He handed me an oversized T-shirt, and without removing the towel, I lifted the shirt over my head, pushed my arms through the sleeves and let it fall past my thighs. Then I let the towel drop around my ankles. “That’s better,” I said, taking a huge breath ofair.
"Yeah? Well, I'm still thinking you're naked under that," hesnapped.
I stepped back, shooting my eyebrows straight up to myhairline.
“Shit, Callie. I’m sorry.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I just…I’m not thinking. It’s been a long timesince—”
Downstairs in the basement, the buzzer for the wash machine went off. “I’ll dump the clothes in the dryer. Look in the bottom drawer. There's probably a pair of shorts you could wear for now.” He was out the door before he finished thesentence.
Rummaging through the drawers, I found a pair of shorts and slid them up my legs as fast as I could. I wanted to run the hell out of his bedroom, but my legs wouldn’t move. I was imagining myself lying on his bed, with his face between my legs.It was a long time since he what? Seen a woman naked?Warmth flooded my body. My fingertips ached with the need to touch him. I felt lightheaded and sat down hard on his bed. The comforter smelled like him. Spicy and clean andcarnal.
I needed to leave. I bolted back up immediately and forced myself to walkaway.
He was sitting in the living room when I walked out, his head leaning in his hands. The lights were off, and only the soft glow of the kitchen light spilled in gently from the doorway. I padded inside and sat down on the small wooden coffee table in front of him. The area was so small, our kneestouched.
“Talk to me,” I whispered, my heart hammering away at the base of my throat. “What happened tonight with Sheri? You’re home tooearly.”
He shrugged. "Sheri didn't want to seeme."
“That’s heartbreaking,” I whispered, placing my hand over his to try to comforthim.
Half of me wanted to make a witty remark, something to cut the tension, make it less personal—but as soon as my hand touched his, he entwined his fingers with mine. The gesture was slow and intimate, both of us looking down at what washappening.
He slid forward, no more than an inch—close enough, though, that I could lean a little more toward him and bury my face in the crook of hisneck.
“Heartbreaking,” he repeated the word as if it wereforeign.
His gaze flickered up to mine, and I could barely catch my breath. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to kiss this broken, married man.What was wrong with me?I needed to be a friend here. I needed to put my desires aside and just be a normal human being for once, just do the rightthing.
“You know what surprised me so much about having a broken heart?” I asked, gradually pulling my fingers out of hisgrasp.
He shook his headslowly.
“That I could live through it. I never thought I’d be able to." I leaned back and smiled softly, putting a little more space between our bodies. "When I first met Craig, I seriously thought I'd never be able to continue breathing without him. But I did. It was horrible and gut-wrenching, but I lived through it. Even when I didn't wantto."
He stared at me, blinking once. Awkwardly. “I’ll be fine,” he said, scooting back into the cushions of the couch. “What aboutyou?”
What fresh hell was this?“What about me?” Istammered.
“Are you fine, Callie?” He straightened his back and shifted his body all the way forward this time and pulled the table I sat on closer to him. The table hit into his knees, trapping me in the tight space between them. "You went on to find some other great relationship? Your heart is all put back together again?" His questions were curt and dry. What point was he trying to make tome?
"No." My voice cracked. I let myself get too vulnerable here. Was he playing some game? Fine. There was no way he'd be winning, though. "No relationships." I leaned closer to him. Was he trying to get under my skin? He thought his life was so much worse, right? I put my lips close to his ear. “Just raw, dirty sex. No heartbreak, because there’s nolove.”
His lips were against my ear next, shooting goosebumps across my skin. "Yeah, really? How do you stop someone from falling in love withyou?"
I wanted to laugh at him. Fall in love with me? Who in their right mind would do that? “Nobody falls in love with me. It’s not thateasy.”
His lips brushed past the shell of my ear, and every nerve ending in my body screamed out for him. "I think it would be the easiest thing in the world to fall in love with you, DetectiveWard."
He stood up slowly and walked out of the room and through the hallway, "Night, Callie. Lock the door on your wayout."
