Not Just Friends (Hot in the City #3) - T. Gephart Page 0,16

gave her a ride home.”

“Tibbs, I stopped by, but I didn’t drive her home. I tried,” and wasn’t that the fucking truth, “but she said she was going to get a ride home with someone else. I waited around hoping she’d change her mind but. . .”

“Yeah, no need to tell me. When Presley gets an idea into her head, no one is going to change it. Goddamn it, she’s stubborn. Thanks for trying, and for looking out for her. I know you have my back, and there isn’t a man out there I trust more than you.”

I was such an asshole.

I’d been ready to come clean and accept the consequences.

Fuck. It.

But then he had to go on and tell me what a good guy I was, and how he trusted me. And yeah . . . I just couldn’t do it.

“How was she?” he asked, making me realize I hadn’t said anything else.

Hot.

Beautiful.

And so fucking edible I could barely stand it.

I shrugged, careful to say the words my mouth wanted to say instead of what I was thinking. “Moody,” I settled on, figuring if nothing else, it had been accurate.

He rolled his eyes, probably imagining a different mood than I’d experienced. “Sounds like her.”

Yeah, yeah it sure fucking does.

“So, what’s with the phone?” My head tipped to the phone that had been in his hands, chilling on the coffee table. “And why are you up when I’m usually pulling your ass out of bed five minutes before we have to leave?”

Knowing Tibbs was going against his own M.O., a grin crept across his face. “Spoke to one of our old buddies. Detective Shapiro. You know that guy could never read a fucking watch. Finally got around to returning my message, and to be honest, I wasn’t dumb enough to tell him five a.m. wasn’t a good time to chat.”

Ain’t that the truth. There weren’t a lot of guys I was scared of, but he was definitely in my top five. The chief—when he was angry—still had the number one position, and number two as well.

Assuming Tibbs had more to share, I parked my ass into a La-Z-Boy and watched as he did the same, taking the other. We still had a good hour before things got critical, meant I had time to find out about the early morning phone call and not be at risk of the chief’s wrath.

“Didn’t Shapiro retire last year? And I thought you and Presley already spoke to the NYPD.”

She’d made a report about the cocksucker ex-boyfriend breaking in and rummaging through her place, and even mentioned he’d pulled a gun on her too. Not that they’d be able to do anything yet, the dick still MIA.

Tibbs nodded, confirming what I already knew. “Yes, and yes. But you know as much as I do that the detective had a tendency to do things,” he waved his hand as his brow rose, “less by the book and more result based.”

Shapiro was old school. A hard ass, who drank and smoked, and had at least three ex-wives. But he was a damn good cop and wasn’t afraid to bend the rules if it meant getting criminals off the street. The brass didn’t agree, making him retire before Internal Affairs got involved.

“What did he say?”

“That he was bored, and was happy to have a new hobby. Honestly, if he can’t find Lewis, then he’s skipped town for sure. Shapiro might not be on the force, but he has the city fucking wired. Hell, I didn’t even have to tell him about Presley, he already knew. Asked me why I’d waited so long to call him.”

Knowing Lewis was out on the loose and Presley was unprotected made me angrier than I’d ever felt. Tibbs had tried to talk Presley into staying with their parents, or a friend, or hell, even with us—that would have been interesting—but she’d shot him down. Flat out refused, saying she wasn’t going to live her life afraid. And I got it. All that shit about taking back the power and reclaiming whatever—perfectly fine. But it didn’t mean I had to like it, or think she was being slightly unreasonable considering it had been less than a few days.

So hearing Shapiro was on the case—albeit unofficially—made me feel better about the situation. Well, that situation at least. I still had another fucking issue that was gnawing at my gut.

“I’m glad, dude. And it goes without saying. If you need anything from me, you know I’m