Officer Next Door (10 page)

“No!” Alicia straightened, no longer leaning against him for support. “I – I’m fine. Really.” She was still shivering so violently that her teeth crashed together, chopping her words into stunted syllables. “I’m not – not sick, or anything like that.”

“Then what’s going on?” He used his hold on her shoulders to turn her, so that she faced him. Her pupils looked a little large, but her eyes were clear – that seemed like a good sign.

“I don’t know. I’m just so cold…”

“You’re scaring the hell out of me,” he said. “Your lips are blue.”

She shrugged, the motion multiplied by the shivers that kept wracking her body. “I really don’t know why I’m so cold. I’m in perfect health, as far as I know – I promise.”

As relieved as he was to hear that, he wasn’t sure if he bought it. Healthy people didn’t just turn blue and start shaking for no reason.

“Hold on a second – I’m going to check the thermostat.” He guided her down the hall and to the couch in the living room. He left her sitting there as he crossed the room, intent on making sure he wasn’t the one who was delusional about the temperature.

Sure enough, her house had been cooled to a comfortable 70 degrees. The number reflected on the thermostat felt right to him – there was no way it was any cooler. In fact, he was sweating lightly, though that may have been due to the panic that’d nearly seized him a few minutes ago. Normally, he didn’t think of himself as someone who was quick to freak out – after all, he dealt with the state’s worst criminals, day in and day out. But when Alicia had fallen against him and started changing colors…

He still felt the almost-panic deep in his chest, a sensation that made it feel like someone was holding his heart in their fist, squeezing. At 33, he figured he was a little too young to be a likely candidate for a heart attack – luckily.

“It’s 70 degrees,” he said, settling on the couch beside her. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”

She shook her head, sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, hugging herself. “I feel fine, other than these chills. You know how it feels when you get a fever… Well, I don’t feel like that.”

“Still, I can drive you to the hospital, if you think you need to get checked out.”

She shook her head. “Definitely not. I’m fine.”

Her voice was steady now, but she still seemed … shaken.

“You sure?” He pushed, because if she was afraid something was really wrong, he didn’t want her to feel like she had to hide it from him. “It wouldn’t be a big deal. Better safe than sorry.”

“No. Thanks, though.”

“No problem. Just to be safe though, maybe you should make an appointment with a doctor in the morning. You just moved anyway – you’ll have to get established with a new primary care provider at some point. There’s this office in—”

She managed to laugh, even with her teeth chattering, and her laughter cut him off, stopping him mid-sentence.

“What’s so funny?”

Her eyes were full of light when they met his. “You really like to worry, don’t you?”

That caught him off guard.
Like
it? Hell no, he didn’t like worrying that there might be something medically wrong with the most beautiful woman he’d ever met – a woman he still planned to take to Wilmington. And to bed, if she was up for it.

“I’m not a worrier,” he said. “I’m just being realistic.”

She kept laughing. She also reached down to pat Holden, saying something reassuring. Liam couldn’t help but notice that her hand shook as she did so.

“Look,” he said, “this isn’t normal. I think you should reconsider staying here alone tonight. Call one of your friends—” he winced as he said it, unable to help thinking about how much safer he could keep her “—or stay at my place.”

He hoped desperately that she wouldn’t argue this time. He had two damn good reasons why she shouldn’t be alone, and he didn’t know what he’d do if she was too stubborn to see them.

“Well…” She looked thoughtful, then almost pained as another chill shook her, violent.

“Okay,” she finally said, when it had subsided a little, “but only if I can bring Holden. I wouldn’t want to leave him alone in the house.”

“Deal,” Liam said, barely repressing a sigh of relief. “You need to get some stuff together before we head over?”

“You want me to come over right away?” She turned her gaze toward the window.

It wasn’t dark yet – not even close, actually. Still, Liam didn’t like the idea of her sitting alone in her house, shaking so hard her teeth were knocking together.

He didn’t like the idea of her crossing the property line alone either, especially at night. They lived on a forested rural road, after all. Though he certainly hoped they weren’t, one or both of the Levinson brothers could be lurking among the pines that stretched for acres behind their houses. Who knew how far the felons had gotten by now, especially the one who’d suffered a bullet wound.

“If you want to, we could both head over to my place now and order a pizza,” he offered, hoping she’d take the admittedly lame bait.

After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. Maybe all the talk of criminals and ghosts had scared her worse than he’d realized.

“Let me just put a little bag together with some toiletries and clothes.”

He waited in the kitchen while she gathered her things, shivering lightly as she went. The worst of the chills seemed to have passed, but he watched her carefully, just in case. Holden kept him company, sniffing his shoes with the kind of enthusiasm only a dog could muster. Liam bent to scratch him between the ears and was rewarded with a display of furious tail wagging.

The mutt wasn’t much of a guard dog. A part of Liam would’ve felt more at ease if Alicia had chosen a tougher breed. Maybe a Shepherd, or a Rottweiler. Or some sort of bulky, burly junkyard dog that’d scare the shit out of anyone who dared to so much as knock on her door.

He could see why she liked Holden, though. Small, friendly and admittedly cute, he was the quintessential lap dog.

“Come on, boy,” Alicia said when she emerged wearing a fresh change of casual clothing and carrying a duffel bag slung over one shoulder, “we’re going for a little walk.” She attached a nylon leash to his collar, then paused as if waiting for Liam to lead the way.

He did exactly that, scanning the not-so-distant tree line as they approached his house. As soon as they reached the inside, he made sure to lock the doors before he pulled out his phone. “You like ham and pineapple?” he asked.

“Pizza?”

He nodded.

“I’ve never tried it.”

“Really – you’ve never had a Hawaiian pizza? Well, let me introduce you to what you’ve been missing out on.”

She set her bag down on the counter. “Sounds good.”

He called and placed the order. After the short conversation, he slipped his phone back into his pocket. It was then that it really hit him: he had an entire evening and night alone with Alicia stretching ahead of him.

The thought sent heat tearing through him, and the sight of her standing in his home only increased it. Though he wanted nothing more than to protect her, the desire to peel her work outfit right off of her was a close second.

“What do you usually do when you get home from work?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Watch a little TV. Read. Have a snack. Anything to relax and unwind, really.”

“Well, the pizza should be here in half an hour. Want to see what’s on?” He nodded toward the living room.

“Sure.”

They retreated to the living room, where she sank down onto the couch and wrapped her arms tightly around her body. A telltale spasm in her jaw told him that she was still cold.

He reacted without thinking, leaning down to pick up his uniform shirt from the floor. “Here,” he said, and draped it over her shoulders.

“Thanks.”

She wrapped it tightly around her body and wore it like a shawl. Was it weird that Liam liked the look of it against her skin, even if she was just using it to keep warm?

As he admired her, he remembered how disgusting his shirt had been when he’d peeled it off, damp from a long day spent in the sun. When he looked closely now, he could see the dried sweat stains.

“Let me get you a blanket, or a sweatshirt or something,” he said. “That shirt of mine is disgusting. Sorry – I grabbed it without thinking.”

She looked down at his uniform shirt like she was surprised – like she couldn’t smell the sweat that had dried into the fabric. “It’s okay. I appreciate it anyway.”

“And if you want to wash up, I understand – you know where the shower is, I’m sure.”

Studying her face, he saw that a surprising amount of color had returned to her complexion.

“I might just take you up on that. Not because I think your shirt is gross, but because a hot shower sounds too good to pass up right now.”

Minutes later, she’d closed herself in the bathroom with her little overnight bag, leaving him alone in the living room with her dog – Holden, she’d called him. The mutt curled up on one end of the couch, and Liam went back to watching the news.

He barely heard a word the anchor said. As the sound of rushing water came from down the hall, all he could think about was Alicia standing naked in his shower. His thoughts quickly escalated to the point that he feared he’d have to sit on his hands to keep from touching his dick. She stayed in the shower for a long time, and when the sound of running water finally stopped, he was hard as granite.

He tried to think of cold and ice – snow, though he’d never seen much of it in North Carolina. Those chilling thoughts did little to quell his erection, so he settled for quickly repositioning the stiffness tenting the front of his jeans and hoping she wouldn’t notice it in its slightly less obvious position.

The minute she walked back into the living room – dressed in her shorts and tank top again, but with her hair and skin still damp – he knew he’d been an idiot. Her hazel eyes flickered toward his lap briefly but immediately, and though she said nothing, he knew she’d noticed – it was obvious.

Heat rushed through him when she settled back down on the couch, right beside him. He knew now that it’d just been because of the chills, but he couldn’t help reliving the moment when she’d tipped her head back against his chest, sighing.

He about jumped out of his skin when a knock came at the door.

For a few seconds, adrenaline rushed through his system, presenting him with images from his workday and the latest news reports: blood on the ground, killers on the loose. Every threat an inmate had ever made against him came crashing down on his consciousness, remembered in bitter clarity, and then it hit him … he’d ordered pizza.

“That must be dinner,” he said, and rose to answer the door.

Sure enough, it was the ham and pineapple pie he’d ordered, fragrant and more than big enough to feed two people. He paid the delivery guy and locked the door before returning to the living room.

“Mmm.” Alicia sat up a little straighter on the couch. “That smells good.”

He popped the pizza box open and set it on the coffee table in front of the sofa. It
did
smell good, and the aroma caused him to realize exactly how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten in … well, he couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d eaten. Adrenaline from work and then thoughts of Alicia had kept ordinary needs like hunger at bay, until now.

Not that he wasn’t still thinking of Alicia. He was; not even one of his all-time favorite foods could touch the part of his mind she’d claimed – albeit unknowingly – as her own.

“You were right about ham and pineapple pizza,” she said when they’d both finished a slice each and picked up a second.

He nodded. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” He took a moment to study her face, relieved to see that there was no hint of blue tinging her lips. A tiny dot of sauce at one corner of her mouth, but no blueness. “How do you feel?”

“Not so cold, now that I’ve had a shower.” She frowned, cradling an extra-large slice of pizza in one hand. “Sorry if I freaked you out.” She glanced over her shoulder, toward the hall.

“It’s all right.” Yeah, she’d rattled him, but he was glad she’d been at his place when it’d happened. At least this way, if anything else went wrong, she wouldn’t be alone. Maybe it had just been a freak cold chill, but his gut told him that wasn’t right, and he was prepared to step in if she got sick or something. It occurred to him that she might be showing early signs of the flu … not likely this time of year, but possible.

“Between this, my ghost stories and the number of times you’ve seen me fall down stairs, you must think I’m a basket case.” She laughed, folding her slice of pizza so that the pineapple and ham toppings were hidden by golden-brown crust dripping with mozzarella.

Her laugh was infectious. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard it. She was gorgeous but didn’t seem to take herself too seriously. She wasn’t laidback, exactly, but she was easy to be around. She looked just as at-home in her cute shorts and tank top as she did in her classy work outfits. “You’re a lot more interesting than my last neighbor, that’s for sure.”

He’d meant it as a joke – though it was true – but his voice came out a little too serious, a little too rough. The maddening desire he felt every time he looked at her seemed to be simmering to the surface, manifesting itself in the form of looks that were too serious, words he meant more than she could probably imagine. Not to mention the hard-on he knew he hadn’t succeeded in hiding from her.

“Likewise,” she said. “My old neighbors were only interesting when they were being awful, and that wasn’t a good kind of interesting.”

He breathed a silent sigh of relief, his ego inflating a little as her words registered. “Glad to know I’m the good kind, then.”

She looked him right in the eye. “Oh, you definitely are.”

She leaned in closer to him, and his heart leapt right into his throat, beating hard.

* * * * *

Every last one of Alicia’s nerves was on fire, tingling with anticipation. Whether it was of something good or bad, she couldn’t say – both, probably. The past day had put her through the wringer, emotionally – she’d been so worried for Liam and his friends, and then so relieved to discover that they were all okay, save for Henry’s sprained ankle. And then there’d been the hormonal rollercoaster ride that her past hour at Liam’s house had proven to be.

She’d touched herself in his shower – let her fingers slide over her own slick skin as she’d stood in the same place she’d watched him climb into so many times. She’d used his soap, breathing in its scent as the mirror had steamed, along with the window she’d watched him through most mornings. When she’d gotten out, she’d realized he must be in the habit of showering with the door open – the window had never fogged up when she’d watched him.

She’d shut the door … reluctantly. Desperate to warm up after her bout of unexplained chills, she’d turned the water on as hot as it would go. As soon as she’d stopped shaking, her thoughts had turned to Liam.

God, it’d felt good to feel his hands on her body – to melt against him, even if it’d only been for a minute. She’d figured her time in the shower would take the edge off her lust, but it’d done anything but. Having an orgasm in his shower – even if he hadn’t been directly involved – had been a thrill. Now, she wanted him more than ever, and he was only a foot away from her on the couch.

He also had an obvious erection, which she hadn’t been able to help noticing as soon as she’d entered the room. That made it clear: he wanted her too. The realization – the proof – was intoxicating.

She didn’t want to think about the Levinson brothers or how dangerous Liam’s job was. She didn’t want to think about the past week’s weird events or the incident that’d given her chills so violent that even his touch hadn’t been able to dispel them. She only wanted to think about him – wanted to touch and taste the man who’d been haunting her fantasies, who’d cared so much about her simple shivering that he’d been ready to drive her to the hospital. She’d laughed, but it’d been sweet. So sweet she hadn’t known what else to do.