little trip."

"God, can't hide anything from you, can I?” He smiled, lifting his glass to clink against hers.

"I'm not talking about Gideon,” she said, after drinking half of the pink concoction down. “He's a pig and I refuse to discuss him.” She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, sending a not so steady glare his way. “The man refuses to realize that I can do my job. Kind of like you,” she said, glaring at him.

"Oh, I know you can do your job, Kenz. I'm the one that always stands up for you, remember?"

She giggled, a hiccup interrupting the melodic sound. “Oops. That's right, it's the rest of the family that thinks I need a keeper.” She sobered suddenly, her words an almost exact copy of what Gideon had said to her earlier. “I don't need someone to watch over me. I managed well enough before he saved me that night, I can do it just fine without him."

"Him?” Brett asked, sitting forward again and laying his hand on Kenzie's knee. “Which him would we be talking about, kiddo?"

"We're not talking about him, I already told you that.” She scowled and moved her leg, knocking his hand off of her knee. “You just remember, you're not that much older than me. I can still kick your butt."

"Debatable,” Brett said drolly. “But I'll let you keep your little fantasies if you wish. I'm just wondering why you walked in here looking like someone stole your best friend and your blankie on the same day."

Kenzie drank down half of what was left in her glass, tightly closing her eyes as it seemed to suddenly burn going down. She shuddered, setting the glass down on the stand beside her. “I don't know what you put in that.” She held up her hand as he started to open his mouth. “No, please, don't tell me, ugh! You really want to know what he did?"

"Uh, duh, yeah, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't.” Brett put his own glass down, dropping his elbows to his knees as he leaned forward eagerly. “Spill."

"He stopped me from doing my job."

Brett sat there expectantly, waiting for more that didn't come. “And...” he prodded.

"No and, that's it. He kept me from getting the facts on a story. He told me it was too dangerous, like I can't take care of myself.” She crossed her arms, hugging them to her, her lip out in a serious pout. “I can take care of myself."

The petulance in her tone had a smile crossing Brett's face. “I know you can, sweetie, but I'm betting that Gideon has never really seen you in action, has he?"

"Well,” she began slowly. “Besides seeing me at the warehouse the night of the sting and then in the burning building he pulled me out of, oh and when someone broke into my apartment..."

"Someone broke into your apartment?” Brett asked, all sign of amusement gone. “Did you call the police?"

"Gideon did,” she spat. “As if I couldn't even do that right."

"God girl, why didn't you tell me? Dillon's going to lose it.” He got up from his seat and started to pace the room, stopping every few steps to glare at her. “Do you know what he's going to do?"

"The guy who broke into my apartment?” Kenzie asked, confused.

"No,” Brett said, rolling his eyes. “Sober up, kiddo. I'm talking about Dillon. He's going to skin my ass because you got broken into while I was here to keep an eye on you. Fuck me, the bossy old bastard's going to have a heyday on my ass."

"Oh, yeah, well I'm fine and all. Don't worry about me or the fact that he trashed most of my possessions, including my photo album and most of my clothes.” She got up, taking a few stumbling steps before she gave it up and just stood, swaying unsteadily as she spoke. “Don't even think of caring that my laptop was almost burned, that I don't have anywhere to go tonight and that I might be on a serial arsonist's radar."

"Man, Kenz, I'm sorry. You can stay here with me tonight, of course.” He reached out to wrap an arm around her, only to stare at her in surprise when she shrugged him off.

"No, thank you. Besides, you are on your way back to Michigan tonight, remember."

"Not now I'm not. I'm sticking around until we find out who broke into your place.” He shook his finger at her, uncaring of her mutinous frown. “Don't even try to fight it, Mackenzie. I leave now and I might as well hand in my resignation the moment my plane touches down. And maybe shop for a head stone as well,” he said, almost as an afterthought.