Page 200 of Hot Cops

“God, you’re a smartass.”

“Takes one to know one. Is there something wrong, Steph? Did I hurt you the other night?” It was the one fear he’d carried the past few days. He hadn’t been a gentle lover. He wondered if he’d gone too far, giving in to desires he’d always suppressed for fear of scaring his lovers away. She had responded to his rough touches, pleading for more, but perhaps he’d read her wrong, pushed her too hard.

She put down the glass she was holding and shook her head. “Of course you didn’t hurt me. I mean, I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t a little sore the next day. We went at it like dogs in heat, didn’t we?”

She never minced words. It was refreshing. “You can say that again. I was worried…”

Her gaze softened. “I’m fine, Jarod. It was a spectacular night.”

Her words soothed away the last of his anxieties. He gave her a cocky grin. “Spectacular, huh? That sounds a hell of a lot better thannice.”

She rolled her eyes, but he could see she was amused. “You’re awfully quick to claim all the credit there, hotshot. You have to admit, I was fucking awesome.”

He leaned closer. “You were incredible. Go out with me tonight.”

As far as segues went, that had to be the lamest, but he wanted to see her again.

“Go out or go home with you?”

“A date. I want to take you out on a real, old-fashioned date. Movies and dinner.”

Her face betrayed her desire to go, but there was clearly something holding her back. Jarod could see her searching for a reason to say no. Rejection was not an option.

Turning, he caught Jayne’s attention. “Hey, Jayne.”

Stephanie’s friend smiled when she saw him and excused herself from her customer for a moment. “Hi, Jarod. I didn’t see you come in. How’s the reading coming along?”

“Great.” He wasn’t lying. He’d managed to sneak in quite a bit of reading time during a stakeout one night. Apart from the razzing he caught from the other guys for reading a chick book, he’d actually enjoyed the suspense aspect of the story, and the sex scenes were damn hot. He kept imagining Stephanie in the role of the heroine and had spent more than a few times jacking off in the bathroom as a result. Rather than be distracted from his purpose, he forged on. “Looks pretty quiet in here today.”

“Wednesdays are our slowest days,” Jayne confirmed.

“Oh yeah? So it wouldn’t be a problem if I stole Stephanie away tonight? Date night.”

“A date?” Jayne’s tone confirmed his suspicions. Stephanie didn’t go out much.

“You know, I didn’t say yes, Jarod.” Stephanie’s arms were crossed. “I have a lot of work to do.”

Jayne snorted. “It’s like watching paint dry here today. I’ll call Sophie and get her to mix the dozen or so drinks we’ll be lucky to sell tonight.”

Stephanie gave her friend a dirty look, but still didn’t reply.

“Stop looking for an out and say yes, Steph. It’ll be fun.” He gave her what he hoped was a charming grin.

She closed her eyes, but her face betrayed her. She wasn’t annoyed or even upset. He took that as a good sign. “Fine,” she finally said.

“Terrific. I’m going to run home and shower. Pick you up around six?”

She nodded. “Wait.” She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down her address. “Pick me up at my place.”

He pocketed the paper as Jayne returned to her customer. Walking toward the open end of the bar, he crooked his finger. “Come here a minute.”

“What for?”

He chuckled. “Just come here.”

She stomped over to him. “You know, we’re going to have to talk about your tendency to be too controlling. I don’t answer to?—”

When she was within arm’s reach, he pulled her to him, silencing her with a long kiss. He’d missed her lips, the taste and scent of her. She lifted her arms, wrapped them around his neck and joined in.

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