Cop's Passion (26 page)

True to her
word, she rang him at midnight. Groping for the phone, he rumbled,
“I’m alive.”

“Good to hear.”
She sounded just as sleepy, and he could imagine her in bed, all
soft and warm and sleepy-eyed.

It made his
loins clench and he rolled over in bed. “Sure you don’t want me to
come over so you can see for yourself?”

She chuckled.
“Goodnight.” The phone clicked off.

Mike hung up
and smiled.

During the
night he registered something warm against his neck and half
asleep, he smiled. Dreaming of Maddy cuddling up to him was
something he could cling to quite happily.

The phone
ringing woke him again, this time from a deep sleep, and he fumbled
for it, lifting it to his ear to growl, “Carson.”

“Lovett
here.”

Opening his
eyes, he blinked up into the dark. “Maddy?”

“Surely is. How
are you doing?”

“What?” He
wiped a hand over his face. Awareness came back. “Oh. Okay.
Fine.”

“Are you all
right?” The professional tone crept into her sleep-husky voice.

“Honestly, I’m
fine. Just half asleep.” He stretched and turned his head, only to
freeze when he felt something warm and soft snuggled in the crook
of his neck.

Eyes open wide,
he stared into the dark of the room while trying to figure out what
the hell it was.

“Okay. I’ll see
you in the morning. ‘Night.”

“Goodnight.”
Mike reached out and placed the receiver on the hook.

He had a bad
feeling, a really bad feeling, about what was in his bed. He
shifted slightly and the warm, soft bundle snuggled closer. A
little purr sputtered to life.

Shit! Mike
reached out to the bedside lamp and snapped it on. Light flooded
the vicinity of the bed and he turned his head on the pillow and
looked down towards his shoulder.

Yeah, there it
was, the freakin’ fur ball all snuggled up between his chin and
shoulder. A tiny little ball of mottled grey fur tucked up to
him.

In his freakin’
bed.

Oh no, it
wasn’t happening. No freakin’ way.

Mike shifted
and started to reach for it, only to still when it lifted its
little head and licked him. The rough little tongue scraped across
his jaw line and then it reached out a tiny paw and patted his
chin.

Mike looked
down at it. “You are going outside. Outside, do you hear me?”

Eyes seemingly
too big for the tiny face blinked up at him sleepily.

“Don’t go
looking at me like that. You are not staying here.”

He reached for
it and a little paw wrapped around his finger. Mike stared down at
it. Hell, the paw was so tiny that his finger was wider than the
little arm.

The kitten
purred, stood up, stretched and nestled closer, tucking itself
firmly against him. The little purr sputtered but kept going
gamely.

It really was a
bold little thing.

No! Hell,
no.

Jaw tight, Mike
glared up at the ceiling. “You’re not staying,” he growled.

The little
tongue rasped against his neck and it tucked even closer, which he
hadn’t thought possible. Now he could feel the little purr rumbling
against his skin. The little body was so tiny, so warm. So
helpless.

Ah shit. It
could stay the night. He snapped off the light and yanked the
blanket up over his shoulders, effectively covering the kitten as
well. It didn’t move. “If you suffocate, don’t look at me.”

The kitten
purred.

No way in hell
was he telling Maddy about this, nor anyone else.

Bloody fur ball
thought it could take over. It had another think coming. In the
morning it was going back outside. No more laundry basket and
certainly no more of his bed.

Mike fell
asleep with the kitten nestled in the crook of his neck.

Chapter
Eight

Maddy stared
out of the window into the back garden.

“I don’t get
it,” Cindy said from behind her. “Mike wants you. Any fool can see
his tongue practically hanging out of his head whenever you’re
around. What’s your problem?”

With a sigh,
Maddy returned to the kitchen bench and picked up the container of
flour and a spoon. “He wants to see me naked.”

“That’s what
happens.” Cindy sipped at the can of lemonade. “I repeat, what’s
your problem?”

“Are you
serious? Look at me.”

“So you carry
some weight, so what? Come on, Mads, you’ve never been shy about
your weight before.” Cindy watched Maddy measure the flour. “What’s
changed?”

“He’s perfect,
I’m not.”

“What
crap.”

Maddy looked at
her. “What not crap.”

“I wish Belinda
was here to hear you say that.” Cindy grinned.

Scowling, Maddy
dumped the flour into the bowl, only to cough and wave her hand in
front of her face as the too vigorous tip made flour billow up into
the air.

“You’re not
seriously saying that Belinda and her idiot buddy have made you
self-conscious?” Cindy rolled her eyes and reached for a homemade
biscuit. “Get a grip, Mads. Geez.”

“They haven’t.”
Maddy mixed the flour into the milk, sugar, butter and vanilla mix.
“I’d never let them get to me like that. Sheesh, that’s why I knock
heads with my family all the time, I refuse to be what they
want.”

“So what’s the
problem?”

“I don’t
know.”

Cindy watched
Maddy retrieve a cake tin and grease it. “You do.”

“I don’t.”

“Lovett, I’ve
known you for years. You know what the problem is.”

Damn friends.
Maddy scowled as she poured the cake mix into the tin.

“You’re even
starting to look like him,” Cindy said.

Maddy flipped a
rude gesture with her finger.

“Oh, and
there’s the Maddy we all love. I wonder where her spunk has gone,
though? It seems she lost it somewhere.” Cindy swung her legs up
and balanced her crossed ankles on the edge of the table, her
stiletto sandals dangling off the ends of her red nail-painted
toes.

Closing the
oven door on the cake tin, Maddy placed her crossed arms on the
bench top and leaned on them. “I have spunk. I haven’t lost
it.”

“So what’s the
problem? You’ve already had mad sex with Mike twice, I know it made
your head practically spin.”

“I never said
that.”

“I can read
between the lines. So now you have him close by for the rest of the
week, he wants you bad, and you keep holding him off. What the
hell, Mads?”

“Okay, okay.
Geez, Cindy.”

Cindy held her
arms out to the sides and waggled her fingers in a ‘come on’
gesture.

“Yes, all
right.” Maddy took a deep breath and blew a strand of hair out of
her eye that had flopped out of the hair band she was currently
using to hold her hair back. “Yes, I am worried about what Mike
will think once he sees me naked.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s
perfect.”

“And?”

“He’s built
like a woman’s wet dream.”

“And?”

“I’m not.”

“Maybe if the
woman was a lesbian, you would be.”

“I mean, I’m
not a man’s wet dream.”

“He thinks you
are.”

“I know I’m
not.”

“Maddy,” Cindy
said patiently, “It doesn’t matter what you think, it’s what Mike
thinks that matters.”

“But this is my
problem, remember?”

“Yeah, and
because of your problem you’re going to let the best thing that
ever happened to you walk away?”

Maddy was
horrified. “He’s looking at other women?”

“God, Maddy,
no! Cripes, did your common sense go the same way as your
spunk?”

“Sorry. No.”
Closing her eyes, Maddy pulled the hair band out and ran one hand
distractedly through her hair. “I’m in knots about this.”

“So un-knot
yourself.” Cindy grinned. “I’m sure Mike will be glad to help.”

Maddy stabbed a
finger in her direction. “You are never to tell Mike about
this.”

“Fine.
Whatever.”

Playing with
the hair band, Maddy murmured her greatest fear. “What if he looks
at me and I turn him off?”

“You haven’t so
far.”

“He hasn’t seen
me fully naked.”

“He’s seen your
arse and boobs. The backs of your thighs. There isn’t much left, is
there?” Cindy tipped the lemonade can to her mouth and took a
healthy swallow. “And he’s still hanging around panting after
you.”

“I thought
Robert knew me.”

Cindy dropped
the drink can and gaped. “What?”

“Robert. You
know. Matt’s friend from school.”

“Oh my God. Is
this what it’s all about? That moron’s treatment of you? That was
years ago!”

“I don’t know.”
Maddy dropped the hair band. “Okay. Yes, a little. Come on, Cindy,
you remember what happened, don’t you? Robert took me out and I was
so happy, and then he coerced me into…” She swallowed. “You
know.”

“And you’re
letting that affect you now? Good God, Maddy, you were a teenager.
You’re a grown up now. You know he was a moron and a right shit and
probably still is. You can’t let that affect what you have with
Mike.”

“I’m not.”
Maddy winced when her friend narrowed her eyes. “Okay. A
little.”

“You’re
seriously going to let that experience with Robert affect you
now?”

“I can’t help
it.”

Cindy smacked
her forehead with the palm of her hand. “So your brother paid
Robert to take you out. So you didn’t know. So Robert was such a
little shit that he conned you into giving him your virginity in
the back seat of his very crappy car. So what?”

“So what? So
how about him letting everyone know how much I jiggled and wobbled
and it was like screwing a marshmallow?”

“And how about
Matt and Darren beating the shit out of him for it?”

“And how about
me being the laughing stock of the school for the rest of the
year?”

“And how about
me for sticking up for you and getting a black eye from Betty
Martin for it?”

“Oh yeah? How
about me putting glue in Matt’s underwear and he had to go to the
hospital to get them removed?”

Cindy started
to guffaw. “Yeah, that was great.”

“Mum didn’t
think so. She thought so even less when she heard about Robert and
me.”

“So what?”
Cindy was still grinning. “Do you know how ridiculous you sound,
Maddy? You were a teenager with no experience and full of doubt.
You grew up into a woman with a career and her own means of
support, and you have a hunk of manhood who has seen parts of you
already and he’s still panting for more.” Her hilarity vanished.
“Seriously, Maddy, this is Mike we’re talking about now. Do you
honestly think he’s the kind of man to screw you and then laugh
about it and tell the world?”

“Of course
not.” Maddy’s defence of him was immediate.

“Do you want
him to think that he’s the problem?”

“Why would he
think that?”

“Because you
won’t let him into your bed. I’ve seen his puzzled looks at you
when you have your back turned. You let him kiss and cuddle you but
you draw the line at getting into his bed.”

“He’s
recovering from concussion.”

“He’s over
that. You know it, I know it, and he knows it. Stop farting around,
Maddy. If you really want him, if you care about him, then you need
to go and get him before he gives up and someone else claims the
man you know belongs with you.”

The thought of
Mike leaving her made her heart feel like lead and her gut
clench.

“You don’t
sleep around,” Cindy said bluntly. “I bet Mike is the first man
you’ve made love to since that disastrous episode with Robert.”

Maddy dropped
her eyes to the hair band lying on the bench between her
fingers.

“I thought so.”
Cindy nodded. “So Mike must be a special man for you to have twice
made love to. And you’d let that go just because you’re worried
about what he’ll think of you?”

“I know. It’s
stupid.”

“Bloody oath it
is.” Cindy stood up, downed the last of her drink and crossed the
kitchen to drop it in the bin. Moving beside Maddy, she grabbed her
shoulders and turned her around. “Now straighten up. Wash the flour
off your face, tidy up, and go have your lecherous way with
Mike.”

Maddy couldn’t
help but grin a little.

“You’re a
woman, a heck of a lot of woman, and you’re going to stake your
claim on your man. Now, what are you?”

“Befuddled?”

Cindy smacked
her lightly on the side of the head. “You’re a woman going to claim
her man. You’re going over there, rip his clothes off, throw him to
the floor and have your dirty way with him. Now what are you?”

“Obviously a
brazen slut if I listen to you.”

“Very good. Now
I’m going to ring you tonight and I expect flaming hot news that
will make my toes curl. Right?”

Maddy
laughed.

“Don’t
disappoint me, Maddy. I’ll be waiting.” Grabbing her shoulder bag,
Cindy left the kitchen. Only seconds later, she popped her head
around the door and looked seriously at Maddy. “Think about what I
said. If you want a life with Mike, you need to do something about
it.”

Maddy listened
to her friend’s high heels click along the hallway, then the light
slam of her security screen door. The smell of the cake baking
filled the kitchen, and Maddy thought how much Mike would like
it.

It had been a
long time since she’d baked for anyone but herself. She’d been
doing a lot of baking for Mike.

Because she
cared about him.

Because he
meant a lot to her.

Because she
wanted to please him.

Biting her lip,
Maddy crossed to the kitchen window to peer out. Yep, Mike was
still out in the backyard and she could see him talking to
something below the fence level. It was the kitten, she was sure of
it. Opening the window, she heard the deep rumble of Mike’s
voice.