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“Which is why you’re getting other cases,” she surmises. “Dowel is cold, so you’re being reassigned.”
“Right. But sometimes, shit falls into our laps, so we follow it when we get a minute.”
Intrigued, she asks, “Something fell into your lap today?”
I bring my drink up and grin behind the lip when Minka’s eyes track the movement. “Just another small piece of the puzzle. Why are you here?”
“Because I like puzzles too.” Pulling her arms free of my blanket, she reaches out and accepts my soda when I offer it. “I remembered you said this morning you would get security footage from Opulus, but I haven’t heard about it since. I wanted to know what you found.”
“I haven’t watched it yet.”
But since she brought it up, and since she’s technically involved in this case on a professional level, I’m not sure anyone will complain if I share the contents of the video with the chief medical examiner.
Reaching across to the laptop I dumped when she knocked on my door, I open the lid and log in. “I was settling in for a movie night before bed.”
“Sounds good to me.” Now that her lips are back to a normal shade and her hands don’t shake, Minka’s smile brings me comfort—with a pang of desperation.
I haven’t tasted her in weeks. I haven’t touched. I haven’t wrapped myself around her. And she sure as hell hasn’t wrapped herself around me.
Truth be told, I’ve barely even heard her voice.
So when she lifts the blanket and holds one side open in invitation, I slide off the table and onto the couch until my weight creates a slope, and Minka’s tight body slips closer to mine.
She’s already toasty warm and wrapped in cotton instead of stuffy work suits, which means I drape my arm over her shoulders and pull her in closer until the scent of her shampoo fills my lungs. Setting the laptop between us, I use my left hand to clumsily work the keys.
“We’re toxic, you know that?”
My heart gives a painful knock. But I don’t let on as my eyes remain on the computer. “How do you mean?”
“I don’t want to see you.” And yet, she sets her legs over mine and snuggles in closer. “You hurt my feelings when you stopped coming around.”
“I caught a big case and was assigned a different M.E. At the same time, the vigilante was fucking around the city.” Pausing, I look at her. “I was busy. But I never meant to become unavailable to you. And by the time I came up for air, you were unavailable to me.”
“I was busy too.”
I breathe out a soft laugh and look down at her supple lips. “So can we not agree we’re both toxic workaholics who sometimes forget about real life?”
“Isn’t that what I just—”
“No.” Leaning across, I press a kiss to the center of her forehead and inhale. “We, ourselves and our jobs, are toxic. But not us, this coupling we make. That’s not toxic.”
“Says who?” she argues softly. “Itfeelstoxic. Addictions usually are.”
I smile and work to smother it by pressing another kiss to her temple. “Sometimes addictions are bad. Meth is bad, Minka. It’s unhealthy at best, and in the end, probably deadly. But sometimes, addictions aren’t addictions at all. Instead, they’re like oxygen to a pair of lungs. And that’s not unhealthy.” I pull back and wait for her gaze to come up. “In fact, a human needs oxygen to live.”
“Archer, I…”
“It’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes.” Abandoning the laptop for a moment, I reach around and take her chin in my hand, dragging her closer until her breath tickles my tongue. “Inevermeant to hurt your feelings.”
“Who is Chloe?” She keeps enough space between us so my lips can’t make contact with hers. She refuses to give that last half an inch. “You said to swallow my pride and ask, so I’m asking.”
A satisfied smile crosses my lips and sends electricity zinging to my gut. “You were jealous.”
“I was n—” She closes her eyes and shakes her head a fraction of an inch. That’s all my hand allows her to move. “I was put out, certainly. I don’t often go to bed with men, Archer, so when I do, it makes me feel a little cheap if he’s banging someone else the moment I blink.”
“That was a really long sentence forI have feelings for you, Archer, and I’d like to explore those further.”
“Shut the hell up.” She tries again to pull away from my grasp. “You don’t have to make this so formal and weird.”
