man, Monahan probably didn’t want the trouble that would come with this woman. Not that he would cheat, the man is as loyal as they come, but this woman is clearly meant for sin.
“May I have a seat?”
I blink up at her, my brain refusing to come back online.
“What?”
“A seat?” She points a perfectly manicured nail at the chair in front of my desk.
“Oh, yeah.” I stand like a starstruck idiot and point.
She chuckles, and it makes me wonder if she gets this reaction all the time. I wouldn’t doubt it. I see crazy stuff nearly every day, and I’m certain this is the first time my brain has been fried by a good-looking woman.
“Monahan reminded me this morning you’d be here.”
Her brow furrows, and I give myself an internal pat on the back. It’s the only way I can think to regain some power, to let her know I may be acting like a fool now, but that I haven’t been waiting around for her to show up.
“Who?”
“Chief Monahan,” I clarify.
She gives me a small smile as she lowers a leather computer bag beside the chair at her feet.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know Chief Monahan very well. I think I’ve only met him once.”
“Great guy,” I say as I settle back in my chair. “Surprised you wanted to meet with me instead of him.”
“I’m not very interested in the administrative side of the department, Detective Matthews.”
Is her voice actually as sultry as it sounds when she says my name, or has it just been too long since I’ve had a woman under me?
I clear my throat, the office being no place to even contemplate the things that seem to want to infiltrate my head right now.
“What exactly are you interested in?”
I lean back in my office chair, finding it strange that I’m being weird about where my hands are situated. Clasping them together, I settle them on my lap, but then realize I look like a teen trying to hide an erection, so I curl my fingers around the armrests. The woman is smoking hot, but I’m a grown-ass man in control of my damn body.
Then she shifts, lifting her leg slightly to cross it over her other, and my hands go right back to my lap.
Clearing my throat, I scoot further under my desk.
“You seem a little out of sorts.” She bends, the top buttons on her blouse stretching and sadly holding when she reaches into her laptop bag. “Is it because it’s Monday or does every day on the job stress you out?”
My brain doesn’t come back online again until she straightens in her chair with a notebook on her lap and a pen in her hand.
“Some days are better than others.”
“You make it sound like all days have some degree of bad.”
“I’m a homicide detective,” I remind her. “Every day is bad for someone.”
Her smile drops from her pretty face when she takes in the gravity of my words.
“You don’t seem as rabid for information. Are the students in your class the same?”
I’m probably not the first person she’s approached to speak to her class. Most criminal justice programs are smaller, and the students take the majority of the classes offered. I imagine recycling the same guest speakers would get boring.
“I guess like with any class, the personalities range from disinterested to rabid as you called it.” She lifts the end of her pen to her mouth, her plump lips pursing against it, and I’m fascinated at the sight.
I can’t concentrate, not even a little.
“I have a pretty full schedule today. Maybe we should get together over dinner to discuss the finer details?” I keep my focus on her mouth, praying she’s savvy enough to understand my hesitation to continue a discussion in my office.
“Dinner?” My skin heats when her gaze focuses on my own mouth. “It’s not even nine yet. We could get so much done between now and then.”
“We could,” I agree. “But I have to work.”
“Won’t you be tired by the end of your shift?”
“I have a very good feeling my energy level won’t be an issue.”
“No?” That fucking pen teases her lower lip, and the erection I was certain I could keep at bay is throbbing behind the zipper of my slacks.
I lower my voice. “Not a chance. We could meet at Wright’s, the little diner off Main. Say six o’clock?”
“For dinner?”
“Yes.”
“Seems like a waste of time.” Her eyes lift to mine, sparkling with mischief and desire. “Wouldn’t the Hampton Inn