Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“What?” She looked from the Suburban to Perry. “What were you afraid of?”

“Franco.”

“Franco?”

“One of the cops on the force.” Perry turned the corner, driving with his lights off and crawling down the street. By the time they reached the house where the Suburban parked, the garage door was closed. “I didn’t know he drove a black Suburban. I wonder why he came by. Looks as if we just went on a wild-goose chase.”

Kylie wasn’t so sure. She nodded once, though, unwilling to share her thoughts with Perry. She didn’t know what he knew, but she suspected a cop on the force could be Peter and now she had a cop who drove a black Suburban.

“Too bad we didn’t get tag numbers,” she said instead of voicing her thoughts.

Perry turned his lights on and shifted into second after taking the corner. He needed sleep, but the thought of taking his baby out on the interstate, cutting loose for a few, and feeling the power of his Z underneath him sounded really good. Something about Kylie sitting next to him just added to his craving to drive for a while instead of returning home. It would be light soon, though, and there was a lot of work to do, work that would be done a lot better with at least a few hours of sleep.

Kylie fought to hide a yawn from him, and he suppressed the urge to reach out and stroke her hair from her face. He wasn’t sure what pissed him off more, her cold reaction to him when he told her he knew she was FBI or that he hadn’t figured it out on his own sooner. Proof right there that being around her was fogging his thoughts.

Perry stopped at the stop sign, glanced both ways, and shifted into first as he pulled onto the deserted street. A delivery truck idled in a parking lot as they drove by; otherwise the world was asleep. Perry wondered if he’d be able to crash at all tonight.

“You going to be able to drive home?” He glanced at Kylie when she yawned again, this time not hiding the fact that she did.

“I’ve driven on less sleep than I’m working on now, Officer,” she said, and gave him a smirk.

God, she was cute as fucking hell. “You can stay at my house,” he offered, shifting again and making the light as he headed back to his neighborhood. “I’ll even take the couch.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Think I wouldn’t?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not staying the night at your house, Perry. You know as well as I do that I can’t do that. For whatever reason, someone checked your house out tonight and my car was in your driveway.”

He looked at her. Kylie relaxed in her bucket seat, her seat belt secure and pressing between her breasts, making them look even perkier. Her bare knees were pressed together and she gripped them with her hands, her pink-painted fingernails adding to her youthful appearance. It hit him at that moment that he probably didn’t even know the real Kylie Donovan. She was working undercover, playing a part, a part that demanded she appear young, carefree, and a bit on the easy side. He cringed at the blunt reality that easy and available was the way teenage girls looked. On the prowl, in heat-how did Kylie usually dress?

“That’s not the only reason, though, right?”

She looked at him, her blue eyes flashing with emotions he doubted she’d share with him. “You know it’s the only reason that matters.”

He watched her expression turn stubborn as she returned her attention to the road ahead of them. Blonde wisps curled at her neck. Her hair was slightly tousled, which made her look even hotter, although he also saw the level of exhaustion settling in on her.

Driving his Z with Kylie sitting next to him, relaxed, her sultry air obvious even without sleep, exhilarated him. Perry felt the rumble of the engine when he downshifted. This old car would run forever, kicking ass any chance it had, as long as he took care of it. In a way, his car was like him. As long as he kept his head clear, he would take down Peter.

And God help Franco if he was abducting teenage girls and brutalizing them. Perry would dismember the son of a bitch.

Perry turned into his driveway and eased the Z into the garage. Kylie got out before he turned off the motor.

“What do you know about Franco?” she asked, adjusting her dress as she walked out of the garage.

There was still a heavy mist in the air that dampened her hair. In the darkness, it took on a soft, golden brown hue. She didn’t look at Perry but stared toward the end of his drive while continuing to run her palms down the length of her short skirt.

“He’s been on the force for about five years, I think, not as long as me. His record is okay, I guess.” He wasn’t sure why he didn’t add that Franco was a prick. But until Perry did some further investigation on his own, he would hold back his personal feelings about the man. “He usually goes for the high-profile cases.”

“Likes the camera, does he?” She turned, her gaze lifting slowly to Perry’s face as a small smile appeared.

“Franco is all over letting the media know how it is.” Perry liked talking shop with her. He realized that knowing who she was removed a barrier between them. If he pushed, he could get closer. They were two birds of a feather, investigators. Although the thought of this sexy, petite woman standing before him protecting the community the way Perry would didn’t register well for him. She needed protecting, not being put in the line of fire. “I’ll find out why he drove by.”

She nodded once and pressed her teeth into her lower lip, studying him for a moment. “Perry,” she began.

“I’m not going to blow your cover,” he told her, letting her hear what he suspected she needed to know more than anything.

“Thank you,” she said, exhaling.

“Did you think I would?” he asked before thinking about it. It would start getting light in the next hour or so. He reached for her, touching her shoulder, and led her toward his house. “You’re getting soaked,” he told her.

“I’m going home.” She didn’t answer his question.

“You’d do better with some sleep.” He stopped at his door, wanting her to come inside but at the same time arguing with himself to let her go.

“I’m sure we both would.” She didn’t say she was going home to crash.

They’d hit a new level in whatever kind of relationship existed between them. And if he was smart, he’d tell her to drive safely, and head inside for a couple hours of sleep before heading to the station. There was work to do, and a monster to catch. Quite possibly they were given one hell of a clue tonight, and that needed to be checked out.

“Come inside for a minute.”

She looked at him warily. “Why?”

“Because you’re getting soaked and I want to talk to you without getting wet myself.” He ignored the little voice in the back of his head that yelled at him about getting involved with Kylie, with any woman for that matter.

“For a minute,” Kylie said, sounding hesitant.

Telling himself that understanding her mind didn’t mean they were bonding in any way almost got his conscience to leave him alone. He closed the door behind him and stood against it when Kylie turned to face him. She looked trapped, wary, and curious. It would be a hell of a lot easier to close himself off to her if he didn’t see that glint of interest sparkling in her pretty blue eyes.

“Thank you for staying quiet about this,” she said, and looked down at her hands.

He guessed she wanted to say more. Possibly like him, a relationship scared her.

“Where are you from?” He understood her surprise when she looked back up at his face, her lips parting although she didn’t say right away. He asked her, although he already knew the answer, because putting into words what he really needed to say was damn near impossible. Telling her he regretted having sex with her would be a bold-faced lie. But saying he would leave her alone would be a lie, too.