Cop's Passion (13 page)

“I’ll call the
girls around, we can make it a bring-and-share morning tea.” Tim
led the way to the front door, shaking his head. “I’m gonna have to
hang out a shingle for counselling my male friends about their love
lives.”

Mike stepped
outside, then turned back with a frown. “I don’t have a love
life.”

“You think?”
Tim replied, and shut the door in his face.

After
scratching his head for several seconds, Mike pulled on his
motorbike helmet, straddled the big machine, turned it on and
listened in satisfaction as it roared to life. Yep, machines were
so easy. Ladies, on the other hand, and one in particular…

He left the
parking lot and opened the throttle, heading out of town for a
mind-cleaning ride in the country. Yeah, that was just what he
needed to blow the cobwebs out and get his thoughts in order. Tim
was great to bounce ideas off and have a laugh, but something like
this required more thought. Much more thought.

By the time he
returned home, he was feeling much more positive. He was going to
go over and talk to Maddy. She was a nice lady and he didn’t want
things strained between them. A simple chat to clear the air,
that’s all he needed to accomplish, and then things could return to
normal.

As normal as
things could be, considering he’d had her beneath him, her soft
thighs pressed against his hips, her heat pulling him in deep, her
eyes so big and luminous, so deep a brown he could drown in them,
and - great, now he had a boner.

He kept an eye
out for Maddy, but her car didn’t pull into the driveway. He could
only surmise that she was working late again. He just hoped that
this time she’d listened to him and bought a mobile phone just in
case. He had an insane desire to get on his motorcycle and check
out the highway, but in her job, she could be anywhere. He had to
get his imagination under control and concentrate on the problem at
hand.

That problem
was small, a mottled grey, and sitting right in his view from the
kitchen window. Doing his dishes, he could see right down to the
shed and there it was, the little kitten sitting and waiting
patiently for its meal. It looked around, flicking its ears.

Well, it could
just wait for Maddy. Mike frowned. It would be okay, there was
water down there in the dish. He thought. He hadn’t actually
checked it. Maybe he should - no! No, he wasn’t going to start that
caper. The kitten was Maddy’s problem. It had his shed and the run
of his yard, and it could count itself lucky to even get that
much.

He sat down at
the kitchen table with a cup of hot tea and a chunk of cake. The
cake wasn’t as nice as the one Maddy had made, he decided, after
taking a bite. The lady could cook. He wished he hadn’t eaten all
the Anzac biscuits she’d baked for him, he could sure do with some
now.

Opening the
motorcycle magazine, he tried to concentrate on the news of the
latest motorcycles, but the image of the little kitten sitting
patiently beside his shed in front of an empty food dish kept
intruding. Resolutely he pushed the image to the back of his mind
but it kept sneaking forward again and overlying the glossy photo
of the Suzuki motorcycle he was drooling over. Or would have been
drooling over, if the pathetic image of the little kitten didn’t
keep interrupting.

Muttering to
himself, he pushed to his feet and stalked over to the window. Yep,
there it was, looking from the dish to the fence, to the gate at
the side of his garage, and then to his window. Oops, big mistake.
Mike stepped back but not before the kitten saw his face and stood
up, it’s little mouth open in a meow he couldn’t hear through the
glass.

He peeked back
out. Now the kitten was looking hopefully towards his house. It
took several steps forward and stopped near a weed, and he was
struck by how small the kitten was in comparison to the plant.

Surely Maddy
would be home by now. He went out the front and peered over the
fence towards her side of the duplex, but all remained still with
no sign of life. Well, if one didn’t count the Siamese that batted
at the window at just the sight of Mike peering over the fence.

Going back
inside, he started towards the lounge to watch TV but with a scowl
he turned into the kitchen instead. Another look out the window and
now the kitten was sitting at the foot of his back veranda, looking
hopefully at the door. Damn it.

Okay, he had to
give in and feed the damn thing so he could finally relax. Maddy
owed him big time.

Opening the
‘fridge, he studied the contents. A couple of beers, a container of
iced coffee, some veggies in the crisper, a bowl of left-over rice,
and - yes! A plate containing two left over cooked sausages. He
took the sausages out, cut them into tiny pieces and put the lot on
a saucer. It seemed a little too much, but then again he didn’t
really know how much a kitten ate, and besides, he surmised, it
could always come back for seconds later.

Carrying the
saucer out the back door, he fully expected the kitten to run back
to the shed. Instead, it meowed at him and watched a little warily
from the ground, but it didn’t retreat more than a couple of feet.
It was obviously hungry.

Mike set the
plate on the edge of the veranda. “Here. Don’t think I’m going to
make a habit of this.” Then he went back inside.

Finally he was
able to concentrate on his beloved magazine, and he settled down to
enjoy it. A couple of times he checked out the front but Maddy
still wasn’t home. He did notice, as the first star popped into
view, that it was getting chilly.

He went back
inside and wandered through to the back door. Opening it, he
stepped out to see that the saucer was half empty. He looked
towards the shed in the growing gloom but he couldn’t see the
kitten. It was probably inside it, safe and asleep. But when he
turned around he saw that the kitten was still on his veranda. In
fact, it was curled up in his battered wicker armchair, snug in the
lumpy cushion. It watched him from half closed eyes and its tiny
purr sounded. Almost like the dodgy engine of an old motorcycle,
actually, for it stopped and started before finally kicking in to a
smooth purr.

It was chilly.
Mike placed his hands on his hips and scowled at the kitten. It
looked back up at him and blinked slowly. Shaking his head, he went
back inside the house. Ah hell, it was only little and the weather
was chilly. It could stay out in his armchair for one damned
night.

He refused to
even think about his actions as he filled a dessert bowl with water
and placed it on the back veranda beside the saucer. He might not
want the kitten, but that didn’t mean he could leave it without at
least water. Maddy could fix it all when she got home.

It was dark and
Mike was watching the news when a knock sounded on his door.
Opening it, he saw Maddy standing there with a worried look on her
face and chewing that luscious bottom lip of hers.

Before he could
say anything, she burst out, “Mike, I can’t find the kitten!” She
gestured to the side gate. “I went out the back and it wasn’t near
your shed and I’ve searched your yard and I can’t see it and-”

“It’s all
right-” he began.

“It’s
not
all right, Mike. I know you don’t care about it, but I
do. It’s only little and-”

He stopped her
tirade by the simple matter of clapping his hand over her mouth
while sliding an arm around her shoulders and pulling her through
the doorway.

She pulled his
hand from her mouth. “What the hell-?”

“Come here and
see this,” he said.

Still with his
arm around her shoulders, he led her through to the back door and
out onto the veranda. Turning on the dim light, he pointed and felt
the tension leave her as soon as she saw the kitten peeking
sleepily at them from the depths of the armchair.

“I’ve fed it,”
he added. “It’s got water. And no, it’s not staying here.”

Maddy looked up
at him with a small smile.

“The weather is
chilly,” he continued, feeling a need to explain his actions
without her getting the wrong idea that he was getting soft. “I
don’t want you bawling because it got sick, okay? It can sleep
there, I don’t care, but Maddy.” He shook a finger under her nose.
“It is not staying here, understood?”

“Thank you.”
She gazed up at him with that same small smile, and the silence
between them lingered.

Maddy looked so
pretty, and so tired. Her nurse’s uniform was not as crisp as it
had been when he’d seen her that morning, and there were shadows
under her eyes. Several strands of glossy brown escaped the hair
band she used to hold her hair back. Her perfume wasn’t as fresh as
it had been, but when he lowered his head a little and inhaled
deeply, the fainter fragrance was still there, as softly seductive
as he remembered.

His gaze lifted
to search her face. “Hard day at work?”

“Yes.” Almost
immediately Maddy stepped back. “I have to go. Goodnight, and
thanks for feeding the kitten. I really appreciate it and-”

“Stay.”

Her eyes
widened.

Yeah, he wanted
her to stay all right. He wanted her to strip off and shower with
him and then get into his bed and - Mike inwardly blinked and
cursed when Maddy turned on her heel and almost ran back into the
kitchen.

A few quick
steps and he curled his hand around her bicep. “Maddy, stop.”

“Let go.” She
tried to shake off his hand.

Now he could
see the panic in her eyes, the flush on her cheeks, and that
expression in regards to him was not something he wanted to see
from her.

He gentled his
voice, at least as much as his deep rumble could gentle. “Maddy,
why are you so frightened of me?”

She stopped
tugging on her arm and looked up, confusion replacing the panic.
“I’m not.”

“You are. You
didn’t run from me before yesterday. Before we…” He trailed off
when she averted her gaze and her cheeks flushed redder. A prickle
of fear went through him and unconsciously he rubbed his thumb
lightly along her arm. “Maddy, did I hurt you?”

“No.” She
finally succeeded in slipping from his grasp. “I need to go.”

“And I need to
know what’s wrong.” He thwarted her attempt to leave by simply
stepping in front of her, effectively blocking her escape route.
“Talk to me.”

“There’s
nothing to talk about. Nothing happened.” She still wouldn’t look
directly at him.

“Something did
happen, and we do need to talk about it.”

“Are you sure
you aren’t a female masquerading as a man?”

“You have first
hand proof of that answer.”

The blush
bloomed, covering her rounded cheeks fully. “Mike…”

“Maddy.” He
waited, silently urging her to look at him, wanting to see her
eyes.

“Talking is a
woman’s job,” she finally muttered. “Aren’t you supposed to avoid
it like the plague?”

“I do my own
thing. Talking out a problem is one of them.”

“We don’t have
a problem.”

“Yeah, we do.”
He mentally shook his head at her stubbornness. “And we’re staying
right here until you tell me what’s wrong.”

Maddy finally
looked up at him, but anger glowed in the depths of her eyes.
“Maybe I don’t want to talk about it, ever think of that?”

“Too bad.”

“You are some
piece of work, you know that?”

“I’ve been told
before.” He rather liked the sparks in the depths of her grey eyes.
At least she was meeting his gaze and talking. Sharply, admittedly,
but talking nonetheless.

“I’m sure you
have. What else can I tell you that you already know?”

“Not much, I’m
sure.”

“You are such
a-”

“Neanderthal?
You told me that already. Several times, in fact.” Leaning his
shoulder against the wall, Mike looked down at her and stated
bluntly, “Yesterday we had sex.”

“Don’t worry,”
she replied tartly, “I got the morning after pill and took it
straight away.”

“Good. We’re
not ready for the consequences yet.”

There was a
stunned silence between them then Maddy’s eyes widened. “I beg your
pardon?”

Jesus, what had
he just said? “We’re not ready for the consequences,” he amended
quickly.

“‘Yet’. You
said ‘yet’.”

“Slip of the
tongue.”

She eyed him
suspiciously.

“Besides that,”
he continued, “I know it was unexpected. I sure as hell didn’t
expect to want you like that and it happened without thought.”

Mingled fury
and embarrassment flared in her eyes. “Don’t worry, Mike, the
feeling is mutual. But it happened, so now just forget about the
whole unsavoury episode, okay? Count yourself lucky that you didn’t
get stuck with someone like me carrying your kid.”

Mike’s mouth
fell open. “What?”

“I know I’m not
your type,” she snapped. “I know I’m not any bloke’s type, but you
don’t have to rub it bloody well in, all right?”

“Rub it in?
What the-”

“Oh, what the
hell would you know?” She stormed past him towards the kitchen
entrance.

Astounded, Mike
could only stare after her for several seconds before he realised
she was leaving. Again. Only this time he didn’t know what to say,
all he could do was listen to the front door slam as she left his
house. Again. Angry. Again.

Chapter
Five

She was turning
into a first class bitch, as bad as Belinda’s friend. Maddy gazed
morosely at herself in the car’s rear-view mirror. Basically, Mike
was a nice guy and didn’t deserve to be treated so nastily.

With a sigh,
she put the car into gear and joined the traffic heading out of the
city centre. She’d hardly slept all night and it showed. She felt
like a zombie and the last thing she wanted was to deal with her
mother. Rather, she wanted to run inside her little home and lock
the door behind her. The problem was that the man who had her in
such knots lived on the other side of the wall. His bedroom was
adjacent to hers, and she fancied she could almost hear him
breathing if she pressed her ear to the wall, which she was
embarrassed to admit she’d actually done before getting ready for
work that morning. Facing him wasn’t something she wanted to do and
somehow she’d managed to avoid seeing him.