Jacked (40 page)

“I am, actually.” I was also thinking that bacon is right up there with sex.

“Well, don’t be. I’m not
that
sore.”

I knocked my knee into hers. “Liar!”

“You’re lucky I like you,” she teased.

I stirred my coffee while disappearing into the beautiful depths of those blue eyes again. Everything about her held such promise. I was so very fucking lucky. “I know.” My cell pinged with a new message, but her smile was more interesting.

The second ping pulled my attention. I read the new message then reached over for my laptop on the corner of the counter.

“Checking email?” she asked.

I held my fork between my teeth as I punched in my password. “Yeah. My contact from the NYPD just sent me some info on the case I’m working.” Several mug shots and a few surveillance pictures littered my screen.

“Are you supposed to be fighting crime today?”

I watched her drag her fork slowly out of her mouth. Don’t know if she was trying to make the move sensual and erotic but it was working nonetheless.

Erin’s eyebrows arched up, calling me out on my promise to make our weekend as relaxing as possible. But I only had a few more pictures to look at and then I’d be done.

“Adam?”

“Hmm?”

“Question. I caught part of your phone conversation yesterday. My car wasn’t the only one tampered with, was it?”

Fuck
. I glanced over at her. “No.”

“How many cars?”

I sighed, sipping my coffee instead. “So far, twenty. That’s all that’s been reported. Could be more.”

Erin started chewing on her thumbnail instead of eating.

“Wanna see what the bad guys look like?”

That perked her up. “Are you allowed to show me that?”

I shrugged. “Don’t see why not. It’s not like medical records. Arrest records are public.”

She leaned, sliding closer. “Okay, then sure. Show me. Wait, is that a woman?”

I enlarged the photo on the rap sheet. “Yep. Yolanda Dukane. She’s been a busy girl. Felony possession firearm, carrying concealed, possession of drugs.”

“Motor vehicle theft. Burglary,” she read over my shoulder. “Holy crap. I didn’t know women steal cars. Well, I know they steal cars but I’m just surprised.”

I had to laugh a little. “More often than not car thieves are male but it’s not uncommon.” I scrolled down the screen, reading the long list of offenses. “And this one, she’s been at it a long time by the looks of it. See, there’s a difference between the street punks who boost a car because they’re too lazy to walk to this kind of criminal.” I studied the face on my screen, from the hollows under her eyes to the telltale acne scars of a meth addict.

Erin shuddered. “She’s scary looking. You can also see evidence of drug abuse. My guess is crystal meth.”

My head whipped her way. Was she reading my mind now? “You can see that?”

“Yeah,” Erin said, pointing. “Her face is covered in skin lesions and see how they extend down to her neck and throat area? She’s developed a formication disorder from prolonged use.”

“Fornication?” I teased.

Erin nudged me for being a smartass. “
Form
ication, not fornication. She’s got the creepy crawly itches from compromising her central nervous system. Look at the big welts she’s left on her neck from scratching.”

I hunched when she started tickling my neck in retaliation. “Easy, woman. You tickle me, I get to tickle back. You’ve been warned.”

I closed the email, enjoying Erin’s attention much more. “So you
are
ticklish,” I surmised when she stopped immediately.

I grabbed her by her waist as soon as she tried to step away.

“Please don’t tickle me.” She giggled, struggling.

“I won’t.” I pulled her into my chest. “Promise. I’ll save this new knowledge for another time when you’re not expecting it.”

She smiled back at me, resting her hands on my bare shoulders. “You love your job, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“I’m glad you do. I want you to be happy.”

She made me happy. “I am.”

“Good. So tell me… what else do you normally do on a Sunday besides studying rap sheets, Cop?”

I loved that she enjoyed fucking with me. “Well,
Doc
,” I slipped her cell across the counter and handed it to her. “As soon as I program your number in my phone, we can figure that out.”

I typed each number in carefully; tiny icons were getting harder to see. “H-o-t D-o-c,” I joked.

“You seriously did not add me in like that, did you? Is that in case you forget my name?”

“
Erin Novak
—” I enjoyed watching her private smile when her phone rang in her hand. “My phone, my rules.”

“Fine. Be that way.” She bumped into me. “S-e-x-y C-o-p,” she spelled, leaning on me while she did it.

I set my cell down. “You done?”

“Why? You going to ten fifteen me now?”

I slipped the phone out of her hand and pulled her between my thighs, needing to kiss her in the worst way. My hands were in her hair again, my tongue riding hers on a newfound high. I swear my cock felt like it was Christmas, too. “I like that idea.” I locked her in my arms. “Prisoner in custody. Mine.”

She giggled at first and then pulled back. “I may need a ten twenty too.”

She followed my glance around. “You’re in my kitchen, although I think we should move our location back to my bedroom. I have more
ten
codes I can teach you.” I squeezed her luscious ass.

“Now you’re just making shit up.”

“You dare doubt an officer of the law?”

My doorbell rang, not once but twice, surprising the heck out of me and rudely interrupting my plans.
Who the fuck would be at my door on a Sunday?
I hoped to hell it wasn’t some ballsy fans of the show coming to get their eyeful.

Just as I completed that thought, the person outside started banging on my door. One glance out my front window was all it took to see whose car was parked in the driveway behind Erin’s.

Fuck.

“Erin, come with me.” More knocking came from the impatient bitch outside. I towed Erin up the steps to my bedroom.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

I tossed her jeans over to her and pulled mine up.

“Adam?” Erin asked again, yanking her jeans up.

I grabbed the green tee Erin wore the other day, still smelling her scent on it, giving me strength to go deal with the bullshit banging on my door.

I also grabbed my Glock and holstered it in the back of my jeans.

Erin froze. “Adam, what’s going on? Tell me right now.”

I took a deep breath. “Nikki’s at my door.”

“Nikki?” she questioned.

“My ex.”

Erin snagged my arm; both of us slightly distracted by the continuous banging. “You need a gun to answer your door?”

I held her face in my hand. “Things got ugly between us. I have no idea why she is here but I will not be caught off guard. Not while I’m in my own fucking house.”

The doorbell rang again and again.

“Stay here. I’m going to see what she wants and get rid of her.” I kissed Erin softly. “I won’t let this ruin our day. I promise. She’s history. Okay?”

Erin nodded; her eyes were wide and showing fear. “Is that
tampon girl
?”

It hurt just having to answer that. It hurt worse seeing her so scared. “Yes. I’m going to fix that, too.” I held her gaze so she’d see how serious I was. “Stay here, babe. I’ll be right back. You copy?”

I nodded. “I copy.”

I hoped to hell she’d stay upstairs, but my gut was telling me she wouldn’t.

Nikki was calling out my name with each thud of her fist.

It was time to bury some old ghosts once and for all.

THE FACT THAT
Adam armed himself to go answer his front door was beyond unsettling. Knowing it was his ex-girlfriend pounding on his door
and
that he felt he needed to be armed was downright incomprehensible.

Even though he told me to stay in his bedroom, curiosity and concern had me sneaking to the top of the stairs, but not before I snagged Adam’s hammer from the pile of tools in the spare bedroom. I stopped on the third step down with hammer in hand—well within hearing distance but out of sight. Any farther and she’d be able to see me through the wooden railing.

I had no idea what this woman could be capable of. Adam armed himself, but I still felt the need to be able to defend him.

“What do you want?” Adam asked brusquely.

“I need to talk to you,” the female voice replied, a hint of an urgent plea etching her voice. “Please.”

Great. She’s playing on his sympathy, sounding desperate.

“You alone?”

“Of course,” she insisted.

Italian, maybe? Definitely a South Philly-accented attitude.

“You have two minutes, then I’m closing this door.”

“Can I at least come in? It’s freezing out here.”

The hinges creaked and then the front door shut, echoing the change of pressure throughout the house. I tried to see their reflection in the glass on the large print of whitetail deer Adam had hanging on the downstairs wall, wanting to know what she looked like in the worst way.

“Were you sleeping?” Nikki asked, straining to hide her annoyance.

He sighed. “No.”

“Then why did it take you so long to answer?”

I could hear him draw in an impatient breath through his nose. “I was busy.”

“Oh. Is someone here?”

“What do you want? Why are you here?”

“Whose car is in the driveway?”

Adam didn’t answer.

“What, did you get another new car or something? It’s okay. You can tell me.” She chuckled. “Looks expensive. Must be nice. I mean, things must be going really good for you.”

What a…! Could you be any more condescending?

“It belongs to a friend. You’ve got one minute.”

“Jeez, Adam. Chill.”

“Nikki, I got shit to do. Get to the fucking point.”

“Wow. Can’t you even be civil to me anymore? It would be nice to be able to talk to you without you biting my head off.”

I heard him groan.

“How have you been? You look really good. I mean, you look great.”

I craned my neck, trying to hear them better.

“Time is ticking,” he said flatly. “You gonna get to the point of this visit anytime soon?”

She let out a long sigh. “Can’t we just talk, you know, like we used to?”

“Why? I’ve said everything I needed to say to you a
long
time ago. There’s nothing left to talk about.”

“I thought maybe we could try again. Come on. Please? I miss you so much.”

“Don’t start.”

“Four years, baby.”

“I’m warning you, Nikl, do
not
start this shit with me.”

“I made a mistake. A terrible mistake. Please! I was scared and confused and I didn’t know what to do. Half the time I tried to talk to you, you were either too drunk or too tired to be bothered. What did you expect me to do?”

“Jesus. I expected you to fucking talk to me instead of lying to my face. That’s what
I
expected.”

“I know and I’m sorry. Please, please don’t throw away everything we had. I know in your heart you still love me. I know you do.”

We both waited for an answer that didn’t come. I felt my heart sink and twist.

“God, how many times do I have to tell you I’m sorry before you forgive me?”

“I don’t have time for this. We’ve been through this shit already.”

“I know, but—”

“But nothing. How many times do we have to keep rehashing this shit? Huh? You need to get it in your head. I’m done! It’s over!”

I shifted, becoming uncomfortable hearing them argue.

“Don’t say that. Please. I thought if I gave you some time… I thought you said we could try again?”

“When the hell did I say that?”

“On the phone last week. You said that you’d talk to me later, or was that just bullshit?”

I could hear him getting frustrated.

“Nikki, I’m… you need to get this straight, okay? What you and I had is done. It’s gone. You killed that, not me. I’ve put it behind me. I suggest you do the same. You need to move on, all right?”

“Is that what you’ve done? I’m sorry, but I’m having a hard time doing that. I can’t erase all the years we were together as if they meant nothing. I thought since you’re sober now we could try again. I promise I’ll be different. I swear. Don’t you remember all of the promises we made to each other? All the fun we used to have? Making love to each other?”

“That was
before
you went and made decisions without me,” he growled.

“You telling me you don’t miss anything? That after everything we’ve been through, you don’t love me anymore? You think you’re going to find another woman who will put up with you drowning your sorrows in beer and whiskey while sitting here night after night all alone?”

“Do not throw that in my face. I’ve apologized too many times. And I worked nights before we met. You knew what you were getting into.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I did. But maybe if you’d just try to get on day shift a few times. For
me
. Is that too much to ask?”

“Why are we even having this conversation again?”