“I mean, you kind of suck at killing blows, but you’re fun to chill with. And carrying your ass was a nice challenge.”
He was baiting me to keep things light, and I jumped right into his trap. “Carryingmyass? Pretty sure I had a better kill streak than you did on several of those matches. It’s a good thing your mom and daughter are upstairs, or I’d challenge you to another death match.”
“Whoa, tiger. Calm down.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Retract those claws, I was only messing with you.” He dropped his hands and grew serious again. “Hailey’s mom has been out of the picture for years.”
I couldn’t tell if ‘out of the picture’ meant gone orgone. “But you said she’s only three?”
He nodded.
Damn. As I wrapped my mind around that, I took my purse into the bathroom and dabbed on enough concealer to hide the majority of my bruises. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, but I didn’t want my appearance to scare Tap’s daughter, either. I darkened my eyes and glossed up my lips to distract from what I couldn’t hide and brushed out my hair again.
“You almost ready in there? If lunch gets cold, I’m telling Mama it’s your fault. She’s already mad at me for leaving you down here. One more misstep today, and she’s liable to yank my ear off.”
The visualization made me laugh. I gave myself one last glance in the mirror before spinning around. “Ready.”
Tap stared at me. Something that looked a lot like hunger flickered in his eyes as the air between us charged with tension. “You look… much better. I can hardly see the bruises. Mama will be impressed.”
“Thank you. I take it she’s your makeup pro?”
“Yep, but don’t tell Julia. She was super impressed with my work, and I don’t want to disappoint her.”
Right, because Julia was so fooled. Playing along, I pretended to zip my mouth closed. “My lips are sealed.”
“Speaking of which, thanks for not telling Mama anything. I’m still not sure how you got away with that, but she admires you for holding your ground and not rolling over on me. That’s… thank you.”
His praise made me stand a little straighter. If I was a cat, I would have arched my back and rubbed it against him. “Your secrets are safe with me. Besides, I’m a quick study, and I’m not afraid of no mean mug.”
He arched an eyebrow at me.
Changing my tune really quick, I added, “Please don’t tell her I said that. I’m actually terrified. My knees were trembling and I thought she was gonna pull some sort of Jedi mind trick on me.”
He chuckled. “That’s what I thought.” He led me upstairs and down a hallway. The carpet felt soft and plush beneath my bare feet, making me realize I was missing something. “I wonder what happened to the shoes I wore to Danielle’s party,” I said. “I really liked those heels.”
“Kind of a strange thing to be worried about, considering everything else you have going on.”
“Clearly you’ve never had to search for comfortable heels before.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Are you sure?”
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
It was weird how much I enjoyed Tap’s company. At the academy, one of my instructors had warned the class about the chance of a victim developing a crush on their rescuer. Assuming I—as an officer of the law—would be the rescuer in the situation, I’d planned out how I’d behave if it ever happened. I’d distance myself from the victim and make sure not to send any mixed signals or accept any gifts.
I never expected tobethe victim.
But this didn’t feel like a crush on my rescuer. It wasn’t the fact that he’d removed me from danger that attracted me to Tap. It wasn’t even his delicious physique or panty-melting smile. It was the moments he was real with me. It was the times when he pulled back the curtain and let me see the man beneath. And it was these easy, flirty conversations that really drew me in and made me want to explore the possibility of a future with him.
Eventually.
After the bad guys were taken down and the girls were freed. I had my priorities.
We were both smiling when we rounded the corner and the house opened up to a high-ceilinged kitchen, dining, and living room area. The colors were neutral, the appliances all matched, and the furniture was in excellent shape. Tap and his family clearly weren’t struggling for money. I would have cracked a borderline inappropriate joke about how lucrative stripping must be, but Doris was standing in the middle of the kitchen watching us approach.
“Thought I was gonna have to come down after you two,” she said, her gaze taking in the way I was leaning against him.
I could walk just fine without Tap’s help now, but we still seemed to gravitate toward one another. Feeling like I’d been caught doing something wrong, I dropped my hand from his forearm and stood on my own. “Sorry about that. I was trying to hide my battle wounds, so I don’t frighten Hailey.” I took a deep breath in through my nose. “Something smells delicious.”
Doris smiled at the compliment as she waved me off. “It’s nothing fancy. I just whipped up chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches since our girl isn’t feeling well.”
