Drawing The Line (12 page)

“I can’t
make any promises, other than keeping you safe.” Sliding his hands to her hips, he angled their bodies together to pull her on top of him, and God, her heat made him hard in less than a breath. “But I want you, too. Impulsive and crazy, I want you.”

Serenity tightened her knees against his hips, arching against his erection with just enough pressure to drive him mad
, and in that second, Jason knew he couldn’t resist her.

“Well that’s a good thing, Detective. Because you haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg with my lingerie collection. And like I said before, I have nothing but time.”

CHAPTER NINE

Jason sat in his regular red vinyl booth at Mac’s just like he did every Wednesday afternoon, only for the first time ever, nothing on the menu looked even remotely tempting. It wasn’t that he’d eaten a huge breakfast, or that he was trying to get in shape for the annual charity basketball game between the Brentsville PD and the guys over at Firehouse Thirty-Two. Even more, Jason knew that he could close his eyes and blindly point to something on the menu and whatever his finger landed on would be mouth-wateringly delicious.

The problem was, w
hat he really wanted was the woman he’d left safe and secure in the farmhouse under Noah’s supervision. The woman he’d laughed with, done hours of daily self-defense lessons with, and made hot, passionate love to for the last three weeks. The woman who, if he didn’t seriously watch his step, he was going to fall in love with despite the fact that she was a witness in high-profile case linked to a double murder.

Screw complicated. This was flat-out impossible.

“Jeez. Whatever’s going down at work must be a whopper.” Violet leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek before breezing over to her side of the booth, and holy crap, when had she even walked up?

Jason threw a smile over his face, but buried his attention in the menu so he wouldn’t have to continue the charade of keeping it there.
“What makes you say that?”

She threw her dark blond hair over one shoulder, arching a brow up into the fringe of her bangs. “For one
thing, you look like someone totally kicked your dog. And secondly…” She reached out to give his menu a one-eighty. “This is upside down.”

Great. Violet might have his number, but he wasn’t caving j
ust yet. “For the record, I don’t have a dog. And I’m not
that
much of a workaholic, you know.”

In truth, even though he got why it was necessary,
evading the particulars with Violet always rankled. She hated his job as a detective enough as it was. She’d eased up a little since falling in love with Noah, but it was still hard to keep things from the one person he cared about most.

Not that she couldn’t see it on his sorry face anyway.

“Please. Work is the only thing that puts a look like that on your kisser.” She paused, flipping her coffee mug over to signal a
yes please
to the waitress behind the counter. “Well, I guess there are two things that could do it, but since you haven’t been jacked up about a woman since the Bush administration, I went out on a limb and assumed it was work.”

“I’m not jacked up
about her.” The denial flew out before Jason could cage it, and oh shit. Violet’s eyes snapped up at the same time her menu dropped way down.

“Oh my
God
. You’re seeing somebody!” She propped her elbows on the gray and white Formica tabletop, leaning in with a bright blue stare that told him he was up for a whole lot of familial vivisection, whether he liked it or not.

“A little louder,
Blue. The people in the next county can’t quite hear you. And I’m not seeing anybody.”

But neither the use of her childhood nickname
nor the staunch denial of her accusation slowed his sister down. “Come on, Jay. I’m not asking for details, because ew. No. But you are totally off your axis over something right now. Who is she? Come on, you’re killing me here.”

Not even the brief interruption of the waitress arriving to
fill their coffee cups and take their orders was enough to dilute her pressing interest. But Jason dug deep for his old standby, flashing a charming smile and hating himself in the process.

“
Sorry to disappoint you, but my axis is completely functional. It must be all that residual joy spilling over from the hearts and unicorns in your world.”

“
Are you comparing my boyfriend to a unicorn? Because seriously? That’s a high-octane offense as far as Noah’s concerned.”

Okay, so it was hopping from one patch of thin ice to another, but at least they were head
ed in the right direction. Not only was diving into the topic of his love life dangerous from a literal standpoint, but revealing anything to Violet about Serenity would put his sister in a bad spot with Noah. And as much as he trusted his best friend to stay mum if he asked him to, Jason would rather walk through a nest of angry bees than catch Noah in a conflict of interest.

And didn’t Jason just know all the words to
that
fucking song?

“You’re the one who said it,” he said, using his spoon as a pointer before dunking it into his coffee to stir in some cream.

Violet rolled her eyes, but thankfully pitched her voice lower and played along. “This don’t ask, don’t tell game is ridiculous, you know. I’m your sister. Can’t you just not be a cop around me for a little while?”

He
swept a calculating gaze over the surrounding booths and the counter area beyond, but they’d hit the sweet spot between the lunch and dinner rush, and the closest person was a good fifteen feet away. “’Fraid not.” Speaking of which… “Anyway, I don’t have too long today. I’ve got a meeting at two-thirty. So let’s not waste time talking about me.”

“For the record, we’re
not
talking about you. Despite all my efforts.”

Jason glossed right over her last-ditch bid for
intel. “What’ve you been up to?”

“Noah and I are moving in together.”

His coffee cup met the Formica tabletop with a loud
thunk
. “As in, you’re going to bring all your stuff to Blackwell’s apartment and have your mail forwarded and stay forever?”

The snort welling up from Violet’
s chest counterbalanced the sheepish expression on her face. “Hell no. Well, not the his-apartment part, anyway. We’re going to live at my place. I had to promise he could bring all those Kung Fu movies, but for the other stuff…yeah. We’re going to live together. Permanently.”

             
Jason pressed all the way back against the cushy red booth, trying to make room for the shock rebounding through his system. Any idiot with eyes could see how crazy Noah and Violet were for each other, and more than anything, Jason wanted Violet to be happy.

             
But Noah had already started to pull back on the job when he’d passed on the task force. Not that he could blame the guy, but being a detective was a full-time job, twenty-four-seven, three sixty-five.

             
And Jason couldn’t pull back. Not for anyone. 

             
Violet started to fidget with her paper napkin, and it hit him, too late, that she’d mistaken his silence for disapproval. “Look, I know it seems kind of fast, but I just…I know he’s it for me. You can doubt, or make fun if you want, but I—”

“How?”

She blinked. “How what?”

Don’t ask. Just close your mouth, bite your tongue, wire your traitorous jaw shut, but don’t…
“How do you know Noah is it for you?”

“Oh.
” Violet’s fingers stilled over the table. “Well, it’s pretty sappy.”

“Try me,” he said, both relieved and full of dread when she nodded.

“I feel like…without him, I’m just a bunch of pieces. Don’t get me wrong—they’re mostly good pieces. But when I’m with Noah, he just puts me together in a way that makes sense. It’s like he’s my cornerstone, but the only person he fits is me.” Violet’s cheeks flushed deep pink, and she tossed out a self-deprecating shrug, but she met his gaze head-on. “Go ahead. I know you’re dying to start ribbing me. Get it over with.”

But Jason just shook his head. “I’m glad you’re happy, Blue.”

No w
ay in hell would he tell her he knew just how she felt. Especially since there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.

#

Jason loosened his tie and shot his partner a disgruntled glance in a rare departure from his play-it-cool demeanor. But it was kind of tough to be cool when everything on your plate had just been tossed into a pressure cooker, and the lid was only inches away from slamming home.

“It’s been three weeks since Brody made bail. Are you honestly trying to tell me vice has
nothing
they can use to make this case a slam dunk?” Jason burned a tight path over the floorboards in the bedroom he’d long-since abandoned in favor of sleeping with Serenity in hers. Keeping his voice to manageable levels was nine kinds of challenging with her just down the hall in the kitchen, but no way was he going to let her see his frustration over the meeting he’d had with Lieutenant Martin and the DA this afternoon.

The one that had led exactly nowhere.
Just like all the evidence connecting the murders at the hardware store to the attacks on Serenity and her cook.
Damn
it, this case was disintegrating, piece by speculative piece.

“I hate to give a degenerate like Brody credit, but he’s smart.”
Noah scrubbed a hand over the permanent stubble on his chin, leaning forward in the antique corner chair to brace his forearms across his thighs. “His people are buttoned up tighter than a military base at Defcon One. If anyone knows anything about those hardware store murders, they’re not talking.”

“And all the evidence the lab turned up was inconclusive.” No prints, no fibers,
no weapon— nothing concrete to put Brody in both places, even though the crimes had the exact same MO, right down to the pristine alleys in the back.

“Ms. Gallagher’s ID is pretty solid. Once the DA
preps her, the testimony will go far.”

“For the break-in at Mac’
s, maybe. But Brody’s slippery. He’ll pounce on any chance he can to create doubt and get away with this. And as soon as he skates, the first thing he’ll do is come after Serenity.”

Noah shook his head. “As far as we can tell, he hasn’t even put a toe out of line to try and find her now.
Last three weeks have been quiet.”

Irritation spurted in Jason’s chest
, and he jammed to a stop on the floorboards. “Except for the guy lurking around the house in the dead of night, you mean?”

“The one patrol never found any sign of?” Noah flipped back, matching the edge in Jason’s voice with his own gravelly version
of watch-your-step.

Yeah. Not happening. “That’s bullshit, Blackwell. Brody picks his people carefully
, and they’re not stupid. That guy could’ve been casing this place to see if Serenity was here—”

“Or he could’ve been a very natural figment of her torqued up imagination.
Even she said she couldn’t be sure if someone was there.” His partner stood, leveling him with a cold, gray stare. “Look, I’m not saying Serenity’s not in danger. Brody’s a nasty SOB. But if we want him, we have to do this the right way. Sooner or later, he’s going to screw up. Until then, we have to be patient.”

The words went in, complete with the logical message Jason knew made sense. But the
sorry man, you’re right
coming from the rational part of his brain fell victim to something else coming from deep inside his marrow.

“
That’s not good enough. I’m telling you, all this quiet from Brody doesn’t feel right. He’s not backing off. He’s just biding his time.”

Noah paused, and Jason recognized the hitch in silence as one that meant Noah was calibrating a very careful reply. “
You’ve spent the better part of a month here with this woman, Jay. You sure you’re not too close to this one?”

Jason bit down on his
expletive-laden response half a breath before it breached the confines of his mouth. Just because he and Serenity had been together for the last three weeks didn’t mean it was anything serious. Diving into a relationship with her would only divide his attention, something Jason couldn’t afford for even a second now. Plus, picking a fight with Noah—not to mention giving his emotions any air time—wasn’t going to get him anywhere other than reassigned. And since pulling back on his job and leaving Serenity now headlined the list of Things Not Happening, he needed to get a handle on this conversation like, yesterday.

             
“My assignment is to keep Ms. Gallagher safe. Hell yes, I’m close to it. But only because I take the job seriously, just like you.” He chose his words with precision, knowing Noah couldn’t argue them, even though the manipulation felt more like a lie than a necessity.