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“Why? What are you evil girls planning to do?”
“We’re not evil girls. Don’t call us that.”
“One of you demon women tossed condoms at Charlie’s head.”
“That was Charlotte, and you know it. And he deserved it. We haven’t done anything else to you barbarians in Major Crimes in a long time. We’ve been too busy.” Barbaric, they definitely were. Big, muscled, strong, alpha male animals, every last one of the men in Major Crimes. Well, Heather and Lila could be considered alpha females, too. They were the types that were used to being in charge. Major Crimes definitely drew a specific type.
“We’re not all barbarians in Major Crimes.”
“No. That you are not. Heather and Lila are perfectly normal, after all.” Haldyn saw her chance and spun—going right around the barbarian in her path.
His arm hooked around her waist, and he pulled her closer. Stopped her right in her tracks. “I don’t think so.”
“Let me go, Foster. The car is waiting.” She sounded all breathless, and wimpy, and just pitiful. But his chest was strong, and broad, and his hands…
Haldyn fought the urge shiver. Again. Damn him.
“For us. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“Don’t I have a choice in how long you are following me around? Can I trade you in on a different model? I’m open to Dom or Daniel or Gunnar in a heartbeat.” Because they wouldn’t make her feel like this. This man had completely unsettled her. He knew it, too.
“Gunnar is Powell’s, darlin’. Everybody knows that. Just like we suspect she’s enjoying leading him on a merry chase to catch her. You are stuck with me. If you behave tonight, I will let you catch me when we get back here. And do whatever you want with me. Forever, if you like.”
“Please, we all know he’s just messing with Powell because he likes that it upsets her. He’s weirdly perverse where she’s concerned—probably because she is a lawyer.”
He shot her a look as he kept pulling on her wrist lightly. And running the fingers of his hand over her inner wrist. Making her shiver. His eyes darkened. “You really think so?”
“I’m not stupid. Neither is Powell.” They had discussed those two Major Crimes major pains in great detail the night before.
“I think the two of you might be a bit clueless about men, though. Gunnar is completely gone over Powell. For real. I’ve never seen him that way over a woman. You even say her name and the man drools. Lake put a bucket next to Gunnar’s desk to catch it. And has been for a long time. At least as far back as the choir shooting.”
Haldyn stopped walking. Powell fully believed it was the exact opposite. That Gunnar was just trying to mess with her. Haldyn was conflicted—she liked Gunnar. She didn’t think he was the type to just mess around with a woman. “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. Don’t tell me that as savvy as those women you run around with are, none of you have clued in that Gunnar is seriously hot for her? Like for real hot. Like half in love with her already. Maybe even all the way. He has it bad, and you’ve all missed it?”
“Of course, he’s not. It’s just that silly bet he made with Jake at Shelby’s that day.” He opened the back door of the limo. Haldyn climbed in automatically. Looked like she had him going with her tonight. She had suspected she would. Well, she’d just put him to work. He was certainly physically fit enough to do what she would need him to do tonight.
“His interest in her because of that bet lasted less than two minutes. I think when she yelled at him and told him to stay away from her after that was when he got serious. Jake told me all about how she kicked him in the shin a few minutes later, too. Women usually don’t yell at Gunnar. They definitely don’t kick him. Mostly they fall at his feet and simper. It’s really irritating. She’s fascinated him by not following the usual pattern where he is concerned.”
Well, Haldyn didn’t believe that at all. But she was going to watch the man for herself. Powell didn’t really do well with men. She’d always been more comfortable with business than romance. After an incredibly bad experience with an inebriated guy in their college dorm—Powell had retreated from men for a long time.
Haldyn wasn’t much better.
They’d laughed before—said they were just destined to be career women. Well, that was the truth. But Haldyn was going to give Powell a definite heads up about this. Just in case.
She settled in the back of the car. He grabbed her hand in his. “You have very pretty hands. I’ve noticed that before. I really want to feel them on me. When you are ready. But I’m not going to push.”
Her fingers curled with the urge to just grab on and touch him everywhere. Haldyn told herself no. She needed to think. Time to figure this out, to figure him out first. This was a shift between them she never would have expected.
“So, where are we going in Hughes Heights? Shelby and Jake’s?”
“Victor Scott’s house. Number 12 McKinley.”
“What in the hell for?”
“Powell bought it. She closed on it right before we were attacked. That day. Just half an hour before I was abducted. We’d just left her office.”
She tugged her hand lightly. He kept it, giving her a challenging look. Before finally letting go—after brushing one finger against the back of her hand. She fought the urge to shiver at his touch. This man was incredibly good at touching a woman. That errant thought distracted her far more than she wanted to think about.
