The Hearts Series

  He squeezed my arse, and I jumped in fright when one finger slid between my cheeks, teasing me over the fabric of my pants. It felt shockingly good, forbidden, which was enough to jolt me out of my moment of weakness. I swore and climbed off him, then strode to the other side of the room. I was panting, and I knew my face must have been as red as a stop sign. Lifting a finger, I pointed between him, me, and the couch.

  “This never happened.”

  Lee smirked, his lips slightly redder than before. I felt a deep sense of embarrassment at how hungrily I’d attacked his mouth. I knew he’d been the one to initiate things, but I’d been a more than willing participant.

  “Which part, babe?”

  “Every part. And stop ‘babe-ing’ me. I’m not your babe.”

  “A second ago you felt like you were,” Lee murmured darkly before moving across the room. My back hit the wall when his chest met my chest. Then his mouth was at my ear. “You wanted it,” he whispered.

  I was staring at the hardwood floor, my fluster getting the better of me when I replied shyly, “I just don’t get how that’s your first port of call.”

  His eyes searched mine for a second, his brows furrowing, and then he burst out laughing. His hands cupped my cheeks before he pulled me into a hug. “God, you’re cute.”

  In spite of myself, I sank into his hold. He took a deep breath, like he was smelling me, and there was something about it that made my stomach do a flip-flop. The whole situation was just ridiculous. And I was drunk. Yes, that’s why I was bringing up anal play like a flippin’ weirdo. Levelling my hands on his chest, I pushed him back and stepped away to put some distance between us.

  “Look, you can quit the nice-guy act. It’s fooling no one.”

  He regarded me tenderly. The affection in his voice was making me feel things I didn’t want to feel. “There’s no act.”

  “You, me…us, it would never work, you know that, right?”

  “Not sure I agree.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re not the one with a reputation to uphold.”

  “Oh, really? What do you think my boys would say if they knew I was sleeping with a cop?”

  I cocked my head and put a hand on my hip. “I don’t know, Lee. According to you, they wouldn’t have a reason to say anything.”

  He stared at me for a long hard moment, not speaking, the stoniness in his eyes giving me chills. I felt like our conversation had come full circle, rounding back to the argument we’d been having before he kissed me. Thankfully, the tension was broken when the door opened and Alexis stepped inside. Her hair was wild and her makeup smudged. In fact, she was still putting her clothes back to rights and looked like she was fleeing the scene of a crime.

  “Lee, can you give us a lift home?” she asked in a rush.

  He shot her a perplexed expression. “Sure.”

  I frowned and shook my head at him. “Don’t put yourself out. We’ll get a cab.”

  “We don’t have time to call for a cab. We need to leave now,” Alexis insisted.

  “Why?”

  I didn’t have to wait for an answer, because Stu stormed into the room.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

  He wasn’t wearing a top, and the fly of his jeans was still open, which meant I was copping quite the eyeful. Stu was ripped, and honestly, I totally got why Alexis sought him out for company. I mean, if you were going to have meaningless sex, you might as well do it right. I tried to keep my eyes fixed at twelve o’clock, rather than veering toward six. Okay, so maybe I took a quick peek at five. Oh, who was I kidding? My gaze was headed straight for six, and I didn’t even feel guilty about it.

  Hello.

  Aaand, back to the matter at hand. Judging from the angry look on Stu’s face, I thought that maybe he wasn’t as great at keeping his emotions out of his sex life as Lee said he was.

  “I told you this was just sex,” Alexis muttered, her slumped posture showing me she was disappointed in herself.

  “But why? That prick left you, Lex. I’m here. I want you. Give us another chance.”

  Oh, wow. I never thought I’d see the day that Stu Cross showed his emotional side.

  “You don’t get it,” she replied, turning away. Stu reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

  “What don’t I get?”

  “Hey, don’t be rough with her like that, she’s….” I stopped myself right before I finished the sentence. It didn’t matter anyway, because a second later Alexis let the cat out of the bag.

  “I’m knocked up, okay? And before you ask, no, the baby isn’t yours. Now will you just let me leave?”

  Stu stared at her, frozen in place. Alexis turned and walked out the door. Lee shot his brother a stern look that told him not to follow her. Then he touched his hand softly to my lower back and led me out of the house. A minute later, both Alexis and I were in the back seat of his car as he drove us home. It was quiet until Lee announced sarcastically.

  “Well, Clarky, that’s some stunt you just pulled. You should be real proud of yourself.”

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” I warned him.

  His eyes caught mine in the overhead mirror, and I was the first to turn away. I couldn’t look at him right then, not when I could still taste him in my mouth, still feel his hands on my body. What had happened lingered between us, heavy and unspoken.

  “No, Karla. He’s right. What I just did to Stu was shitty. And I’m not proud of myself, not at all.”

  “I’ll tell him you said that,” Lee responded, looking slightly appeased.

  “I thought you said that Stu was emotionally uninvolved when it comes to women,” I said. “He didn’t seem that way tonight.”

  Alexis pulled a face. “Oh, my God, Lee, you corny bastard. I didn’t know you were dealing in clichés now.”

  He suppressed a smirk. “What? It’s the truth, though he’s always had a soft spot for you. Maybe you’ll be the one he finally decides to turn over a new leaf for.”

  “Yeah, because I’m such a special snowflake. That shit only happens in rom-coms, and my shit stinks the same as everybody else’s.”

  “Ugh, you had to go and make it gross,” I complained.

  “Hey, you’d better get used to it. I’m going to be a single mother, and I’ve decided you’ll be godmother. That means lots and lots of nappy changes.”

  Even though we were joking around, what she said made me emotional, and my voice got a little scratchy. “You want me to be godmother, seriously?”

  “Who the hell else would I ask?! Of course I do.”

  I reached over and grabbed her hand, forgetting for a second that Lee was in the car with us. “You know that means a lot to me, right? I’ll never take it for granted.”

  We shared a meaningful look, and I squeezed her hand before letting go. The car fell silent, and when I looked up, I found Lee watching me again. I swallowed and glanced away, staring intently out the window. A few minutes later, we’d reached my and Lexie’s building. She got out first and hurried toward the door entry system. I hovered, looking back to Lee. There was something about his expression that made me think he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he shot me a sober nod and restarted the engine.

  “See you around, Snap,” he said right before he pulled away from the kerb.

  I stood on the path, watching his black car disappear into the black night and worrying about how my life was changing, all because he was in it.

  Five

  “Oi, Burrows, where’d ya get the shiner?” Tony called after Steve, who’d just stepped inside the break room. Steve flicked his attention to Tony, a face like thunder and a black eye to boot.

  “Your missus wanted to try something a little different in the sack,” he sneered, and Tony bristled. My workmate wasn’t an easy man to rile, but what Steve had said got his back up. He went silent, and believe me, since he was normally a happy, chatty sort of bloke, Tony was at his scariest when he was quiet
. Steve gave him a snide look before going to sit on the other side of the room from us.

  “Don’t listen to her — she’s just crabby because she got into another catfight. Handbags at dawn, it was,” I said, grinning at my friend. “She needs to learn how to act like a lady.”

  Tony let out a loud laugh, and Steve scowled. He kept quiet, though, which was out of character. Normally, the man had a mouth on him that Niagara Falls couldn’t shut up. This niggled at me, because if Steve had gotten into a fight on the job, he’d be bragging about it with endless talk of “you should see the other guy.” The fact he was keeping schtum was worrying, and it reminded me of Lee’s threats when we’d visited the garage. Maybe Steve tried to pay another visit, and Lee had made good on his promise.

  Hmmm.

  Tony and I had just finished eating, so we packed up our stuff and left Steve to sit out the rest of his break alone.

  “Have you ever suspected he might be up to something dodgy?” I asked my friend once we were out of earshot.

  Tony shot me a cynical look. “Is the sky blue?”

  I sighed. “He needs to be dealt with.”

  “You’re telling me. As soon I have even the slightest bit of evidence, I’m turning him in.”

  I nodded, wondering how long it’d take Steve to slip up. A little while later, we were on the beat, walking down the high street, when I caught sight of a disturbance outside a greasy spoon.

  “I’m not letting you spend time with Jonathan until you clean up your act!” a woman yelled, levelling her hands on some tall guy’s chest and pushing him away from her. A kid stood in the doorway to the café, his thumb in his mouth and tears running down his face. I’d only seen her once before, so it took me a second to recognise Lee’s cousin, Sophie. The guy she was arguing with was about her age. He was tall and thin, and, if I was being honest, sort of slimy-looking. I was guessing from the nature of the argument that he was her son’s father.

  “Is everything all right here?” I asked, stepping up to them as Tony went and bent down in front of the boy. He spoke to him quietly, asking if he’d been hurt.

  Sophie turned to see who was interrupting and frowned when she saw me. “You again.”

  I nodded. “Is this man bothering you?”

  It took her a second to answer, as she glanced between me and the man. “Yes, he is bothering me. I want him to go.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, I turned to the guy and gestured down the street. “Sir, I’ll have to ask you to leave now. You’re upsetting this young woman.”

  “That’s only because she’s trying to keep my kid from me,” he spat.

  “Yeah, and can you blame me when this is the kind of attitude I have to deal with?”

  “Maybe if you’d quit being such a fucking bitch, I wouldn’t have an attitude.”

  Tony stood and shot the man a hostile look.

  He bristled, his posture stiffening, before he backed away a few steps. “This is bullshit. I’m outta here,” he said, and skulked off.

  A moment passed before Sophie glanced up at me, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “Thanks for that. I promise I don’t normally go around having domestics out on the street, but David showed up unannounced and tried to take Jonathan.” She turned back to her son, who hurried to her side and buried his face behind her leg. For some reason, my eyes went to her left wrist, where she was tugging her sleeve down as far as it would go. A small bruise peeked out, and I knew she was trying to hide it.

  I stepped closer and lowered my voice, speaking softly as I asked, “Has he ever tried to hurt you?”

  She stared at me, unshed tears shining in her eyes, and I knew the answer was yes. She didn’t say anything, and a moment later she sucked in a deep breath. “We should get going.”

  I stepped in front of her, blocking her exit. “I can help you, you know. All you have to do is file a report. We can have a barring order put in place so that he can’t approach you or your son.”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to do that. Come on, honey, let’s go.” She took hold of Jonathan’s hand and walked away. I let out a breath, my eyes meeting Tony’s. We both knew there wasn’t much we could do if she wasn’t willing to cooperate.

  For the rest of the day, my encounter with Sophie was stuck in my head. I wondered if Lee had any idea what was going on between her and this David character. I couldn’t imagine he did, judging by how fiercely he told me he’d do anything for his family. I doubted David would’ve gotten within ten feet of Sophie if Lee had known.

  I was so preoccupied by these thoughts that I almost forgot I’d organised a girls night for Alexis. I’d invited Reya over, and Alexis’ friend, Bradley, who was an honorary girl. We were going to watch chick flicks, order pizza, and, well, try to make her feel better about being pregnant. She thought she was alone, but she really wasn’t. I planned to be by her side through all of it, but I was worried about her falling deeper into depression. It wouldn’t be good for her or the baby.

  Everyone was already at the flat when I arrived, so I said some quick hellos and went to take a shower. I always liked to wash after a shift; it was almost a compulsion. Somehow the water felt like it cleaned away all the crap I’d seen that day, leaving me fresh and new.

  Alexis was scribbling down a list of everyone’s pizza orders when I came out, my hair in a towel and wearing a pair of clean pyjamas.

  “Can I have a meat-lover’s pizza, chicken tenders, potato wedges, and some coleslaw?” said Reya. “Oh, and a diet Coke.”

  I couldn’t help teasing her. “Yeah, because that’ll undo all the damage.”

  “Hey! I actually prefer diet,” she argued, and Bradley chuckled.

  “Can’t get enough of that sexy chemical taste, huh?”

  I laughed and leaned forward to give him a high-five.

  “You two, stop ganging up on little Reya,” Alexis butted in, throwing her a sympathetic look. “Don’t mind them. They’re a pair of bullies.”

  I found it funny how Alexis called Reya little, since she was more woman than us two put together. I guessed we considered her little because she was six or seven years younger than all of us. I didn’t know her exact heritage, but I thought I remembered her telling me once that her parents were Spanish, which was where she must’ve gotten her dark looks from. She was actually quite statuesque, with skin the colour of honey and curves that went on forever. I mean, Alexis did plus-size modelling, but she had nothing on Reya.

  Once the food was ordered, Bradley hit play on the DVD. We were watching a movie called He’s Just Not That Into You. Needless to say, I hadn’t been a part of the selection process. The title was so fucking condescending it kind of made me want to hurt someone. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for our food to arrive, distracting me from my daydreams of grievous bodily harm.

  It was later on, while Bradley and Reya were chatting in the living room, that I managed to corner Alexis in the kitchen. I knew she was going to give me endless amount of stick for this, but I had to put my pride aside for a minute. I just didn’t have it in me to ignore the fact that Lee’s cousin was being hounded by her ex. If he’d been violent with her in the past, then I had to do something to prevent it from happening again.

  “Do you have Lee’s number?” I asked quietly as I washed dishes and she dried.

  She gave me a shrewd look. “Maybe I do. And why, pray tell, are you looking for it?”

  “It’s complicated. But I assure you, I have no romantic designs on him whatsoever, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “I dunno, you’d make a good cougar.” She smirked. “They’d call you ‘racy red’.”

  “Shut your face,” I whisper-hissed, trying not to laugh. “I’m way too young to be a cougar. And he’s way too old to be my boy toy. If I was going to go down that route, the guy would have to be in his, like, late teens or something.” Good grief, I was rambling.

  Alexis full-on chuckled. “Ooooh, I didn’t know you were into the
barely legal scene, Constable.”

  I grew impatient. “Do you have his number or not?”

  She sighed. “Yes, I have it. And just so you know, if you were thinking of hitting that, I’d be in no position to judge, especially after the shit I pulled with Stu the other night. However, being in your line of work, it’s probably not the best idea.” Her brows rose meaningfully on the none-too-subtle hint.

  “It’s a good thing I have no intentions of hitting anything,” I said, drying my hands and returning to the living area.

  “Well, you’ve got to hit something every once in a while,” she called after me.

  I turned back around long enough to give her an Italian chin flick that said something along the lines of, “piss off.”

  For the next couple of days, Lee’s number burned a hole in my pocket. Alexis had given it to me and I’d programmed it into my phone, but I was hesitant to call him. Depending on the person you were talking to, a phone call could be kind of intimate, and I knew for a fact it’d be that way with Lee. He had this way of making me feel strange and tingly, and I couldn’t deny he had a sexy voice. It was all deep and rough around the edges.

  Anyhow, I was working the late shift, or the early morning one, depending on how you wanted to look at it. Keira and I were driving through town, keeping an eye on things. Sometimes it felt like I could wax lyrical about Camden at 2 a.m. on a Saturday. Litter covered the streets, blowing back and forth like waves in the ocean. People fell over drunk, scrambling for a connection they weren’t brave enough to seek sober.

  Okay, so maybe not so lyrical.

  The radio went off with a request from dispatch for us to go check out a violent disturbance outside a nightclub just a few minutes away. Keira hit the sirens, and within seconds we were on our way. When we got there, we found three men involved in a scuffle, two of whom were beating the crap out of the third. He lay on the ground, crouched in the foetal position as the other two laid into him. I didn’t hesitate to pull out my Taser, and the threat of incapacitation was enough to get them to back off. Before long, we had the attackers cuffed and sitting in the back seat of the patrol car, ready to take down to the station, while the bloke they’d beaten was being carted off in an ambulance.