Arrested Pleasure (22 page)

That didn't sound like something Cassie would do. Gabe stood and began to pace the room. Shit, what the hell was going on?

"Did you ask her what she meant?" Chaz continued calmly. "She could've meant a pedicure or manicure or—"

Gabe interjected, "Did you ask her if she meant sex?"

Al glanced from Chaz to Gabe, digesting their words. "She didn't come right out and ask me, but it's obvious what she wanted."

"I don't think so." Gabe splayed his hands on the table and stared at Al. "My guess is you misinterpreted the lady's words."

"Banks—"

"Shut up, Chaz. Let's find out the truth." Gabe felt anger bubbling to the surface.

How dare someone slander Cassie's name and reputation? She wouldn't sell her body for anything. He knew this in his bones.

Alvarez's expression turned defensive at Gabe's challenge. "I think you have no way of knowing. You weren't in the room with me."

"No. I wasn't." He continued to stare unflinchingly at Alvarez. The guy's cool manner began to piss him off even more than before. "But I happen to know Ms.

Nichols, and she isn't the type. She isn't
your
type." He bit off an expletive and turned away.

"Is that so?" Alvarez's voice sounded calm, but held a hint of anger.

"Who put you up to this?" Gabe's demanded. "This is nothing but a piece of crap.

She wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole."

"Gabe, I think we need to have a powwow." Chaz interrupted as he rose and grabbed Gabe's arm.

"Why? The guy is lying. Why can't you understand this?"

"Not here. Let's go outside and discuss this." Chaz nodded at Alvarez. "Excuse us for a moment."

"I don't think—" Gabe protested.

"No. You're not thinking at all, you butthead. Come on." Chaz pulled Gabe out of the room.

Shutting the door behind them, Chaz faced Gabe. They were alone except for the murmured buzz of people chatting around them. Marci lifted her head and gazed at them curiously. Gabe wanted to punch the wall, but knew it'd only get him in deeper trouble. Hell, he was already in trouble for revealing his association with Cassie to the man in there. Frustration mounted inside him. Al Alvarez was a lying sonofabitch. If he had this way, he'd kick the man's ass into the next state.

Chaz gripped Gabe's shoulder with his hand. His partner's chest heaved as he took deep breaths. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Gabe ran his hand through his hair. He didn't understand himself. He prided himself on being the professional, but suddenly he was kicking himself in the ass. "The bastard is making up lies. Cassie wouldn't offer him sex."

"Gabe, my friend, let's not forget you're emotionally involved here. I think this is one time you need to get off a case."

"They're all lying. Someone is out to ruin her, and I intend to get to the bottom of who's behind this."

"Maybe so, but we have no proof to offer the chief. What do you think he'd say if you told him, 'Excuse me, she's not fucking those guys because she's fucking me.' How do suppose this makes you appear. And me, since I'm aware of your relationship?

Come on, buddy. Give us all a break, including Cassie. If she's innocent of prostitution, we'll do an investigation and prove these are all lies. Your jumping a guy's ass isn't going to help."

Gabe heaved a sigh. He agreed. He didn't help Cassie's cause by trying to trample and ruin the phony evidence. "Okay, we'll go back in and get a blow-by-blow account of what happened and let him go. Then we'll start the job of picking his story apart."

"Finally you see the light. Let me go back in first and soothe Alvarez's ego. You acted pretty nasty toward him."

Gabe nodded. "Sorry. He made some damning allegations against Cassie."

"I know. Just give me—" Chaz stopped and stared beyond Gabe's shoulders. "Oh.

Fuck."

Gabe turned to see what had caught Chaz's attention. His heart went straight to his gut when he encountered Cassie's stunned expression.

Surprise turned to anger. "What's going on?" she demanded.

Oh, shit. How much had she overheard?

"Hey, babe. Whatcha doing here?" His mind did a quick assessment. He needed to get her out of here. "Want to go out for a coffee?" He moved forward, bent on herding her out before someone caught on who she was and what their connection was. He'd let Chaz deal with Alvarez.

Cassie splayed her hands across his chest, forcing him to stop. "Don't come any closer. We're not going anywhere until you tell me the truth."

With a sinking heart, Gabe realized she'd overheard too much. "Nothing. We're just talking about a case."

"You mentioned my name. You said 'Cassie' and that I'm selling my body for sex.

What the hell is this filth all about?"

In hopes of diverting her away before Alvarez heard her, he stepped away from the closed door. "Why don't we talk about this up in my office?"

"Don't change the subject!" Her wintry stare shifted to Chaz. "I know you." She glanced back and forth between the two men. "You were both at my place that day."

"Chaz is my partner. Come on, let me explain—"

"Your partner?" Her face paled. "You both mentioned my name. Selling sex"—

she covered her mouth with her hand—"oh my God, you guys think I'm a hooker and were investigating me?"

"No, Cassie—" Gabe started to grab her arm, but she moved out of reach. Away from him.

Chaz cleared his throat. "I need to get back into the interrogation room. You two .

. . um . . . work things out."

Cassie stared at Chaz and then the door. "Who's in there? Can't I at least see who my accuser is?"

"Don't go in there." He needed to diffuse the situation before it got more out of control.

"Sorry, Ms. Nichols, but you can't enter the room. It's police procedure," Chaz told her before he turned to head back to the interrogation room.

The door closed, leaving Gabe and Cassie alone. Well, except for the twenty or so colleagues of Gabe's who'd stopped working to observe the interchange.

"Sweetheart . . . ."

"Don't sweetheart me!" She whipped around and began walking off.

Gabe started after her. "Cassie! Wait!" He caught up with her, grabbed her arm, and pulled her around to face him.

She twisted away from his grip and turned on him. "I can't trust a man who thinks I'm a prostitute and would even think I'd sell my body for sex." Her voice had turned frigid. He flinched at the coldness. "Leave me the hell alone."

"I want to explain." He had to make her understand. He believed she was being set up, but unless they sat and discussed the circumstances, he couldn't prove it.

"Dammit, how do I know you didn't get into my bed in order to get the goods on me?"

"Sweetheart—"

"
I told you, don't sweetheart me, you jackass
."

Gabe heard a snicker behind him and turned to check the source. Three heads dropped, their eyes on their desks, seemingly hard at work. This conversation with Cassie was too public.

He turned his attention back to her. "Look, we—" he began, but she'd taken off, about to round the corner on her way to the exit. "Cassie! Stop!" He darted after her, but just as he got to the corner, the chief stepped in front of him. Gabe grabbed the wall to avoid slamming into his boss.

"What's going on here, Detective Banks?"

Gabe gazed helplessly as Cassie slipped out the glass revolving front doors. He groaned, aware his nightmare had only gotten worse.

"Banks? I asked you a question."

Gabe glanced at the chief. "I, uh, sir—"

"Spit it out. I came down here to head out for a city council meeting, and I overheard someone shouting. Then I find you in an argument with a woman. What the hell is going on, Banks?"

Well aware that even if he had a quick explanation to calm his boss and escape, there would be no way to catch Cassie.

"Sorry, sir, she's a lady I know, and I pissed her off." He certainly didn't plan to tell his boss the woman was Cassandra Nichols. His ass would be hauled into the office and probably fired on the spot.

"Don't you have any work to do instead of making a woman angry?" Chief Stone glared at Gabe, disdain evident in his expression.

Gabe glanced backward at the closed door of the interrogation room. Yeah, he did. He had to find out how to prove Cassie's innocence and beg her forgiveness.

"Get to work, Banks, unless you're not interested in a paid job anymore." The chief's voice interrupted Gabe's thoughts.

The guy was right. He'd take things one step at a time and hope Cassie understood. "Sure. Sir. I'll get back with Chaz."

The chief nodded. "Good. Worry about your girlfriend later."

Gabe watched Chief Stone head out the door, half-tempted to disobey and follow Cassie. But his partner expected him to help question Alvarez. He only hoped it wasn't too late to save his relationship with her.

* * * * *

Cassie slammed the back door of the spa behind her so hard a painting hanging on the wall crashed to the floor. She'd driven back here without seeing a thing and didn't care how she arrived safely. All she wanted was to get out of the police station as fast as she could.

She cursed for the hundredth time since she'd left that weasel. How dare he not tell her he was investigating Casa de Massage—and her? Somehow he'd left out this little bit of news during all the time they spent together. Tears stung her eyes as the wetness filled them.

"Cassie, good heavens, is that you?"

Dani stood at the entrance to the hallway, concern etched across her face. Cassie supposed she looked like hell. She couldn't help it. Tears began to fall unchecked down her cheeks.

"Damn him," she muttered, trying to wipe the dampness away.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Dani's soft question rankled Cassie's nerves. How to explain you'd spent the past couple of weeks sleeping with a traitor?

"I—can't talk right now." She sniffled, and started searching for a tissue in her purse. Maybe she'd head upstairs and have a good cry.

"Can I do something for you?"

Cassie dabbed at the moisture on her face. "I think I'm going upstairs. Can you take care of the shop for a while?"

Dani studied her for a moment and then nodded. She obviously wanted to say more but sensed Cassie needed time alone. "Sure. The spa's quiet anyway. Lola has even left for the day. Her daughter came in from Bend."

"Okay. Thanks, Dani." She turned to make a quick getaway to her apartment. All she wanted was to be alone.

She tossed her purse down on the table and headed for the bedroom. She started ripping the sheets off the bed, intent on getting rid of Gabe's masculine scent.
Damn him
.

Why did the jerks of the world have to be good looking
and
charming?

"I should've known he was up to something," she muttered. "I'll just get a cat to sleep with."

She'd arrived at Gabe's work in hopes of surprising him with a visit on the off chance he'd be available for a bite to eat. As she walked down the hallway, she'd spotted him right away. She'd overheard her name mentioned. That plus the tense nature of their tones had forced her to stop and wonder why they were discussing her.

To her horror, she learned they suspected she was a high priced prostitute. And Casa de Massage was a front for her illegal activities. The revelations had ripped right into her heart.

A hooker. One who sold her body to lowlifes for the highest dollar?

She ripped off the pillow cover and threw it into the pile she'd made. She stared at the pillow in her hands, while visions screamed at her of how he'd looked lounging against it yesterday morning. She'd brought him coffee in bed. He'd opened his eyes and lazily smiled at her.

"That for me, babe?" The end of the sheet dipped lower as he sat up.

Her gaze followed the dark sprinkle of hair on his chest and stomach until the sheet dipped below his navel. Her mouth watered in anticipation of what lay below.

She'd shaken her head at his brazenness and silently handed him his cup.

Hoping to get her mind out of the gutter, she asked him, "Want anything special for breakfast?"

A naughty gleam flickered in his eyes as he ran them down the front of the short robe she wore. "Come closer, and I'll tell you."

She smiled as she set down her own cup of coffee. "I hope it's wicked things." She kneeled onto the bed and placed her hands on his shoulders. Her hair curtained down and brushed one of his nipples. He closed his eyes and shuddered at the contact. When he reopened them, his grin was sinful.

"I have plenty of ideas what we can do. But I better warn you this is going to be a multi-course meal." His hand reached out and sifted her hair through his fingers. She shivered in response. His touch was both erotic and inviting.

"You have something in mind?"

She'd barely gotten the last word out before he flipped her on her back and pinned her to the covers. She stared up at him, licking her lips.

"Darlin', you're driving me insane," he groaned, before he leaned down and crushed her mouth with his.

For the next forty-five minutes, Gabe showed Cassie a new meaning of what it meant to have breakfast in bed.

Shaking her head, she tossed the pillow back on the bed. She cursed and muttered as she gathered all of the dirty linens and carried them downstairs to the laundry room. Blindly, she threw in detergent and turned on the washer. A pile of towels lay in the basket by the dryer, so she folded them by rote. She needed to keep busy, because all the while, her mind reeled in turmoil.

How did she let Gabe deceive her? She now suspected that from the first moment he stepped into the spa and came onto her, he had a plan of getting close to her. But what about the first day at Gavin's? Did he plan them to meet? Did he know who she was before? He'd claimed he didn't, yet he'd shown up in her neighborhood shortly afterwards.

Cassie paused in mid-fold. The chemistry between them had burned hotly right from the start. Knowing Gabe as she did now—or thought she did—he probably didn't expect to have that sort of reaction to her. But, later, when they kissed and it turned into something more, she had thought their relationship meant more than a temporary affair. She sighed and shook her head as she set aside the towels to wipe the tears from her cheeks.