Page 44 of The Liar

“I’m buying,” she called over the hum of conversation. “Two of whatever beer is on tap.”

She swiped her card to pay, and I poured the drinks and pushed them across the bar. To my surprise, she leaned over, her lips brushing my cheek. A sizzle of lust shot straight to my groin, but I positioned myself so she wouldn’t see the slight plumping of my cock behind the fly of my jeans.

“I thought you might be able to test the waters with Hanson,” she whispered, the tickle of her breath sending electricity along the nerves of my face and neck. Every part of me was aware of her. “I haven’t had any luck figuring out if he’s the detective your friend mentioned.”

“I’ll try,” I replied quietly.

She drew back, smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks.”

She took the drinks and shifted along the bar. She left Hanson’s beer close enough to me that he and I would be able to chat when I wasn’t serving people. Leaning against the counter, she gazed at the bottles behind the bar as ifenthralled, probably assuming that Hanson would talk to me while she was distracted.

“Hey, Denny.” I greeted her partner with a nod.

I understood why she wanted me to take a shot at him. While he’d been a dependable partner for Joanna, he had a few old school beliefs and might be more inclined to share with another man than with her.

“West.” He eyed me warily. Interesting. I wondered what had brought that on.

“How’s your day been?” I asked, glad when Dean, the other bartender scheduled tonight, passed behind me and began serving the line forming at the bar.

Hanson grunted. By now, I was adept at interpreting his non-vocal noises, and this wasn’t a happy one.

“Any interesting cases?” I persisted.

Hanson gave me a look. “Not that I can tell you about.”

“What about me?” Neal called from the other side of the line. “I’d like to know how the Sloane investigation is going.”

Hanson leaned forward to look around someone and glared at Neal. “You know I can’t share details.”

“Not with people outside the department,” Neal agreed, standing and shuffling through the queue to get to Hanson. “But surely, we can talk privately. Brainstorm. Share ideas. Maybe I’ll be able to help since she lived in my usual patch.”

“Piss off,” Hanson snapped.

I raised my eyebrow, surprised. Hanson could be a grump, but he wasn’t usually so blatantly rude. I glanced between the men, my internal antennae pinging at the hostility that vibrated between them.

A light touch brushed over the back of my hand, and I jolted, spinning to find Joanna beside me. She blinked up at me with her gorgeous, dark eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips.

“I’m going to play pool with Matthews,” she said.

I kissed her cheek the same way she had mine earlier, taking advantage of the opportunity to breathe her in. She smelled faintly of coffee. Perhaps she’d spilled some on herself earlier, or maybe she’d just drunk a lot of it today.

“Have fun.”

I watched as she sauntered around the bar and joined Officer Matthews at the pool table in front of the window. No matter how long I lived, I’d never get tired of looking at her.

Hanson snorted. “Pick up your jaw or you’ll let the bugs in.”

I closed my mouth and glanced at him. “You don’t ogle your wife?”

One corner of his mouth tipped up slyly. “Every chance I get.” Immediately, any sign of his smile vanished, and his expression became oddly intent. He leaned closer, beckoning for me to do the same. “I don’t know what you have going on with that blonde, but Joanna is a damn fine woman, and you’d better not do anything to upset her again.”

I swallowed around a lump in my throat, taken aback by the warning. I forced myself to laugh. “I didn’t know you cared.”

His eyes narrowed. “I may not go in for all the feeling crap, but the day I don’t care about my partner is the day I ought to turn in my badge. Just know that I’m watching you.”

I crossed my arms. “Don’t worry. I don’t have anything going on with anyone other than Jo.”

“Uh-huh.” He looked like he believed me about as much as I believed that Batman was real. “People make mistakes. It happens. But it better not happen twice.”

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