Page 189 of Hot Cops

He shook his head. “Just broke up with my last girlfriend.” His smile faded a bit. “Or I should say she dumped me.”

Stephanie was shocked. What kind of idiot had he been dating? “Why?”

“She said I was too nice.”

“Christ. You couldn’t have been dating for long. Did she even know you?”

Jarod’s grin reappeared, and she tried not to acknowledge how gorgeous he looked when he smiled. She could see herself falling for the arrogant cop, and she never fell. Never.

“Thanks a lot.” His sardonic tone made her laugh.

“Well, you have to admit, thatnicenessflaw isn’t something you’ve been flashing at me much today. You gave me a parking ticket.”

“Which I tore up,” he interrupted.

“Then you kissed me as a means of shutting me up.”

“You liked the kiss. It turned you on, admit it.”

She shook her head. “I’m pleading the fifth on that. Then you forced me to join some bleeding-hearts, chick-book club. I fucking hate romance novels.”

“I have to read the book too.”

She gave up. He was too charming, and he had an answer for everything. “Breaking up with someone for being too nice is stupid.”

Jarod nodded, though she didn’t think he seemed too upset about the loss of his girlfriend.

“How long did you two date?”

“Six months.”

Wow. Definitely not a good time to get involved with the cop. She wasn’t in the mood to nurse a broken heart or build up a wounded ego. She had her own shit to deal with. “That’s a long time. You must be pretty torn up.”

He shook his head. “Not really. I’d seen the handwriting on the wall. Only thing that smarts is the fact she beat me to the punch.”

Okay. So no rebound.

“How about that drink you promised me?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I thought you were on duty.”

He glanced out the front window. Stephanie followed his gaze, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There were a few people hanging out on the sidewalk and a couple of cars parked along the curb.

Apparently, Jarod saw more than she did. “Actually, my partner’s arrived to relieve me, which means I just got off.”

His words sent an erotic flash through her mind, and she wondered what he would look like with no clothes on, cuffed to her bed as she rode him.

Then a completely different thought occurred to her as she considered his easy acceptance of the Romantic Hearts invitation and his sudden off-duty status. “Is your suspect in the book group?” She couldn’t picture it. The group was comprised of women mainly in their forties and fifties. She was at a loss to figure out what sort of crime any of them could commit.

“I can’t answer that. I’m sorry.”

She sighed. Curiosity was one of her more prevalent traits. She knew he couldn’t discuss his case, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be looking at every patron differently until she found out who had brought Jarod to the bar.

He seemed to sense she was annoyed. Another fact that bugged her. How could he read her so well?

“I’d be willing to distract you if it would take your mind off it.”

She imagined all the ways she’d like to be distracted by the hot cop.

---