Page 18 of Love's Hot

“Nothing, just enjoying my beer and thinking about dinner then what dessert I’m getting that might be wrapped in a Victoria’s Secret package. How about yourself?” Now his smirk has cracked into a full-blown laugh.

“Fuck off,” is all I can manage.

“What, no dessert for you tonight? Thought you were sorting that last night. How did you mess that up? She looked keen when we left. You were practically dry humping her on the dance floor.”

“Not sure, just leave it alone.” I hate lying to Xavier, we usually don’t keep anything from each other. He knows all my deepest darkest thoughts. I have no problem keeping a straight face from plenty of practice, but I don’t want to be doing it to him. I need to change the conversation and get out of here. A night in front of the television in the hotel room watching some trashy movie is sounding inviting, right after I shower to take care of myself.

Damn her for being such a sexy woman.

Room service and a few beverages from the mini bar will have to keep me company.

“Right, I’m not sure what happened but I’ll leave it for now. I’m sure there’s a good reason. You ready for another night on the town?” Xavier looks at me a little puzzled. He can see right through me.

“Nah, man, I’m going to bail and head back to the hotel. Been a big few days. Got an early flight and I’ve already heard that there are a few things happening back at work that will need my attention as soon as I’m back.”

“Really? Thought you were looking forward to hanging out for the weekend. You can find someone else tonight to take your mind off your upcoming stress.” He takes the last gulp of his beer and then waits for me to answer.

“Yeah, sorry. Just all caught up with me today. You have fun with the girls, though. Tell them I said goodbye and will catch up with them back home.” I stand, getting ready to leave and throw money on the table to cover the drinks. “Tell Lilly I covered that round of drinks she was supposed to buy, so she owes me, and I’ll let her know when I’m ready to collect.” With that, I pat his shoulder and walk out into the chaos of New York City and blend into the crowd. Lilly owes me more than the cost of the drinks. More like something to ease the pain in my pants she created. I can’t help but chuckle as I walk back to my hotel. That woman is one hot firecracker. I knew it the first moment I saw her. The last twenty-four hours just confirmed that.

God help any man who tries to ever pin her down.

She is a wild spirit that’s not ready to be contained.

Good on her for living her life the way she wants.

Walking another block helps to wear off some of my pent-up energy. At least I might be able to settle down to relax tonight and not be thinking about my little red vixen.

Who the fuck am I kidding?

It’s going to be a long night!

***

The papers on my desk are starting to blur together. My hands are in my hair, pulling lightly on it to try to kickstart my brain. I must be missing something. Working the case of a missing woman is really getting to me.

The exhaustion of the last few shifts is really kicking in tonight. It’s been a week since I got back from New York. Between this case playing on my mind and Lilly invading my sleep, I’m really wound up. Shutting off my computer and lamp on my desk, I know the best thing for me is to hit the gym in Xavier’s apartment. Hopefully he’ll be home and we can have a few beers when we’re finished. He’s my sounding board. I can tell him anything and it never leaves his lips or gets spoken about outside his apartment. Well, anything except that I fucked his future sister-in-law. That one needs to be kept on lockdown between me and Lilly and go no further.

“Hey Kane, you leaving for the night?” my commander calls across the room from his office.

“Yeah, boss. You need me for something?” No matter how exhausted I am, if the job calls, I answer.

“It’s alright, son. Head home for the weekend. It’ll wait until Monday.” He looks at his computer screen like he’s checking something before he speaks to me again.

“You sure, boss? I’ve got time. Is it something about the Woodley case?” Sheree Woodley has been missing for ten days. Went to meet an online date and never made it back home. Woman in her early twenties, quite pretty, successful job, plenty of friends but too easygoing with dating. Didn’t give anyone any details of where she was meeting this guy, his name or even an indication of how long they’d known each other. Our forensic IT guys have been looking into her search history but are struggling to come up with much at the moment. Except for the last mobile tower her phone pinged off before it went into radio silence.

“Well, yes and no, but it’s not important tonight. Go home and switch off. The night watch has got this, and will continue to work on your notes over the weekend. Get out of here and try not to think about work for at least two days.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Sir, how long have you been a cop? Over thirty years if my memory serves me correctly. How many days in those thirty years have you not thought about work?”

He starts to smile as he looks up from his computer screen. “Five, to be exact. My wedding day and each of the days my four children were born. Not another day since that work hasn’t been in my head. But if my wife ever asks, you better answer every day I spend with her is work-free too. Got it?” He laughs and points his finger at me to make sure I understand. “Now get out of here and try to minimize the amount you think about work, will you? I need you around for a long time to come so don’t burn yourself out. Sometimes we just can’t save them all no matter how hard we try. Remember we’re only human. Time to switch off. See you Monday.”

I know that’s it, the conversation is over. One thing about my boss is he doesn’t waste time. If he thinks the conversation is over then it’s over. His hand will just wave you away if you try to continue.

“See you Monday morning.” Walking out to the parking lot, my mind is trying to figure out what he wants to talk to me about. I wish he hadn’t said anything until next week if it wasn’t urgent. I already feel like my head is on overload.

I need a good run, pound the pavement for a while and then I’ll hit up the gym. I know Xavier trains clients until after seven pm on a Friday night so that’ll give me time to get my run in before he gets home. That’s if he’s home at all tonight. Half the time he ends up at Alesha’s apartment. I’ve got a key to his place, so it won’t matter if he doesn’t show. Though the way I’m feeling tonight, it would be great to catch up with him for a chat or, better still, a debrief, which is what it really is.

***

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