Page 29 of Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay 6)
With a sigh, h? took the stairs and let himself into his quiet, dark apartm?nt, stripping on the way to a very hot show?r to see if he could save his ?xtremities. Aft?rwards, h? stretched out on his b?d, tucking his hands b?hind his h?ad, staring up at the c?iling to cont?mplate his current probl?ms.
One, h?’d l?t hims?lf crumble his own walls.
Two, Molly had gott?n insid? thos? crumbl?d walls and made hers?lf right at hom?.
Three, and this was the bigg??, she’d run off on him tonight lik? her ass was on fir?.
And h? still want?d h?r. What was that? Sh? should be out of his syst?m now, but if anything she’d only wormed in even de?per. H? didn’t know if it was the way she’d held onto him, her fingers digging in as if sh? didn’t quite trust him not to pull away too soon. Or mayb? it was how she’d kissed him with her entir? heart and soul, ev?n though he was quite certain she had no id?a how she’d given of h?rs?lf. Or maybe it’d be?n thos? sw?et, s?xy sounds sh?’d made when h?’d had his mouth on her, or wh?n h?’d b?en buri?d d??p, so d?ep he’d compl?t?ly lost himself in her . . .
Yeah, sl??p wasn’t going to happen. H? got out of bed and b?nt to pull som?thing from th? pock?t of his pants.
Santa’s wall?t.
Molly was good. But so was he.
You sur? about that? a voice inside his head asked. Becaus? she’d manag?d to pick your heart without you feeling a damn thing . . .
Lucas had a doctor’s appointment the n?xt morning and by some miracl? was finally cleared for full duty. Reliev?d, he went to work but found conc?ntration difficult. He couldn’t stop thinking of Molly and what had happened. He’d promis?d himself not to take it th?r? and yet he’d don? ?xactly that. On h?r living room floor of all places, lik? th?y’d been stupid, horny s?vent??n-y?ar-olds who couldn’t control thems?lv?s.
H?’d always b?en able to control hims?lf. Always.
Okay, not always. Aft?r Carrie had died, he’d lost control. And th?n again wh?n he’d lost Josh. But h?’d found his way back to fe?ling human. Th? trick?
To not lov? quit? so hard.
Or at all.
“Y?ah, he’s d?finitely on another planet.”
Lucas blinked and refocus?d in on the m?eting he was in with Archer and Caleb regarding on? of Caleb’s compani?s that was having some security problems. “I’m not on another plan?t,” Lucas said. “I’m right here.”
Ignoring him, Cal?b turned to Archer. “Think it’s about a woman?”
“Nah,” Archer said. “He do?sn’t tend to let any wom?n g?t to him. Kind of like you.”
Caleb gav? a small smil?. “Look at th? pot talking to the k?ttl?.”
“I’m with Elle, aren’t I?” Arch?r asked.
“Sur?, now,” Cal?b said. “But th?re for a v?ry long tim? you tr?at?d relationships like th?y w?re the plague.”
Lucas roll?d his ?yes. “Is this a m?eting to discuss our f??lings or ar? w? working?”
Cal?b slid him a look. “You tell m?.”
“Whatever, man, my mind slipped for a minute. I’m back now.”
“It’s the brun?tte from th? bar the other night, right?” Caleb asked. “She was hot.”
“H?r fingernails were painted red and green,” Archer said. “And they lit up. Never seen that before.”
“You can tell a lot about a woman from her hands,” Caleb said. “For instance, if they’re wrapped around your neck, she’s probably pissed off at you.”
“It’s not that brunette from the bar!” Lucas exclaimed. “Why is everyone so interested in my love life?”
“He said love life,” Caleb said to Archer.
“I heard it. Fascinating.”
Lucas shook his head. “You’re both crazy. I’m not seeing the brunette.” At least not that one . . .
After that meeting, things exploded. Hunt Investigations worked on a variety of cases at any one time and for whatever reason, three of them came to a head at once, requiring the whole team to put in forty-eight straight hours without a break.
When the dust cleared, they’d cracked a cold case and gotten a man arrested for murdering his wife four years earlier. They’d proven a guy running for political office on the city senate was not only having multiple affairs, he was not living in the district he was running in, resulting in him dropping from the race. They’d provided evidence of corporate fraud to a huge beer manufacturer in the area, resulting in seventeen arrests, saving the company millions of dollars.
On the third day, they’d landed back at the offices at the crack of dawn after a very long night. Hunter had instructed them all to go home and sleep it off, which Lucas had gladly done.
He woke up to someone knocking on his door. Actually, pounding was more apt. He glanced at the time. Six-thirty p.m. Groggy, wondering who he’d have to kill for waking him up, he pulled open the door and stared blearily at Molly. He hadn’t seen her since she’d walked out on him, leaving him half naked in her apartment.
She was still dressed for work in one of his favorites, a midnight blue wraparound dress with a tie on one hip. He had no idea what the material was, but it always messed with his mind because the cut said business and yet the material looked soft to the touch, clung very slightly to all those curves, and screamed sex. Her shiny heels matched and had a strap across her arch and around her ankle, and all he could think about was tugging on that bow tied at her hip. Would the dress glide to the floor and leave her in nothing but those heels?
She was holding several bags from a retail shop nearby and a half-eaten pretzel. “I want the wallet,” she said.
“Are you going to eat that pretzel?”
“Are you going to answer my question?”
“I’m too hungry,” he said and rubbed his belly. “Famished, actually.”
She rolled her eyes and handed him the pretzel.
He moaned as he took his first bite. “Would’ve been better with mustard. Were you shopping?”
“With Elle,” she said. “I was trying to Christmas shop but ended up with new shoes and a pretzel.”
“Worth it,” he said, shoving in the last bite.
“Santa’s wallet,” she repeated and put her hands on his chest and shoved him back, following him in. “I know you took it that night at my place. And you’ve been gone working ever since, but I want it, Lucas. I want to see what name he’s going by and if there’s anything else of use in there before I slip it back to him.”
“You’re going to give it back?”
“I’m not a thief,” she said. “I didn’t mean to keep it from him for this long. Now where is it?” She looked around at his place.
He knew what she saw. A guy’s place with a big couch and coffee table that doubled as a kitchen table and shit collector, an even bigger TV, several pairs of running shoes near the door along with an empty pizza box he hadn’t taken out to the trash yet.
Elle had someone on staff who was in charge of keeping the building clean and neat. Lucas paid her to keep his apartment clean and neat as well, but she only came every two weeks, and in between those two-week visits, he wasn’t especially good at doing it for himself.
“Where is it?” Molly asked, walking to the center of his living room and turning to him, hands on hips.
