Arresting Holli (3 page)

The longer he stared down at her, the longer the silence between them grew, the brighter the color became on her skin and the more she craned her neck to avoid his eyes.

“Y’all could’ve used some Christmas decorations in here.”

Michael grinned. She was going to be fun. He wasn’t going to know when she’d meet him head-on about something or when she’d skirt the issue at hand in favor of inane conversation. Like now. “Yes, I suppose we could have, and we generally do have stuff up. I don’t know who was in charge of it this year.”

“Well, clearly whoever it was, was a slacker.”

“Completely,” he offered.

The pulse in her neck wasn’t quite as pronounced as it had been when she’d first exited the close confines of the closet, and her chest wasn’t rising and falling quite as rapidly. Her nipples were still pebbled and pushing against her T-shirt, and while he was willing to admit the station house was a bit chilly, he wasn’t willing to accept it was the only reason for the buds trying to poke a hole through her shirt.

“I guess you still have work to do before we leave.”

“I have a little paperwork left, yes.” He shifted her bags to one hand and took her by the other and led her back to the desk. “Why don’t you sit with me while I do it? Time will go by faster if we’re together, and you can tell me about some of your more eccentric clients. I’m sure you must have a few.”

Chapter Three

She was going home with him. She couldn’t believe it. When was the last time she’d gone home with a man? Or had a man go home with her?
Holli
wasn’t sure she could remember that far back. She wasn’t quite sure this particular instance counted, but…

It was the second time since she’d been pulled over that she’d been in his squad car. This time, though, she was sitting up front and not in the back behind the cage. In all her thirty-five plus years, she’d never gotten so much as a speeding ticket and had never been arrested. If she wasn’t so bone tired, so damned horny, or feeling so
freakin
’ gross from not having had a shower in how many hours had it been? Too many for her to count without the clock in front of her. She knew there was some humor in this whole situation; she simply felt too much like shit to find it.

Just the thought of how tired she was and of curling up in a warm bed had her yawning. Would she be sleeping in a bed? Or on the couch? Did he have a second bedroom? Did it matter? She looked over at him. Yeah, it did matter. It would matter a lot more when she was rested and fed.

Then she’d see about feasting on him.

His profile was beautiful. He was beautiful. His face had that guy next door handsomeness that was just over the top, but his eyes were so bright and fun and compelling. He was easy to smile and laugh, open, and very kind.

And she wanted to fuck him. It was that simple.

Officer Hunky indeed.

She wanted to be naughty with him. She wanted to get down and dirty with him. She wanted to snuggle into his arms and sleep with him. He was exactly the kind of man she didn’t let herself get involved with, but again, not many that looked like him had ever been interested in her. He was the good, way-too-good-to-be-true-in-the-long-run kind she didn’t do short runs very well so she stayed away from the sexy men who made her blood boil when it was ten below outside.

But just this once. During this season. On her vacation. She would give in.

It wasn’t often she met men she wanted to flat out fuck either, but this one oh hell yes. He wanted her too. That was a shock in and of itself. Just looking at him and knowing what she must look like right then, it was a wonder he even wanted her in the same car. In general, though, he wasn’t usually the kind of man who would want her. He was toned and lean and perfect to look at, and she was curvy like way, way curvy a little pudgy in some areas, and truthfully pretty average looking. But she wasn’t going to second-guess or question or bemoan the wonderfully good luck landing her in his lap, so to speak. She

“Is everything okay?”

She’d been staring again. She knew that. She’d been all but drooling while imagining him naked. “Yes.”

“You were yawning and looked kind of dazed.”

Dazed with lust. “I’m pretty tired.”

“I bet. You can shower and sleep when we get to my place. It’s right up the road here.”

He pointed in the direction of “here.” Light snow was falling, but she could still see clearly through the windshield. A river flowed to the right, and small shops and businesses lined the left side of the road. It was a small, quaint town right outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The kind you’d see in a magazine or something in a Norman Rockwell painting.

Up meant up a hill, and then he was turning into a drive that wound around to the back of a rather large Victorian complete with a wraparound porch. “You live here?”

“In one part of the house, yes. It was gutted and renovated some years ago and was divided into four apartments. I live in one of the upstairs ones.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah. It was once a summer home for a Southern family that would spend, well, the summers up here. When the last descendent passed away and no one came forth to claim it, the city was going to demolish it. Instead a local businessman bought it to use as rental property. And here we are.” He put the cruiser in park. “C’mon. Let’s get you inside.”

He helped her out of the car and grabbed her bags from the trunk. With a hand holding her elbow, he guided her around ice patches and unsafe mounds of snow. The inside of the house was warm, and the smell of gingerbread assaulted her senses. Her stomach rumbled its approval of the aroma. Michael laughed, and she was starving again, still, for something other than food. She was starving for Officer Hunky.

She’d separated him in her mind. Michael was the one caring for her. Officer Hunky was the one inciting her lust and making her want to do naughty things so he’d be forced to “arrest” her.

“Mrs. Collins in apartment number one bakes gingerbread all the time,” he said, by way of explanation. “All year long. Even in the summer. She’s one of those competitive bakers you see traveling all over the country to participate in recipe contests.”

“Has she ever won?”

He guided her up the stairs to the second-floor landing. “Yes. She’s won a lot, and every time she comes home, she shows off her ribbons or asks me to come down and see her brand-new kitchen equipment.”

Holli
chucked him on the chin and winked. “Well, aren’t you a good neighbor?”

“It doesn’t hurt that I’m pretty handy with basic installations either.”

“Oh I’m quite sure it doesn’t.”

They were talking, bantering, sort of flirting. They’d had an easy enough rapport behind bars, and it seemed to be translating to the outside world as well. She liked that they could relax and connect, that they could tease each other. She was fairly certain she could keep from throwing herself at him too. At least for a little while longer.

He unlocked the door to his apartment, and she immediately shivered as a cold gust of air hit her.

“Sorry about that,” he said, wrapping an arm around her to usher her inside. He closed the door behind them, then moved to the fireplace in the center of the large wall running the length of the living space.

At least her teeth weren’t chattering. “That’s beautiful. The scrollwork on the mantel, I mean.”

“Yeah it is. When I said the house was gutted, I mean gutted. All except the fireplaces. There are four total, all original to the house. One in each apartment, but there is gas heat as well. I generally don’t have need to use it myself, but with you here, I’ll be happy to turn it on so the bedroom gets warm.”

“It’s okay. I can sleep on the couch.”

“No. You’ll sleep in the bed.”

There was no arguing with that tone of voice. She knew from experience. He’d used the same one with her when she’d tried to argue her way out of being arrested and booked for fraud. Until he’d seen the clerical error on her social security number, he’d given her that implacable, in-charge voice. If she hadn’t been scared and pissed off, she’d have found it incredibly arousing. Kind of like she did now.

Remember
Holli
, no jumping Officer Hunky.

“Can I shower?”

“Of course. This way.” His tone was light again, easygoing, and she followed him into the one and only bathroom. “It’ll take a few minutes for the water to heat up, but once it does, be sure to monitor it before you get in or it’ll scald you.”

“Okay. Temper the water.”

“I’ll get some food started.”

He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. He’d become formal, businesslike, and she wasn’t sure why. Was he nervous? Had he changed his mind about bringing her to his home? Had he changed his mind about wanting her? Should she have attacked him in the closet after all?

Holli
sighed and reached behind the shower curtain to turn on the water. While she let it warm up, she unzipped her suitcase with a slight frown. She had nothing sexy to wear, not that it would really matter, but still… In her current circumstances, it would be nice to at least give the appearance that she had a feminine side. But since she’d planned on going shopping in New York, she hadn’t brought anything pretty or sexy. She opted for the gray lounge pants and the soft black sweater that was some sort of cross between sweatshirt and T-shirt. She grabbed the first pair of panties she saw, the plain white cotton, and promptly buried them at the bottom of her clothes. She found a somewhat girly pair of black ones with polka dots and a little bow at the waistband and decided they would have to do. Though if he was no longer interested in her as she was beginning to suspect and resign herself to her choice of panties wasn’t going to matter one bit.

She checked the water and found it to be the perfect temperature to thaw out her frozen skin, and she quickly undressed. She had the curtain pulled to the side for less than a second before she was ensconced behind it under the blessedly warm downpour.

There was a knock on the bathroom door just before she heard it open. There was only one person it would be. She thought briefly about inviting him to join her, but didn’t. For one, the tub was too small for two people, and two well, she didn’t have a two.

“
Holli
?”

“Yeah?”

“I brought you a cup of coffee. I know you’re tired, but I thought something warm to drink might help warm you up.”

“Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to ask him to stay and talk to her, to let her just listen to his voice, but she let him go and finished her shower.

To say it felt good to wash her hair, twice, and to wash her face, twice, and to wash her body, at least three times, would have been the wrong word choice. Heavenly was more appropriate and though both the shower and the coffee would help to wake her up a little, she knew it wouldn’t take long for exhaustion to take over once more.

She got out and dried off, then dressed, hung the towel up, and took a couple of long swallows of coffee. The jolt to her system was almost immediate but she didn’t want to be on a caffeine high either. After one more swallow, she brushed her teeth. Twice.

She folded her old clothes in a nice, neat stack and wondered if it would be considered a fire hazard to burn them in the fireplace.

Heat wrapped around her when she exited the bathroom, and the already potent exhaustion sank even deeper into her bones. She would be lucky to stay awake long enough to eat.

“Grilled cheese?” she asked, coming to stand at the edge of the kitchen.

Michael looked up at her and smiled. A different kind of heat enveloped her that had nothing at all to do with room temperature.

“Yes. Is that all right? It was quick, and I thought it might be just enough for you for a while.”

“It…it’s perfect.”

It was perfect. He was perfect. The coffee was perfect. The winter wonderland scene outside with the snow and the icy river not too far in the distance was perfect.

“
Holli
? What’s wrong?”

Nothing. Everything. She walked up to him without answering his question, stood on her tiptoes, and laid a kiss on his lips. Her intention was to pull away immediately, but his arms curved around her back and drew her flush against his body. He angled his head one way and slid a hand into her hair and angled hers the other way to deepen the kiss. Mouths opened, breath mingled, tongues danced.

Holli
clung to his big, solid body as desire swept through her. She sank into him as he took charge of the kiss she’d started. It should have been awkward, their difference in height, but it wasn’t. It was a fit she couldn’t have imagined, a feel so right it made her knees weak and her heart thump hard.

Slowly, very slowly, he raised his head and looked down at her with darkened eyes full of the same need that pulsed through her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t you dare. I’m not. I’ve wanted you since you got out of the car on the side of the road. Thank God you want me too.”

“I’ve never…I’ve never thrown myself at anyone.” She was still clinging to him, still clutching his shirt in her hands, and it was only then that she realized he’d changed out of his uniform into a pair of jeans and a pullover. He was even more handsome, even more hunky in street clothes.

“You didn’t throw yourself at me.”

She lifted a brow. He tossed her a smirk.

“Okay, so maybe you did. I’d have made the first move, but you beat me to it. I was going to wait until you’d had some food, some sleep, before I ravished you. I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

“No advantage taken. I…I…” She was at a loss for words, and she hoped he’d take pity on her. When he offered her a plate with the most incredible-smelling grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich on it, she could have kissed him. Again. But that would have only led to more kisses and the beginning of other things, and she wanted to be fully awake for those. It was best they eat, and then best that she sleep. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He led her over to the couch, and she curled into one corner of it, so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. He sat on the floor in front of her and leaned back, stretching his legs out. If he tilted his head back just a little, it would be laying against her leg, and the idea made her smile and tingle with warmth. It was the last thing she remembered feeling.