“Oh yeah? That’s the look of a woman who wants something.”
“You’re perceptive.”
“Comes with the job.” He clears his throat. “Do you want to stop by my place tonight?”
I must be very obvious. Or my pheromones are in the air, and he’s inhaling. “I wish I could, but Dina’s waiting up for me.”
“I’m sure she can keep Hanna overnight.” He starts the car and slides his hand between my thighs. My insides clench. In a good way. I really do need to get laid. I haven’t had a man for what feels like ages, and I love sex. Orgasm is the best feeling in the world, and when a guy gives it, it’s not the same as when I do it myself.
“You can decide in the next five minutes,” he says as he drives down the street.
Last time I swore off men after a bad relationship, I found a man who didn’t want much of a relationship either. We made Hanna by accident. Even if Hanna’s father survived the slaughter I witnessed on the yacht, I wouldn’t have raised her with him. As the other parent, he’d have his rights, but I wouldn’t have dated him or married him or anything like that. Forcing a relationship on people because of the child they have together is bad for the parents and worse for the child.
I need to fall hard for a man before I commit to marriage. Hanna’s dad was never the vision of the man I thought I would marry. Neither is Pete, but he could be. He could be because I’m not Renne anymore. Ekatia has different visions. Different dreams. Stable ones. Ones that don’t involve morally compromised men.
“We’re here.” He enters the underground parking lot and parks in the spot with his name on the wall. “We can do whatever you want.” His hand moves up my thigh, and I part my legs to give him access.
My phone rings.
A finger presses against my clit. The doctor knows where to stroke and how to best stimulate my clit. Pleasure travels up my belly, and I bite my lip.
“That’s a good girl,” he says, and reclines my seat. “Lean back.” He rubs over my scrubs, and my head falls to the right. Connor Crossbow is parked next to us. His window is down, and he’s watching.
“Oh my God.” I sit up and roll the window down. “What the hell are you doing here?”
His eyebrows shoot up as if I’m asking him something completely out of left field. “What the hell areyoudoing here?” he counters.
“I’m with Pete.”
“I can see that.”
I wait for him to say something more, but he lights a cigar and takes a few puffs. “Hey, Doc?”
When Pete doesn’t answer, I look over to see Pete shaking his head.
“Doc?” Connor calls out again, and his tone makes my skin crawl.
“What?” Pete barks.
“What did I tell you to do before I left the hospital today?”
“I’m not doing this with this man,” Pete whispers so only I can hear. “Get rid of him.”
“What was that?” Connor puts the cigar on an ashtray on the dashboard in front of him. He takes a sip of a soda and a bite of a donut, then looks over with a smile that makes me think of a hyena. “You don’t want to answer me, Doc?”
“Not particularly,” Pete says.
Oh, Pete has balls. Good for him. I respect that, but I’m uneasy because this is Connor Crossbow and not some random man one can argue with.
Connor’s door flies open, and he steps out of the car, the pair of golden guns coming out of their holsters.
“No!” I scream.
“Relax, Mamma. I promised Dec and the Musketeers that I’d be on my best behavior for thirty days.”
He tosses the guns into the passenger seat of his car, then comes around Pete’s car and tries to open his door. Which is locked. Connor kicks it with his heavy boot and breaks the window, reaches in, and grabs Pete by the collar. He drags Pete out of the car.
I leap out and meet them on the other side. “Get your hands off him!”