Arresting Holli (4 page)

Chapter Four

Michael turned his head when he heard the deep, even breathing behind him. One partially eaten half of her sandwich hung limp in her hand, her eyes were closed, and her lips were parted just slightly when she exhaled. She was sound asleep.

He’d watched her sleep some back at the station house. She was cute, and he wanted her so damn much. He didn’t know where it came from, the clawing need to bury himself inside her, but it was there, and it didn’t seem like it was going away anytime soon. Especially as long as she was in his home, in his bed, soft and warm and openly feeling the same way he was.

The clinging kiss in the kitchen was more solid proof, but he’d already known long before she’d emerged from the shower. The flirting at the jail, in the storage closet doorway while getting her bags, the way she’d curled into him when he slid his arm around her shoulder at the door to his apartment, the way she’d been unable to keep her eyes off him… Yeah, she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but first, the poor woman needed sleep.

He got to his feet and took the plate in her lap before reaching under her body and lifting her against his chest. She once again curled in, this time with her arms around his neck.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To bed,” he whispered into her hair. She smelled soft, sweet, like vanilla and sugar. It was warm and tempting, and he had to force himself to keep moving toward the bedroom.

“Oh good. I want to go to bed with you.”

His laugh rumbled through his chest as she yawned the words out. “I’m not going to bed with you yet.”

“Oh.” She pouted. “That’s no fun.”

“No, baby, I know, but you need some rest.”

“But I want you to.”

“Soon.” He set her on the edge of the bed, letting her lean against his hip while he pulled the blanket and sheet down for her to climb under. It was a lesson in resistance, ignoring her warmth, the way she pressed so close to him and wrapped her arms around his thigh. Damn woman was under his skin, and he didn’t know how it had happened or what to do about it. There was no plan here, only his gut instinct, but even that was a little muddled. He didn’t want to take advantage of her, but he sure as hell wanted to bury himself inside her rather than settle her between his sheets alone. “In you go,
Holli
,” he said, untangling her from his leg and helping her to lie down.

“It’s a nice bed.”

“Good. You get some sleep, and I’ll check on you in a little bit.” She opened her eyes and stared at him with such trust, such welcome, and some serious exhaustion that had her looking rather pitiful. At that moment, he simply wanted to care for her. “I tell you what. I’ll lay here with you for a while until you fall asleep again. Okay?”

Her smile was all the answer he got as he climbed into the bed beside her. She snuggled close, and it was a damn good thing there were layers between them. A sheet, a blanket, her pants and probably panties, his jeans and his… Well, he hadn’t put on anything under his jeans, but hopefully she’d put on panties, which gave them a good five layers separating his cock from her…

He needed to stop that line of thinking immediately, or there’d be nothing between them at all. Gathering her close again, he kissed the top of her head, and she moaned softly.

“I like you, Officer Hunky.”

Officer Hunky? “I like you too.”

“I know.”

Michael smirked and closed his eyes. Officer Hunky indeed. He’d stay where he was for the few minutes it would take her fall back to sleep, then he’d get up and clean the kitchen, maybe watch the news. He had no idea how long he’d wait before he gave up the ghost and tried to sleep on the couch. She was too tempting by half for him to sleep with in the bed for the rest of the night.

So he’d hold her until her breathing was deep and even again.

Just a little while longer.

* * * * *

Holli
stretched and squinted at the sunlight beaming through the window. It was reflecting off the roof next door and was blinding in its brightness. For a few minutes, she just lay there, letting her eyes adjust. The sudden clanging from the kitchen drew her gaze and attention to the doorway. The scent of bacon assaulted her. Dear Lord, he was making breakfast. For her.

She snuggled deeper into the bedcovers and grinned to herself. Officer Hunky was making breakfast for her. And him too, probably, but still…

“You awake?”

She peaked over the edge of the blanket. He was standing in the doorway with his hair all ruffled, his face a little scruffy, sweatpants riding low on his hips, his shirt…gone. Her heart thumped, and had she not been lying down, it would have fallen to her feet.

A sprinkling of chest hair, flat, hard abs, long, lean, muscled arms… Damn oh damn oh damn.

“You hungry?”

“Starved.” Heat flared in his eyes for less than a second, but she saw it. Yeah, she was starved for him too and was sure there was an answering heat in her own eyes as she looked at him. ’Cause there was some definite warmth starting to travel south from her chest to her belly.

He cleared his throat. “Scrambled eggs okay?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be right back. Stay put.”

“I can help.”

“I got it. You stay there, and I’ll bring it to you.”

“Umm, mind if I call my friend and tell her I’m at least out of jail?”

“Sure. Go for it. I’ll be right back with some food.”

He smiled at her, just a quirking up of the corner of his mouth, before he turned and walked away. Damn oh damn oh damn. She’d never had a man bring her breakfast in bed. She’d done it for others, but never had anyone do it for her. She was torn between crying at the sweetness of the gesture and trying not to be moved by it.

She was only going to be here for a few days. Hopefully. And she shouldn’t get involved, shouldn’t get attached. She really shouldn’t be giving in to the lust flowing between them, the attraction, but hell if she was going to turn him down.

She sat up, prepared to get out of the cozy bed to get her purse from the living room, but found it on the floor beside her. What a sweet guy. Picking it up, she searched through it for the small red cell phone. When she had it, she pressed the button for the contacts menu, scrolled down to find Charlotte’s name, and pressed Send.

It was answered on the second ring. “Who the hell is this?”

Holli
laughed. “Not a very pleasant way for you to answer the phone.”

“
Holli
! Oh damn, girl. You okay? Where are you? Still behind bars? How’s Officer Hunky?”

“I’m okay, and I’m not in jail but under some sort of house arrest until they can officially let me go.” She’d called Charlotte when she was first arrested and while Michael had been out of the room, had whispered to her friend exactly hot the officer was. The name Officer Hunky had stuck.

“So they’ve got you stashed somewhere? Where? I’ll come stay with you.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m stashed away; yeah, you could say that. Officer Hunky is taking good care of me.”

“What kind of good care?”

There was a suggestive tone in her friend’s voice that
Holli
ignored. “He’s fed me, given me a warm bed to sleep in, and let me tell you, Char, I hadn’t been so happy to take a hot shower in all my life as I was last night.”

“I bet. You sleep with him?”

“Charlotte! How can you ask me that? After all I’ve been through?”

“Yeah right. If he’s half as hot as you say he is, I’d have that man’s pants down around his ankles the minute we got somewhere private.”

“Well, that’s you. Not me.”
Holli
touched the tip of her finger to the tip of her nose. She was sure she could feel it growing at the number of lies she’d told since getting on the phone.

“Sure. Okay. Are you going to be able to come up here at all?”

“I don’t know. He said things should be fixed by tomorrow or the day after at the latest, so I just don’t know.”

“Well, you take care of yourself, or…at least let that man take care of you. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“What about you? I hate that you’re there alone.”

“Not…exactly alone.”

“No?”

“I
kinda
went to a club I’d heard about the other night. I figured it couldn’t hurt to see what a real New York nightclub was like.”

“You were out partying in a club and bringing a guy back to the hotel while I’ve been suffering alone in jail?”
Holli
really wasn’t affronted, but she was going to give the slight appearance of it. She would rather know her friend was having a good time instead of sitting alone in a New York hotel room being miserable.

“Oh stop. And…I didn’t pick up a guy.”

“Two guys?”

“A woman,” she whispered.

Holli
was sure she’d heard that wrong. “Did you say you picked up a woman?”

Charlotte giggled on the other end of the line. “Actually she picked me up. I’m at her place. She kindly offered to keep me company until you got here.”

“I had no idea you ”

“Me neither, but oh damn,
Hol
, it was the best sex ever.”

“Wow.” Wow. “I think on that note, I’ll let you get back to her. I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

“I wish you were here. It’s really beautiful. You would love the lights and the trees and all the decorations. They’re getting everything ready for the big New Year’s Eve party.”

Holli
knew she should feel bad about not being there, and part of her did, but another part of her, the part that was enjoying the downtime, the relaxing in bed, the…normalcy of things in that very moment, didn’t. Not that anything about the last what was it now? Two days? had been normal, of course. She’d never had a man make breakfast for her, hold her while she slept... She’d never had a man arrest her either, for that matter, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying her time with him. “I know, Char. I wish I was there too. I’ll call you when I know something new.”

“Okay. Bye,
Hol
.”

“Bye.”

Holli
pressed End and disconnected the call. She’d seriously had no idea that Charlotte was even curious about women. She was such a small-town girl, and it had taken a while for her and
Holli
to become such good friends. This was to be their second vacation together but… Wow. Learn something new every day.

“Everything all right?” Officer Hunky called from the kitchen.

“Just peachy. She’s doing good. Made a friend to keep her company.”

“That’s good. Did you sleep okay?”

“I think so. I don’t really remember much after the shower.” She didn’t even remember how she’d gotten into the bed. She barely remembered the grilled cheese sandwich. Did she eat it?

And where did he sleep? She knew he’d held her, but for how long? Crap. If he’d slept in the bed with her all night and she’d missed it, she was going to be really pissed.

“You okay? You’re scowling.”

Holli
focused on him as he walked into the room with a tray. He really had brought her breakfast in bed. “Yeah. Only I don’t remember much from last night. I must have been really tired.”

She fluffed the pillows behind her and scooted back against the headboard. It was an odd piece. The top and sides were a dark, red wood, but the center had vertical, spiral rods made of metal.

He set the tray across her lap. Yeah, she wanted to cry. Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast with a little bit of jelly on the side, and hot chocolate. With marshmallows. And they looked like the real ones, not the round ones in the bag from the grocery store. She’d only had the square ones a few times in her life.

The way they melted across the top of the chocolate, the steam that rose up from the cup… She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had hot chocolate that wasn’t instant.

“It’s not going to bite you,” he said softly, climbing into the bed from the other side.

“No, I know, it’s just… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I figured I owed you.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t the way I’d intended to spend my vacation, but you’ve more than made up for it with a warm place to stay that isn’t concrete and you’ve provided me with access to a warm shower.”

He sat on the other side of the bed, finishing off a piece of bacon. “I know, but you haven’t had much in the way of decent food either. That’s another thing I can and am happy to do.”

“You’re a bachelor. You’re supposed to be eating frozen pizzas and fast food, not fixing gourmet breakfast for damsels in distress.”

Michael laughed and the sound traveled warmly from her chest to her belly. Just like his voice when he talked, she loved when he laughed. It was comforting, friendly.

“Is that what you are? A damsel in distress? Nice. Perhaps I’ll try to rescue you. As for the food...” He snagged a piece of bacon off her plate, “I can’t very well eat junk and preservatives and then expect to run the marathon in the spring.”

Holli
glanced over at him as she picked up a piece of bacon as well and took a small bite. Slightly sweet, caramelized, crunchy. Sugar? “Marathon? And did you put something on this bacon?”