Snapped (3 page)

"This isn't just any harassment
complaint," said Nick. His voice was guttural and he clenched his fists at
his side. A tiny muscle twitched in his jaw and the hot stare returned to her
eyes and locked there.

She took a step toward him, narrowing the
space between them. A few more steps and she'd be able to touch him, rake her
nails down his hard chest and brush the scar beneath his eye. Would he let her?
She had no doubt that he wanted her to, it was more a matter of would he
allow
himself to. Every muscle seemed tightly sprung, straining under his
self-control.

What would it take to make him lose it? Her
lips on his naked thigh? Or something more original?

"You're investigating Mollino,"
she said, putting two and two together when she forced her brain to work on
what he'd said. "What's he done?"

She took another step towards the
delectable detective and watched his knuckles turn white. It was only a small
indication, but she knew every physical sign of a man torn by desire, and he
was displaying all of them.

How many signals was she giving off? Probably
every single one because she wanted him. Would he agree to spend one night with
her? Just to get her libido back on track so she could resume her normal life. These
last six months hadn't been much fun but no matter what she'd tried, she
couldn't drag herself out of the rut. No one was even remotely interesting
enough to tempt her.

"I can't tell you," said Nick. "Police
business."

She nodded. "Must be fraud."

He lifted one eyebrow.

She shrugged. "I called around. You're
with the Major Fraud unit."

The other brow joined its mate and he
watched her for a beat. "Why so much interest?"

Lucy took two more steps closer, bringing
the top of her head only inches from his shoulder. Her nipples, clad only in
her bra, almost skimmed against his shirt and she wished she'd closed that gap
so she could feel the rough fabric on her tender skin. Every hair on her arms
sat up in response, every muscle twitched to touch him. She resisted. For now,
she wanted to soak him in. An easy job for a man so sexually intoxicating.

He glared down at her, his face set hard
like carved rock, his lips drawn tight. It was his bad cop look. She'd seen it
many times on the cops she used to work with and on the ones she'd met through
her business dealings in later years. As cop faces went, his was the meanest. That
scar and the unblinking, near-black eyes would intimidate any suspect into
collaborating.

But it didn't intimidate her. She saw it
as a challenge. It was his barrier and she was going to break it down.

"I've got a proposition to
make," she said, keeping her voice at humming level. "I get to keep
the photos I took tonight and you get one night of pure ecstasy."

He made a small sound in the back of his
throat, barely audible. But his face didn't change. Impressive composure. Man
of steel. Usually those words, spoken with the just the right amount of
huskiness, drove the guys wild. But he stood still and showed no sign of giving
in.

What was wrong with him?

"Why?" His eyes bored into
hers, unnerving her. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

"I, um, because I want to keep my
photos." She straightened. "This is my business and I need
them."

He shook his head. "You get to keep
them anyway. I don't want them." His gaze slid off hers to the window. "I'm
just warning you not to come back again. I don't want this investigation to be
jeopardized because a little hussy of a PI scares Mollino off."

Lucy balled her hands into fists. "Hussy?
Who the hell are you to—"

"You know you get to keep
them," he rumbled.

"And you're a real asshole."

"Uh-uh." He wagged a finger at
her and a smile twitched his lips into a curve. "Don't swear at a cop. You
could get into trouble."

She ground her teeth but said nothing. She
wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hauling her off to the station,
semi-naked, just for swearing. Although she had no doubt he'd do it—and enjoy
it.

"Now why don't you go put some
clothes back on before you catch cold, then I'll escort you downstairs."

She bit back a string of expletives and
snarled instead as she turned back to her camera.

"And you'll behave at all times. I
don't so much as want to see a single nipple." He laughed softly.

"I was hot. And I didn't know anyone
was here, or I wouldn't have taken anything off."

"Yeah, right. Just like you wouldn't
have propositioned me either."

She ground her teeth so hard she jarred
her jaw. What an asshole! She couldn't believe how wrongly she'd read him. She
thought he wanted her. Instead, he just wanted to humiliate her.

She put on her sweater and jacket and
packed up the equipment, using the time to calm down and get some perspective. It
helped. By the time she turned round to face him, her temper was under control.
She wouldn't let him ruffle her feathers again. She'd been called much worse
than a hussy before and it never worried her.

He waited in the hallway outside the
apartment door. When she passed him, he smirked but barely even looked at her. Considering
he couldn't keep his eyes off her a few minutes ago, it was a change.

He led the way down the hallway to the
lift doors and pressed the button. She stood behind him, wanting to splay her
hands across that broad, muscular back. Damn. She needed to cool down because
he was an arrogant pig and she didn't need his sort in her life.

The lift arrived and they stepped inside.
Nick stood to one side, arms crossed over his chest, staring straight ahead. Lucy
tried to ignore him but his presence was powerful and ignoring him was
impossible. Despite his nasty comments and his flat out refusal, she still
wanted him. And ten minutes ago she'd been so sure he wanted her.

Maybe he was married. He didn't wear a
wedding band but that didn't mean he wasn't in a serious, committed
relationship.

She sighed as the doors slid open on the
ground floor and Nick placed his arm up to keep them from closing on her. She
pushed past him, her arm brushing against his, the touch sending her eyes
skittering up to his face. He watched her through thick black lashes then
looked away and strode past her through the foyer of the apartment building.

"My car's—"

"I know." He stalked towards
the side street where she'd parked her car. Although he walked much faster, she
wasn't going to trot after him like an obedient dog. He'd just have to wait.

She pressed the remote on her key chain
to unlock the Honda and he opened the trunk. She placed her tripod and camera
bag carefully inside and he slammed the lid down.

"I'm fine from here, thanks,"
she said sweetly, flashing him a mega-watt fake smile.

"I'm not leaving until I see your
tail lights turn the corner. Get in." He held open the door for her. The
perfect gentleman. Yeah right.

She sucked in a breath and counted to
five before letting it out then jumped in. She started the car and opened the
window. "I've got a question," she said casually.

He glanced over the top of the car for
two breaths then looked at her again. Composing himself?

"Did you enjoy the show?"

He stilled. She could see him trying to
work out where she was going with her question. "What show?"

"My striptease."

"Of course not."

She frowned. "That's strange,"
she said in mock-contemplation, "because if you were there to warn me off,
why did you wait so long to reveal yourself?" She smiled and had the
satisfaction of seeing him caught off guard. His lips parted and his hands
dropped to his sides. "And why didn't you reveal yourself until I found
you out, a good twenty minutes after I arrived?"

A mushroom-shaped cloud of frosted air
escaped his lips when he blew out a breath. He bent forward and peered through
her window. "I might have enjoyed the show, Lucy, but I'm not interested
in going backstage to meet the cast."

Lucy stabbed at the electric window
button and stamped her foot on the accelerator. She sped down the street, not
caring that she was speeding in full view of a cop.

CHAPTER
3

Nick tried to find a comfortable place to
stretch his legs, but the front seats of police-issue Commodores didn't have
much leg room. He swore and shifted, wishing he was short like Dave,
comfortably stretched out in the passenger seat. Nick hated this part of the
job. Surveillance was crap. Nothing ever happened and the only thing he ever
learned from sitting around watching a suspect was that his legs were too long
and boredom made him hungry. No wonder so many cops got fat. The smell of
muffins from the bakery across the road was torture.

Boredom also made his mind wander and
today it wandered to a cute little PI with thighs as lithe as a feline's and
nipples he wanted to wrap his lips around. Her little show last night had made
his blood boil, and nearly got him into trouble. Only a moment longer and he
wouldn't have been able to control himself, wouldn't have been able to make her
stop. His skin had screamed to touch her swells of white flesh. But he'd had
just enough sense to hold back and remind himself who this woman was.
What
she was. His raw need had powered his self-directed anger last night and in the
cold light of day, he regretted that now. He shouldn't have let his emotions
show, shouldn't have let her see how much he hated being drawn to a woman with
a reputation for sleeping around. If he could live last night over again, he
would've stopped her before she got all hot and shed her clothes, before he got
sucked into her spell. The spell he was still under.

He snorted softly. Yeah, right. He
wouldn't have stopped her for all the beer in Australia. Lucy Hudson was one
sexy woman and he was powerless in her presence. Especially her naked presence.
He couldn't have stopped her even if he wanted to.

He meant to call her to apologize for his
behavior the night before but he'd started surveillance early and he didn't
want to wake her. And he couldn't call on his cell phone while Dave was sitting
next to him. Later. When he got home and could do it in private.

"You all right, Dante?" Dave
asked.

Nick nodded and rubbed his knee. He
flexed it and knocked the steering wheel. This was ridiculous and a little
worrying. It wasn't like Mollino to remain in his love nest all night and most
of the next morning. Usually he did his thing and left before midnight to
return to his pretty, bored wife in Bellerae. He'd never stayed this long.

"Something's wrong," said Dave.

"Yeah, this car's too small."

Dave half-smiled. "I mean with
Mollie."

Nick gave up trying to get comfortable
and nodded. "I'm going in."

"What! Are you crazy? We can't let
him know we're onto him."

Nick opened his door and winter's breath
swept in. "Give me a little credit, O'Connor." But before he stepped
out, his cell phone rang. He flipped it open. "Dante."

It was the chief and he sounded like he
needed more sleep and coffee. "He's dead," he shouted down the phone.
"The cleaner went in this morning and found him lying in his own blood on
the bed. Get in there now. Homicide are on their way."

Nick flipped the phone shut and swore. He
briefed Dave as he tore out of the car and ran into the apartment complex
they'd been watching for two months. Those two months had revealed zip on
Mollino's involvement in the money laundering scheme.

The cleaner was waiting outside Mollino's
apartment, the corner of her apron lifted to her flushed, tear-stained face. Nick
flashed his badge and she dropped her apron and ushered him inside, indicating
he should follow her and speaking very fast in a language that sounded like
Greek. When they reached the bedroom door she stood aside and pointed with the
dramatic flair of a Fifties movie star at the portly, naked body of John
Mollino. He lay on his back, arms akimbo, dried blood matting his chest hair.

Nick checked his vitals. Dead all right.

"There goes our only lead,"
said Dave on a sigh.

***

Oscar the cat stretched out against the
curve of Lucy's back, waking her from a dream where she was lying on the beach
with a naked Detective Nick. She rolled over and scratched Oscar on the top of
his head. His motor started purring.

"Bad timing, Oscar. Nick was just
about to tell me something and now I'll never know what it was."

She sighed and pulled the covers up to
her chin. Another frosty morning and she was not getting out of the warm bed
until she absolutely had to pee. She figured another half hour and she wouldn't
be able to hold on any longer. She ran her fingers through Oscar's fur and
closed her eyes. Nick Dante filled her head, just as he had in her dreams,
except this time he was clothed and no amount of thinking about him naked would
get him to stay that way. She'd have to see him in the buff for real to get the
image just right.