Neither was she, though Gwen was, so she'd certainly heard enough of it over the years. "What Elvis albums we got?"
"Compilations. Ballads, mainly."
"That'll do." Right now, Frank singing I did it my way was not what she needed. Especially since the man she was with had every intention of doing just that and to hell with what might be happening between them. The microwave beeped. She gathered the ketchup and cutlery and put everything on the table. "Dinner's ready."
"Nothing like soggy fries after midnight," he said, smiling ruefully as he sat down opposite her.
"I didn't think cops where overly fussy about when and what they ate." She picked up her coffee, savoring its bittersweet taste.
"We're not, which is why most of us develop ulcers later in life."
"I would think job stress would have something to do with that."
He shrugged. "It doesn't help."
She covered her fries in ketchup, picked up her knife and dug in. "Did you always want to be a cop?"
"Not especially."
"So why did you become one?"
"Had to do something once I left home."
She studied him for a minute, noting his closed expression, and said, "You don't want to speak about the past?"
His gaze met hers. Pain briefly lit the nut-brown depths. "Not especially."
"Why not?"
"Because it doesn't matter anymore."
"It matters to me." Because she needed to know, needed to understand, what was going on in his head, if not his heart.
"Then it shouldn't." His gaze hardened a little, became more wolf than man.
"Don't look for what isn't there. Don't expect me to give anything more than what I already have."
"I know, I know, it's just sex for you." And she didn't believe it any more now than she had originally. She pushed away her half finished steak. "So, what are you waiting for? Let's get down to it."
He studied her for a minute, then sighed and looked away. "Don't do that."
"Why not?" She rose and stripped, throwing her clothes in a pile beside the table. The warm air caressed her skin, but it was the hunger suddenly visible in his eyes that made her hot. "This is what you want, isn't it? A willing partner?
Sex when you need it?"
His gaze skimmed her then leapt away. His need intensified, burning the air.
"Don't push, Kat. Not like this."
Pushing him sexually was exactly what she had to do. He needed to see there was a difference between what he wanted and what they actually had. Even if he never admitted there was a difference, even if he still walked away when this case was over, she needed to do this.
"Why not?" She walked around the table and stood in front of him. "You want sex. I want sex. What's the problem?"
His mouth was a slash of anger, his body tense. But his eyes glowed, and the scent of his desire was so strong she could smell it. The wolf was very close to gaining control. While she suspected that might not be pleasant, she trusted him not to hurt her.
Desperation glinted briefly in his eyes, only to drown in the hunger. "I will not — "
She snagged him with kinetic energy and dragged him to his feet. Then she pressed herself close and kissed him. With a growl deep in his throat, he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and held her still and hard against him. He tasted her deeply, thoroughly, and she fought the need to return it in kind. If he wanted nothing but sex, she was going to make damn sure that was all he got.