Angel Nicholas - Sweet Deception - HarperImpulse Romantic Suspense

“Yeah, I don’t know many people fond of seeing their own blood.” He shrugged. “No biggie, Sugar Lips. The bullet only nicked you.”

“Would you quit calling me Sugar…” The hot irritation faded alongside her voice. She swallowed and managed a single squeaky word. “Bullet?”

Hunky guys calling her mocking names ranked pretty high on her annoyance scale. Bullets? They’d never made it onto the scale. His shrewd gaze sharpened. Ally lifted her chin. He didn’t intimidate her.

“Yeah. You seem to have a penchant for finding trouble.”

“Me?” Her spine stiffened. “What about you? You were there too.”

“Sure, but you seem to have a way of attracting attention. Not surprising, I guess, with those big eyes and…” His gaze dropped to her lips, which promptly plumped and tingled. “…truly luscious lips.”

“Oh, get real, Surfer Dude.”

Oh. My. Word. I did not say that out loud. Fire burned in her cheeks, growing hotter when he chuckled. So glad I can prove entertaining, at least. Obnoxious jerk. She turned away and ducked her chin so her long hair fell forward to hide her face until the blasted blush faded.

“Surfer Dude?”

The laughter still coloring his voice made her want to crawl into a hole. Why did she always have to humiliate herself in front of attractive men? No wonder she was still single.

“I don’t know your name,” she mumbled into her hair. “I didn’t know what to call you.”

“Hey, whatever works. Name’s Greg.”

“Ally.”

“Sorry?”

He swept aside her hair, long fingers wrapping around her chin to angle her face back toward him. Meeting Surfer…uhm, Greg’s sparkling eyes, she swallowed.

“My name is Ally.”

He stared at her until her stomach tumbled to the hot roof they sat on. Which was beyond silly. No way on this planet a guy like him would want her.

He leaned closer, the heat in his eyes holding her suspended in breathless anticipation. His lips settled on hers with no hesitation, moving with a confidence she couldn’t begin to comprehend. Her lids slid closed against an eruption of butterflies. Deepening the kiss, his tongue glided over the seam of her lips, asking and gaining admission. The taste of him exploded across her tongue like deep, dark chocolate.

Shaken, she jerked back and eyed him. Things like this didn’t happen to girls like her. Girls like her led boring, quiet lives in boring, quiet duplexes. Girls like her sat at home on Friday nights watching romantic movies, eating popcorn, wearing warm pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Alone.

Girls like her did not meet gorgeous men on roller-coaster rides, have hair-raising experiences in dark buildings and make out with said gorgeous man on sun-kissed rooftops.

“That’s really low.” She leapt to her feet.

“Huh?”

At the sound of his footsteps, an unwelcome image of him climbing to his feet with catlike grace filled her mind.

“Did I miss something?”

She spun around, crossing her arms and glaring at all his golden glory shining in the summer sun. Jerk. “What kind of man goes around kissing another woman when he has a girlfriend? A girlfriend I’ve met! Sort of.”

Greg sighed and crossed his arms. “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”

Ugh. Even his frown was adorable.

“Well…” Ally snorted and spun away. What kind of idiot did he take her for? Seriously. “Even if she is your sister , you shouldn’t have kissed me.”

His eyes narrowed. “Celia is my baby sister. Why shouldn’t I kiss you?”

She turned back, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. Baby sister or not, there was absolutely no way a man like Greg would be interested in her. Gullible was so totally not her middle name and lack of experience didn’t equate stupidity. She had girlfriends. Sort of. Okay, so she eavesdropped while women at work gossiped about the men in their lives.

Ally wrapped her arms around her middle. “Because.”

“Because?” He groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Fine. Whatever.”

Running a hand through his blonde hair, he turned away. Ally snagged her lip between her teeth again. Maybe she had been a little hard on him. So she wasn’t the type of girl to take someone at face value. Sue her.

“Look, I’m sor—”

Several yards away, the rooftop door exploded open. Greg whirled and slammed into her, taking them both down hard on the rough asphalt roofing. The air left her lungs in a gasp. The roof dug into her back. She struggled to suck in air with his heavy weight pinning her in place.

“Shhh,” he said.

About the time her lungs started to burn, he seemed to sense her sincere distress and lifted off her a fraction. Fresh oxygen fueled her brain. They lay behind what looked like an air conditioner, hidden from view. More specifically, hidden from whoever had made such a dramatic and noisy entrance into their sky-high haven.

The door crashed open again. This time, anxiety weighed down her diaphragm.

“Freeze!”

Instinctively obeying, her muscles seized up. The sounds of a scuffle followed. She stared into Greg’s eyes. He winked and her tension eased. Why, she didn’t know.

Footsteps drew near, followed by low laughter. “Off-duty and on top of some woman. Classic Marsing.”

Greg’s heavy weight rolled off her, but he didn’t get up. He lounged on his side, watching her. The plain-clothes detective she’d seen earlier by the building exit stood over them, shaking his head.

Carefully, she sat up, gingerly testing her aching body parts while she eyed the two men. A few yards away, some guy—the deranged psychopath, presumably—was being handcuffed and read his rights.

“Always on top of some woman?” Ally repeated numbly.

Since she’d never been stupid, she easily put together two plus two and came up with a lying jerk. There went her fantasy of believing him about the sister, or believing in a sincere attraction, despite the kiss they’d shared. Acid burning her stomach, Ally crossed her arms and shut her eyes. I am such an idiot .

“Marsing?” She glanced at the detective.

“Didn’t have time for a proper introduction, huh? That’s our Marsing. Quite the ladies’ man right, Detective?” The guy smirked, arms crossed and feet shoulder-width apart.

Now nauseated as well, Ally climbed to her feet.

“Shove it up your ass, Hank,” Detective Marsing growled. He smoothly rolled to his feet and offered his hand, which she batted away with sharp irritation. “Don’t tell me you believe this laughing hyena. He’s full of crap.”

Hank hooted with laughter, slapping his thigh. Gritting her teeth, Ally started walking. Several uniformed police officers were escorting a thickly muscled man off the roof. Neck muscles bulging, he turned and met her gaze. His pale-blue eyes sent a shiver down her spine, joined by a river of ice when one side of his thin lips pulled up in a menacing smile. She’d always thought it a dramatic turn of phrase with no basis in reality, but her blood literally ran cold.

A hand on her arm brought her up short. She barely swallowed an undignified screech. Heart racing, she spun to glare at Detective Marsing. “What? Exciting as this has been, I’d like to go home now.”

“Ally.” He plowed a hand through his hair. “Look, ignore Hank. He’s always been an ass. He can’t help it.”

“Which is so sad for Hank, but I don’t see what his being an ass has to do with any of this.” Ally sighed and pushed the hair off her forehead. “I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t even care anymore. I just want to go home.”

“Okay. Officer Smith will take you—”