PartyNaked (3 page)

Surprisingly Thursdays were pretty good days for them,
business-wise. In addition to the book club meeting, there were quite a few
regulars who came to have a drink or two and unwind with a newspaper or the
newest novels.

Speaking of regulars, Stephanie took a detour to a chair in
the corner. “You need me to freshen up your drink, Elias?”

Elias Clark was Books and Brew’s most loyal patron. He came
in two nights a week—Thursdays and Saturdays—and he always followed the same
routine. He’d claim
his
chair in the quietest corner of the shop, drink
two scotch and sodas—never more than two—and read the newspaper. Then he’d find
Jayne and she’d talk him into buying a new book.

“Thank you, Stephanie. I believe I
am
ready for my
second glass.”

She picked up his empty tumbler and started to walk back to
the bar, but Elias stopped her with a question. “You okay tonight? You seem
tired. That’s not like you. You’re usually the life of this place.”

She smiled at his compliment and shrugged easily. “I’ve had
a long day.”

A very long one
, she thought.

“Perhaps you could take off early?” Elias suggested. “Go
home and rest. I bet the other ladies wouldn’t mind covering for you.”

Stephanie glanced around the shop. Jayne was leading the
book discussion, while Sophie and Jordan were helping various customers, either
by finding books or serving drinks.

She shook her head. “Only a few more hours until closing
time. I’ll be fine ’til then.”

Elias gave her a friendly smile and she felt grateful for
his concern.

She was halfway to the bar when she spotted a familiar face
walking through the front door. She stopped in her tracks. Detective Nolan
sauntered in like he owned the place and the temper she’d managed to subdue all
afternoon flared hot once again.

He glanced around the bar quickly, looking over at the
boisterous book group as he took a seat at the end of the bar. His gaze missed
her completely.

Suddenly she felt as if the clouds on her lousy day had
lifted and she’d been granted a bit of good fortune. She’d had hours to fume
about the detective’s behavior and, as always happened, she’d thought of a
million clever, cutting things she could have said to him
after
she’d
driven away. She’d been pissed off about missing her opportunity.

A smile crossed her face. Time for round two.

She walked toward him.

As if sensing sudden danger, the detective turned, his gaze
catching hers as she approached. She enjoyed the myriad emotions that covered
his face in the few short steps it took her to reach him—surprise, annoyance,
anger and, finally, was that regret? The last pulled her up short for a moment,
then she drew near.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t De—”

The detective grabbed her shoulders, pulled her toward him
and cut off her words with a kiss that left her stunned motionless for a full
thirty seconds.

What the hell?

She put her hands on his chest and tried to push him away,
but the man was relentless. He turned his head slightly, his tongue brushing
her lower lip. She gasped and he took advantage, opening her mouth even more
for his beautiful assault.

Stephanie might be angry, but she appreciated a good kiss as
much as the next woman, and it seemed a shame to interrupt the man when he was
on a roll. Then she recalled the ticket and his rudeness. She shoved at his
chest again, but he dipped his tongue in farther, the brief scent and flavor of
peppermint on his breath making her mouth water.

Anger. Arousal. Those two emotions seemed to be in direct
opposition and she was torn. Should she break the contact—and his neck—or hang
on and enjoy the ride? For all his personality defects, the cop could work
magic with his mouth. Holy wow.

He stroked her tongue with his, touching it with quick,
teasing brushes. His hands moved from her shoulders to her face, cupping her
cheeks, and Stephanie felt herself go molten, her panties suddenly wet. She was
a sucker for a sexy kisser and a good face hold. God, she loved it when a guy
touched her cheeks so sweetly.

After a few hours, the detective pulled away, though his
face was so close to hers, she could feel his hot breath on her skin. With a
bit of distance between them, Stephanie’s wits began to return.

“Are you mental?” she whispered, too breathless to speak
louder.

“No.”

His answer was too quick, too pat, too unsatisfying.

“You better have a damn good reason for doing that, Offi—”

He covered her mouth with his again. Rather than repeating
the initial, long, soul-searching kiss, this time it was harder, hungrier. The
horny fool inside her returned the effort…with interest.

The next time he moved away, he spoke first. “Is there
somewhere private where we can talk?”

She snorted. She couldn’t help it. “You just came in here
and attacked me in my bar. I’m not about to go anywhere with you alone until
you give me some answers.”

The detective sighed heavily and then looked around, first
at the bar and then over his shoulder, through the plate-glass window facing
the street. Stephanie noticed he hadn’t released her and she was beginning to
suspect it was to keep her in check.

For what?

“How about outside? The city street is private enough for
our conversation, but public enough you don’t have to worry about me
overpowering and taking advantage of you.”

She heard the humor in his tone, but she also sensed there
could be some truth to his admission. Of course, she wasn’t so sure she’d kick
up much of a fuss should he try that overpowering thing.

She looked at his quiet, serious face and just like that,
she knew she’d be perfectly safe with him.
Damn it.
“Street’s fine, but
make it quick. I’m working.”

He grinned and her stomach lurched unsteadily at the sight.
Detective Asshole, as she’d taken to thinking of him in her mind, was gorgeous.
Stunningly so. With deep, rich brown hair and eyes so dark they looked black,
he also had a small cleft in his chin that added a bit of interest to his
perfectly put-together face.

“You work here.” His words didn’t seem to be posed as a
question so she didn’t answer. Instead, she followed him as he headed for the
front door. He’d released her face, only to reach down and grasp her hand. She
felt foolish and ridiculously happy to be holding his hand as they walked to
the sidewalk, standing right outside Books and Brew. She noticed he was careful
to make sure she was still in sight of her friends inside. She appreciated that
small, thoughtful gesture.

So much for first impressions.

The detective was quickly becoming an enigma—asshole, sexy,
arrogant, confusing. He pushed every button inside her and poked at every
emotion. This was not good.

Jarod turned to look at the woman he’d issued a ticket to
earlier in the day and forced himself not to gloat over her kiss-swollen lips.
He’d come to the bar while shadowing his first suspect as a detective. When he
spotted the double-parker, he knew he was in serious danger of having his cover
blown.

When she started to speak, her voice about to loudly call
him “detective”, he’d acted out of desperation, instinct and desire. Christ. He
hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Stephanie Harper all day. He’d looked
up her tag number as soon as he’d clocked into work. He’d found her name,
address and the picture on her driver’s license. Her face had haunted him as he
considered what a jerk he’d been.

“Well?” she prompted when he failed to speak. He shook
himself. He must look like a jackass. He’d used the kiss to silence her, but
the ploy had backfired. The pressure his now-erect cock was putting on the
thick, unyielding material of his jeans was painful.

“Guess now I know why you bought all that liquor. I thought
you were having a party.”

Jesus. As far as opening lines went, that was probably the
dumbest of all time. He tried to will his hard-on away. His brain needed a bit
more blood flow.

She gave him what he was coming to recognize as her standard
what the fuck
look and he tried not to groan.

“I want to apologize for kissing you like that, but it was
the quickest way I could think of to shut you up.”

“Oh my God. You really are insane.”

“No, wait,” he said, when she turned to walk away. “Let me
explain.”

She crossed her arms accentuating the full breasts in her
tight T-shirt. He wished she’d put them back down. She wasn’t making this very
easy on him. Standing face-to-face, there was no way for him to covertly adjust
his cock without her noticing.

“You have two minutes and then I’m going back inside. If you
attempt to follow me, I’m calling for cops who aren’t fucking lunatics.”

“I’m undercover.”

“So?”

“So you were about to blow my cover by yelling out my name
in there.”

“I was hardly yelling.”

He wanted to laugh because right now, she was definitely
yelling. She had a rather boisterous way of speaking. He’d noticed it this
morning when they stood outside. She wasn’t overly loud. She just had a strong,
powerful voice. He bet her laughter was the same. Unfortunately, all he’d
managed to provoke from her was disapproving scowls. And red-hot kisses. He
could still taste her on his lips. The woman was sexy as hell.

“I’m on duty and it’s imperative that no one in the bar know
my real profession. I was hoping to come in and have a quiet drink without
drawing any attention to myself.”

Stephanie looked over her shoulder, peering through the
window of the bar. “Who the hell could you be watching in there?”

He grinned at her curiosity. “I can’t tell you that.”

“So you’re undercover in my bar and you think the best way
to silence me is to kiss me?”

He shrugged. She could act as annoyed as she wanted, but he
knew better. “I didn’t hear you complaining.”

“You were holding my mouth hostage.”

He leaned closer, not sure why he enjoyed pushing her
buttons so much. Something about her entire demeanor screamed of passion and
fire and—God help him—sex.

“You weren’t exactly fighting me off. In fact, at one point,
your tongue was in my mouth.”

“You annoy me, Detective Nolan.”

“Jarod.”

“What?”

“My name is Jarod, Stephanie.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “So you know my name. Trying to show off,
Detective?”

“I needed to know what name to put on the ticket. You pulled
away before I could ask to see your license and registration.”

His joke tweaked her temper and it amused him to see her get
fired up. Truth was, he’d let her pull away. He’d known this morning, standing
on the city street with her, he’d never turn the ticket in.

“My, my, my. You know, it seems to me you might want to tuck
some of that cockiness away.” She glanced below his waist and Jarod felt
lightheaded at her seductive look. There was no way she’d missed what he was
packing in his jeans—and he didn’t mean his gun.

“Why’s that?”

“You want to come back into that bar to do your job, right?”

He nodded, narrowing his eyes. What was she playing at?

“You need my silence to do that.”

Blackmail. The conniving, manipulative, gorgeous woman was
going to dicker for her silence.

“I think I’ve proven I know how to silence you.” He started
to reach for her, intent on reclaiming her lips once more. He’d never had such
an instant, insatiable attraction for a woman.

She took a large step back and shook her head. “That won’t
work again.”

He moved forward. “I’m willing to try if you are.”

“Christ. Put the dog on a leash and listen up, Nolan. Tear
up my parking ticket and you can set up a fucking tent in the middle of the bar
for your undercover surveillance.”

He could have told her guilt over his holier-than-thou
behavior wouldn’t allow him to turn the ticket in.

However, he didn’t feel like letting Stephanie off the hook
so easily. She was far too much fun to talk to and tease.

“You know, as a
law-abiding
citizen, I would think
you’d consider it your duty to remain quiet and allow me to do my job. Don’t
you want me to keep the streets safe?” He enjoyed throwing her words back in
her face. When her brown eyes darkened, he felt another surge of lust rumble
through his body. He’d never been much of a one-night-stand guy, but it was
taking all the strength in his body not to ask Stephanie back to his place.

Not that she would go. He was acting like a prick. Crap,
time to stop teasing her.

“Actually, I believe it was pointed out to me earlier that
I’m a criminal.”

“Now come on, Stephanie, you know I never said that.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “You implied it with all
that illegal this, illegal that crap.”

He sighed. “I was an asshole earlier. I’m sorry for that.”

His sincerity appeared to take her aback and she tilted her
head. He suspected she was trying to figure out his angle, his game.

“By earlier, do you mean the ticket or the kiss?”

“The kiss made me an asshole? I thought you liked it.”

She rolled her eyes, but he could tell she wasn’t angry any
longer. “So you’ll tear up the ticket?” she asked hopefully.

“I never turned it in. I would have torn it up on the street
in front of you, but you took off too quickly. Let’s just say I’d had a very
bad day and you sort of caught the brunt of it.”

She laughed and his earlier suspicions were proven true—she
had a loud, full-body laugh. He found it difficult not to join in, even though
he wasn’t sure what she found so funny.

“Oh my God,” she said after several mirthful moments. “I
think I’ll take your bad day and raise you one super-shitty one.”

“You too, huh?”