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“We ain’t going back up there.” At least that wasn’t a lie.
“You never told me why you were going up there in the first place.”
“Yep.”
She took a deep inhale, probably to tamp down her frustration. “You won’t, either.”
He shook his head. “Not willingly.”
Her mouth pinched tight. “I’m going to warn you now… I need to know, Rook, and I’m not going to stop until I do.”
She was like Cujo with a damn Milk Bone. The little shit would never give it up until he was finished with it.
“Soon there will be nothin’ to know.”
Her dark eyebrows knitted together. “What does that mean?”
“It means that we didn’t start this shit with them, but we’re gonna end it. It also means you need to get off this property while you still can and you need to forget what I just said. Which was more than I shoulda.” She turned to go but, damn him, he reached out and snagged her arm to stop her. “You’re also gonna forget what Scar did.”
“Not sure I can.”
“Gonna let it go, darlin’. Do it for me. I’ll make him pay in other ways, yeah?” Prospects were normally treated like dog shit, but he’d make sure Scar got every shitty job possible and he’d even make up some.
“The man has some major issues, Rook.”
“Darlin’, we all got issues.”
“Everyone in your club or everyone in general?”
He snorted. “Both.”
“My biggest issue with you is you keeping me in the dark about what’s going on up there. There’s something brewing and I need to know what it is. My PD protects this town and we need to be prepared.”
“Not with this.”
“You should let me determine that. For my safety and the safety of my fellow officers.”
“Don’t give a fuck about those other pigs.”
She stepped closer, fisted his shirt and turned her face up to his. “And what about me?”
“You’re okay. Sometimes.”
She smiled and released his shirt. “There’s the asshole I know and—” Her smile disappeared and so did his grin.
Fucking fuck.
He sucked on his teeth and stared at her for way too long, trying to read everything behind those almost transparent eyes. But she had quickly hidden whatever had been there. “When’s your stretch done?”
“After tonight, I’m off for the next four.”
He nodded. “Key still there?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Go finish your fuckin’ shift, darlin’.”
Without another word, she turned and walked back out into the cold night.
He stood in the doorway and waited until she climbed into the cruiser and remained until he could no longer see its taillights.
For fuck’s sake. Now what?
Chapter Twenty
“Gonna tell you this shit but it don’t go any farther than you,” Rook warned her.
She expected him to demand that she promise, but he didn’t. She assumed it was because he trusted her.
He saw law enforcement as his enemy but he trusted her. That sent a swirl of warmth spiraling from her chest into her belly.
They were naked in her bed. No uniform, no cut. Just them. She laid on her side facing him with him flat on his back. Cujo was curled up and snoring softly on his own pillow next to hers.
How the dog fell asleep and stayed that way through what she and Rook did as soon as he walked in the door and for the hour afterward, she’d never know.
Rook was mindlessly brushing his fingertips back and forth over a spot on his neck. She smothered her smile into her arm to hide it. She had marked his neck tonight and he let her, which surprised the hell out of her.
She had been teasing him by nipping at his throat, kissing and licking his skin along his neck when he’d encouraged her to do it. It was the hottest thing ever and now she understood why he loved to do it to her.
He had been marking his claim. And now she marked hers.
Ever since he asked if the key was still in its hiding spot, she had been anxiously excited while waiting for him to show up. She had even caught herself pacing twice.
In the two weeks they hadn’t seen each other, she realized how much she wished what they had didn’t have to be a secret or temporary. But she had no idea how to get around that problem and not cause issues for either one of them.
If they continued on the way they were, they would get caught. Eventually, someone would see them. Someone would spot Rook sneaking in or out of her apartment.
She guessed she could find a place out of town to solve that issue. Though, she doubted anywhere within sixty miles would truly be safe. And for her job, it was required to live close to Manning Grove, preferably within town limits. Even if that wasn’t a requirement, she didn’t want to be far from her family, anyway.
Even so, no matter where she lived, she was sure questions would eventually be raised by his club brothers about why Rook simply disappeared some nights. Or why he snuck into the bunkhouse in the early mornings.
