“If you tell me that’s a meat lover’s with double cheese, I might have to marry you right here, right now.”
“Ha!” Whatever that sound was, it wasn’t a laugh. A bark, maybe? A couple of swallows later, she finally found something that sounded a little more like her own voice. “Then I guess this thing’ll never work out between us, Ponch. It’s a meat lover’s but only regular cheese.”
“Hmm.” He pretended to ponder that for a second before finally giving in. “Beggars can’t be choosers, right?”
He led her to the kitchen, then slid a tall glass across the table toward her and pointed at the beer.
And then he was gone, taking the stairs two at a time and leaving Ellie to stare after him, unblinking, for a long time. From somewhere up those stairs, a shower turned on, which meant he was…
Oh, no, do not go there! No. Think about something else; look at something else. Whatever it took to get the image of the half-naked tattooed hottie out of her mind.
He’s a cop, and he has a job to do. You’re his job. He has to do you. Ugh!
Oh God. He was going to come back down those stairs smelling all fresh and Ivory soap–ish, and then what was she going to do? And since when was Ivory soap sexy? No. Just no.
Flipping open the lid of the pizza box, she waved her hands back and forth over the steam to disperse some of the aroma around the room.
And just in time, because the shower had shut off and a few seconds later, his footsteps were pounding back down the stairs.
“So what’s up?” There, that was better: his bottom half covered up with a pair of damn fine-looking jeans, and his top half covered by a plain white T-shirt. Well, most of the top half, anyway. Both arms, including most of that tattoo, were still bare, but she could cope with that.
Maybe. Would it be weird if she just reached out and touched his arm, just maybe right there where the vine in the tattoo started?
“Ellie?”
“Oh, uh, it’s Tuesday,” she said.
“Yeah, you mentioned that already.” He pulled a couple of plates out of the cupboard and pointed at the box. “Shall we?”
“I meant, it’s Tuesday the twenty-first.”
His hand froze for about half a second before he reached in and dragged a piece onto his plate.
“And I just thought it might be nice to have a friendly face around tonight.” She finally managed a normal-sounding laugh. “I doubt either one of us ever thought I’d offer to be that friendly face, but…”
She turned to get a piece of pizza, but Brett’s hand was there first, pushing the plate out of her grip and pulling her into a hug.
“Oh,” she gasped over a laugh. “Okay.”
It was infinitely better hugging him when he wasn’t wearing Kevlar, though in truth, that had its own kind of coolness to it, too.
His arms tightened for a few seconds, then relaxed, but before he released her, he pushed her hair back and kissed her forehead.
“Thanks. That’s, uh…” He smiled, though it was almost painful to watch him force it. “Yeah.”
Ellie waved it away with a napkin as they pulled their chairs in around the table. “Yeah, sure. What are super-awesome fake girlfriends for, right?”
There: that smile might be small and it might be weak, but at least it wasn’t forced. He was halfway through his slice before he stopped, swallowed, and wiped his mouth.
“But it’s Tuesday.”
“Yes, it is,” she smirked. “And I’m pretty sure we’ve covered that already, so if you’re trying to dazzle me with your brilliance, you’re going to have to try a little harder, Ponch.”
“Shouldn’t you be down at Chalker’s with the rest of them? The way Nick and Carter talk, it sounds like weekly attendance is mandatory. Didn’t Maya even show up the night her divorce went through?”
“Well, yes, of course she did. But that was something worth celebrating, so she had to show up.”
“Has anyone ever missed a week?”
“Mmmmm, nope. If someone’s away, that’s different, and there’s a couple weeks over Christmas where we don’t do it. Other than that…” She pretended to hem and haw for a second. “Nope, it’s pretty much mandatory.”
“Then what are you doing here, Ell?” His expression was awfully serious, considering she was trying to make light of it.
“Well, here’s the thing. You’re a guy, and generally speaking, guys are pretty stupid about things like this, so