“Am I allowed to go out and sleep with someone else?”
She glared sleepily at him. “No!”
“Neither are you. See? That’s how this works.”
She groaned. “If I’m going to get a relationship lecture from Nick Santiago, I’m going to need coffee.”
“Look. You’re a good girl. Remember?” he said, trying a new tactic. “You want to make other people happy. Make me happy, Thorn. Don’t take this case.”
She sat up. “I don’t know whether to be appalled or impressed that you’re pushing my buttons like this.”
The skinny strap of her tank top slipped off her shoulder, distracting him. “Definitely go with impressed,” he urged, lifting up on his elbow to study her.
“I appreciate that you’re trying to protect me,” she began.
“You’re welcome.” He ran his finger under the wayward strap.
“Nick!”
“You matter, Thorn. The last time you got mixed up in something like this, it almost got you killed. I can’t deal with that. Ergo, you’re not doing it.”
He didn’t feel the need to tell her that he’d yet to sleep the whole way through the night since the lastincidentbecause he woke up to make sure she was still next to him, still breathing. That instead of showing her the investigative ropes like he’d promised, he’d shoved her into an office administration job to keep her as far away from bad guys as possible.
He’d fucked up the whole “guardian” thing once already and had paid the price. This time around, he wasn’t taking any chances.
She blew out a breath that ended on a long groan. “I don’t like disappointing you. And Istilldon’t want this ‘talking to dead people and solving murders’ deal to be my thing.”
“Great. Then don’t.”
“Butmy scary grandmother is right. I have a responsibility to do something with this…this…” She waved a hand in the air.
“So get a booth at a carnival and tell fortunes.”
“I don’t know a lot about the North American Psychics Guild, but I think they’d be deeply offended by that.”
He took her hand and brought her knuckles to his mouth. “I don’t want you in danger. Ever. Again.”
She softened, then shoved his head into the pillow. “I appreciate that. But unless you’re willing to open up and discuss specifics and how what happened in that fountain relates to what happened to Beth—”
Every muscle in his body tensed. It was like having an orgasm, only painful instead of awesome.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he insisted. “Besides. You’re psychic. Aren’t you in my head poking around all day?”
She looked appalled. “No! I’m not poking around in your thick head all day. That would be unethical. Yes, I can pick up on yourfeelings. But anyone with an ounce of empathy could do that.”
Things weren’t going in the right direction.
Kicking the covers back, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. He reached for her, snagging the waistband of her sleep shorts. But before he could drag her back to him, she shimmied out of them, dazzling him with bare ass.
“I still have a security camera out there,” he reminded her as she circumnavigated the bed.
The bottomless woman of his dreams flipped him the bird and stalked out into the hall.
He flopped back on the mattress with a sigh. “That went well.”
* * *
The ol’“cop shop” hadn’t changed much since Nick’s days there, he noted as he held the door for a pissed-off-looking wife and her hungover husband. The wife gave him the once over and a bright smile that he returned with a wink.
