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  “I had a witness come forward today who thinks she might’ve seen the person who killed Bianca. She also said that you got a look at him and possibly saw the vehicle he’d driven to her house.” I repeated what Tara had told me. All the animosity he’d felt toward me disappeared in a flash. The only thing on his mind right then was helping me find Bianca’s killer.

  “I did get a good look at his face and his car, but it was parked across the street facing me and didn’t have a front license plate on it. All I can tell you is that it was a new black Audi sedan, but I’m not sure which model.” He sounded disappointed that he couldn’t do more.

  “No, Josh, that’s great. I can add the description of the car with the sketch our artist comes up with and give it to the media.” My mind was already back on work, focusing on solving this case for Bianca and her family. Her aunt had been heartbroken about burying both of Bianca’s parents and then her too; she could use the closure.

  “We have a sketch artist in our police department?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said, laughing softly at his surprise. “Would you mind sitting down with the sketch artist too? It would be great if the descriptions you give are similar to Tara’s.”

  My laugh seemed to startle him; he narrowed his eyes and studied me as if seeing me for the first time. “I’d be happy to do it. Mrs. Hendrickson is my last client for the day, so I can head to the station after her appointment. Will that work?”

  “Perfectly,” I replied. I didn’t have anything else to say, and it probably would’ve been a good moment to apologize for the first night I met him, but for some reason, I didn’t. “Well, I’ll get out of here and let you get back to work. I’ll be in touch if I need anything else. You have my number if you remember anything, right?”

  “Right,” he answered softly, studying his feet as if they were the most interesting things he’d ever seen.

  “You threw it away, didn’t you?”

  “Burned it,” was his reply. He looked back up at me and shrugged nonchalantly.

  I dug out a card from my wallet and held it out to him. “Just in case.” I left his salon without another word after he reluctantly took it from my hand. Too bad the tension I felt in my chest didn’t diminish once I left. In fact, it increased every time I was near him until I thought I might explode.

  There was only one avenue open to me to work it out of my system—a hard fuck.

  The closest gay club, Vibe, was nearly an hour away, but the only place I wanted to be that night. Some might’ve thought the drive was too long for a night out, but I wasn’t looking to get drunk. I had beer at home, but I didn’t have a willing male body in my bed. It wasn’t like Kyle and I hadn’t hooked up out of loneliness since we ended things, but I couldn’t keep doing that to myself. We both deserved better.

  I loved the multi-level functionality of the club because it had space for people who wanted to dance and it had space for guys who just wanted to shoot pool or throw darts. I was not a dancer; I usually spent my time on the second level picking up guys… like me? Was I as shallow and close-minded as Josh had implied? Would it hurt me to spend time at the bar and try to expand my outlook on men?

  That was how I ended up at the bar with my eyes locked on the dance floor. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Everything about him—from the way the colored lights hit his platinum hair to the way his lean body swayed and moved so fluidly—held me captivated. Well, that was until a tall guy moved in behind him and put his hands all over Josh Roman’s lithe body.

  I hated that dickhead and the urge to pull him away from Josh so that I could take his place stunned me. Hell, I didn’t even like Josh Roman so why did he ensnare me so much? Why did my dick throb and ache to know him up close and personal? I turned away from the action on the dance floor and caught the eye of a guy at the other end of the bar. A month prior, I would’ve been all over the silent invitation he sent me, but I was too caught up in hazel eyes and hair so blond it outshone the sun.

  Fuck me!

  The object of my desire came to the bar to get a drink and blinked in shock when he stopped beside me. The alcohol in his blood must’ve slowed down his cognitive skills because it took him a few minutes to say, “Well, hello, Detective D…”

  I stopped his drunken words with a firm kiss on his mouth. I couldn’t be certain if it was shock or want that made him open his mouth and extend an invitation to taste him, but I didn’t stop to ask. I tasted the fruitiness of his cocktail on his lips and tongue, which clashed with the one beer I had allowed myself to drink when I came downstairs to scope out the dance floor. Our drink choices were complete opposites, like the two of us, but maybe it was what I needed in my rather dull life.

  I kissed him until someone bumped into Josh hard enough to jolt him. He pulled back and stared up at me with shock, and I probably wore a matching look. It was no ordinary kiss, you see. It felt like the little imp burned himself beneath my skin and I wasn’t sure what the fuck to do about it. Then he opened his mouth and took the decision away.

  “Did that feel like kissing a girl to you?” He leaned in and pressed his lips against my ear. “I might be on the lean side, but that’s because I do yoga and I’m extremely limber. I can reverse cowboy like you can’t even imagine. Well, you’ll have to use your imagination because you’re not man enough to act on the desire I see in your eyes. You think you’ll be less of a man or less gay if you sleep with a guy with soft skin and a lean body. To men like you, fucking guys with big muscles on manly frames makes you feel more masculine yourself.”

  “You don’t know shit about me, Jizz.” I sounded like a sixth grader, but his accusations stung. Hard.

  “I’ve known your type my whole life, Detective.” He shook his head like he pitied me.

  “My name is Gabe.”

  “Okay, Gabe.” Josh rolled his eyes as if I was stupid; maybe he was one of those that thought all jocks were dumb; I was neither a jock nor dumb. “A lot of guys want to fuck me, to use me as their personal blow-up doll with ready orifices to please them until the next strapping stud comes along to grab their attention. I’m never the guy they take home to meet mom and dad. I’m not good enough.”

  I heard the hurt behind his words and I wanted to punch anyone who’d hurt him—including myself. Maybe he had jumped to conclusions that night and finished my sentence, but he had been right. It was what I was going to say. Looking at him now, I didn’t see anything feminine about him. Yes, he was lean, and he had more delicate features than I, but that didn’t make him girlie. He was beautiful, and his anger made his large hazel eyes more luminous than they already were. If I weren’t careful, looking into those eyes would get me into a lot of trouble.

  “Come on, baby, let’s dance.” I hadn’t seen the asshole from the dance floor approach because I had been captivated by the blond fury that stood before me.

  “Get lost,” I snarled at the intruder. I would rather sit there and listen to Josh flay me alive than go home alone. In the end, it wasn’t really up to me.

  “Don’t you go anywhere, honey,” Josh practically purred at the guy. “Our evening is just getting started.” Josh’s eyes were on mine the entire time he spoke. He was putting me in my place and daring me to watch him getting close to the other man. The sly smile he gave me made me ill. I didn’t want to think of him naked with the other guy, but it was the picture he painted so vibrantly. I left Vibe as soon as they returned to the dance floor. Maybe it was cowardly, but it was the only option for me.

  I tossed and turned into the wee hours of the morning, my body hard with desire and my brain tortured by all the things I should’ve said or done differently. I realized that I’d probably never get the chance to make it right. I more than burned my bridge with Josh.

  Imagine my surprise when I found him sitting on my front porch step after I returned from helping my elderly neighbor next door. “Josh?” I asked like I wasn’t sure. “Is everything okay?” I would’ve asked how he knew where I lived, bu
t it was a very small town, and probably everyone knew where to find me.

  He held up a plastic container as if it explained everything. He had a flushed face, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his entire body was that pretty shade of pink. Of course, my dick wanted in on the action.

  “I made you cookies as an apology for the way I acted last night,” he said softly. “I said some harsh things that I had no business saying.” He rose from his feet, and his eyes met mine as he held out the container for me to take. I saw exhaustion and weariness in his eyes; I wanted to make them go away.

  “Come inside and have cookies with me,” I said in invitation. I was shocked when Josh nodded his head in acceptance rather than kick me in the balls.

  He followed me to the kitchen and sat quietly at my table while I made us some coffee. I handed him a cup of black coffee with two sugars. “Do you have any cream? I hate black coffee.” I looked at him in confusion because that was how he ordered it that time I was behind him at The Brew. “I was just doing that to prove a point,” he said sheepishly.

  I said nothing as I opened the door and pulled out two types of flavored creamer I had on hand. Josh raised a brow in surprise, and I pinned him with a “don’t fuck with me” look. I made our coffee and sat across from him at the table, and we dug into the cookies.

  “So good,” I said around a chewy, gooey bite of chocolate chip cookie. “You can insult me every day if it gets me these cookies.” I looked at him then and saw a smear of melted chocolate at the corner of his mouth. I couldn’t resist leaning across the small table and licking it away.

  Just like that, we both went up in flames, reaching for one another like we were half-starved for each other’s touch. I stood and pulled Josh to his feet, slung him over my shoulder in a fireman’s hold, and carried him up the stairs to my bedroom. His laughter and the sound of him slapping my ass rang throughout the hallway to my room and made me smile.

  I not so gently deposited him on my bed, and we immediately tore the clothes off each other in between hot, greedy kisses. My dick begged for me to take, take, take, but I took my time learning the different textures of his gorgeous, leanly muscled body. “Beautiful,” I whispered against his skin.

  Once I had him spread beneath me, properly stretched open, and my dick suited up, I slowly slid inside his tight heat. My God, he threatened to burn me alive as I pushed inside him until I couldn’t get any closer to him. If I could, I would’ve crawled inside his body because I wasn’t nearly as close to him as I wanted to be.

  I didn’t know if he’d gone home with the guy from last night, and I didn’t have the right to ask, but I wanted to obliterate the memory of every lover who’d gone before me like some chest thumping Neanderthal. I pumped into him slowly, allowing his body to adjust to my size. I could see it in his eyes and feel it in the way that he dug his nails into my ass cheeks that he wanted it harder and faster.

  Harder and faster meant that it would be over too soon and I might not get another trip to nirvana. Josh fit me so perfectly like he was made just for me. Jesus, I was wrapped up tightly in emotions I hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.

  I rolled over on my back and pulled him on top of me. I wanted to watch him ride me, to take me into his body and love the way I made him feel. I wanted to see his “limber” in action. It was all I had been able to think about once those words left his mouth.

  “Ride me, Josh.” My voice sounded tortured as I waited for him to move. I needed to feel friction along the length of my cock again, to know it was him, my personal tormenter, who was bringing me so much pleasure.

  Josh began a slow ride that drove me crazy. I gripped his hips hard enough to leave bruises, but he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, my insane need seemed to spur him on. He held me tight between his thighs as he rose and fell on my cock. His head was thrown back in ecstasy, he ran his hands through his hair, and the mewling sounds that came from his throat drove me fucking wild.

  I bucked up into him, needing more friction, more heat, more everything. Josh lowered his head and smiled wickedly at me before he gave me the ride I craved. His mesmerizing hips snapped back and forth fluidly as he rode me like I was a prize stallion. I’d never seen anything as sexy as him in my life. I reached for his cock to help him, but he slapped my hand away.

  “Won’t need help.” Moments later he shot all over my stomach and chest before he collapsed on top of me in exhaustion.

  His ass still had a chokehold on my dick, and I drove up into him as I held his body securely against mine. I roared as I filled the condom, burying my dick deep inside him over and over until the last drop left my body. “Jesus,” was all I could manage to say afterward.

  “Leave him out of this.” Josh’s voice was muffled by my chest because he hadn’t moved an inch since he landed there.

  I rolled him gently onto his side so I could remove the condom and throw it away. Exhaustion like I’d never felt before descended on me. The last thing I remembered doing before I fell asleep was pulling Josh tight against me, tucking him beneath my chin, and pulling the covers over us.

  When I woke up hours later all alone, I started to doubt that Josh had even been there, but then I smelled him on my pillow and saw his dried release all over my chest. It bothered me more than I wanted to admit that he just got up and left without saying goodbye. I wanted to hunt him down and kiss him until he came back to bed, but I got up and showered off the remnants of our afternoon, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time.

  The following Monday, a sketch was issued along with the description of the car owned by our person of interest. DNA results still had not come back from the lab over a month after Bianca’s death, so the info sent to the local news stations and papers was all we had to go on for the time being. We suspected the guy wasn’t a local because no one recognized him.

  Adrian and I kept busy investigating burglaries and drug-related crimes, but my mind never strayed too far from a certain blond guy who had my insides all twisted up. Somehow he’d been avoiding me, and I was too uncertain about things to approach him. I carried his stupid plastic container around in my car hoping to run into him, so I’d have an excuse to talk to him.

  I got my chance a week after he disappeared from my life without a goodbye or fuck off. He was loading groceries into the trunk of his Mini when I pulled up beside him. He looked my way, and I didn’t need him to take off his sunglasses for me to know he was irritated about my appearance.

  Undeterred, I got out of my car anyway and walked to him. “I thought you might want this back for the next time you insult me.” My attempt at humor failed epically.

  Josh shut the trunk, turned to me, and took the container from my hand. “There won’t be a next time, Detective.” So we were back to formalities. “What happened between us was a mistake and I can’t… don’t want it to happen again. I’m sorry.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond. No one had referred to me as a mistake before, and it was entirely unpleasant, much like the time I fell off the seesaw in kindergarten and broke my arm in two places. In fact, Josh’s verbal stab to my heart stung a little more.

  “Yeah, you’re right. We don’t fit,” I said, lying through my teeth. We fit perfectly together, and I could tell by the downturn of Josh’s luscious mouth that he knew it too. Whatever was keeping him from trying anything with me was done out of self-preservation. I wasn’t the guy to knock that chip off his shoulder, so I did what he expected. “See you around, Princess.” I hated myself and the words I slung at him the moment they left my mouth.

  “Fuck you.” Josh’s snarled response echoed in my ears for hours afterward.

  I figured I’d never hear from him ever again, so I was shocked when my phone rang at eleven o’clock that night and his voice was on the other end. Gone was his cool detachment or snarl from earlier in the day and in its place was panic and fear. I was pulling on my sweats and T-shirt before he finished his greeting.

  “Gabe, someone just broke into my h
ouse through the back door. I heard glass crashing followed by footsteps. It’s probably Bianca’s killer. He knows I’m the one who gave the description of his vehicle to the police.” His voice was almost hysterical. “Send help.”

  “Do you have a landline? If so, call nine-one-one but keep me on your cell phone. I’m on my way.” Later, I’d wonder why he chose to call me first instead of emergency services, but all I could think about right then was getting to him. I grabbed my gun and badge, slid my feet inside my sneakers, and ran out of my house like it was on fire. I was only two blocks away, and I could get there faster on foot by cutting through yards rather than jump in my car and drive over.

  “I hear him on the steps. Gabe, I’m not ready to die.” I heard tears in his voice.

  “Can you barricade yourself in your room? Push a dresser over in front of the door?” I was almost to his house. I had his back door in sight as I ran down the alley between his and Bianca’s house. The back door was gaping open from someone kicking it open. “I’m almost there, Josh.” As soon as I said the words, I could hear wood splintering like his bedroom door had been kicked in.

  “He’s got a knife, Gabe.”

  “You should’ve kept your mouth shut, you little fucker.” The voice coming through Josh’s cell phone was eerily calm but very deadly.

  I heard Josh drop his cell phone and yell before I heard a scuffle; it sounded like Josh was trying to avoid the madman hell bent on killing him. I dropped my phone as I ran through the back door and up his stairs as fast as my legs could carry me, praying I wasn’t too late. I saw what that bastard had done to Bianca, and it would kill me to find Josh dead too.