Cop's Passion (4 page)

The chill in
the air wasn’t from just the breeze blowing through the door. No,
the chill was coming from the stubborn, demanding female standing
in front of his door.

Come to think
of it, her perfume, which the breeze blew right into his nostrils,
was rather intoxicating. Shame she wasn’t as endearing right at
this moment.

“Don’t worry
about it,” she said stiffly. “I’ll take care of the kitten. Someone
has to care about it.” Without another word, she swung back around
on her heel and stormed outside into the now lightly drizzling
rain.

Moving to the
door, Mike leaned his shoulder against the jam and watched the
generous roll of her bottom beneath the wet pants as she stalked up
his path and onto the street. He continued to watch as she walked
furiously down her own path and out of sight under her veranda.

Wow. Maddy had
a temper on her, and boy, was she opinionated. Mike shook his head.
The ladies were never easy to figure out.

Still shaking
his head, he stepped back into his hallway, but not before he
caught a glimpse of a little, mottled grey streak running past his
house towards his backyard.

“Little
troublemaker,” he said, and shut the door.

Chapter
Two

Stretching
luxuriously in the bed, Maddy contemplated the clock on the bedside
table. Tomorrow she started work again and at this time would
already be on her rounds, but right now…bliss. Utter bliss. Rolling
over in the bed, she found herself face-to-face with Chaz, who
yawned loudly, smacked his lips, and again closed his eyes.

“You’re lazier
than I am.” She poked him gently in his belly.

Lazily he
batted at her finger with one seal-coloured paw.

Coming up onto
one elbow, she gave his belly a rub. Chaz rewarded her by rolling
onto his back.

“Such a
sookie-bub.” Laughing, she rubbed under his chin. Chaz purred
blissfully.

The peace of
the morning was suddenly broken by a heavy throbbing, and she sat
upright. Chaz rolled onto his belly and flattened his ears.

“Some moron has
a heavy bike, by the sounds of it.”

The roar grew
louder as whoever owned the bike throttled it up more.

It sounded
really close and a sense of foreboding filled Maddy. Getting out of
bed, she padded out into the hallway and into the lounge. Peering
through the curtains, she groaned.

The heavy bike
roared out of Mike’s driveway, and there was no doubting who
straddled it and handled it with such ease. The big beast himself,
dressed in jeans, heavy boots, and what was probably a light
jacket. He roared down the street on the motorbike and out of
sight.

That’s all she
needed to break a peaceful morning, the sound of a powerful
motorbike revving up. She’d left her old place because of
neighbours who constantly caused disruptions in the neighbourhood
by revving their cars and bikes up at all hours of the day and
night, without a care for anyone. There had been so much trouble in
the street with the loud parties, the fighting, and the total
disregard for property, that she’d finally had enough and shifted
to what she’d thought was a quiet street.

Only to find
that the Neanderthal next door not only didn’t like cats, but owned
a monstrosity of a bike with a powerful engine loud enough to break
the sound barrier.

Glancing up at
the sun now burning down, Maddy sighed. The unexpected rain storm
was gone and summer was back, though by rights it should be going
into autumn. She wondered when the colder weather would start. At
the rate things were going, she bet it would be around July. Winter
seemed to be coming later every year.

No longer in
the mood to lie back in bed, she had a shower and dressed in shorts
and t-shirt. After feeding Chaz and eating several slices of toast
herself, Maddy took care of the last chores she’d set for her final
day off.

Unpacking the
last few boxes, she set several cat statues on the sideboard, hung
up the cat clock in the lounge, placed the other cat clock in the
kitchen, and scattered the cat cushions on the sofa. Now it was
starting to look homey.

Going outside,
she glanced around. Mike hadn’t returned home and she wondered if
the kitten was still in his backyard or had wandered off. Going
through into her own backyard, she dragged the ladder to the fence
and climbed high enough to peer over and call “Kitty, kitty,
kitty!”

No kitten
appeared. Going back inside the house, she grabbed a plastic water
bowl with fresh water and poured some kitten biscuits into a small
container with a lid. Taking them outside, she crossed again to the
fence and carefully climbed the ladder. Tossing the bowls onto the
lawn, she scrambled over the fence, retrieved the bowls and crossed
to the shed. Peering in, she saw nothing, but knowing the kitten
could be anywhere, she filled the bowl with water from the tap
beside the shed, opened the lid to the bowl of biscuits, and placed
them down just outside the shed door.

She’d have to
tell Mike what she’d done and hope he’d be kind enough to leave the
food and drink here for the kitten, at least until she could catch
it.

Straightening
up, she glanced around the backyard, feeling a little bit of guilt
creep through her conscious. Trespassing wasn’t something she did
often. Mike had been gracious enough not to yell at her for being
in his yard uninvited the evening before, and here she was again,
trespassing. To be fair, she wouldn’t have been happy to find
someone skulking in her backyard.

But what had
really gotten her back up was his attitude towards the possible
stray kitten. People with their ‘not-my-problem’ attitudes were on
top of her dislike list.

Still, to be
fair, he hadn’t threatened to shoot or drown it, and he seemed like
a sort-of-okay guy. Sighing, Maddy rubbed her fingers across her
forehead. Mike was her neighbour and she really hadn’t been very
nice to him, though granted he hadn’t exactly been politeness
itself when he’d ordered her off her own roof, but then he’d
offered to fix it himself - no, not offered, told her - and that
counted for something. After the problems in her old neighbourhood,
fighting with him wasn’t something she wanted.

Maybe she’d
bake him a cake as a sort of peace offering. Men liked food, her
father had adored cake and her mother had often baked his favourite
cake as a peace-offering. Maddy had never known it not to work on
him, but whether it would work the same for Mike was something
she’d no doubt find out.

Returning to
the fence, she struggled with the ladder and finally managed to get
it back over to Mike’s side of the fence. Scaling up it, she
dropped a little heavily into her own yard, wincing a little at a
twinge in her ankle, and then she hauled the ladder back over the
fence. Lugging it to the shed, she checked to ensure that no kitten
had gotten inside before she closed and locked the door.

For a
policeman, Mike should know better than to keep his shed open and
unlocked, but that was his business. As long as he didn’t lock it
while the kitten was around. Huh, she’d have to ask him to please
keep it open.

Maybe she’d
better bake him more than just a cake.

She spent the
morning baking several cakes which she froze, before baking a
double chocolate cake with fudge frosting and setting it aside for
her neighbour. Several hours later a container of home-made Anzac
biscuits was added to the cake container. By the time she’d
finished cleaning the cooking equipment and putting them away, she
heard him return. The sound barrier being broken by the throbbing
of the heavy motorcycle was a sure indication.

Chaz flattened
his ears, his blue eyes narrowing, and she patted him on the head.
“I know exactly how you feel, babe.”

Giving Mike a
few minutes to get inside his home, she washed her hands, checked
that she had no cake or biscuit mix on her shirt, and then she
gathered up the containers and walked outside. The sun shone down
brightly, the bite of heat plain to feel on her bare arms, and she
titled her head back and breathed deeply. Yep, exhaust fumes still
lingered in the air.

Swinging up
Mike’s path, she almost came to a stop when she saw that he was
still straddling the steel monstrosity. His helmet was resting on
one hard muscled thigh, and he was leaning on the helmet on one
forearm. The leather gloves he gripped in one massive hand while he
gazed intently at the bushes on the side of his drive. He looked
menacing, sitting astride the big motorcycle with alertness in
every line of his big body.

As Maddy
neared, he looked around and she was struck anew by how dangerous
he appeared. Lowered brows, jaw tight, his startling pale blue eyes
narrowed as though seeing something no one else could, and he
seemed like judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one big,
dangerous package.

Upon seeing
her, his mouth curved into a slight smile and the alertness faded
just a little, though his gaze remained intent.

She could swear
she felt that intent gaze burning right through her as it did a
quick sweep of her body before settling on her face.

“Maddy.” His
deep rumble of her name filled the air.

“Mike.” She
hesitated. “Are you going out again?”

“No.” Picking
up the helmet in one hand, he straightened and easily swung his leg
over the bike. “Something I can do for you?”

She held out
the containers. “Peace offering.”

Those dark
brows rose. “Peace offering?”

“For
trespassing in your yard yesterday.”

Reaching out,
he slowly took the top container. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Maddy couldn’t
help but grin. “The peace offering or the trespassing?”

“Both.”

Ouch. She
stopped smiling.

“I mean,” he
said, correctly reading her expression, “A peace offering isn’t
necessary. And you didn’t have to trespass. You could have asked
and I’d have let you into the yard.”

“Okay,” she
conceded.

“Safer than
scaling the ladder.”

“Yep.”

That all-seeing
gaze swept slowly over her face before dropping to the other
container in her hand. “And that?”

“The other part
of the peace offering.”

A few seconds
of silence passed. Maddy waited for him to take the container she
proffered but when he didn’t, she raised her brows.

Mike didn’t
lift his gaze from the container. “You trespassed in my yard
again.”

Never one to
beat around the bush, Maddy nodded. “Yep.”

“Tell me,” he
said, lifting his gaze to meet hers, “You didn’t use the ladder and
come over the fence.”

“Sure.” She
smiled brightly.

Those blue eyes
narrowed.

Still smiling,
Maddy waggled the container at him. “Anzac biscuits. Home
made.”

“You think
giving me home made biscuits will make up for endangering
yourself?”

“Endangering
myself? Geez, Mike, I only jumped the fence. It’s not a big
deal.”

“You should
have come around the front.”

“You weren’t
home.”

“Then go
through the side gate.”

The big buffoon
was really pushing it. “Do you want this bloody peace offering or
not?”

Mike reached
out but instead his fingers wrapped around her wrist in a firm, yet
undeniably strong, grip. He looked down at her grimly. “Next time,
Maddy, you go through the side gate. No more climbing the ladder to
get over my fence. Do you understand?”

Her temper went
from a little a spark to a slow simmer. “You don’t tell me what to
do. No one does. Give me back my bloody cake, you-”

“I accept your
peace offering.” He plucked the biscuit container from her hands
and balanced it easily atop the cake container.

“I take it
back.”

“Can’t.” He
easily evaded her quick snatch and turned away. “Come inside.”

“I don’t
friggin’ think so, you Neanderthal.” She glared at his back.

“I’ve got news
about your kitten.”

“What?”

Standing at his
door, he fitted the key into the lock of the security screen and
looked calmly over his shoulder at her. “The kitten? Remember?”

“What about
it?” A sudden thought chilled her. “You didn’t find it dead on the
road, did you?”

“No.” He
unlocked the wooden door and walked into the house. “Come in.”

Slowly she
followed, her anger seeping away as concern for the kitten rose
once again to the top of her priorities.

Mike’s side of
the duplex was the same as hers, only with the rooms on opposite
sides. Glancing around curiously, Maddy saw that his furniture was
dark and big, as would befit a man with his size body. A man who
was so tall and muscular couldn’t possibly be comfortable in dainty
chairs and his heavy, sturdy armchairs were ideal. From the rooms
she glimpsed as she followed him into the kitchen, it seemed that
not one female hand had been involved in furnishing his house.

The man did
favour dark colours, though. Entering the kitchen, her gaze was
drawn immediately to his dark wood table with the sturdy wooden
chairs. Cripes, there wasn’t even a cushion on the hard surface of
the chairs. The man had to have an arse as hard as a, well, the
wood of the chairs, to sit comfortably in them for long.

She snuck a
glance at said arse as Mike placed the containers on the kitchen
bench. His jacket stopped at his waist so his very firm, very nice
backside was on show under the jeans. The man could fill out a pair
of jeans, no doubt about it.

Mike shrugged
out of the jacket and she watched the flex of muscles nicely shown
by the short sleeves of his t-shirt. Mentally she drooled, while
outwardly she looked at him calmly as he glanced at her over his
shoulder and queried, “Tea or coffee?”