Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“Dom made it up.”
She settled against my chest again, her cheek pressed on my skin. I ran my fingers through her thick hair, enjoying the silkiness of the waves. We were quiet for a bit, and I thought she had fallen asleep. She’d worked hard all day as well. But she glanced up, our eyes meeting. Her gaze was soft and warm. I stroked her cheek.
“There’s a music festival next weekend in Townshead. I saw the poster when I was there last week. You wanna go? Some great bands lined up. There’s a fair too.”
“I’d love that.”
“Okay. We’ll head up after I close the garage.”
“Sounds perfect.”
She was quiet again. She traced her fingers over my chest, slowly stroking. Lower and lower she went, until her hand slipped under my waistband. “Someone isn’t that tired,” she whispered.
“Baby, he is always ready for you, but I don’t think I can.”
She moved, straddling me. I groaned at the feel of her heat even through the material that separated us. As usual, she wore no underwear, and her desire was evident. “What if I do all the work?”
“Jesus, you really want me,” I hissed.
“Seeing you today? All manly and wielding a hammer? Using the saw? All sweaty and hot? You were so…virile. I wanted you then, and I want you now. You lie there, and I’ll take care of you for a change.”
“I want it to be good for you,” I protested.
She hovered over my lips, her breath tickling my skin. “Trust me, it will be.”
“Then I’m all yours.”
She grinned as she pulled her pretty nightgown over her head then tugged my sleep pants off, pushing them down my legs and straddling me again.
“Yes, Chase Donner, you are.”
She dropped, her heat encasing me. I arched my back with a groan that was part pleasure and part pain. The pleasure was rapidly winning out, though. Especially when she began to move.
“All mine.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Hannah
As the week passed, I grew more determined to do something about the situation. Dan wasn’t around much, yet somehow his presence permeated the station. I saw him talking to some of the EMS guys, yet when I went into the room, he was gone. He walked past me into the locker room on Wednesday afternoon, and as soon as I finished with the phone call I was on, I hurried in, only to find it vacant.
The bastard knew I had something to say to him, and he was avoiding me. Luckily, there had been no other interactions between him and Chase, and he knew better than to try to pull something on me. Thursday, I was handing out paystubs, and I heard Dan radio in to dispatch the fact that he was taking a break for dinner. He gave his location, and I informed the other woman in the office that I was leaving early to run an errand. I hadn’t taken a break all day, so she smiled and waved me off.
I found Dan sitting on a picnic bench behind the local drive-in burger stand. He was eating his dinner, not paying much attention to what was going on around him. When I slid across from him, he looked up, surprised. He frowned and picked up his burger. “What?” he asked shortly.
“Stop it, Dan. Stop all this nonsense. Trying to catch Chase doing something illegal. Sending cops and inspectors to the house. Just stop it.” I shook my head. “It’s beneath you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He denied my words, but the tips of his ears turned a dull pink.
“I always thought you were a nice guy. We got along well. I thought we were friends.”
“I thought we were more than that,” he snapped.
“Why?” I asked, bewildered. “Because we had coffee? Because we talked?”
“You gave me signals.”
“Signals?” I questioned.
“You were friendly. Overly so. You brought me coffee. You always stopped to say hello.”
“I’m always friendly. I brought a lot of people coffee. I brought the entire station pizza one day. No one took that for anything but what it was. And I say hello to everyone. It’s not a big station, Dan. It’s not my fault you read something into it that wasn’t there. When you asked me out, I said no. I made it clear I don’t date fellow officers and that I wasn’t interested. You’re the one who refused to see the truth.”
He didn’t respond, stuffing fries into his mouth.
“Don’t make me go to the boss.”
“You have no proof.”
“I’ll tell him what has happened. I was there the other night. It was uncalled-for.”
He slammed his hand on the table. “He’s an ex-con, Hannah. He’s been in jail. A lowlife. That’s what you want to date? To live with? You chose him over me? A criminal instead of a cop?”
I stood, looking down at him. “Chase did his time. He accepted the consequences of his actions, and he paid the price. He’s not the boy who went to jail. He grew up and learned his lesson. Sounds to me like you’re still stuck in high school. You have no claim on me. There was never a relationship. I didn’t choose him over you, because you were never in the picture except as a friend and a coworker.” I paused. “Where is your empathy? The idea that people get second chances? I always assume the best in people.”