Good Girl Gone Bad (19 page)

When she looked at Ty, she saw his attention was on her instead of the fish.

Setting her hands on her hips, she let Ty get an eyeful. Her nipples puckered under his hot gaze. “I have massage rules.”

He smiled, his eyes trailing up her fluttering chest to her eyes. “Of course you do.”

“Because I want the maximum effect of this, we’re going to do it in my bedroom.” His eyes sparked. She felt an answering spark inside, but continued calmly, “And, you will keep your hands below my thighs. No infractions.” She stuck her hand out. “Deal?”

Ty grinned like the devil in a whorehouse. He wrapped his big, warm hand around hers and slowly pumped. “Deal.”

Like a mother leading a toddler to naptime, Phil took Ty’s other hand and led him down the hall. The gesture felt strangely intimate and soothing. She wasn’t sure what provoked the action, but she was happy he didn’t pull away.

She settled facedown on the bed, excitement pulsing through her body. It was just a foot massage, but she could barely contain her excitement as she anticipated his touch.

His weight settled at her feet, the bed dipping. She heard the squirt of lotion, and when he took her right foot into his hands and pressed his thumbs against the ball of her foot, she about came then and there. Shock waves shot up her legs, spearing her twat before running up her spine. Her nipples strained against the terry cloth and Phil had to keep herself from pressing her hips into the mattress.

“Feel good?” Ty asked, his voice deep and husky.

“Like heaven.”

His fingers, long, thick, and strong, delved into her tired muscles. After several moments, she felt her other muscles loosen.

“Is your mother still alive?” If she didn’t converse, she’d melt under his touch and that was the last thing she needed.

He dug his thumb between her big toe and next toe. “What’s your fascination, Phil?”

Her breath caught. “I don’t know. I guess I want to know what makes you tick.”

He massaged her instep. Oh, that felt so good. He pulled her foot back so her leg was at a forty-five-degree angle. She felt him bend toward her toes, heard him inhale. “Vanilla.” His warm breath on her skin cranked up her senses.

Her heart rate kicked up a notch and she really wished he liked her better. Focus, she told herself.

“So where were you today?”

He loosened his hold on her foot and lowered it back to the bed. “I was on my way to the zoo.”

“The zoo?” she asked.

“The zoo.”

“Why?”

“I promised Candi I’d take her and her kid.”

Phil felt like all the air in her body had been released in one giant whoosh.

“Maybe you should go,” she said softly.

His grip tightened. “You’re kicking me out because I took a two-year-old to the zoo?”

Phil pushed away, wanting to completely pull away from him, angry at the jealousy biting at her. “That two-year-old has a mother. A very sexy one, I might add.”

Ty pushed her hip over and around. “Not as sexy as you.”

She smacked his hand away, the impression of his warm fingers singeing her skin. She didn’t trust herself facing him so she remained prone. “Don’t you have the slightest bit of guilt?” She hated the way her voice rose with the question, glad the pillow muffled most of it so she didn’t sound like a jealous twit.

His fingers dug between her toes, the lotion sluicing them easily. She moaned, wondering how those fingers would feel slipping in and out of her. What the hell? Did she want him out or not?

“Guilt? About what? I took a kid to the zoo. What’s there to feel guilty about?”

When he turned it around that way, she felt foolish.

His thumbs kneaded her instep, then her ankle, his hands working the muscles in her calf.

“You’re jealous of a two-year-old!” Ty chuckled.

She wiggled her butt, wanting to pull away, but the lure of his hands on her was too strong. She’d put this to bed and if she looked the fool, so be it. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled. “Are you romantically involved with Candi?”

“I told you no.”

“You said you weren’t having sex with her.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Are you that primitive?” She turned to catch his laughing eyes. Thank God, otherwise she’d have to kick him out.

She had one last question. “But you took her out?”

“It’s called information gathering. I took each of the girls out when I got into the club. Nothing romantic, just a working dinner.”

His words struck a chord with her. They were getting too comfy. There was a case to close.

“Ty, we need to stay focused.”

“I am, you’re the one who wanted a foot rub.”

True, and it felt wonderful.

“Believe it or not, bringing Bubba wasn’t my only reason for stopping by. I assume you were at the PD today going though files. We need to talk about that, and a few other things.” His strong fingers rubbed deep, loosening the kinks in her leg. “Weird shit is happening, Mason for one, and I also have a note from the kidnapper.”

This time she made the extra effort to turn over. He pinned her with his hands.

“A note? When were you going to tell me about it?”

“I meant to show it to you Friday night, but I got sidetracked.”

“What did it say?”

“He wants
you,
Pussy.”

Phil caught her breath and she literally felt as if her blood drained at warp speed to her gut. “What exactly did it say?”

“Bud found it Friday night on the bar. A napkin with the words ‘I want Pussy’ printed on it. It was one of the reasons I followed you home that night. It’s also the reason I’ll be driving you home until we break this case.”

His fingers traveled up her thigh, massaging slow and luxuriously. “I don’t need a baby-sitter.” She felt like a petulant child saying it. She was a target. Whether she wanted protection or not, it was smart police work. “Where’s the note?”

She rolled on to her side, the action sliding her toward him and driving his fingers up her thigh. Her terry shorts were Daisy Duke short, and his fingertips brushed across her sensitive mound. Their eyes widened in unison and Phil bucked in response. A muscle in Ty’s right cheek twitched.

“The lab has it,” he bit out.

Sexual tension strained across his face. She didn’t dare look down to his lap. She flipped over. If she stayed facing him, she’d allow his fingers trespass, thus making the deal null and void. She decided to address his male urge to protect her another time. “I’m sure it’s someone inside.”

“I think so, too. Let’s compare notes.”

“Too much intimate info is getting out. The kidnapper knew his targets. He knew they were loners, he knew they wouldn’t be missed. Only someone inside would be privy to that type of info. I’ve told as many people without seeming obvious I don’t even have a cat that would care if I never came home.” She laughed caustically. “And it’s the truth.”

“You have a fish who’d care.”

She wondered if the guy who gave him to her would care, as well. Her pride refused to broach the subject.

“The team would care. And, I have to admit, Zorn, you’ve surprised me. I thought you would have turned tail by now and gone crying back to IA.”

“Your words stir me.”

Ty laughed. His fingers stroked, kneaded, and massaged her thighs. Warm wetness seeped between them. How the hell was she supposed to concentrate on the case while he was making love to her legs with his hands?

“I have a file on Jase’s two friends,” Ty said. “I’ve already gone over them, but you take a look. Jase and Reese are following up on two of the employees who have changed their minds now on where they were the night of the first kidnapping.”

Both of his hands now wrapped around the top part of her thigh, then trailed down to her knee. He cocked her foot again at a forty-five-degree angle. She felt his breath on her instep and fantasized about his warm wet mouth sucking her toes.

She squealed when it became a reality. Warmth flooded her body. Her hips pressed hard into the mattress, and she managed to swallow her delighted moans. She cleared her throat before she spoke, not trusting her voice.

“I don’t think the kidnapper is inside. Someone in the club is cozying up to the girls, gleaning info, and then passing it along to the kidnapper. We find his mule, we find him.”

Ty’s tongue darted between her toes, his fingers massaging her calf. He spoke low against her skin, his whiskers chafing her. “I’ll keep a sharper eye on Bud and Milo. You do the same with the girls. Any gut feelings about any of them?”

He sucked each toe, tonguing them as he did. Oh God, why didn’t she make the rules more specific? He was taking gross advantage of her “no hands” clause. Did she say no lips? She couldn’t remember. Had she meant not to? “I’ve,” she caught her breath, “chatted with them all. No gut reaction.” A light penetrated the sexy haze engulfing her. “I saw Candi take extra money from her lap dance last night and hide it in her shoe. You know her better than I do, what do you think?”

Ty shook his head with her toe caught between his teeth. Chills swept over her. “She wouldn’t risk losing Lola.”

Or you, Phil thought.

Phil squeezed her eyes shut. She could do this, concentrate while Ty sucked her toes and massaged her thighs. “I’ll dig a little harder with Tammy, she’s privy to all of the girls’ woes.”

Ty licked her instep. “She’s a tough nut to crack.”

The
ding-dong
of her doorbell startled them both. Who the hell was coming by at six o’ clock on a Sunday? She never had visitors.

Phil swallowed hard, rolled over, and couldn’t ignore the rise in Ty’s black jeans. It was all about timing, and she was grateful for the interruption. Sort of.

The doorbell rang again, followed by an angry knock. She tried to smooth her disheveled appearance as she trotted down the hall. She swung open the front door.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“C
aptain?” Twice in one day?

The older man smiled a fatherly smile. When he looked past her, she realized she was being rude not to ask him in. For a brief moment, panic seized her. Ty was down the hall and the man that wanted to out him stood not twenty feet from him.

The captain’s gaze swept her disheveled appearance. She felt a sudden fierce urge to protect Ty. She’d lied earlier that afternoon for Ty. Never would she have thought herself capable of working outside the letter of the law. A new respect for Ty and his men emerged.

They weren’t bad cops, just cops using what they had at hand to make a case. And now, so would she.

She smoothed her hair back and stepped back from the door. “Come on in.”

He nodded and stepped into her house. “Can I get you something, Captain Dettmer?” she asked an octave higher than she needed to.

He looked at her strangely. “No thank you, Phil. I won’t stay long.”

Instead of the living room where Ty could hear them clearly, she steered her captain into the kitchen.

“Are you sure I can’t get you something? Water? I think I have beer.”

“No.”

She sat down at the table and he took the chair next to her. “Sir?”

“I’m not here on official business.” He patted her hand and seemed nervous, fidgety. He cleared his throat. “Look, Phil, I’m not good with emotions and words that go with it, but I promised Mac I’d look after you and your mom. I owe you an apology. I never should have asked you to do what I did. It was my ego, my ambition to nail that son of a bitch. I feel like I’ve failed Mac.”

She felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Phil smiled. Joe Dettmer had always been there for her family. “You didn’t fail anyone, sir. You’re a cop, you see something wrong, you want to fix it. It’s what we do. Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.”

He patted her hand again, then stood. “I’m glad you don’t think less of me.”

She stood, as well. Impulsively, she hugged him. “Never.”

He smiled, his doomsday look erased. “I’m glad we’re good. Now, before I go, I need to tell you to get down to the PD tomorrow and give a statement regarding Scott Mason. Showalter and Dunn are on the case, they should be in all morning.”

“I’ll be there.”

As she shut the door behind her captain, Phil smiled sadly. If her memory served her correctly, her father’s old friend had no children. Her hands slid down to her flat belly. For the first time in her life, she had a baby pang. The sensation stirred a myriad of feelings, some of them terrifying.

She shook them all off. The last thing she wanted to think about was marriage and babies. Instead, she thought of the man down the hall.

“I didn’t know you and Dettmer were so close.”

Ty’s deep voice just inches away startled her. She jumped and turned around. “Jesus, Ty, you startled me.”

He leaned against the wall at the end of the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. His green eyes blazed. “Imagine how
I
feel.”

Shaking her head, Phil played it off and hurried into the kitchen. While Dettmer had asked her to spy on Ty, it didn’t mean she was going to. Guilt washed over her. She did ask him about time with the dancers. “You’re reading too much into it. It’s no big deal.”

Ty followed her into the kitchen. “So I shouldn’t read anything into the fact that my commanding officer, the same one who tried to trip me up on murder one charges, has asked one of my own officers to spy on me?”

Phil turned around and faced him. “Does he have reason to?”

Ty’s jaw set in a hard line. “What do you think?”

“Don’t answer a question with a question. Are you dirty?”

Ty stood silent and glowered down at her. “I don’t know why, but it bugs the hell out of me that you think that of me.”

Phil softened. “I don’t think that, I simply asked you a question.”

“Right. Simply asked me a loaded question.”

He strode over to the kitchen window and looked out. “On occasion, I use necessary means to get what I need.” He turned to face her, a flash of his devil-may-care attitude flaring in his eyes. “And some people might take offense to that.”

“Offense is putting it mildly.”

Ty shook his head. “You’re either with me or against me, Phil, there can’t be any in between.”