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If Devan is serious, I’ll be able to get out of this, too. I made sure of it. Doesn’t stop my body from remembering how it felt or my gut from swirling. My head lightening.
“Your place or mine?” I coo, an attempt to add a little levity to a situation that is anything but.
“I’m driving you to the station house,” he clarifies.
“Even when you know you’ve got nothing to hold me? Wow. You are going to have your ass handed to you for this, Bishop. Your funeral, of course.” I let him drag me along toward a black sedan.
I don’t see any bars separating the front seats from the back, so that’s something. It means whatever monster lurks under his skin is a little civilized. He’s not going to throw me behind bars just yet.
He’s doing his best to pay me no mind, but his grip tightens on my arm. “I’ll think of something. It’s a long drive.”
“I have no intentions of disobeying a man of the law. I’m happy to do as I’m told.” I wink at him even as my mouth goes dry.
Broderick is going to ream me for this. And he’ll find out; he always does.
I’m already going through possible excuses in my head. Why I was at the scene in the first place, why I caught the detective’s eye, why he found me today…
Talk about sticking my finger right into the hole of a hornet’s nest.
“This isn’t a joke, Aria. You were at the scene of a crime.” Devan shoves me, gently, against the side of his car and cages me with his body to make sure I don’t go anywhere. “And you’ve got some known associations with the Black Market Syndicate that could make a stay at the station very difficult for you.”
“Oh really? How do you know?” I ask.
He’s warm and powerfully built. It’s a strange thought to have when the prospect of landing in an interrogation room should put the fear of god into me. But he feels so good against me. I stare up at him, squinting slightly underneath the weak glare of the sun overhead.
“Take me, then, Detective,” I say into the silence. “If you’re man enough to do it.”
For a second, it looks as though he’ll drop his head to mine for a kiss I can’t give him even though I want to. A peck on the lips is nothing. A real kiss…is on another level. It’s something you share with a person you really care about, and for so long, I’ve only been allowed to kiss Broderick. No one else outside of my pillows, a physical reaction to some pretty sexy dreams.
Like last night, when a certain dark-skinned knight showed up on a keyboard instead of a charger and whisked me away to parts unknown.
Devan backs down at the last minute and reaches behind me to open the door. “Get in the car,” he grinds out. “We’ll see how much trouble you can get into on the open road.”
“Oh, wow. If you think four wheels and a highway are going to stop me, then you don’t know me very well.” I arch my chest up to meet his. “Yet.”
SEVEN
devan
I should have handcuffed her.
It would have been the smarter choice in all of this mess to keep the spitfire at my side bound and contained. It might have stopped her from reaching across to caress my thigh five minutes after I pulled out of the Galleria parking lot.
“Stop.” I shove her hand back toward her lap.
“Stop what?” she asks with a laugh, reaching for me again.
I slap at her. “Aria, I’m serious. Don’t fucking touch me. Keep your hands to yourself, or I’m going to pull over and put you in the back seat.” With bars separating us.
I’ve done nothing but misstep for the past two days. Longer, if I’m honest with myself.
I’m a mess, and if anyone starts sniffing around, then I’ll be sent to the police psychologist faster than I can blink. Not to mention it feels way too damn good when Aria touches me.
“You put me in the passenger seat for a reason. Didn’t you? Otherwise, youwouldhave shoved me in the back like a common criminal.” She leans over to nip at my earlobe.
Goose bumps break out along my skin.
Fuck. She’s right, damn it. I refuse to look too closely at my reasons for wanting her close to me. For ignoring every instinct I have in favor of this adorable little redhead with the tenacity of a pit viper. She’s always one step ahead of me, whether it’s verbal sparring or otherwise.
