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And when he’d filled her mouth, she’d come with him. Not the way she was going to come once he got his lips between her thighs or his cock buried deep inside that hot little pussy he knew would drive him insane. But she had come from the sheer sensuality and excitement, with him. He wasn’t about to fight this much longer.
He’d managed to hide the darker core of his sexuality for most of his life; it was second nature now. He’d hide it with Rogue as well. He’d have to, because he knew he had to have her. There was no other option.
He would hide it from Shane, he’d hide it from the county. He knew how to hide his lovers and he knew how to hide his interest.
If something warned him it wasn’t going to be that easy with Rogue, then he pushed it aside. Rogue was hotter, more of a temptation, more of a forbidden fruit because of her age, he told himself. It wasn’t emotion. Zeke had learned long ago not to let himself get emotionally involved. He wasn’t involved now.
Was he?
He wasn’t, he decided. Cranston’s idea had merit, too. He could have Rogue, he could let the killer think his focus was divided while Cranston and the Mackays asked their questions. Hell, they were going to do it anyway.
And he wouldn’t be using her, he assured his guilty conscience. He was dying for her.
His attention was divided, it was too focused on his hunger, and he’d end up missing things. This way, he’d at least have a clear head for the investigation.
And he was making excuses. The plain and simple fact was he simply couldn’t stay away from her any longer.
Rogue showed up at work the next day even though she didn’t want to. She felt raw inside, rejected, used. She felt as though she had been stripped to the bone and had no idea how to heal the wounds; she only knew how to hide them.
She pasted on a smile after a careful application of makeup. Smoky eyes were sensual, and they hid the shadows of emotional catastrophe. Bronzed lipstick made her look seductive.
She wore chocolate ankle-strapped stilettos and a matching slip dress that just barely hid the band of her bronzed stockings. She spent hours straightening her long curls until the mass of red gold strands hung to her hips like a shimmering ribbon. Parted on the side, it framed her face with rakish appeal and gave her a slight ego boost if nothing else.
She didn’t ride the Harley into work but had Jonesy drive her in with a promise to pick her up later that night. He was silent, moody, and obviously not exactly happy with her style of dress.
He approved of the leather, no matter how skimpy she got with it. He thought it was tasteful. To Jonesy, silk was a trick and her straight hair was a come-on. Go figure.
She stepped into a full restaurant, took over for Tabitha, and kept a smile on her face.
She fielded advances, she laughed at the flirtatious comments, but something inside her felt as though it was breaking.
Okay, so it was pretty bad having your son walk in while you were getting a blow job.
She could only imagine how horrifying that was. It was bad enough getting caught, period. He was shocked, needed to yell at Shane a little maybe. She excused that. She was pissed, hurt, but she understood.
She understood all night. She watched the hands of the clock tick by and felt the knowledge that she didn’t matter enough to seek out growing heavier inside her.
The dinner crowd moved through, in and out, until the doors were locked and she gave one last peek as she turned the sign to Closed and realized he wasn’t going to show up.
Showing up would mean others would see him. It would be an acknowledgment that she was more than just a casual little fuck, she admitted.
But how could she have expected anything less?
Ignoring Janey and Alex’s concerned looks, she strode through the restaurant back to the office and started putting receipts together to begin the paperwork for the night.
She often finished up in the office while Alex and Janey went on home. She called Jonesy and told him she would be late. She’d get a cab. He wasn’t happy, again. It seemed Rogue had lost the ability to please anyone who mattered to her that day, she thought with a scowl.
Damn men. When had she started caring what any man felt?
The day she’d met Zeke Mayes, she admitted to herself. God, she was such a fool for him. It was insane, completely pathetic actually.
She looked up as the door to the office opened and Janey and Alex stepped inside. She knew that look on her friends’ face, and she knew that evidently she hadn’t hidden her emotions as effectively as she had hoped. Great, now Janey would have questions. And what Janey knew, Alex would know. What Alex knew, he would probably say something to Zeke about. And well, didn’t she just know how private Zeke was?
“Everything okay, Rogue?” Janey asked casually as Alex closed the door behind them.
“Actually, no. ” Rogue pushed the receipts back as Janey looked at her in surprise.
“Sheriff Mayes has no idea who killed Joe and Jaime. Grandma Walker hasn’t stopped crying, and Lisa won’t let me help. ” She rubbed at her temples. Those were concerns, and they were heartbreaking, but that wasn’t what was digging gouges out of her soul.
