I’d withheld that night for her sake and mine. Life would have been less complicated if I could’ve forgotten all about that night. Jocelyn was my best friend’s sister, which should have meant she was off-limits.
I wasn’t one for long-term relationships, and I wasn’t about to fuck up my friendship. But the chemistry burning between us refused to be ignored.
“You could’ve kissed me that night,” she admitted, surprising me.
I raised my brows and inched closer, placing my hand on her hip to pull her a centimeter closer to me. “You would’ve kissed me back?”
She nodded, her eyes pinned to my lips. I ran my tongue across my lower lip and watched as the vein in her neck visibly pulsated. I bit back a groan and shook my head.
“You weren’t over your ex.”
She pushed out of my embrace and sucked her teeth, as she went around her desk. She folded her arms across her chest. “I was over his ass.”
I made a sound at the back of my throat, barely managing to keep the scowl off my face. “No, you weren’t.”
I’d never met her ex, but I was sure the motherfucker had never deserved her. Thinking back, I was thrilled that Corey had kicked his ass, at least. He’d told me the jackass cried like a baby after taking his ass whooping.
Good.
Her tone turned flat and distanced. “Anyway, it’s the middle of the workday, and I have clients. Was there something else you needed?”
Cute.
“There is, actually,” I said, moving to the seat across from her desk. I sat, crossed my ankle over my knee, and stared.
She widened her eyes and made a face as if to say, “What is it?”
I chuckled because she did look so damn cute doing that.
No, not cute. Jocelyn was gorgeous. Her cinnamon skin tone shined, her plump lips always looked as if they begged me to kiss them, and those copper eyes of her glinted with skepticism at every turn.
Not to mention her style. Today, she’d paired a coral button up top, dark jeans, and the combat-style boots she often wore. The makeup she wore was light, allowing her features to stand out, not be hidden. I liked her style.
“It’s a good thing you kept your ass away from the fire station all these years,” I told her.
She squinted. “What?”
“You heard me. That’s why you stayed away, isn’t it? To avoid me?”
“It had nothing to do with you.”
“Let’s not start this thing out by lying to one another, babe. Why do you think I tagged along with Corey when he would stop by the station or your office to drop something off?”
She widened her eyes.
Slowly, I let my lips spread wide. “Yeah.”
Jocelyn quickly schooled her face. “Is there a reason you came by today, aside from the kiss?”
“That wasn’t reason enough?”
She gave me a deadpan look and I grinned. “Yeah, there is something else I came here for. We never got around to talking more about the articles I gave you a few weeks ago or the other moving parts of this investigation.”
Sighing, she took her seat. “I realized that last night once I got home.”
A smile curled on my lips even as guilt formed in my chest. Two emotions dueled inside me. Last night, Jocelyn and I had slipped into an easy conversation. To say I was stunned to learn that she was DeniseGamerChick was an understatement. I was surprised but not unhappy about it in the least.
But guilt tempered my happiness. We should’ve talked about the specifics surrounding the case. Whoever was responsible for hurting Corey was still out there, likely planning his next move. Also, I needed to figure out how to combine Jocelyn’s and my resources without putting her in harm’s way.
