Crime & Passion (12 page)

Before regret could grip him, Madeline
offered another surprise. She returned to his embrace and rubbed
her face against his chest.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Her arms wrapped
around his waist. “You make me feel safe. That’s not exactly the
natural feeling this town gives me.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Donovan ran his hand
across her silky hair, smoothing it against her back.

She felt wonderful against him, and Donovan’s
pulse quickened. Her hand rubbed along his side, and he blocked it
out as best he could. She was vulnerable and scared, not an ideal
time for him to make a move.

You’re the new and improved Donovan Andrews.
That Donovan doesn’t take advantage of beautiful women in
distress.

Donovan sighed as he breathed in Maddie’s
scent from the top of her head—slightly spicy with overtones of
apple. She shifted her position, and Donovan’s insides tightened as
her breasts brushed against him.

Life changes are damn hard to stick to.

Donovan moved uncomfortably, grabbing
Madeline’s hand in his to stop her caresses. He knew she didn’t
mean anything by it, but the feel of her hand against him was too
much to bear.

“I think we should talk about suspects,” he
said, pushing her gently into a seated position and off him. Maybe
he could think without her touching him. “This affects us both
now.”

She shook her head, keeping his hand clasped
in hers. “I don’t want to think about anything yet.”

Donovan looked around the fancy, beachside
apartment. How long could Madeline afford to live here if she
didn’t have an income? “Be reasonable. We have to think about it.
My fellow cops suspect me, so I’m not working. I only have so much
paid time off. Brandon turning you into a target will kill your
income. If we don’t figure this out, we could both be ruined
financially before the killer is caught.”

She rested her palm against his chin, turning
his head to face hers. “I don’t care about any of that right now.”
She stared at him, and Donovan lost himself in the depths of her
brown eyes for a moment.

“We have to care. This could—”

She put her fingers against his lips. “I’ve
been thinking something over, and I’ve come to a decision.” Her
hand moved to his head, tickling through the hair at his temple.
“You’re all I want to think about right now.” Her eyelids fluttered
closed for a moment, and when she opened them, mischief gleamed
from their depths. “I think we can successfully forget our troubles
for a little while, with sufficient distraction.”

She leaned forward, her mouth inching toward
his. She kept her eyes on him as she closed the distance, stopping
just before their lips met. Her hand fluttered down the back of his
neck, stroking his hairline with the gentlest of touches, as though
she knew exactly which spot would turn him on.

Lord, help me. I’m weak, no better than
before.

Madeline ruffled the hair at the nape of his
neck. “What are you waiting for?” she asked. Her lips brushed his
gently with the movement caused by her words.

It was too much. Did anyone expect him to
resist that? Donovan wrapped his arms around Madeline, crushing her
against him and smashing his nose against her cheek with little
regard for the art he normally executed on a first kiss.

Madeline giggled, but pressed into him. Her
tongue darted out to tickle against his upper lip and Donovan
opened up, inviting her inside. She hesitated, pulling back
slightly.

A thrill of anticipation shivered down
Donovan’s spine. Perhaps Maddie wasn’t very experienced, despite
her aggression in instigating this kiss. It would be a nice change
from the women he normally dated.

Donovan captured her bottom lip between his,
sucking slightly, but not invading her mouth with his tongue. He
backed off, placing supple kisses against her lips while he ran his
thumb along her collarbone.

Madeline moaned softly, no longer giggling.
She broke off the kiss and stared at him, a shy smile lighting her
face with overwhelming beauty.

Donovan couldn’t help but smile in return. It
hadn’t started out as his best, but this kiss was one for the
record books. Judging by the dreamy look in Maddie’s eyes, she
agreed.

She stood up and faced Donovan, pushing his
shoulders against the back of the couch. Before he realized what
she planned, Madeline slung her leg across him, straddling him with
her knees on either side. Her body molded itself to his as her hot
lips found his earlobe.

He stifled a groan. He ached to run his hands
along her curves. To caress her breasts and find her perfect
nipples with his fingers, his mouth. He longed to scoop her in his
arms and carry her to the bedroom.

He breathed deeply in an effort to slow his
erratic pulse. He had to stop this before things went too far.
Madeline had no way of knowing what her caresses did to his
self-control. But he would be a better man. It was what she
deserved.

She moved away from his ear, sucking the
sensitive flesh at the base of his neck.

A groan escaped him. He was helpless to stop
it. “Wait. We need to—”

“—move this to the bedroom? Yes, let’s do
that,” she whispered huskily.

Her breathy words tickled at his insides, and
Donovan’s erection strained against his denim jeans. He pushed
himself against Madeline’s thigh, fighting to control the twitching
of his hard shaft. Bedroom? Hell, he was ready to strip her robe
off and take her here.

Donovan pushed against Madeline’s shoulders,
moving her away from the bulge in his pants. He forced himself to
breathe deeply, though every cell in his body begged him to take
her. Take her now!

Damn it. I don’t know if being a better
person is worth stopping this.

“Wait. Listen to me,” he managed, though his
words came out in a harsh pant.

She moistened her lips with the tip of her
tongue, driving him further over the edge. “Ready for the bedroom,
lover?”

He looked into her gorgeous eyes, wondering
if he was the craziest man in the world. Still, Madeline told him
she didn’t want a casual bed partner. She said she wouldn’t sleep
with him as payment for protecting her. Right now, it felt like
that was what she was doing.

Besides, he made a promise to himself that
the next woman he went to bed with would mean something more. It
wouldn’t just be sex. “We can’t sleep together, Maddie.”

***

Madeline slid off Donovan’s lap, horrified.
Of course he didn’t want to sleep with Maddie McFatty.
What the
hell am I thinking?

She tried to laugh as she stood up, avoiding
looking at him. She kept her eyes as wide as she could, refusing to
let the tears that gathered fall. Having already humiliated
herself, she could at least pretend it didn’t bother her. Donovan
was used to sophisticated women with lots of experience. He
probably already laughed on the inside at the way she threw herself
at him. She didn’t want to give him any more reasons to laugh.

“I’m going to get dressed,” she said, her
voice rough with unshed tears.

She fled to the bedroom, slamming the door
behind her. She prayed Donovan would be gone when she came out. She
finally did it, decided to forget her anxiety and have sex without
any commitment. A short-term fling was supposed to solve her
problems, wasn’t it? By all accounts, Donovan was the right person
to do that with—after all, he did it with everyone.

So why doesn’t he want me?

Madeline dashed the tears out of her eyes and
pulled on faded Levi’s and a purple sweater, going into the
bathroom to fix her hair and makeup. Her eyes were bloodshot from
the fresh spat of tears and her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
Between the desire to strangle Brandon and her need to find a deep
pit to bury herself in, it had been an eventful morning.

There’s no use crying. It’s not meant to
be.

Madeline brushed her hair smooth and pulled
it into a tight ponytail, exactly centered. The makeup process took
much longer than normal, since she was afraid to leave the safety
of her bathroom. Madeline had no clue how much time had passed as
she touched her cheeks with a kiss of blush, hiding the evidence of
her prior distress, but she couldn’t futz around forever. If
Donovan had any decency, he was gone by now and she could quit
hiding.

She took one last look in the mirror, trying
to assess what about her turned Donovan off. She had those extra
ten pounds leftover from her breakup, but there was no other trace
of Maddie McFatty. If anything, the extra weight made her breasts
larger; she thought men appreciated that. She turned sideways,
admiring her nearly thin stomach and D-cup breasts. Even her butt
looked good these days, slipped into her tight-fitting jeans. She
swiveled the other direction, just as pleased by what she saw.

She sighed and reached back to tighten the
ponytail one last time. Apparently, it didn’t matter how much she
changed the packaging. Inside, she was the same person as always. A
person who worldly men like Donovan Andrews didn’t want to have sex
with.

Madeline opened the bedroom door, peeking
through the small crack into the living room beyond. She puffed out
a relieved breath. Donovan no longer sat on the couch. He did
indeed leave. She walked to the front door to secure the locks, but
they were all in place.

“There you are,” Donovan said from behind
her.

Madeline whirled around, dread turning her
insides to mush. Why didn’t he leave? It was the nice thing, the
polite thing, to do. Perhaps that was why. No one ever accused
Donovan of being a gentleman.

He had a dishtowel in his hands and jerked
his head toward the kitchen. “I made some tea and sandwiches. It’s
waiting in the dining room.” His bright blue eyes locked on hers.
“We need to talk.”

Taking a deep breath, she walked toward him.
She needed to give the impression that she was in total control of
this situation. Perhaps if she acted like it wasn’t a big deal,
Donovan wouldn’t feel the need to rehash what happened. She passed
by him, keeping more space between them than normal as she stepped
into the kitchen and walked through it to the dining table.

She yanked the wooden pole from the window,
opening it to let in the sound of the ocean. Somehow, that always
calmed her. She was in desperate need of calm now. She took her
place at the table, wryly noting the peanut butter sandwich. A
man’s idea of a good breakfast. She poured tea from the pot and
took a small sip.

The fruity flavor of Silver Needles was
slightly acrid and lingered on her tongue unappealingly. Donovan
over-steeped the tea, ruining the flavor.

Donovan sat next to her, taking a drink from
his own mug. “I hope you don’t mind, I found instant coffee and
made a cup.”

Well, of course you did. Who’d want to drink
the tea you ruined?

Madeline sealed her lips against that
comment. This entire setup was Donovan’s way to make himself feel
better about rejecting her. She wanted to be snarky because her
feelings were hurt, but that wouldn’t change facts. The easiest
thing would be to let him feel warm and tingly for making her food
and send him on his way.

“I don’t mind,” she said, forcing another
swallow of tea down.

“I need to explain some things to you,
Maddie.”

She closed her eyes briefly, determined not
to lash out at him. “If you want to talk about your list of
suspects in the murder, that’s fine. I don’t want to talk about
anything else.”

Donovan touched his hand against hers.
“Maddie, please. We can’t ignore what just happened.”

She jerked her hand away, tightening her arms
across her body and forcing herself to ignore ‘Maddie.’ “Yes, we
can. And we will, or you’re welcome to leave.”

“Can’t you see how hard I’m trying?”

Trying to what? Avoid sex with me?
“Yes, I see that.”

He heaved a sigh and smiled. “Oh, good. I was
worried when you went to your bedroom so long. I almost left.”

She had no clue why he smiled. Did he think
because she understood he no longer found her attractive that made
everything okay? Ever since meeting him, he’d claimed he wanted to
be with her. She’d tried to give him that, and then he changed his
mind. And men complained about women. What a joke. “I hoped you
would leave,” she admitted, keeping her tone as light as
possible.

His mouth drew in at the corners. “But you do
understand? I’m trying to change, to be a better person.”

Convenient. He wanted to be a better person
just at the time she wanted to be a worse one. She wished he
wouldn’t make up excuses and would be honest about his feelings.
Then again, at least he tried to let her down easy. If she believed
Brandon, this wasn’t Donovan’s usual style. He normally had no
problem crushing the women he cast off. She should be grateful for
that.

Besides, she did need his help. Between
losing one of her jobs and a killer threatening her, Madeline
couldn’t push away the only person she trusted in this town.
Donovan might be a womanizing jerk, but she truly believed he
wasn’t a killer. She needed his help.

“So, why do you think Brandon or Lindsey
might be framing you?” she asked, trying to get the conversation on
track.

“I don’t want to talk about that.” Donovan
shook his head. “I want to talk about us, Maddie.”

“Stop calling me that!” Madeline pushed back
from the table, jumping to her feet. Her chair tipped behind her,
clattering against the floor. “I know you see Maddie McFatty when
you look at me, just like everyone else, but stop saying it every
chance you get!” Her fingers curled into fists and for an
inexplicable moment, Madeline wanted to punch him in the face.

“Maddie McFatty?” Donovan leapt from his own
chair and put a placating hand against her shoulder. “I don’t know
what you’re talking about.”