Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Oh, shit,” I grumble. “I can’t on Saturday. I have a date.”
“This date will be better.”
“Dempsey.” I pace the back patio, feeling jittery with nerves. “We can’t go on a date. Ever.”
He’s silent for a beat and then he laughs, though this time it feels forced. “Yeah, I know, Officer Do-Good. I’m just messing with you. It’s not a date if Gemma and Kaden come along anyway. As much as you’d like to get me alone in the woods, I’m going to have to ask you to get your head out of the gutter. It’ll be a group hike.”
Oh.
Oh.
Now I feel like a complete idiot. I also feel like a bitch too because I know Kaden would die of happiness to get to hang out with those two and I’m preventing him from his fun because I agreed to a stupid date with Oliver.
“The, uh, date is not until seven,” I rush out. “If we went in the morning for a few hours, maybe that would be okay. I think Kaden would like that.”
I would really like that.
“Fine. Me and Gem will pick you two up at nine. Dress appropriately. Leave the cop outfit at home. I’ll bring all the stuff we’ll need.”
I smirk at his bossiness. “Have you ever even hiked before? We’re not all about to get ourselves eaten by a bear or something, are we?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Sloane, but I’m looking forward to showing you more.”
Again with the stupid butterflies.
This is bad news.
He’s bad news for me.
Tap.
Scrape.
Tap-Tap.
I jolt upright in bed, blinking away the dregs of sleep, confused as to whether the sound was in my dream or in real life.
Tap.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I reach over to mash in the code for my bedside gun safe. Once I’ve removed my Glock, put a round in the chamber, and flipped the safety, I slip out of bed and creep over to the window.
Tap.
I freeze mid-step and squint my eyes. I can barely make out a shadowed form standing on the other side of the window beyond my curtains.
What sort of intruder announces their presence?
Now that I’m not half asleep, I realize they wouldn’t. I push aside the curtain to reveal my nighttime stalker.
Dempsey Park’s teeth flash brilliantly in the dim moonlight. I eject the bullet from the chamber and then set both the bullet and the Glock on my dresser before opening the window. It’s warm this evening but breezy. I can smell pine mixed with something spicy and pure male.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss as soon as I’ve lifted the window. “Most people knock on the door like a normal person. I almost shot you.”
He laughs softly, unperturbed by my admonishment. I step out of his way and then switch on my bedside lamp. By the time I turn back around, he’s standing in my bedroom, sharp gaze pinning me in place.
Maybe I should have thrown on more clothes.
A T-shirt and a skimpy pair of shorts are hardly visitor appropriate.
Dempsey bites down on the inside corner of his bottom lip, his icy blue eyes raking down my bare legs. By the time his stare is back on mine, I’m feeling flushed and way out of my depth.
“Answer the question,” I demand, instilling my harshest cop tone. “Is my nephew okay?”
Why else would he show up at my house in the middle of the night?
He nods before sauntering over to my bed. I watch him sit, ignoring the prickling sensation that washes over me. There hasn’t been a man in my bed, well, ever. And now I have Dempsey in it. Great.
Also, he’s not a man.
He’s a kid.
Jamie’s kid.
It’d do you some good to remember that, girl!
Leaning back on his elbows on the mattress, he continues to stare at me. I don’t understand how he can show up here, wake me up, and then have the audacity to eye fuck me.
Heat floods south.
Is that what he’s doing?
Eye fucking me?
“Trevor’s fine, I guess. A little bitch, but fine.”
Relief has air swooshing out of my lungs. I approach Dempsey, needing the information about Trevor more than my next breath. Dempsey’s jaw muscle ticks when I get closer.
“Explain,” I demand. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” he says with a grunt. “Thought I’d go hang with my buddy, Omar, and see if I could get the skinny on what Trevor’s up to. I had a run-in with him.”
“At the lodge?” I clarify.
“Yup.”
“What was he doing? Stop making me beg for answers.”
Dempsey’s expression darkens and it sends a shiver down my spine. “You never have to beg with me.”
Right.
So we are getting way off track here.
Focus.
I kick at his boot with my bare foot. “Out with it. Now.”
His grin is wolfish. “Do the detectives ever let you in to interrogate the bad guys?”
“Dempsey…”
“Yeah, yeah.” He snorts out a laugh. “So I went outside to have a smoke—”