Page 50 of Wicked Sin

“It’s just…all too much.”

“Sure. I get that.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“No problem.”

“You don’t need to be nice to me. I won’t tell anyone we kissed, okay? It’s fine. It’s stupid and forgettable and really, very fine.”

I resist the scowl that wants to pull my brows together. Stupid and fine, sure, I get that. But there was nothing forgettable about that kiss. And whoa, is she way off base about why I’m being kind. “You don’t have anything to worry about like that from me. I’m not going to pressure you to keep my secrets.”

“Then you would be the first.”

“That’s shitty.”

“Yeah.” She looks me over. “How about you? Broken man, haunted past?”

Unhealthy relationship with thrills and chills and commitment to anything—a job, a woman, even family.“I’ve got my issues.”

“Come on, Detective. I gave you my issues in a perverted little box with a bow on it. Tell me more than that.”

I crack my jaw to the side.Click.“My dad died when I was young. He was a Marine. Training accident. Bad luck.”

“I’m sorry.” She says it immediately, and everything softens. And then she doesn’t say anything else. She doesn’t try to make it better, doesn’t stumble over trying to make sense of the thing that is insensible.

“Yeah,” I say gruffly. “So there. That’s another secret you’ve got of mine.”

“Were you an only child?”

I bark a laugh. “God, no. Middle of five kids. My youngest sister was born after my dad died. All girls, except for me. And they all lost their shit on me when I joined the Corps.”

“You followed in your dad’s footsteps?”

I nod. “He wanted to be a cop, too. That was his life dream.”

“Undercover?”

“No, not that. That’s…my dad was a family man. Everything was for my mom, us kids. She tells us that all the time.”

“Hard to lose a spouse like that.”

“Brutal. She never re-married.”

“So it was a house full of women growing up?”

I smile softly. “Yeah. I love them, of course, but I’ve been a solitary man since moving out. Still recovering from all the love, maybe.”

“I have three siblings, but our family didn’t really feel like abig familylike other people described. I’ve never had to share a bathroom with anyone. Maybe I was missing out.”

“You’re sharing a bathroom with me,” I point out.

“First time for everything.” She opens her mouth again to say something else then snaps it shut.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Taylor.”

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