Page 175 of Hot Cops

“I pretended he could.”

Her eyebrows rose. “What? Why?”

Blake had never admitted his reasons before. He wondered if Chloe would change her mind about him if she learned exactly how manipulative he was. “Entrapment. I set up a mini-sting with my captain. Pretended to be in cahoots with my father while gaining information about a local drug ring. I knew my dad hadn’t changed his ways and I figured he’d be useful. He was.”

“That couldn’t have been easy for you.”

Blake leaned his head against the back of the couch. “You’d be surprised.”

She scowled. “Don’t. Stop playing the tough guy. You put your dad in jail. And even if he was an asshole, he was the only parent you’d ever had.”

Blake wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her head to his chest. “The world is simpler when you look at it in black and white. If you start adding color into the equation…”

“Is that why you’ve never called me?”

Blake wasn’t sure how to respond, so he stalled. “What?”

“You’ve been back in New Orleans for years. You saw my book. You knew I was still here. Why didn’t you call me?”

She sounded so genuinely hurt, it made Blake’s chest ache. “I didn’t think you’d forgive me.”

She lifted her head. “You were wrong.”

He gave her a tentative grin, hope blossoming. “So you do forgive me?”

She shook her head.

His brow creased. “You don’t?” For a moment, he felt lost. If she couldn’t understand his reasons for stealing the money, everything they once had was truly lost.

“It doesn’t matter if I forgive you, Blake. I’m pretty sure I stopped being mad at you the second my mother said you paid her the money back. I wouldn’t have had sex with you otherwise.”

He felt the urge to laugh, but his gut told him something was still wrong.

Chloe cupped his cheek in her hand. “It’s notmyforgiveness that matters. You have to forgive yourself, Blake. You stayed away because you were trying to do penance, right?”

Her words hit him like a ton of bricks. Had he done that? Had he let guilt for his actions stop him from searching for her, for happiness? For love? “I’m not sure what to say.”

Chloe gave him a wicked grin that told him exactly how much of a fool he’d been to stay away. “You could always start with ‘You’re right’.”

He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I’d be smart to use those words sparingly.”

She gave him a light punch on the arm. “Blake.”

“You’re right, Chloe. I’ve been letting guilt guide my decisions. I was wrong to do that.”

Chloe leaned closer and kissed him, showing him with actions rather than words that all truly was forgiven between them. It was a gift Blake had never let himself hope for.

For the first time in six years, he felt like he’d truly come home.

CHAPTERSIX

Blake reached for her,pulling her onto his lap. He had obviously reached the same realization she had. The time for talking was over. One main benefit of the rain was it had helped them shed the clothes early on. Blake was naked, his skin warm against hers.

He kissed her gently at first. An apology. Chloe accepted it, offering her own in return. She was sorry for doubting him. For failing to believe in the man she’d known he was. Both of them had let pride and the exaggerated emotions of youth—the ones that believe every problem is insurmountable and the worst thing that could ever happen—take control.

Chloe met Blake’s tongue halfway, letting the passion of the kiss build as she turned. Straddling his body, her knees on the cushions by his ass, she relished the hardness of his cock as it brushed her pussy, her stomach.

She’d spent too many years settling for lackluster sex. Chloe could see now she was to blame for those passionless affairs. Sex was way hotter when you were in love.

---