Tipsy (12 page)

Her eyes widened. “Like you went
undercover?”

“
Yes.”

“
Where?”

“
I’d really rather not
say.”

Her lips pursed. I sighed. “It’s for
your safety.”

She seemed to accept that, thankfully.
“How long were you gone?”

“
I got back two weeks before
I came in for a haircut.”

I watched the realization come over her
features. She looked at me closely. “You were gone all those
months?”

“
Yes.”

“
That’s why your hair was so
long when you came into the salon that day,” she said, almost like
she was talking to herself.

“
Yeah, and now it’s all
short and clean-cut looking,” I muttered, wishing I hadn’t cut
it.

Her eyes went to the floor where I
tossed the hat I was wearing. “You were covering up how short it
was?”

I nodded.

“
Why would it matter
now?”

“
Because they put me back
undercover. Tonight.”

“
Tonight,” she
scoffed.

I scooted up onto the bed and leaned
against the headboard. Then I patted the mattress beside me,
inviting her closer. She hesitated for a second but then crawled
over the top blankets and settled beside me.

“
I couldn’t call you. I had
to turn in my phone and my car. The rules of going undercover are
strict. Especially since I’m going undercover in this
town.”

“
They took your phone and
your car?”

“
Yes. And I’m not to go to
the station or my house, or anywhere else I might normally go for
the foreseeable future.”

She rolled her head to the side and
stared up at me. “But you’re here.”

“
I shouldn’t be,” I said
softly, gazing into her face. There was something about her…
something that just made it hard to stay away. Like she emitted
some kind of secret gravity, the kind of gravity that pulled in
only me (it better not be pulling in anyone else).

“
Why are you here,
Blue?”

“
I couldn’t stand the
thought of you thinking bad about me.”

“
Oh, I was thinking hateful
things,” she said, her voice low.

I laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

“
So, tonight…” Her voice
trailed away.

On impulse I reached over and threaded
my fingers through hers resting in her lap. “Tonight I really
wanted to go out with you.”

A soft smile played on the corners of
her mouth, but then she blinked and looked away. I took it as a
good sign that she left her hand in mine. “At the club…”

“
The club was a freaking
cluster-fuck.” I blew out a breath.

“
You were undercover
there?”

“
Yeah, I was working on my
cover.”

“
What’s the case about?” she
asked tentatively.

“
Drugs.”

Her eyes widened. “Is that why you
asked me about drugs and my drink?”

I nodded. “That guy you were dancing
with, he’s a dealer. He’s dangerous, Julie. Stay away from him.
From that club.”

She shuddered. “I have no intention of
ever going near either again.”

“
Hey,” I said softly,
pulling her chin around so she could look into my face. “Did he
hurt you?”

“
No.” Her voice was
breathless and it made desire spark through my veins.

Without thought, I dropped a kiss to
her forehead. She froze, like she didn’t know what to do. I smiled
against her skin and then dropped my forehead down to lean against
hers. “I’m sorry I stood you up tonight.”

“
Duty calls,” she
replied.

“
Yeah. Sometimes I really
hate my job.”

“
How long are you going to
be undercover?”

I released her chin and leaned my head
back against the headboard. “I don’t know. ‘Til the case is
over.”

“
This is the same case you
were on before?”

I nodded. “It’s the same case.
Different location. It turns out things are happening closer to
home than we realized.”

“
Those things are
drugs?”

“
Yeah. Dealing has become a
big problem farther south, and apparently the supplier lives
here.”

“
Wow,” she intoned, leaning
her head against the headboard. Then she jerked suddenly, like
there was a sudden explosion of sound. Except the only sound was
that of our breathing. My body tensed instinctively and my eyes
scanned the room.

“
What’s wrong?” I swear just
being near her kicked my testosterone into high gear and had me
thinking all these caveman thoughts.
Mine.
Protect.
Claim.

“
Is this dangerous?” she
asked, her stormy eyes wide.

I shrugged. It was dangerous. Drug
dealers were no joke. They were territorial, they were mean, and
they only thought about the job. But the look on her face had me
keeping my mouth shut. Clearly this idea scared her. She was likely
wondering what kind of danger she was in now.

Julie yanked her fingers out of mine
and wrapped her hand around my wrist, squeezing a little. “Could
you get hurt?”

I paused. “What?”

“
Blue,” she said,
exasperated, giving my arm a jerk. “Could you get hurt?”

“
You’re worried about me?” I
asked, astonishment flowing through me like a river in a rainstorm.
I hadn’t expected such stark concern on her face. I hadn’t expected
her to completely bowl me over.

“
Well, yeah,” she said, like
it was a no-brainer.

I couldn’t take it.

Not another single second.

I slipped my hands along her ribcage
and lifted her off the mattress, depositing her on my lap. Her bare
legs straddled my thighs as I settled her a little bit closer.
Slowly, I drew my fingers down the sides of her ribs so I could
grip that soft spot around her waist, just above her hip
bones.

Julie stared at me curiously, her hands
falling between us. It took a minute of convincing, but I got my
hands to leave her waist and cupped her face, brushing my thumbs
along the creamy satin of her cheeks.

I pulled her in, keeping my eyes locked
on hers, feeling the slight trembling of my insides. I never
anticipated anyone or anything so much. I never before wanted to
prolong the torture of waiting for the first touch of a woman’s
lips on mine.

Her eyes fluttered closed and the
softest sigh escaped her slightly parted lips.

I crushed our mouths together, mingling
our breath, taking claim on exactly what I wanted. Her lips were
moist and soft. Her kiss was giving, like she was offering up every
single piece of herself, like she was laying herself bare and
trusting me to keep her safe.

Holy hell, I would die to kiss her like
this every day for the rest of my life.

I held her face still, being greedy
with my need. My lips ravaged her mouth, being gentle but leaving
behind nothing. I nipped at the corner of her lips and rang my
tongue around the edges. My bottom lip fit so perfectly in the
center of hers that they joined together like two halves of a
whole.

When I wanted more, I pressed my thumbs
into her jaw, ever so lightly, and her lips parted so I could sweep
my tongue into her luscious mouth.

She tasted like toothpaste, like cool
mint. It was a stark contrast against the heat of the kiss, the
heat that was pulsing between us.

Her hands found the front of my shirt
and she gripped it, taking large fistfuls and pulling herself
closer to me. Her tongue swept the roof of my mouth, and I groaned,
my pulse picking up as all the blood in my body rushed to the area
between my legs.

With a deep groan, I ripped my mouth
away from hers and she grabbed me back, covering my lips with hers,
gently coercing my piercing into her mouth to roll it around her
tongue. The gentle tugging sensation was unlike anything I felt
before. Need slammed into my body. All the blood left my head and
traveled south. All the air left my lungs, and the only thought I
could summon was telling me to take her then and there.

She made a little purring sound and
released the piercing, pressing a full kiss against my lips before
she collapsed forward, burying her face in my neck. Every so often
her lips would brush against my beating pulse and desire would
sweep me all over again.

I put a leash around my lust and told
it to heal. This wasn’t what I came here for.

No. That was a lie.

This is
exactly
what I came here for. She was
exactly what I wanted.

It was bad timing. The
worst.

How the hell was I going to
do my job
and
keep
Julie in my life?

11

Julie

Whoa.

It wasn’t much of a word, but it was a
hell of a feeling.

I didn’t just bury my face in his neck
because I couldn’t get close enough (can you blame me?). I did it
because I needed a minute to compose myself. I felt like a pair of
well-worn jeans, comfortable and stretched to the perfect fit. His
lap was exactly right. It was almost a shame, really. Because now
no other seat would fit me like this. I would always be wanting the
feeling of being against him.

But like a well-worn pair of jeans, I
had a hole in my pocket and stuff was falling out. Like my
emotions. Like my heart. If I looked at him right now, he would see
it. He would know.

I’d never kissed anyone with a piercing
in their lip before. That little silver ring begged to be sucked
on, and I couldn’t resist tugging it into my mouth. The metal was
cool against my fevered body.

And his lips… bloody hell.

It almost made me mad all over again
that he hadn’t kissed me on our first date. He withheld such a
blissful moment from me for far too long.

I thought it was because he wasn’t
interested. I thought it was because my feelings were
one-sided.

My feelings were so not
one-sided.

There was no way in hell he could kiss
me like that if he wasn’t into me.

A little giggle escaped my lips and I
cut it off, hoping he didn’t hear my epic display of girly
giddiness.

His broad, heavy palm slid up my back.
“What’s so funny?”

I pressed my nose against his neck and
smiled. “Nothing.”

“
Are you seriously still
drunk?” he asked, a hint of speculation in his tone.

After all the hurling I had
done? Not likely. “I’m just tipsy.”
On
you.

I’d like to retract my previous
statement that people could not get tipsy on other people. They
totally could.

I snuggled a little bit closer, tucking
my hands between us, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart against
the backs of my palms. When both his arms wrapped around me, I was
totally surrounded by him.

It was a feeling I’d never experienced
before.

It was all-encompassing. It was
all-powerful. It was all I ever wanted.

I felt safe. I felt warm. I was so
utterly comfortable against him that I couldn’t imagine being
anywhere else. I didn’t think about his track record of
disappointing me. Or that after tonight I probably wouldn’t see him
again.

For several long, blissful moments, I
just existed in his arms and everything else melted
away.

Reality creeped in slowly. I knew that
there were likely a hundred questions that I should be asking… but
honestly, I couldn’t think of one. It wasn’t because I didn’t care
or that Blue being undercover didn’t interest me. Everything about
Blue interested me. I wasn’t big on reading, but if he was a book,
I would read him cover to cover. Over and over again.

It’s just that… none of that stuff
mattered. Not really. It was quite clear to me that I was
vulnerable to him. It seemed it didn’t matter what he did to me; I
still wanted him.

But my wanting him didn’t change that
he wasn’t available.

With a sigh, I pushed up off his chest,
and his arms slid down to loop loosely around my hips. I couldn’t
bring myself to pull completely away so I left my hands resting on
his chest.

“
So you’re an undercover
cop,” I said, my eyes taking in all of his features and his mussed
up hair.

“
Yep.”

“
You don’t know how long
this case will last?”

“
No.”

“
And if I see you out, I
should pretend I don’t know you?”

He frowned. “You’re not going to see
me.”

“
Just like I wasn’t supposed
to see you tonight?” I countered.

He gave me a look. The kind of look
that said “are you seriously challenging me right now?” I guess
maybe I was. I yanked my hands away from his chest and crossed my
arms to stare at him. I was waiting for my answer.