Snapped (15 page)

"Didn't Janet have an alibi for the
night her husband was killed?" said Tina.

Nick nodded. "She was with her lover—"

"Her lover!" Lucy frowned at
him. "Janet Mollino had a lover?"

A smug grin played with his lips. "Yeah,
her gardener. You didn't know?"

"No. She never mentioned it." Did
it really matter? Janet had hired Lucy to check up on her husband. The fact
that she was cheating on him at the same time didn't change that. And yet, it
felt wrong somehow, as if she were breaking the rules of the game, not just
cheating on her husband.

Gary checked his watch. "We'd better
head back." He stood and the others followed. "Good to see you again."
He clapped Nick on the back. "Guess we'll catch you around soon enough,
when you're no longer cooped up in here."

Tina flashed her gorgeous smile at Nick. "Cooped
up?"

He ignored her and strode down the
hallway, the others trailing behind.

"Speaking of which," said Dave,
"if you need relieving give me a call."

"I think I can manage." Nick's
tone was so icy, goosebumps pricked Lucy's skin.

And if anyone does any relieving around
here, it's gonna be me.

Nick opened the door as Gary, Tina and
Dave filed out. He put his arm up when Lucy tried to pass. "You're staying
here."

"Oh, come on, no one's going to
recognize me," she said.

"What about one of your exes?"
said Dave. "You'd have a few around here wouldn't you?"

"If you don't shut your mouth right
now, I'll shut it up for you. Okay?" Nick didn't believe violence was the
answer to anything but he might make an exception in his partner's case. The
guy was a real arrogant jerk when it came to Lucy. Which confirmed his earlier
suspicion that Dave
wanted
to be another notch on her belt but had been
rejected.

Dave held up his hands and retreated down
the front steps to the rusty knee-high gate. Gary and Tina both looked at Nick
with raised brows.

"He gets on my nerves," said
Nick with a shrug.

"I can't believe you haven't clocked
him one," said Tina. "I would have."

Nick chuckled. Nice to see some things never
changed. Tina was still as gutsy and fiery as ever. He liked that in a woman. Which
probably explained why they'd become such great friends. He'd forgotten how
much he missed her and Gary and the others. Maybe he'd take some time off after
this case and return for a few weeks. His mother had been begging him to visit
anyway.

He'd just make sure he avoided a couple
of people.

"Thanks for sticking up for
me." Lucy's quiet voice behind him made him turn.

"You still here?" He rested a
hand on her shoulder and felt her muscles tighten. "Go inside," he
said gently, "I won't be long."

Their gazes connected and she nodded. Nick
could see in that brief instant that Dave's remarks were getting to her. Maybe
he should have made it clearer to his partner inside that he didn't like the
nasty innuendo behind the words. Whatever Lucy was, she didn't deserve to
listen to his crap.

She nodded and disappeared inside. Nick
closed the front door and followed Tina and Gary to the car. Dave already sat
in the driver's seat, revving the engine.

"You don't have much luck with your
partners," said Gary.

"Except for us," said Tina.

Nick's grin was wry. "Yeah. The last
two have been a couple of morons. Still, I hear he wants to transfer to the
Drug squad after this case so there's hope."

"I'll be crossing my fingers for you."
Gary slapped him on the back and got in the front passenger seat. "See you
round."

Nick nodded and opened the back door for
Tina.

"Still the gentleman," she
said.

He shrugged. "Of course."

She leaned closer. "Well don't be
too gentlemanly." She nodded at the closed door to the house. "Or you
might miss your chance."

He followed her gaze. "There's nothing
between Lucy and me."

"Why not?"

"Because..." He really didn't
want to go into the details of Lucy's past right now. "We're not very
suitable."

Tina's elegantly shaped brows drew
together. "Crap. She's exactly your type. Cute, gutsy and funny. If she's
single, go for it."

Nick blinked at her. "I, um, don't
think so. There's more to it than that."

Tina shrugged and stepped into the car. He
closed her door and waited for them to pull away until he turned back to the
house. He walked slowly along the rough concrete path, overgrown with weeds and
native bushes.

Cute, gutsy and funny.

Yeah, Lucy was all three. But he would
have substituted
cute
for
red-hot sexy
. Exactly his kind.

He paused before pushing open the door,
one step on the stoop, his hand on the doorknob. She was definitely the sort of
woman he'd go for under normal circumstances. But that was the problem—there
was nothing normal about her. If he wanted to keep his sanity and his
self-respect, he couldn't touch her. He'd been caught in a brazen woman's net
before and only just got out with his dignity in tact. He wasn't about to go
there again because this time he was certain he'd fall deeper, and Lucy would
take more than he was willing to give.

CHAPTER 10

Nick stood in the doorway between kitchen
and living room and admired the view. Lucy washed the mugs at the kitchen sink,
her pert rear-end filling out her tight jeans perfectly. He would have stood
and admired longer but she glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Thought I heard you." She turned
back to the sink. "I like your friends."

He picked up a tea towel and started
drying a mug. "Thanks, so do I. They make a nice change from
O'Connor."

She laughed, a light tinkling sound that
he'd already grown used to. And liked. "Don't let him get to you. It's
what he wants."

"Maybe you should take your own
advice."

"You're right. I've got to learn
when to hold my temper."

He nodded. "You're easily fired up—"

"And not just in an argument." She
winked.

"—but it was warranted today,"
he finished, ignoring her teasing. "O'Connor's walking on dangerous ground
if he keeps speaking to you like that."

She batted her lids at him as she pulled
the plug out of the sink. "Nick Dante, my hero."

He flicked the towel lightly on her arm. "Cut
it out." He dried the last mug and put it in the cupboard, aware that she
watched every move. "So now what?" He checked his watch. "Too
early for lunch. And I hate daytime TV."

"Doesn't leave much, does it?"
she said in a quiet, husky voice that left no doubt as to what she had in mind.

"I hate this part of the job,"
he said, crossing his arms and staring out the window so he didn't have to look
at her come-and-get-it eyes. "Surveillance and witness protection. Nothing
ever happens."

Before he could even blink, she was in
front of him, her body barely an inch from his. Her jasmine scent filled his
head, made him lose perspective for a second. He kept his arms crossed, a last
barrier he was afraid to drop because every other defense had already begun to
slip. She was beautiful, beguiling and he wanted her. He wanted her more than
he'd ever wanted a woman, including Donna. He could admit that to himself now—the
rapid drumbeat of his pulse wouldn't let him deny it.

But that didn't mean he would do anything
about it. He'd always been a man of conviction and integrity and he wasn't
going to forget that and jump into bed with this woman.

"I can think of a way to ease the
boredom," she said on a breath. Her eyes, half closed, settled on his
lips.

"Yeah?" His voice cracked.

She touched his hand, resting against his
bicep. "We could pick up where we left off." She leaned closer,
rubbed her breasts against his folded arms. Her nipples pebbled beneath the
tight sweater.

His groin tightened, the familiar coil of
heat and desire pulling at him, hardening his length. "Don't, Lucy,"
he managed to say before he lost it again. Interruptions weren't going to save
him forever.

She sighed into him, pressed her hands
against his shoulders. "You're a tough nut to crack, Nick." She
leaned away, studied him. Her scrutiny was just as intense as her touch and
didn't diminish his erection. "But I respect your decision, even if I
don't understand it."

He blinked as she moved away. Had she
just given in? Had he won?

Then why did he feel like he'd lost?

"How about some gardening?"

"Huh?"

"Gardening. You know, remove weeds,
cut back shrubs. This place is a mess and I've been dying to get outside. I
hate being cooped up, as Tina put it."

Gardening? She wanted to pull out weeds
when his groin was on fire?

Maybe it was a good idea—physical
exercise and fresh, crisp air to make him forget about her naked body.

"You really are a neat freak, aren't
you? First the house, now the garden. Maybe you should come round to my
place." He cringed as soon as he said it, but she just laughed and
surprisingly, didn't make any comment. "You okay, though? How's your aches
and pains?"

She shrugged. "Fine. I'll be
careful."

He couldn't see any harm in it if they
stayed out back.

An hour later, he knew how wrong he was. He
would never look at gardening the same again. Lucy, kneeling on the small paved
courtyard at his feet, pulled out the weeds while he chopped back overhanging
branches. Every time he looked down he could see the smooth, white flesh
between her sweater and her jeans. Then there was her round bottom, pointing
outwards when she leaned forward, begging him to stroke it. And of course, she
often looked up at him through her long lashes when her weeding took her close
to him, her mouth level with his groin. Sweet torture.

He nearly ran into the house when she
said she was hungry. "I'll start getting lunch ready," he called from
the doorway.
Coward
. No, not a coward, just close to the edge. Too
close. One more step and he'd be over it, plummeting.

***

Lucy picked up the garden tools and
returned them to the cobwebby shed in the corner of the poky courtyard. Maybe
it was the sunshine in the middle of winter, or perhaps the soothing act of
removing unwanted weeds, but she felt more relaxed than she had in a long time.
Lately she'd been on edge. Lack of sex can have that affect. If Nick had agreed
to end her drought earlier she wouldn't have been so uptight these last few
days.

The fact that he hadn't, even after she'd
tried nearly everything in her book of tricks, meant he had some serious
intimacy issues. No normal man would have held out this long.

Then again, big, hunky, mysterious Nick
Dante wasn't normal.

And she hadn't used every trick in her
book yet.

She opened the door and was greeted by a
heat wave. Maybe they should turn the heating down. In the kitchen, she peeked
past him to see what he was doing. "What's for lunch?"

"Chicken salad."

"Mmmm, I'm starving."

He dressed the salad and handed her a
plate. They sat at the Formica table where two glasses of Coke waited. "Sorry
about the drink. It was either beer or Coke. The guys from the department who
stocked up obviously weren't too concerned about their health."

"Fine by me. A girl can't live on
salad and water."

"Really?" He smiled. "So
it's burgers and fries for dinner?"

She grinned. "It is if I'm
cooking."

"Cheat. Besides, I thought you
didn't mind cooking. What about breakfast this morning?"

"That was a miracle. Ask anyone. I
love cleaning, but I hate making a mess, and cooking is messy."

He laughed and Lucy realized she wanted
to hear more of the hearty rumble that came from the depths of his chest. There
hadn't been enough of his laughter. So what had changed? Maybe he was finally
relaxing.

His salad finished, Nick pushed his plate
away and plucked his shirt at his chest. "Phew, is it hot in here or just
me?" He pushed his rolled sleeves higher up his arms.

"Did you turn the heater up?"

He shook his head and stood. "I'll
check it out."

Lucy cleared the plates away and washed
the dishes while he checked the gas unit outside. It
was
hot inside, and
getting hotter by the minute. She'd pushed her sleeves up but it wasn't enough.
And since it was winter, she hadn't brought any light T-shirts with her.

She smiled as she dried the last glass. Nick
was in for an eye-full unless he could fix the heater.

He came back in, shaking his head. "No
go. The thermostat's broken."