Page 24 of Wine and Research
He relayed the information to Elle while they waited.
“I’ll catch an Uber home,” she said, pulling her phone from a flowered backpack on her front seat. “And another to the precinct in the morning.”
“That’s not necessary,” Jeremy said, stilling her hand. “I can take you home now and pick you up in the morning.”
He didn’t know why the hell he offered, but he felt good about it.
She blinked, phone still in hand. “I don’t want to put you out. It’s okay. I don’t mind using Uber.”
But he did. Especially with her living by herself out in the boonies.
“I only live ten minutes from you.” He knew this because he’d been to the cabin for many barbeques when Ryder had lived in it. “It’s not a problem.”
She blinked, indecision clouding her gaze, but she nodded and put away her phone, then grabbed her backpack as the tow truck arrived.
Twenty minutes later, Jeremy pulled into Ryder’s old driveway and debated cutting the engine. It wasn’t because she’d asked him in, but because he couldn’t allow Elle to go into her cabin without letting him check it first.
He turned off the ignition and got out.
She followed, frowning. “What are you doing?”
“Checking your place out before you go in,” he replied, walking onto the tiny front porch.
“That’s not necessary,” she said, right on his heels. “I’ve been going in on my own for almost a year now.”
He glanced at her and shrugged. “But not when I took you home.”
She snorted. “This is the first time you’ve done that.”
“Exactly.” He held her gaze and waited.
After several long seconds, she sighed and handed him her keys. “Knock yourself out, Officer Mercer.”
Ignoring her derisive tone, he unlocked her door then glanced sideways at her. “Stay here.”
Amusement lit her eyes. “Yes, sir.”
Jeremy ignored her again, and made a quick sweep of the tiny cabin, returning less than a minute later. “All clear,” he said, exiting the cabin and shutting the door to keep his ass outside.
Still grinning, she took the keys he handed her and dropped them in her backpack. “Why thank you, Officer Mercer. What would I ever do without you?”
He had a few suggestions of what she could dowithhim, and the image of her in that hot, backward bending pose flashed through his head…except she was naked.
She must’ve seen something in his eyes because she inhaled and her gaze darkened. “What are you thinking about?”
Everything he shouldn’t. “You don’t want to know.”
“Oh, you’re wrong. Now I really want to know.” And as if to prove it, she stepped closer. “You aren’t looking at me like a Good Samaritan, or even as Officer Mercer.”
He gave her a single head shake. “That’s because there’s nothing valiant about my thoughts of you right now, Elle.”
She moved until they stood toe to toe. “I think I need you to tell me in great detail.”
Unable to stop himself, Jeremy lifted a finger to lightly brush the sexy freckles on her cheek. Heat flashed in her eyes, and an answering heat took over. He nudged her backward until she bumped into the door, and he skimmed his mouth over her jaw, then her throat, grazing her skin with his teeth as he pressed a thigh between hers.
She said his name on a gasp and clutched his shoulders.
He brought his head up and kissed her, long and deep and thorough, before he drew back and met her gaze.
