So This Is Love (20 page)

He grabbed the ball back and headed down the court again. He faked a pass, and then drove toward the basket. The ball hit the backboard and swooshed through the net. One of his fellow cops gave him a high five. He ran back down on the court. He had his game face back on. Nothing but basketball, he told himself.

Then she walked through the door of the gym.

What the hell was Emma doing here?

He tried not to look at her, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see her stepping on to the bleachers. She greeted a couple of women and then moved down the bench to give another woman a hug. Of course, she'd know everyone in the stands. She knew everyone in this town. And everywhere he went, she seemed to turn up.

He blew out a breath and ran down the court again. He received a pass and poised to throw. Then he heard Emma's laugh, and his shot went wide. His teammate sent him a surprised look. There was nothing he could say to apologize for how badly he was suddenly playing. Fortunately, it was the fourth quarter. He needed to keep it together for ten more minutes.

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you here, Sara," Emma said. Then she glanced at the court and realized Aiden was playing on the fire team.

"Burke recruited Aiden," Sara said.

"That's interesting." Her brothers were suddenly getting along better than they ever had, or else Burke had been desperate for a player and hadn't wanted to forfeit.

"Aiden was surprised to be asked," Sara said. "He didn't say so, but I think he was touched that Burke asked him to play. They haven't been close in a very long time, but that seems to be changing."

"I hope so. The two of them have had some legendary fights."

"What are you doing here, Emma, or do I even need to ask?" Sara tipped her head toward the court. "Isn't that the hot cop?"

Emma watched Max sprint across the court, dribbling the ball around his opponents, then making a quick fake to the right followed by a drive to the left. His shot swooshed through the net. "That's him," she said, mesmerized by his athleticism.

It was silly. She felt like a teenager wanting the high school star athlete to look over and notice her. Max didn't look in her direction at all. He was completely focused on the game.

She'd seen that intent look on his face before, and she idly wondered what it would feel like to have him gaze at her with that same level of intensity. Just the idea made her more than a little uncomfortable, reminding her again of the conversation with her mom when she had said—
I knew he could take over my world if I let him…

Emma wasn't interested in letting Max take over any part of her world. Well, maybe one part, she secretly admitted. She wouldn't mind letting him take her to bed. She had a feeling the earth would move more than a few times.

That thought brought with it a wave of heat. "It's hot in here." She ran her hand through her hair, lifting the sweaty strands off the back of her neck.

"It is," Sara muttered, waving a hand in front of her face.

Emma laughed as Sara's fascinated gaze followed Aiden up and down the court. "Well, aren't we fifteen again?"

Sara sent her a startled look. "What?"

"We used to lust after the basketball players in high school, remember?"

"The only one I ever lusted after was Aiden," Sara said.

"I love you like a sister, but I really can't hear any more about your lust for my brother."

Sara laughed. "Fine. Let's talk about you then. What are you going to do about him?"

"I don't know. He does get to me," she said quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear, but she and Sara were separated from the other women by several feet. "We've been trying to keep things professional, but every time we see each other there's a tension between us."

"Maybe you should stop fighting your feelings and just enjoy," Sara suggested.

"I'm tempted," she admitted. If Max could rock her world with a look, what could he do with the rest of his body? "But it's complicated."

"Which is exactly the way you like it. You always push the envelope, test the boundaries, so why are you holding back with Max?"

It was a good question, and one she couldn't really answer.

"Are you afraid of getting hurt?" Sara asked. "Because aren't you the girl who always told me no pain, no gain?"

"That was when I wanted you to run another mile with me."

"Okay, bad example. But you've always been about risk. You run into burning buildings. You challenge yourself every day. I've always admired that about you, Emma."

"This is different. When I run into a burning building, I know what to do. I've been trained."

"That's true. There's no training for love."

"We're not talking about love—just lust. I don't know. Let's not talk about it anymore. Tell me what's new with you?"

"Not much. Dad is coming home on Monday. Kitchen remodel is moving along."

"And you and Aiden?"

"Having a really good time," Sara said with a wide smile. "We're going to the wine country this weekend."

"That sounds like fun."

"Apparently, one of Aiden's friends bought into a winery."

"Anyone I know?"

"I don't think so. His name is Travis Montgomery. I think he was a smokejumper."

"Maybe Aiden will want to become a winemaker in his next career."

"Right now he's only interested in drinking some good wine," Sara said. "We're putting off the career decisions for a few weeks. We've both been working so hard that it's nice to have some time to relax, be with family, friends."

"And each other."

"That, too. In some ways, I feel like I've known Aiden forever, and in other ways I'm continually discovering new things about him."

"Like the fact that he can be a slob?" Emma put in.

Sara laughed. "Spoken like a true sister."

Emma paused. "Looks like the game is over. I need to speak to Max."

"So you did come to see him."

"For professional reasons," she said, even though that was only half-true. She did want to touch base on the investigation, but she also just wanted to talk to him.

They walked across the court together.

"Very impressive," Sara said, giving Aiden a kiss.

"You were my good luck charm," Aiden said.

Emma rolled her eyes. "You guys are sickening."

"I agree," Burke said, shaking his head in disgust.

Aiden just laughed. "You two are jealous."

Emma glanced at Max. "You've met Aiden, I see."

"Yeah, he introduced himself with an elbow to my gut," Max said dryly.

"You were in my lane," Aiden said.

"My lane," Max corrected.

"It was, until you tripped," Burke put in. "You were way off your game tonight, Harrison."

"I was distracted," Max said, scowling in her direction.

"Well, isn't there a lot of testosterone in this gym," she said, feeling a little charge of pleasure that she might have been the reason for Max's distraction. Not that she wanted to say anything in front of her brothers.

"We're going to take off," Aiden said. "Nice to meet you, Harrison."

"You, too," Max said.

"I'll walk out with you," Burke added.

As they left Max turned to Emma. "What do you need?"

His tone was not particularly inviting, but she was getting used to his changing moods. "A conversation. We're supposed to be sharing notes. You didn't return my call."

"I had nothing to report, and if you did, you would have left me a message."

"I'd still like to run down my notes with you. Can we talk?"

"All right, but not here. I need to take a shower."

"How far away is your apartment?"

He hesitated, obviously not thrilled about her seeing his place, which only made her want to see it more.

"It's about five minutes away," he said.

"We'll go there. You can change, and then we'll talk."

"I could meet you somewhere in a half hour."

"I'm fine with waiting for you to shower. Besides, I want to see your apartment."

"Why?"

"Because I do. Because I'm curious."

He smiled. "And as soon as I'm in the shower, you're going to snoop around. I have to warn you, you'll be disappointed."

"I'll take that risk."

Chapter Fifteen

As Max had predicted, Emma was extremely disappointed in his sparsely furnished apartment. She'd hoped to find a few more clues to his personality in his living space, but it was clear that he hadn't really moved in. There were no pictures on the bare white walls. The furniture in the small living room was basic male, brown leather couch and matching recliner, big screen television, a box of books against the wall that looked like they'd been thrown in there when he moved. A few other boxes were on the floor by a plastic table that seemed to be serving as a dining room table.

His kitchen revealed the fact that he really liked cereal and oranges. His refrigerator had six beers, some eggs, milk, and several cartons of take-out Chinese food. Everything was neat though. No dirty dishes in the sink, no overflowing trash can. Max obviously didn't like clutter.

She returned to the living room and noticed a large glass statue on a side table. As she drew closer, she realized it was a trophy featuring a surfer riding a wave. The placard read
Second Place, Mavericks.
Max had obviously been pretty good. She wondered if his brother had taken first place.

Underneath that table was another open box. She squatted down and flipped through a bunch of pictures, some frames, some loose. Many shots were of the sea and several included action surfing shots. She recognized a much younger Max in one of the shots and the tall thin guy next to him looked a lot like Spencer.

Despite the evidence, it was difficult to see Max as a surfer. She'd really like to see that laid back part of his personality.

But as she took another look around the apartment, she wondered how much time she'd have to get to know Max. He hadn't made much of an attempt to move in. He hadn't hung pictures, bought bookshelves, or invested in tables of the non-plastic variety.

Was San Francisco a temporary stop for him? Once Spencer was settled, would Max return to Los Angeles?

That might be good. He'd been a thorn in her side for three months. She should probably be happy. Instead, she felt oddly unhappy. They were becoming friends, and if either of them let go of their control for one second, they'd probably be more than friends. The attraction between them had been smoldering for days. It wouldn't take much of a spark to set it on fire. Maybe that's why Max had been avoiding her. And if she had any sense, she'd be doing the same.

On the other hand, if Max wasn't sticking around, maybe she shouldn't be so worried about getting involved with a colleague. He might not be a coworker for long. She straightened as Max came out of the bedroom.

"Find anything interesting, Emma?"

He'd changed into jeans and a pullover shirt. His hair was damp from his shower, and his cheeks looked like they'd just seen a razor. Her stomach clenched, and she was suddenly very aware that they were alone in his apartment, and the bedroom was really, really close.

The silence between them changed, became charged, and she knew she needed to say something, because Max's eyes had darkened, and if he took one step closer, she might not be able to stop herself from jumping into his arms.

"Emma?"

"What?" she asked blankly.

He walked forward, stopping a few inches away from her, and it took all of her will power not to back up. "You shouldn't have come here."

"I know."

Her nerves tightened as his gaze moved from her eyes to her lips. He was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"So beautiful," he murmured, his fingers running down her skin. "This was a really bad idea."

Her heart skipped a beat even as her brain started screaming
caution
. "What—what are you doing?"

"Thinking about kissing you."

"We shouldn't," she said halfheartedly. "Should we?"

At her query, desire flared in his eyes. "That is not the right question."

"I know, but you look really, really good." She took a deep breath. "And you smell even better. What are you wearing?"

"Soap," he said, gazing into her eyes. "I told you I wouldn't kiss you again unless you asked. And I know you're stubborn enough not to ask."

"I can be stubborn—if I want to be."

"Do you want to be?"

"I don't know," she murmured, torn between her body and her brain, her emotions and her sense of logic.

"I can't promise anything, Emma. You have to know that up front. I don't have relationships. I don't fall in love. But I like you. And I want you."

His husky words shook her to the core. She'd never had a man speak so bluntly, so honestly. He was trying to scare her way, but it wasn't working. She didn't want promises from him. Nor did she want to make any herself.

"We could be together for now, for this minute." She couldn't believe she'd made the suggestion, but she couldn't take it back. She didn't
want
to take it back. She'd always been fascinated by fire, and tonight the heat was coming from Max. She knew she could get burned, but she couldn't back away.

"It's going to take way longer than a minute," he drawled, his gaze roaming across her face and then running down her body in a possessive, territorial sort of way. She told herself she didn't like it when he tried to be in charge, but she found herself wanting him to take charge now.

But he wasn't doing anything except looking at her, and that look was enough to make her breath catch in her chest. Her body tightened, and her nipples tingled beneath her shirt. She'd been battling her desire for weeks, and she didn't want to fight anymore. She didn't want to be smart or logical. She wanted to touch Max, to taste his lips, to run her hands under the shirt clinging to his damp skin. She wanted to inhale his musky scent and lose herself in his arms. She wanted to surrender.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t surrender to someone who was just standing there, watching her. He was waiting for her to ask him. But she didn't need to ask.