Page 19 of Mine To Break
Chapter Nine
Standing over a tarp-covered body in the street, all Colby could think about was Mal. If he closed his eyes, he could see the luminous glow of her skin against that golden dress she’d worn. He could smell the perfume of her skin. Feel the strength in her hands, the lush rumble of her voice telling him what to do next. He hadn’t realized what a… comfort that could be. A relief.
So better than where he was stuck right now.
“Reyes and Wade just rolled to the scene,” Elias was saying on the phone to dispatch. “Looks like another cartel hit. Yeah. We got it.”
We got it. Which meant he’d be out all night canvasing the street, trying to find anyone brave enough to describe the car or the gunmen who’d mowed down this poor bastard in broad daylight. He’d lain in the street for hours before anyone had even called 911. Just when they were getting close. Again. Witness dead in the gutter.
So instead of heading home for a shower and maybe a late dinner with Mal, he’d be guzzling coffee, eating shit out of a paper bag, and cranking out paperwork most of the night. Great.
Elias hung up and immediately made another call. “Hey, babe. Yeah, another late one.”
A surge of jealousy took Colby’s breath away and he actually turned and walked back up the street a ways under the guise of searching through the refuse for clues. He wanted someone to call. Someone who’d worry whether he came home or not. Would Mal want a call from him? Would she be surprised if he called? Or glad?
Before he could talk himself out of it, he called her number. Daylight was fading fast. Coroner would need the big lights to take the initial pictures.
“Detective Wade.” The husky timbre of her voice was like a punch in his gut. “I didn’t know if you’d have the balls to call me back or not.”
Despite the frustration of yet another solid lead against the drug cartel going cold, he had to laugh. “Oh I got the balls all right. Thought I showed you that last night.”
“You showed me a lot last night, sugar. The question is, whether you’ll let me explore some more.”
He glanced over his shoulder to check on his partner. Elias was still on the phone, so Colby kept walking, slowly searching through empty beer battles and musty newspapers for anything useful. “Yeah, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot, actually. But I’m going to be working late tonight.”
“All night?”
He blew out a sigh. “Yeah, probably.”
“Is that an often occurrence for you, detective? Working all day, and then all night too?”
Resignation tightened his throat. He’d seen if often enough with the other cops. Hell, even Elias. Busted relationships, angry wives and girlfriends. The stress and worry gnawing away any love they’d been able to nurture. Better that Mal knew what his life was like now and move on, than be disappointed. “More often than not.”
“I’m not happy about that, detective.”
He nodded and blew out a breath. “Figured as much.”
She was quiet a moment. Long enough that he flashed through memories of last night again. The challenge in her eyes. The light. The insane sense of immediate trust he’d felt with her. He could almost taste that cobbler and ached to hear her tell him to eat every bite again. Not that he needed the command, now. He just wanted to hear it.
“I guess I can’t punish you for things out of your control.”
His ears rang a moment and he wasn’t sure if he’d heard her correctly. “Ma’am?”
She laughed, that husky slide of velvet that made him shiver. “Oh there you go again, detective, talking so sweetly and politely. That’s not fair if you’re not even going to come see me tonight. If I’m going to punish you for something, it’ll be because you deliberately did something to earn it. Not because you had to stay out late for your job.”
“I guess you’ll never have cause to do that, then.” He deliberately kept his words vague in case Elias was listening with half an ear.
“I wouldn’t say that at all, sugar. You’d be surprised what a desperate man will do when he needs a little attention.”
The way she said attention sent shivers running up and down his spine again. The Mistress’s unwavering, intense attention. He could only imagine what a force of nature that would be like.
“Why are you having to stay out all night, if you can tell me?”
“Body.” He kept his response vague, but she’d be able to guess enough.
“Are you safe?” Her voice sharpened.
He couldn’t answer right away, too moved by the concern in her voice. “No worries. Not tonight.”
