Page 168 of Hot Cops

Chloe had only snapped about two dozen shots when Blake returned, but she wasn’t worried. She could probably fill the entire calendar with just the last few pictures of Javier and the thing would sell.

Blake didn’t speak immediately. Chloe wondered if he could sense the tide had turned. She flipped through the images on her viewfinder and, satisfied with the results, she looked at Javier and smiled. “All set.”

Javier reached for his pants and shirt as Blake helped her pack up all of her equipment. Given the end result, she felt guilty for calling him. Though she suspected Javier wouldn’t have backed off if he hadn’t seen Blake in the flesh. And really, if the chef had touched her one more time, there was no force on earth that would have kept her from cold-cocking the guy. Then Blake would have been called in anyway…to arrest her for assault.

“Sorry for bothering you when you were on duty.”

Blake folded the legs on her tripod. “No problem. I actually wasn’t far from here, working on a case. I’d just finished interviewing a witness and was heading back to the precinct to type up the report. Your timing was perfect.”

Blake had told her a little bit about the details of his job. She wondered how he could stand to spend so much of his day dealing with anger and sadness and pain. He investigated cases involving domestic violence, child abuse and rape.

Javier walked over to say goodbye when they finished packing up. He gave Chloe two platonic kisses on the cheek, then—to her dismay—told Blake he was a very lucky man. Blake didn’t bother to correct him. Instead, he gave her a wink that told her she was in his debt.

That didn’t bug her as much as she might have expected.

Chloe retrieved her cell phone from Elise, thanked her for her help and she and Blake stepped out into the bright sunshine together.

“What’s next on your list for today?” Blake asked as he placed her bags in the trunk of her car.

“I’m taking pictures of Caliph. At the tattoo parlor.”

Blake chuckled. “Sounds like your mom wore him down.”

“I think it was actually a tag-team effort. Jennifer was fairly convincing too.”

“Guess I don’t have to worry about your safety with your brother around. That’s a shame. I was enjoying being your bodyguard.”

“I shouldn’t have called you, but I was dangerously close to pulverizing that guy, which would have pissed my mother off. I thought maybe if you showed up and I pretended that you were…” She wasn’t sure why it was hard for her to say “boyfriend” to him, but for some reason, it felt wrong.

“Your boyfriend,” he finished for her.

She nodded. “I thought that would make him back off and it worked. So I owe you one.”

Blake reached for her. Chloe didn’t bother stepping away. Not when she wanted him to hold her. She was beginning to crave his kisses more than chocolate and that was saying something. “I think I like having you in my debt.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t call this a debt. Just one friend owing another a favor. A very small favor.”

Blake placed his lips against her cheek, the touch more caress than kiss. His breath was warm against her skin, sexy and sweet, all at the same time. “When can I collect my favor?”

Her eyes had drifted closed, but now she opened them, her gaze taking in the busy street behind them.

What was she doing? Blake Mills had stolen from her family, broken her heart, left without a trace for years and now she was letting him walk right back into her life without so much as a hi or bye. She was letting her body make the decisions—choosing sex over common sense.

She took a step away. Blake looked as if he’d try to pull her back, so she added another step, more distance. “I can’t do this again.”

“Do what?”

She pointed to herself, then him. “This. Us. I’ve been down this road before and it didn’t end well.”

“I’m not the same man I was when I was nineteen years old, Chloe.”

“Why did you leave?” The words fell out unbidden, unwanted. Chloe hadn’t meant to ask because she didn’t want to know. In her mind, there was no reason good enough for him to do what he’d done. None.

Blake ran a hand through his dark hair. In the sunlight, it was so black it shimmered like water. It betrayed the Italian heritage on his mother’s side, which was actually the only thing Chloe knew about Blake’s mother apart from the fact she hadn’t been around when he grew up.

“I was wondering when you were going to ask me that.”

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

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