the husband? The master bedroom was twenty-three feet down the hall.
Why didn’t he hear?
My wonderings were interrupted when the landline on my desk rang, the sound so foreign it startled me. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d heard it ring in the months I’d been at TC. Everyone called my cell.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Luke?”
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“Sunny.”
Shiloh. And she sounded out of breath.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. God, I must sound like a huffing bull. It’s pouring rain and I’m parked on the far end of the lot. I made a run for it but had my gear too…and…I’m rambling. To answer your question, yes, I’m fine.”
Fuck, the girl was cute.
“Anyway, I was calling because the other day I left in a hurry and forgot to ask you if you wanted to meet for a drink sometime.”
Grateful I was alone in my office and there was no one there to witness my body’s reaction to her question. Stiff would be an understatement.
“Not dinner?” I returned.
Stiff turned into throbbing when her burst of laughter came through the phone.
“Luke, Luke, Luke, are you trying to get into my pants again?”
Damn, she was funny.
“I don’t believe in trying.”
“Then you won’t take offense when I turn down your offer to dinner.”
No, baby, I won’t take offense. Dinner will be an unnecessary waste of time.
I wisely didn’t share my thoughts.
“When would you like to meet for drinks?”
“Tonight?”
Was that hope I detected in her tone?
I glanced over my desk, happy to call it a day. I started to collect the papers.
“Works for me. When and where?”
“There’s a bar called Balls on Havenhurst. An hour give you enough time?”
My lips twitched and I again bit back a wisecrack. Though I didn’t stop myself from thinking I liked she was eager to see me and didn’t bullshit and play games.
“I know the bar. I’ll see you in an hour,” I told her.
“Later.”
Shiloh disconnected and I wasted no time cleaning up my desk and closing down for the night. With traffic, it would take thirty minutes to get to the bar—Balls. How apt since later I’d be going home alone with the same blue balls I’d had since I’d met her.
Drinks weren’t a good idea.
Dinner was out of the question.
Getting into her pants was not something I was going to do.
Yet ten minutes later I was in my truck driving to a bar to have drinks with a woman who was a temptation. A woman I wouldn’t allow myself to have.
When I walked in and spotted her at the bar I took a moment to take in her beauty and I did it wondering why the hell I was torturing myself. My second thought was why wouldn’t I allow myself to have her?
I wasn’t an asshole. I was upfront and honest. I only did casual and I made that clear. What if Shiloh was up for no-strings great sex? What if she wasn’t looking for serious?
The woman forefront in my mind turned her head, and when she caught sight of me she smiled. I was reminded of all the reasons why casual wasn’t an option.
Shiloh Kent was the woman I could fall in love with and I absolutely didn’t want that.
I weaved through the after-work crowd and as I made my way to where she was sitting, her gaze never left mine. Oh, fuck yeah, I could fall in love with those eyes on me. The idea that now that she’d spotted me all the other patrons ceased to exist. It was just me and her.
“You’re early,” she greeted.
“So are you,” I pointed out.
“Well, I was only ten minutes away and I didn’t want to sound too desperate so I said an hour.”
No games.
Damn, I liked that, too.
“I’d been staring at background checks and case notes for hours and courting more hours until you called.”
“So breaking that down, you were happy for an excuse to leave work.”
And there was that bright, teasing smile.
“Nope. Just happy to accept an invitation to drinks with a beautiful woman.”
The beaming smile turned bright and it felt like a sucker punch to the gut.
Yeah, this was a shit idea.
“Case giving you a hard time?” she asked when I sat.
My gaze went to the drink in front of her and I grinned.
“Cold case. You know Ethan Lenox?”
“Yeah, you could say I know Detective Lenox.”
Jealousy slammed into me—unwelcomed jealousy.
Shiloh’s hand patted my forearm and she shook her head in amusement.
“We went through the academy together. I was with the four-seven but when I made SWAT I