The Girl Who Cried Wolf (7 page)

Like Kat.

Shit
.

Reese swore under his breath. Someone
had
been terrorizing her—Sherman. Muttering an apology to the captain, he ran out of the office and headed for the stairs.

“O’Malley, did you see where Kat Sinclair went?” he called to the desk sergeant.

The red-haired man looked up. “She ran out of here about ten minutes ago.”

Shit
.

Reese ran for the door. He barely made it outside before Dylan caught up with him.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” his partner demanded.

“To find your sister, jackass,” Reese shot back. “In case you haven’t figured it out, Sherman was the one who almost ran her off the road. I need to find her before that son of a bitch does.”

“Like hell you are,” Dylan snapped. “What you’re going to do is stay the hell away from her. You’ve caused enough trouble.”

“Me?” Reese snorted. “There’s a psycho looking to settle the score with you, and apparently, he’s decided he’s going to start with your sister. So, if anyone is responsible for this mess, it’s you, asshole.”

Dylan’s eyes narrowed, and Reese thought his partner was going to take a swing at him again. Fine. If he wanted a fight, he was damn well going to get one.

“Sinclair!”

From the corner of his eye, Reese saw a homicide inspector named Kellogg poke his head out the door.

“Captain wants to see you.”

Dylan glared at Reese. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Reese shook his head as he watched his partner jog up the steps and into the building. Don’t go anywhere. Right. There was a lunatic looking to take out his vengeance on Kat. No fucking way was he going to stand there and wait to go another round with his soon-to-be ex-partner.

* * * * *

Kat knew it was crazy to leave the one place she’d be safe, but she couldn’t stand there anymore and watch the two men she loved come to blows over her. So, she’d hopped in her poor beat-up Mini and gone back to her office just long enough to cry on Becka’s shoulder before checking into a hotel.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay at my place?” Becka asked.

It was tempting, but Kat shook her head. “Reese and Dylan will look for me there, and I can’t face either of them right now.”

Becka nodded. “I get that, but if there’s some guy after you, a hotel might not be the safest place to be.”

“I’ll be fine,” Kat assured her. “If Reese or Dylan ask, promise me you won’t tell them where I am.”

“I promise.” Becka threw her arms around Kat. “Call me when you get to the hotel.”

Kat leaned back against the headboard and hugged her knees to her chest. How had everything gone so wrong? All she’d wanted was be with the man she loved, and instead, she’d destroyed everything. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the image of Reese and Dylan fighting out of her head. She never would have thought either one could be capable of hurting the other. They were best friends. At least, they had been until she’d come between them.

She didn’t know how long she sat there berating herself for the mess she’d made, but she must have dozed off because she jerked awake when she heard a sound outside the door. She sat up straighter and reached for her cell phone just as whomever it was knocked.

“Kat, it’s Reese.”

Her heart gave an involuntary little flutter at the sound of his voice, but she ignored it. Reese was probably only there to yell at her for telling Dylan about their relationship. Maybe if she didn’t answer, he would go away.

Reese knocked again, more insistently this time. “Kat, I know you’re in there.”

Kat didn’t answer.

Outside the door, Reese sighed. “Honey, come on. Let me in. I need to talk to you.”

She knew she should keep quiet, but she couldn’t. “Well, I don’t want to talk to you. Go away.”

On the other side of the door, Reese muttered something she couldn’t quite hear. “Kat, you might as well open the door. If you don’t, I’ll just get the manager to do it for me.”

Crap
.

One of the disadvantages of dating a cop. Might as well just get the argument over with. Jumping off the bed, she stomped over to the door and yanked it open to glare at Reese.

“I have nothing to say to you,” she told him coldly.

“Well, I have plenty to say to you,” he said, brushing past her into the room. “What the hell were you thinking, running off like that? Don’t you realize you’ve got some psychopath after you?”

She rounded on him, letting the door swing closed with a thud. “Oh, so you buy my story now? I thought I was going to have to let the guy kill me before you’d finally believe me.”

Reese’s face darkened. “That isn’t funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny.” Kat folded her arms. “How the hell did you find me anyway?”

“Becka told me where you were.”

Kat made a face. “Remind me never to tell her anything anymore.”

“She did the right thing. Unlike you,” Reese said. “Someone tries to run you of the road and you leave the one place where people can keep you safe?”

How could he be so smart and so stupid at the same time? “What did you expect me to do? Stay and watch while you and my brother beat each other senseless?”

“What did you think was going to happen when your brother found out about us? No guy want his sister dating his best friend.”

“That’s just stupid.” She shook her head. “You don’t even know how ridiculous you two looked, both trying to lay claim to me like I was some damn piece of property.”

His brows drew together. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Really? Then tell me what it is like, because I’m confused. You’ve told me repeatedly that we’re through, and yet, here you are, acting all concerned about me.”

“I
am
concerned about you, dammit, and if you give me a minute, I can say what I came here to—”

Kat held up her hands. “I don’t want to hear any more. You can’t keep doing this to me, Reese. It hurts way too much.” She took a deep breath. “I want you to go.”

“I’m not leaving until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

God, he was so irritating. “I don’t care what you have to say, so just get the hell out.”

Reese stood there as if she hadn’t spoken. Kat put her hands on his chest and tried to push him toward the door. But Reese didn’t budge, damn him. He might as well have been a freaking brick wall.

“What part of get the hell out don’t you understand?” she demanded.

“And what part of I’m not leaving until we talk don’t you understand?”

Kat glared at him. Reese glared back. Like it was some epic battle of wills. Suddenly, everything that had happened over the past few days was just too much. Blinking back tears of frustration, Kat lifted a hand to slap him across the face. Or she tried to anyway. He was faster than she was, catching her wrist before she could even get close. Jaw tight, he spun her around and holding onto her tightly, bent her over at the waist she that her butt was sticking out.

“I didn’t come here to do this, but apparently, this is the only way I can seem to get you to listen to me,” he growled.

Holding her steady with one arm, he delivered a dozen well-aimed spanks to the seat of her skirt before yanking her upright to glower down at her.

“Now that I have your attention—”

But Kat was in no mood to listen. With a cry of frustration, she yanked herself from his grip and tried to slap him again. Reese must have anticipated the move because he caught her arm just as easily as he had the first time. Before she knew it, he spun her around gave her another half dozen hard smacks on the ass.

The moment Reese let her up, Kat went for him again. She knew it was futile, that he would never let her hit him. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to, but she wanted to punish him for all the pain he’d put her through. She fully expected him to bend her over and spank her again, but when he caught her arm this time, he hauled her against his chest. She pushed against the wall of solid muscle to no avail.

“Let me go!”

His hands tightened on her arms. “No. Never again, Kat. Never again.”

She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell that meant, but he bent his head and kissed her before she could get the words out.

Kat was so startled at first that she just stood there. But all the anger and hurt that had been building up refused to dissolve despite how delicious his mouth felt on hers. Who the hell did he think he was? He couldn’t kick her out of his life one day and pretend he wanted her back in it the next. It wasn’t fair.

She shoved at his chest with all her strength, but Reese ignored her struggles. He urged her back until she was up against the wall. Then he deepened the kiss, sliding one hand into her long hair to hold her still while his mouth ravished hers. Almost against her will, she felt her body respond. Her hands gripped his leather jacket, pulling him close as her lips parted under his. Suddenly, all the pain and frustration and anger disappeared, and she was kissing him back as fiercely as he was kissing her.

Chapter Five

Kat slid her hands inside his coat, shoving it off his shoulders. Reese released her just long enough to let it drop to the floor, but then his hands were right back on her, gliding over her hips and up her midriff to cup her breasts through the silky material of her sleeveless top. Her nipples hardened inside her bra, making her moan.

She ran her hands down the front his shirt to his belt, fumbling with the buckle, but he caught her fingers in a firm grip and lifted his head. Desire flared hot in his eyes, so she knew he wanted this as much as she did, but when he opened his mouth to speak, she shushed him with a swift kiss anyway.

“No more talking,” she whispered. “Whatever you have to say, it can wait.”

Reese gazed down at her for so long Kat thought he was going to ruin everything by insisting, but instead, he kissed her long and hard on the mouth.

“Don’t move,” he ordered.

The thought hadn’t even entered her mind.

She leaned back against the wall, watching hungrily as he shrugged out of his shoulder holster and carefully lowered it to the floor, then reached behind him to grab his T-shirt with one hand and pull it over his head. The sight of that glorious six-pack of his was almost enough to make her forget he still had his jeans on. Almost, but not quite. She licked her lips, torn between going for his belt again and letting him unbuckle it himself.

But instead, Reese closed the distance between them. Eyes holding hers, he tugged her blouse free from her skirt and lifted it over her head. She expected her bra to follow, but he surprised her by cupping her bra-covered breasts. His thumbs found the nipples, making little circles on them through the material of her bra. She gasped, though whether it was from that or the fact that he’d dipped his head to trail a path of wet, hot kisses along her jaw, she wasn’t sure. She arched against him, whimpering as he squeezed her nipples.

Reese murmured something she could hear and slid one hand down to grasp the hem of her skirt. Instead of tugging it down—which, now that she thought about it, would have been impossible unless he unzipped it—he shoved it up to cup her sex through her silky panties. Her pussy throbbed against his palm, and she let out a soft moan as he made lazy circles on her clit. The feel of his fingers through the material was more exquisite than she imagined, and she gripped his shoulders, writhing in time with his motions.

“Come for me,” he urged in a husky voice.

Kat obeyed, her cries of pleasure muffled against his mouth as her orgasm surged through her. If Reese hadn’t been pressing her so tightly to the wall, she would have collapsed to the floor, for sure. Dear God. She’d never come so hard.

When she could breathe again, she opened her eyes to find Reese leaning over her, one hand on the wall beside her head, a lopsided grin on his face.

“What?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“Nothing,” he said. “I just like making you come, that’s all.”

“I like when you make me come.” She smiled. “I like making you come, too. So, why don’t you get those jeans off and I can show you just how much?”

He stepped back, his hands going to his belt buckle. Kat unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. Her bra and sopping wet panties quickly followed. She would have dropped to her knees in front of him, but Reese was already grabbing a condom from his wallet. That wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind, but she wasn’t going to complain. She could give him a blowjob later.

She watched impatiently as he rolled on the condom. For some reason, she found the act extremely sexy.

When he was done, he reached around to grasp her ass in both hands, then lifted her up and buried himself inside her in one smooth motion.

Reese felt so incredible inside her that for a moment she forgot how to breathe. Kat wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him as he fucked her fast and hard. He went deeper and deeper with every thrust, shoving her back against the door so hard she was practically dizzy. She clutched at his muscular shoulders, digging her nails into his skin.

“Harder,” she demanded. “Fuck me harder!”

He tightened his grip on her ass and plundered her pussy. She clenched down on his cock. Dead God, she was going to explode.

“Oh yeah, just like that. Harder!”

Her orgasm built to a crescendo of pleasure so intense she actually saw stars. Kat clung to Reese, somehow remembering to bite her lip to stifle her screams. Reese must have remembered where they were, too, because he buried his face in her neck and groaned hoarsely as he came.

Afterward, Kat lay draped over him, her head on his shoulder, his still-hard cock nestled deep inside her. Wordlessly, Reese lifted his head and kissed her tenderly on the mouth before letting her slide down his body to stand on shaky legs. She grasped his shoulders to steady herself, but he swung her up in his arms and carried her over to the king-sized bed.

“We have to talk, Kat,” Reese said softly.

Kat closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She didn’t want to do this. Not now. “If you’re going to tell me all the reasons we can’t be together, Reese, please just go.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you that.” He smoothed her hair with his hand. “I was going to apologize.”

She pushed herself up on her elbow to look down at him. “Apologize for what?”

“For not believing you when you told me someone was following you. And for thinking you were the one who tossed my apartment. And mostly, for walking away from you.” He reached up to cup her cheek. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Kat. I was a jackass for not seeing that. I should have told you’re brother how I felt about you, consequences be damned.”

Tears started in Kat’s eyes and he wiped them away with his thumb.

“Hey. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She shook her head. “I’m not,” she said, then laughed. “Okay, maybe I am. But just because I’m happy. I’ve waited for you to say that for so long, Reese. After what happened at the police station today between you and my brother, I can understand why you didn’t want him to know about us.”

Reese caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I love you, Kat. If Dylan doesn’t like us being together, that’s his problem.”

Kat’s breath hitched. “You love me?”

He grinned. “Yeah. You didn’t know?”

She gave him a sheepish smile. “You haven’t exactly given me reason to think so, you know.”

It was his turn to look embarrassed. “No, I haven’t. And I really am sorry. But I do love you. I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you.”

Kat blushed at the memory. She’d been painting the bedroom in her apartment when he and Dylan had shown up. Thanks to the music blaring from her iPod, she hadn’t heard them come in and dumped blue paint everywhere, including on her. She’d looked like a Smurf. Not exactly her finest moment.

“I love you, too.” She leaned forward to kiss him. “Since you’re apologizing for all the things you did, aren’t you going to apologize for spanking me?”

Reese’s mouth quirked. “Spanking you is one thing I’m definitely not going to apologize for. You deserved every spanking I gave you. Now that I think about it, you’ve probably earned another one for running off today.”

At the mention of another spanking, Kat couldn’t help but squirm. “But you already spanked me for that.”

“That was for taking a swing at me.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that.” Her face colored again. “Is this spanking stuff going to be a regular thing with you?”

He brushed her hair back. “Only if you do something foolish such as put yourself in danger like you did today.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “I got a good look at the guy who tried to run my car off the road. I think I could give you a description.”

“That’s what I came here to tell you—well, that and I love you. We already know who it was.”

“You got the guy?”

Reese shook his head. “Not yet, unfortunately. Or at least I don’t think so. Right after you left the station, the captain got a call from the warden at San Quentin. Some guy Dylan put in prison got paroled four days ago, and from what his cellmate said, he’s coming for your brother.”

She sat up. “Oh, God. Is Dylan okay?”

“He’s fine.” Reese’s mouth curved. “I wouldn’t have waited until now to mention Carl Sherman if he wasn’t.”

Kat flushed. Yeah, that was probably a dumb question. “You think this Sherman guy came after me to get to my brother?”

“It looks that way.” Reese cupped her face. “But you don’t have to worry anymore, sweetheart. The guy’s never going to get near you again. I’ll make sure of that.”

“I know.” The knowledge made her feel warm inside. “But what about Dylan’s girlfriend, Brynn? If Sherman came after me, he might go after her, too.”

“I’m sure Dylan’s already got men on her.” Reese took a loose curl of her hair and twirled it with his finger. “I know you’ve already paid for the hotel room, but what do you think about going back to my place?”

She smiled. “I think I like that idea. Do you mind stopping by my apartment first so I can pick up some stuff?”

“Not at all.” He sat up and gave her a quick kiss. “You do know that I’m going to be sticking to you like glue until Sherman’s back in prison, right?”

“Mmm. I like the sound of that.”

Grinning, she threw back the covers and hopped out of bed to get dressed. As she shoved her feet into her sandals, she grabbed her cell phone to toss it into her purse and groaned when she saw that she had two dozen messages—all of them from her brother.

“Great,” she muttered. “Dylan must have been calling me half the day.”

Reese glanced at his own cell phone. “And me the other half. We’ll give him a call when we get to my place.”

Kat groaned again. “That is one conversation I’m not looking forward to.”

“Me, either,” Reese said. “Dylan might be acting like a jackass right now, but it’s only because he cares about you.”

Reese was right, of course. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.

As it turned out, she didn’t have to call Dylan because he pulled up to her apartment the same time she and Reese did.

“Where the hell have you been?” Dylan demanded.

Kat glanced over her shoulder at him as she jogged up the steps to her apartment. “I was with Reese.”

Dylan threw Reese a glare as they walked into her apartment. “I should have known. And you didn’t think to call and tell me you found her, asshole?” Her brother’s mouth tightened. “Forget it. Go pack, Kat. You’re staying at my place until we find Sherman.”

Kat gritted her teeth. Since when had her brother gotten so damn controlling?

“She’s staying with me,” Reese said.

Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “Like hell she is.” He pinned Kat with a look. “Like hell you are.”

She folded her arms and glowered back. “You thought it was a good idea two days ago.”

“That was before I knew he was sleeping with you.”

God, she could scream. “This might be news to you, but I’m not eighteen-years old anymore, Dylan. I don’t need you playing the overprotective older brother. Reese is my boyfriend, and if I want to stay at his apartment, I’m damn well going to do it.”

Dylan swore under his breath. “There’s some psycho after you, Kat. You need police protection.”

“It’s a good thing Reese is a cop, then.” She went up on tiptoe to give Reese a kiss. “I’m going to go pack.”

Kat didn’t even make it to the bedroom before Reese and Dylan started going at it. She bit her lip as the scene at the police station came rushing back. Maybe she should forget about packing until Dylan left. If they got into another fight, she wasn’t sure she could break them up.

But to her relief, the only punches they seemed interested in throwing were the verbal kind. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t turn into an MMA fight at any minute. The faster she got packed, the faster she and Reese could be out of there. Ignoring their argument as she changed into jeans and a T-shirt wasn’t easy.

“I trusted you, and you betrayed me,” Dylan said. “You knew how I felt about Kat dating a cop, and you went behind my back and went out with her anyway.”

“Fuck, Dylan. You’re making it sound like I went out of my way to seduce her,” Reese said. “Kat and I didn’t plan on falling in love—we just did. Yeah, that’s right. I love your sister, Dylan. And I’m not going to apologize to you or anyone else for it.”

Reese had told her he loved her back at the hotel, but hearing him say again made her heart do a little backflip, and she smiled as she unzipped her overnight bag and tossed things haphazardly inside.

“And what happens when you don’t come home someday, Reese?” Dylan demanded. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. Kat is going to be devastated. Is that what you want for her?”

Kat’s hand tightened on the handle of her bag. The thought of something happening to Reese made her chest hurt so much she could barely breathe.

“You know it isn’t. Dammit, Dylan. You act like I’m going to go out and get myself killed.” Reese sighed. “You’re a cop, too. I don’t see that stopping you from moving in with Brynn.”

“That’s different,” Dylan snapped.