Page 25 of Sinful Justice

“You know each other?” Aubree steps between us and demands my attention. “You know them? Youjustgot to town!”

“No, I…” I look around her to Archer. “I don’t know them. I’ve never… I didn’t…”

“We did.” He flashes a dangerous grin that shoots straight to my core and takes my blood pressure with it. “Four times.”

“Shut up.” Aubree holds her hand still, at least. She doesn’t hit me. But she turns to Fletcher with eyes that dance with glee. “Archer and Mayet? For real?”

Fletcher, bless him, only lifts his shoulders into a shrug. “I exercise my right to shut the fuck up about this.” But then he offers his arm and waits for her to slip hers through. “Can we get coffee, Aubs? Seems our colleagues have some discussin’ to do.”

“No we don’t.” I anxiously cling to Fletcher’s eyes. “We don’t have to discuss anything at all.”

Archer scoffs. “So you don’t want your panties back?”

Aubree gasps, and I jump forward to slam my hand over the cop’s mouth.

Desperately looking to Aubree, I point back in the direction of the kitchen. “You and Fletcher go that way. I’ll stay here. And when you get back, Archer will be gone.”

“Gonegone?” Aubree whispers. “Like, aconite poisoning gone? Or gone, like I should talk to him real quick before he leaves, because I have a question I was hoping to run by him?”

“Go away!”

Eyes flicker to our grouping when my shout echoes along the tiled area and bounces up to make me look like an idiot.

I take my hand from Archer’s face and wipe his saliva on my coat. “Go away,” I say again, quieter this time. “And if you ever want that pay raise, you’ll forget this ever happened.”

“Oh, she’s scary serious.” Fletcher whistles under his breath as he leads Aubree away. “She’s got the boss pants on, huh?”

“She’s prickly,” Aubree murmurs as they round the corner. “Doesn’t like to be hugged, either. But I think she’ll come around after a while.”

“This is an odd surprise.” Archer’s voice is dangerously low. Each word, I suspect, carefully thought out. “You follow me from the airport to Tim’s. From Tim’s to my apartment. And now here you are, at the George Stanley…” He tilts his head the other way when I turn back. “Are you posing as a doctor just to get close to me, Minka?”

“Absolutely not.” Snarling, I take off and head in the direction we came. Of course, Archer’s stride is longer than mine, which makes his chase that much easier. “I was never supposed to see you again. And I sure as hell never expected you to be a cop.” I turn a corner. Then another. “A criminal, perhaps. A bum at best.”

“You’re gettin’ yourself all flustered, lady.” He wraps his broad hand around my elbow and steers me right when I go to turn left. “And if you’re the new head chick, your office is this way.”

“Don’t touch me!” I hiss, and scowl as we pass Flynn’s lab and keep going. “Don’t call me ‘lady’. Don’t come around here anymore.” I stop and spin back to face him. “Andneverspeak of my panties again.”

“Why not?” He stops close enough that the toes of his boots touch mine, and the scent of his soap and aftershave slam into my lungs. “They belong to me now. And what’s mine is mine to talk about.”

“I’ll deny ever knowing you.”

“And that is your prerogative to do so,lady. But your unprovoked aggression gives you away. And saying ‘panties’ while at work is wildly unprofessional. Have you no decorum?”

“You can shove your decorum straight up your asshole.” I spin again and go in search of my office.

“Why are you so angry?” Archer’s chuckle hits the back of my hair so strands feather forward and touch my ear. “I did nothing to make you angry.”

“Your existence makes me angry!”

The moment I catch a glimpse of Aubree’s desk, and behind it, my office, I breathe a sigh of relief and walk faster. “I was never supposed to see you again. But here you are.”

“Nice office, Doctor Mayet.” He follows me in, a panther in the way he stalks close behind me and constantly breathes down my neck to remind me a threat is near. “You’re a fancy doc, huh? That kinda turns me on more than the ditzy damsel thing you had going on Saturday night.”

“I wasn’t ditzy, and I haveneverbeen a damsel in my life.” I charge forward and refuse to stop until I’m behind my desk. Only then do I turn back and look down my nose at the loathingly handsome man. “And I don’t intend to converse with you ever again.”

“Kinda tricky, considering I’m the primary on the body in Autopsy Room Three. We now share a homicide investigation, Doctor Mayet. It would be unprofessional to pretend we’re anything but adults.”

“I still don’t believe you’re a cop.” I drop my hands into my pockets and detest how my fingers wrap around the heart-shaped sucker. “And even if you are, I’m not the tech on that body. You can speak with the doctor assigned to your case, then you can leave my building and stay away from me.”

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