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“It was a long day, huh?” Acton draped his hand around my waist, his gaze fluttering across the crowd while my heart clenched.
It was one date. One kiss. That’s all. As a thank you in advance.
Well, it was two kisses, technically, but who’s counting? The man just wanted company over events to look like the empty-hearted politician he obviously was because my own heart clenched every time I looked at him. I knew going into this it would be a bad idea, but Ella and Andy convinced me of Acton’s honest, good nature.
So why did I feel like a wallflower left out to dry in the late afternoon sun?
The thought that the event was over had been false in every sense—at least as fake as the pretend cuddles Acton put on in public. Around us, people talked and networked while I stood stiffly by Acton’s side, collecting pitying looks from a parade of Rangers who passed by to congratulate him on his position in the unit. A handful of cops spoke to us too, though they didn’t seem to see the undercurrents between us the way Acton’s colleagues did.
I’d rather be anywhere but here.
An elderly couple waved their goodbyes, others starting to leave the ceremony site. I could barely remember what it was all for and this was just my first event with Acton. Every time I looked at him, my body rebelled, aching for his attention. It couldn't happen; it wasn’t what he wanted, which was the mainreason I’d wanted to invite him in after our date. If I could just get the gorgeous Ranger out of my system, and start getting over him, I wouldn’t be feeling like this now.
But no...Acton had to be a gentleman and a sinner all at once, declining my invitation but giving me an orgasm at the door.
Wham, bam, goodnight ma’am.
And I stood beside him now, looking for all the world like a lovelorn teen...which wasn’t far off from the real thing. I’d started to fall for the knight-in-shining-armor —or in this case, a white hat—that Acton presented. He kissed like a bee to honey, and he’d read exactly what my body needed before I did after a night talking and eating together. Plus there were those damn shoulders that made him so much sexier than any other man at the event, while I stood there looking like hired help. Worse than that, I stood there as a paid escort.
I’d hooked myself out.
No wonder the man didn’t bother to look at me.
I coughed softly into my fist, breaking back against the flood of pity tears that speared across my eyes and willed them back by determination alone. “If you’re wrapping it up here, I might walk home.”
I might have considered an endearment or a jibe after the end of the comment once, but not after today. I’d known acton cunningham for less than a week and he had my head spinning off my shoulders already.
“Mmmhm?” Acton looked down at me as though surprised I was still there. His fingers flexed on my shoulder, realization crossing his features. I sighed and, just as I thought he might apologize for his distracted nature, he nodded and slipped his hand free of my skin. “Thanks so much for helping me out today, Floss. It’s been a long time on your feet.”
“It’s not that bad,” I lied. I had blisters blooming on my heels the size of pancakes.
“Well, then. Appreciate it.” He doffed his hat—really?—and eaved over my head, gone before I could think through what just happened, or more to the point—whatdidn’thappen.
Swallowing back the wash of tears, I headed back across the field of vacating party-goers, all chattering and a few stumbling from excess punch, but I barely saw anyone. My delivery driver bumped into me, still muttering about her parcels and gave me a wave, sweat beading across her face. Her hair stood out frizzier than ever as I held myself together long enough to find the nearest taxi rank, sliding into the first available without checking if anyone had called it. Only when the door closed, locking me into the shadowy, stuffy interior, did I kick off the too-tall heels that didn’t quite fit me right and let the tears fall.
CHAPTER FIVE
ACTON
I stared at my stationary ceiling fan and tried not to think about how big and empty my bed had become. Sleep never came easy for me, not after an incident or arrest at work, or while I was working through a case. Certainly not when instead of tracking the routes the drugs made through the city in my head, all I could see when I closed my eyes was a pair of sparkling blue eyes and beachy blonde hair tangled in messy waves and how soft her lips were when I kissed her.
That never should have happened.
The idea of pretending she was my girlfriend to the general populace was to form a solid baseline for myself. Stability, honest and steadfast. Once, those things might have described me, but after seeing Floss shoved into a dress and heels that clearly weren't hers, her sexy bedhead turned into a glossy french roll and her blue eyes dulled to the hazy blue of the sky instead of glittering like an ocean in summer, I knew I’d got it wrong.
That, and the fact was that a few of the event’s participants ended up in the emergency room. Three were home now, andhad no idea how the drugs had gotten into their system, and none were habitual users at all.
One elderly man hadn’t woken up yet.
My stomach clenched over itself. Andy had enough to deal with while Ella struggled through the end of her pregnancy—the third trimester, I thought, though I knew next to nothing about babies other than how to make one.
I wish I’d taken Floss up on her invite at the end of our date.
I’d broken her, ruined her natural sparkle that drew me to her, from the crazy named plant to her cheeky banter on our date.
How soft and sweet and so damn sexy she felt in my arms when I kissed her goodnight, like it was the beginning of something special.
No, the only way to make her happy would be to call it off. I tossed my phone in the air and tried not to let it hit me in the face when the thing buzzed in my hand. I checked my watch. Past midnight. I hadn’t gotten the impression she was a night owl, but hell, I’d been wrong before.
