AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her whole body relaxes and she huffs out a relieved sigh, a soft smile curving her lips again and making me want to kiss her breathless. Before I can let myself do that, I must come clean.
“What is it then? You should know by now that you can tell me anything.” Her lips tip up as she roams her eyes over my bare chest. “I mean, I’m here aren’t I…”
Without even realizing I’m doing it, I lean toward her, my gaze pinned to her lips. Just as our mouths are about to touch, the phone rings…again. Except this time, it’s Marlee’s cell, not mine.
“Hold that thought.” She presses her index finger to my lips, her gaze alight with heat and promise. Reaching over to the nightstand, she picks up the interrupting device and answers the call, soft eyes watching me as she does.
“Manning…. mmm hmmm…yes, sir…. OK…. sir?... I understand.” The long pause that follows has my whole body tightening like a coiled spring because I can feel the tension taking her over as she listens to whatever she’s being told. Then I see it, her gaze shuttering, her muscles tightening, her fingers clenching the sheet as she pulls it up to cover herself like a shield.
Yet she doesn’t look away from me and I can’t break the contact, knowing that witnessing her heart break with every word in her ear is my penance…my torture.
I can read every single emotion on her face, every single one like a stab wound full of regret, sadness, dread. All because of my epic failure, the mistakes I’ve made and keep on making.
I don't deserve this or her. Marlee. The girl who trusted me to be her first. The girl who always stayed in touch despite time or distance. She followed me into law enforcement, and last night proved she’s still the woman who’ll turn up or me when no one else will.
I’m jolted back to reality when she dumps the phone on the bed and jumps to her feet, ditching the sheet and rushing to get dressed.
“Mar, I—”
She freezes at the sound of my voice. Her head snaps up and her narrowed eyes full of fire, pain, and heartbreak lock on mine. “Out of everyone, Aiden. You’d do that to me?”
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” I rush out, sitting up straight. “All I was worried about yesterday was keeping my job. I fucked up. I know that.”
“You’re right. You did. You weren’t thinking at all. I told you what would happen, and you didn’t listen. There was never a chance of keeping your job. You had two options--ride it out and hope to keep your pension or leave on your own and avoid the bullshit. That phone call just told me you chose door one, which would’ve been fine if you didn’t do it by using me to throw doubt into the mix.”
“Marls, I love being a cop. Being a detective is all I’ve ever wanted to do,” I say, getting up and shoving my jeans on.
“What about me? You don’t think I love my job?”
“What did he say?” I say, my voice low and serious.
“Just that I’ve been called in for a meeting tomorrow. My lieutenant wants to go over my report with me again. The same report he’d already signed off on. On the case that was already signed, sealed, and delivered with a nice red bow. The case,” she says, her voice getting louder, “that was going to prove to him and everyone that I’m meant to be a detective.”
“You are, Mar. I know that.”
“Do you? Or is that just more lip service because you got me back in your bed and warming your sheets. You lost the woman you were fighting another man for and I’m the next best thing?” She grabs her purse from where it hangs off an armchair and I panic. I can’t leave it like this. Can’t let her leave like this. Not when she’s the only bright thing in my life right now. I can’t lose her too. Not if I can help it, anyway.
“Fuck, Marlee. No. It’s not like that. But I’ll fix it, OK. I’ll redo my statement. I’ll make it right. I promise.”
“What. Did. You. Tell. Them?” she demands before storming across the room and stopping right in front of me. “I swear to God, Aiden. This is the last chance you’ll ever get from me before I walk out that door and never look back. Tell me what mess you’ve gotten me into, or this will be the last time you ever—”
“I said it could’ve been you,” I blurt out, the room going dead quiet as my words hang in the air between us. She goes deathly still except for her wide eyes, her brows arched sky high.
Then she snaps out of it. “You what?” she whispers chillingly but there’s no going back now, the damage was done yesterday when I tried to save my ass by offering up hers.
“I said it could’ve come from you. I didn’t say it did. I just said it--”
“Just that it might have? Are you fucking serious? Since when did I become collateral damage in your fuck up?” She punctuates her words with her finger digging into the skin of my chest.
“I’ll dial it back. I’ll go in this morning and amend my statement. I wasn’t thinking straight. I wasn’t—”
She takes a step back as if she can’t stand to be near me, shaking her head and staring like she doesn’t know who the fuck I am anymore. She’s not the only one. “You weren’t thinking period. I can’t believe you’d do this. And to me…me? Who the hell do you thi—”
I kiss her. I can't stop myself. My tongue sweeping against hers once before she jerks away, her hands shoving me back like she can’t bear to be close to me. I know the slap is coming before her palm connects with my jaw and I stand there and take it, welcoming the pain because it’s the least I deserve for breaking her heart.
“Don’t you ever touch me again. Not if you don’t want a pair of cuffs and an assault charge added to your growing list of fuck ups.”
She stalks to the hotel room door, angrily pulling it open before taking a step out into the hallway, stopping to look back at me and dealing her death blow. “Forget you know me. Forget everything, Aiden. You’re nothing to me now. I’m going to forget I ever knew you, ever touched you, ever fucking lo—all of it. Everything. It’s done now. Fix it, or don’t. Leave, or don’t, Aiden. I’m done with this, and I’m definitely fucking done being disposable.”
