Was it hot in here? It was definitely getting hotter in here.
Clearly unaffected by the increasing temperature in the room, Hector just smiled at me and then kissed mylips. It was soft and quick but held so much promise of what was yet to come.
“Let’s go get ready for bed,” he murmured against my lips. “Besides, I’m not sure I gave you enough opportunities last night to be on top. Gotta keep you happy if you’re gonna let me stick around.”
“I think that can be arranged,” I said.
A little shriek left my mouth as he lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me back to my bedroom.
Taking his time, he removed his clothes and then mine. He pulled me onto the bed with him—me on top. I sat there, straddling his hips and staring down at the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. I ran my fingers across his abs and chest hair, enjoying the feel of both—the hard and soft texture creating a gift for my senses.
“What are you thinking about, Iris?” he asked with a grin, running his calloused hands up and down my thighs, triggering goose bumps along the way.
“Give me a new memory in my apartment—a good one—to wash away the bad ones. Make love to me, Hector.”
I didn’t have to ask twice. He gave me not one but two great new memories in my apartment. The first one wore me out in the best way possible, leading to a great night’s sleep snuggled up against him.
The second was the next morning, when Hector woke me with his mouth and tongue all over my body.
I could get used to that.
20
“If you drink two gallons of water a day, you won’t have time for other people’s drama because you’ll be too busy peeing all the time. Stay hydrated.”
—It’s science
Hector
Once again, I spent most of my day at work thinking about Iris. Whatever spell she had put on me was working, because even innocuous things had me thinking of her.
Books on the shelf in my office? Instantly my brain went to what dirty things were in her neighbor’s books that Iris wanted to do.
The new coffee pods at work? Memories flooded my mind of her drinking coffee with me in her kitchen this morning in nothing but my flannel shirt.
Not all my thoughts were of sex, though. Her words last night about how I gave her a sense of safety causedmy chest to tighten. Damn, if it hadn’t made me feel good that she trusted me like that.
“Look at you…” Diden’s voice startled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see her in the doorway. “Two days in a row with a smile on your face. You also didn’t automatically growl when you walked into the break room this morning. What’s gotten into you?”
I knew she was teasing me, but I had definitely felt, I don’t know, lighter the last several days, and I knew it was all because of Iris.
“Youwantme to growl?” I asked.
“No, I definitely like this version of you,” she said, smiling as she walked farther into the office and sat in the chair across from me on the other side of my desk. “Dare I assume this is because of Iris?”
Jesus, I thought the LVPD was full of gossips…The Park Service wasn’t much better.
“What do you need?” I asked, hoping to redirect.
“You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but roll with me for a second,” she started to say, and I immediately hated where this conversation was going. “I decided to listen to Mr. Stanton last night. It’s actually quite good. It’s calledMurder, Steve Wrote,and he details a lot of good cold cases.”
“Murder, Steve Wrote?” I questioned.
“It’s a great name, right?” Diden asked excitedly, although that definitely would not have been the word I’d have used to describe the name.
Cheesy, cringey, overdone—those felt more appropriate.
“Jesus, why do you listen to that kook?” Jennings’s voice sounded from my doorway. “The guy’s a wannabe cop who probably flunked out of the police academy and lives in his mom’s basement.”
