“Listen, I’m sorry if I went too far. I never learn—”
Jude slanted his mouth over mine and cut me off. I whimpered as he dragged his tongue over the seam of my lips, opening my mouth on a needy moan. He tasted even better than I imagined. Sweet and salty and delicious. He sifted his fingers into my hair, licking into my mouth in long, hungry strokes, and backed me against the wall. I scratched my nails up his back and roped my arms around his neck, pressing my body against his as his erection grew between us. Of course, he was huge and rock hard as he grazed my core in all the right places.
“I didn’t want our first kiss to be because of you trying to distract me from some asshole, or on display in front of anyone, so that didn’t count. This…” His hand was back in my hair, weaving a fistful around his fingers as he pulled. “This is for us.”
A wide grin split his mouth as he watched me with hooded eyes. My knees were ready to give out, both from his scorching kisses and the way he saidourfirst kiss.
“So, this counts?” I teased, breathless as I traced his wet lips with the tip of my finger.
Maybe it was too soon to think of any of this as anything other than the lust brewing between us reaching a boiling point, but I was all in with this mysterious and wonderful man, and I regretted nothing.
My eyes fluttered when he cupped my cheek and grazed his thumb back and forth along my jaw. I’d never fluttered or quivered for any other man before, but Jude was something special.
“It absolutely fucking counts.”
19
JUDE
“So, we should be good here?”I said, peering out at the new rookies who’d just joined the KLPD last week and made sure to keep their eyes on me for the entire meeting, and the cluster of young cops who were past rookie and probably irritated at the disruption to lunchtime.
“Yes. Thank you, Sergeant,” Ron said before popping out of his chair. He was probably the most annoyed, but he never missed an opportunity to kiss ass or look good in front of new personnel. “All good reminders, even if we probably won’t need many of them.” He shot me a fake smile.
“You always need them, Officer. Yes, this is a mostly safe town and the chief works to keep it that way, but he needs our cooperation. I said mostly, because nothing is totally safe. Just because the worst call of the week may be kids stealing fruit from the outdoor displays at the market, next week it could be a lot worse. We’re the eyes and ears of this town, and bad things happen when cops get cocky.”
Ron had the decency to lose the smug grin and nod before heading back into the main office. When I’d been promoted to sergeant, my boss had told me to make sure the line of authority was clear. He said not to hang out with the officers I managed unless it was a station event and to lead by example. I had never been all that social and didn’t mind having an excuse not to shit-talk at a bar after work with the cops I saw every day.
I wasn’t a dick either, and I paid attention if anything was off with anyone in the station. Even when I’d come back to Kelly Lakes with a heavy chip on my shoulder, looking out for the guys was still a priority, along with following the rules to the letter, no matter what.
Until I’d pulled over a beautiful woman for speeding into town and let her go, and then I’d morphed into a man I hardly recognized whenever she was around.
I smiled at the thought now. Becoming a slightly less rigid version of myself wasn’t so terrible when I had the right motivation. Smiling for no reason other than the image of Claudia and the taste of her lips was something I could get used to, even with the strange looks I’d been getting when I came into work.
“Still smiling, Sarge? Good for you.”
Max was one of the few cops who knew me from when I’d first started in the department. We’d kept in touch when I moved away, and since he knew Maggie’s cousins, he knew more about our divorce than most people in town, but he never asked any questions or brought it up.
“It’s not a crime to be in a good mood. I don’t always have a stick up my ass like I caught one of them say the other day.” I nodded to the hallway.
“No, you can be in a good mood. No matter how unusual.” He chuckled. “I don’t envy you. It’s a lot to keep these clowns in check sometimes. They’ve had it easy in this town because they haven’t seen the dark side of it yet.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way.” I tipped my chin to the hallway. “I’d rather the worst part of their days be me, than them have to shake off something awful, even if it is only a matter of time.”
“Good point. Anyway, Laura told us she took care of you at Salma’s the other night.” He kept his gaze on me as we walked, and I had to laugh at the expectant look in his eyes.
“She did. She’s really starting college in September? I couldn’t believe it.”
“Ugh,” he groaned. “Don’t remind me. But she’s at least going to the state college a couple of towns over and isn’t moving into a dorm. She said you looked like you were on a date. Claudia, I think she said her name was, and that she was really nice and you looked really into her.”
I chuckled. “She got all that from taking our burger order?”
“Well, seeing as though you’re almost peppy around here lately, I’d hazard that my daughter was spot-on.”
I groaned at his sly smile.
“I’m not always an asshole, Max. I just dial it up for their sakes. They need it.”
“I know that, man. I’m your friend, remember? I know you’re a good guy and a damn good sergeant. But you’ve always been…serious. It takes a lot for you to crack a smile, so the fact that one has been plastered on your face a lot lately…” He shrugged and adjusted his gun belt. “I’m just happy for you. Asshole or not.” He slapped my shoulder and headed to his desk.
