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She shrugged. “Things change, I suppose. What about you? I thought you needed coffee before conversation.
“I guess you’re right. Things do change.”
“I see you like being half dressed as much as I do,” Nicole said with a sarcastic grin. “Much better than putting on binding clothes I suppose.”
“If you want, I can go get your suitcase out of the bedroom.”
She shook her head. “Let your brother sleep. I’ll dress when he gets up.”
He stared at Nicole. His heart started to thud in his chest and his cock began to swell. Not now.
“I recall you saying you’re also a coffee drinker, right?” he asked.
She nodded. “Love it. I bet you two cowboys down several pots a day of the stuff.”
“Nope. Two cups. No more.” He took a seat on the sofa next to her.
She shifted closer to him so that her entire body was facing his direction. “Reed, too?”
“Two cups doctored up with cream and sugar. He even likes the foofoo java drinks. Whenever we’re at a livestock auction in a big city he sneaks off at least once to get his fill of fancy coffees. Don’t tell him I told you that.”
She smiled. “He’d hate for me to know that about him, wouldn’t he?”
“That’s so true.” This small talk was skirting the issue of what was really on his mind and likely hers, too. Nicole was in danger. “Tell me about the case you and Jason are working on.”
Her lips tightened and she shook her head. “Too much to tell.”
This was the wrong track with Nicole. She was defensive and guarded again. Why? Her past. If he was going to learn why she was on the Russian mafia’s radar, he had to approach gingerly. “How long have you been on the force in Chicago?”
“Four years,” she said with a sigh.
“Why police work?” His gut tightened at the thought of anyone hurting her. What was it that Jason had learned from her friend Henry that had derailed this strong and self-reliant woman to agree to come with him and Reed?
“I come from a long line of police officers. My grandfather was one of the most decorated members in the entire department.” The pride in her voice told him she was opening up to him if only a little.
“He must be proud of you.”
“Was proud of me. He passed away.”
His own grief shot to the center of his chest, constricting his heart for a painful moment. “I’m sorry to hear that. How long?”
“Two years.” She looked at him with a hard stare. “What about you? Family?”
Nicole was smart. She clearly wasn’t comfortable with his probing so was trying to
turn the tables on him. Good move, but I’m a Dom, sweetheart. I’ve got moves you can’t even imagine. Once she was more susceptible to him, he would flip the switch and delve deeper into her secrets. For now, he decided to give her a little slack, knowing it would work to his advantage. Besides, he wanted to open up to her as much as he wanted her to open up to him.
“Just Reed and Erica. Our parents died September twenty-eighth in two thousand one in a plane crash.” He closed his eyes, recalling the tragic day.
He felt her fingertips on his forearm. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry I brought this up.”
He opened his eyes and looked at the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen in his entire life. Her eyes were brimming with tears of empathy for him.
“It was a long time ago. I’m okay now.”
She wrapped her hand over his wrists and squeezed. “No one is ever really okay after losing a parent, especially not like you and your brother and sister did. You go to bed in one kind of world one day and wake up to a completely different one the next.”
“That’s so true.” The connection he felt with her was growing with every syllable she spoke.
