In My Arms Tonight (12 page)

Now he just needed to figure out what that meant, exactly, and what to do about it.

James’ grin probably would have scared small children, but he felt hopeful, scared, and eager in a way he hadn’t in far too long.

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IN MY ARMS TONIGHT

Bailey Bradford

75

“Oh, come on, Officer Daddy, I’m sure there are other things you’d rather give me than a ticket.”

Glenn blinked, stunned into silence and frozen in something awfully close to terror as he looked down at the young woman in the driver’s seat of the sporty little convertible. Big blue eyes that should have looked innocent in such a young face instead were filled with all sorts of lascivious knowledge that, frankly, made him feel a little queasy. The girl didn’t look a day over fifteen, even though he knew she was legal as evidenced by her licence, which he’d already ran. Between her looks and the whole Officer Daddy shit, he was vacillating between horror and anger, along with that twinge of fear.

Belinda—his would be seducer—batted her long lashes at him as she licked her lips.

Somehow she did something and her boobs almost popped right out of the top of her skintight strapless shirt. Glenn thought he might have actually seen the edge of a peach coloured nipple before he whipped his attention back to Belinda’s face. He settled his sternest look in place and growled.

“I can ticket you for soliciting an officer, attempting to bribe an officer—”

Belinda’s mouth dropped open and she slapped her hands to her chest, then promptly tugged her shirt up. “Officer Da—Shearing, you misunderstood what I meant! I just meant you could…could—”

Glenn glared until his eyes nearly crossed and Belinda shut up. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks, but he couldn’t find much sympathy for her. Something told him Belinda got her way more often than not, especially when she was so willing to flash her goods to get what she wanted. “Ms De la Cruz, I’m ticketing you for speeding. You were going fifty-six in a forty mile per hour zone. I will not ticket you—or arrest you—at this time for your other offences, but believe me, if you try this type of behaviour with any of the other officers,”
like Les,
“you’ll find yourself in jail so fast you won’t know what hit you. Do you understand?”

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IN MY ARMS TONIGHT

Bailey Bradford

76

Once she understood her assets weren’t going to get her out of trouble, Belinda was as polite as could be. Glenn still didn’t trust her any further than he’d trust the elastic band of her shirt to keep her breasts covered. He finished up with her then waited until she pulled away to grunt and wonder how he’d managed to fake his way through so much of his life. If a pretty woman like Belinda De la Cruz didn’t do it for him, how had he ever got it up for any other female?

Just too many years pretending.
He’d wasted so much time, and now that he’d decided to stop hiding—and to stop waiting around on the one man he’d never have—Glenn was eager to get on with his life.

Now, if his friends would just let him do that…

Glenn sighed and started his cruiser as he thought about the subtle ways his friends were interfering. And how recently they’d begun making little comments about James, letting it slip here and there how he was doing, or some witty thing he’d said. Glenn supposed it was because they thought he was over the man, when in truth every bit he heard both hurt and thrilled him.

Still, he was trying. He’d gone to The Xxchange a few times, but evidently something had changed since his visit there when Troy had brought him home. Glenn didn’t remember much about that at all, but Troy had become a good friend…and while Glenn still got plenty of looks, not a single man had approached him. He wasn’t quite up to making the first move, or he hadn’t been, but he was getting so desperate he thought he could go up and bluntly ask an attractive man if he wanted to fuck.

Or maybe not, since his face felt like it was on fire just thinking about it. He’d just have to be a little more subtle than that. And go without any of his friends, because he was beginning to think they were part of the problem with his lack of a sex life.

To be truthful though, and he did always try to be truthful especially to himself, it wasn’t that he wanted sex so bad. No, it was more that he couldn’t get over James, past him, around him, whatever. James was always there, in his thoughts and fantasies, and Glenn knew, he
knew
he had to move on. And he was trying, but damn it, his heart wasn’t listening at all, and his own brain was sure sabotaging him with the wicked dreams, and the sweet ones that he would never, ever, tell anyone else about. Glenn woke up from those dreams and felt like he’d never be able to be with anyone if he couldn’t have James. But he knew, in www.total-e-bound.com

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Bailey Bradford

77

the light of day, that kind of thinking wasn’t going to do any good at all, and he tried again and again to get one with his life.

“Like that’s working so well,” he scoffed as he realised where he was driving to. As he did every day Xavier and Chase worked, he slowed the cruiser down when he got closer to Chase and Xavier’s place. This late in the afternoon, they were both gone, getting The Xxchange ready to open up for business. As far as he knew, they weren’t aware of his habit of driving by in hopes of catching even a glimpse of James. Every time he’d done it, Glenn hadn’t caught sight of the man, but he now knew every detail of the big house by detail. He even knew the types of plants and flowers out in the yard—pink and white oleander, heather, larkspur, verbena and lantana. Part of that was because Chase was turning out to be quite a gardener and frequently talked about his green thumb. The other reason he knew the plants is because he’d spent some time at the local nursery one day when he’d been particularly lonely.

Today, however, Glenn almost wrecked his cruiser, his hands going slack on the wheel when he saw something different from the usual landscape. Glenn’s heart tripled its beat as soon as he spotted James leaning against the huge oak tree in the front yard. The one closest to the street.

Glenn’s face flamed with heat as his gaze locked with James’, and the slow, amused smile curling the man’s slips conveyed a warning that tightened Glenn’s hands on the wheel and snapped his attention back to the road. Glenn narrowly missed jumping the kerb and introducing the front of his cruiser to a telephone pole. He braked before he could think of all the reasons he shouldn’t, then looked at James again.

The man looked fucking beautiful. Glenn soaked up his image, the tank top showing slightly delineated musculature as James uncrossed his arms and tucked his thumbs in his pockets. Glenn dragged his gaze up and licked his lips as James’ stretched wider in what looked like a welcoming smile. When James licked his bottom lip, Glenn’s dick sprung to full attention, liking that display much more than Belinda’s.

James tipped his head slightly. The short red curls moved softly in a breeze, and Glenn’s fingers itched to be buried in them, to see if they felt as soft as they looked. James’

hair had grown out enough that his curls were obvious now, and Glenn wondered if James www.total-e-bound.com

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was going to leave them be. James had kept his hair short before, those glorious curls tamed and slicked back so that it was hard to tell there was even a hint of wave to his hair.

As if knowing Glenn’s thoughts, James lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, and Glenn’s cock grew achingly hard. He dragged his gaze down, lingering for a second on that mouth before taking in the broad shoulders that had picked up a little bulk. James’ pecs were slightly defined now, too, and he could make out large, dark nipples under the thin white material. James’ hand swept down, touching himself as if following the path Glenn’s eyes had taken. When James stopped at one nipple and rubbed, Glenn’s dick pulsed and moisture spread over the front of his uniform pants.

Horrified, Glenn jerked his head forward then looked down and wondered when the hell he’d lost control of himself. Then he wondered what kind of game James was playing, because the man hated him, and here James was, putting on a little show, and he had Glenn wrapped around his finger, and he
had
to know that, otherwise, why the display?

And why the hell had he come in his pants like that? Jesus, he had more fucking control than that! “Right,” Glenn snorted, because obviously he didn’t. Movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye and Glenn glanced up to find James slowly walking towards him, looking so nervous and hesitant it made Glenn ache to comfort him, made him wish he could believe it, but he was so desperately screwed up when it came to James, and the man clearly hadn’t wanted anything to do with him. He wanted to get out of the car regardless, and tell James so many things…

Instead he turned away and put his foot on the gas. Whatever game James was playing, Glenn didn’t want to be a part of it, and if the man found out how easily he’d made Glenn come, Glenn didn’t think he could survive the humiliation.

“No more,” he vowed as he pulled away, trying to keep from slinging gravel and God knows what else behind him, but fear and panic were chewing at his spine and he couldn’t get away fast enough.

James was doing better, and Glenn was comforted by that. The fact that the man possibly knew how hung up on him Glenn was, and had decided to mess with him, that wasn’t so comforting. Still, he was glad to have seen James, seen for himself the man was improving, still looking a little thin but somewhat more like his old self—except for the curls.

Glenn really liked those curls, not that he ever thought he’d get a chance to touch them.

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IN MY ARMS TONIGHT

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79

Ignoring the familiar pain he often felt when thinking about James and the hopelessness of his infatuation with the man, Glenn turned towards his place instead of the office. He had a mess to clean up before returning to work, then he was going to go finish his shift—then he’d figure out how to get over James, or at least how to have some semblance of a life, even if it was just a sex life without any deeper emotions involved.

He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think his brilliant plan to wait outside for Glenn’s daily drive-by, to not so subtly show the man he was interested, had done much good. James was actually pretty sure Glenn had looked utterly horrified there at that last moment, before he’d driven off in a flurry of gravel and dust and exhaust fumes.

But before that, James would have sworn he could have reached out and touched the attraction shimmering between them. It tugged at him from low in his gut, hot and tight and fluttery and stretched across the distance to Glenn. James
knew
it had, damn it! He hadn’t imagined that sizzling in his veins, the way Glenn’s gaze had heated his skin and hardened his dick.

James had felt his interest, had been exceedingly aware of the way Glenn devoured him visually, and he’d tried to encourage the man, had stroked down the path he thought Glenn’s gaze was taking. His nipples had been taut and tingling, aching for a touch. James hadn’t felt like that in so long, he’d probably got carried away, but to feel so aroused had been a gift he couldn’t reject. Hell, as hot as he’d been just from Glenn watching him, he’d probably have beat off right there in the front yard!

Which would have been really stupid, he scolded himself. The man was a cop, if James had whipped out his dick and started jacking off he’d probably have ended up in jail.

Or maybe not, he mused as he watched Glenn take the turn almost on two wheels.

Maybe Glenn was running for another, more promising reason. James smiled as he pressed a hand against his erection. That fit, or maybe he just preferred to believe it, but he didn’t think he was wrong.

Glenn had been driving by here regularly. James had caught glimpses when he’d been walking to Chase’s house to borrow movies, something he did every day while his friends www.total-e-bound.com

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were at work. He got so bored, and Xavier and Chase had every movie ever made, or damn near about.

The first time he’d seen the cop car, James had dropped back behind a clump of oleander, his heart pounding in his throat. When he’d seen that it was Glenn driving, he’d felt a burst of hope. The next day, it had happened again, and from then on James had lurked behind the deadly plant, watching, waiting, which would have been totally creepy except Glenn came, every day except when the club was closed. James had felt like an idiot trying to hide from everyone on those days, but it kind of firmed up his theory. Glenn was driving by for him, or at least he hoped that was the case. Today seemed to prove it, although he wondered about the hasty retreat.

Well, duh, dumbass. He’s been driving by here for how long now, and then
poof
! There I am,
standing outside, on the verge of committing a lewd act in public. No wonder he took off. He probably
thought I was just fucking with him.

James huffed a soft laugh. He wanted to fuck Glenn, fuck with him in the most carnal, intimate way, but he didn’t want to screw with the man’s mind. Satisfied he’d worked out the most likely scenario for what had happened, James turned and headed back to his apartment. He had plans to make and courage to dredge up.

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IN MY ARMS TONIGHT

Bailey Bradford

81

A restless night provided Glenn with a different perspective on the not quite encounter with James the day before. He might be wrong, maybe he was actually being played, but the possibility that he wasn’t… That thin thread of hope had filled the early morning hours with what-ifs and fantasies that threatened to scorch the skin right off him.