“This is nothing personal. Cover the wound with your hand.” A shadow fell across the door. “Quick.”
As she lowered her palm onto the gash he surged forward and planted his lips on hers. Her stomach flipped. He relaxed back on the seat, coaxing her with him. Like she needed coaxing. Oh God, his lips pulling gently at hers, his hands gripping her waist, the front of his jeans pressing into her... A groan escaped her throat. Nothing personal? Her mind and her body needed to resync.
A knock, on the window. She gasped, even though she’d expected it.
Jamie released her lips. He inhaled, blinking, and opened the door. Cold air blasted in. A gray-haired officer stood in the drizzle, wearing a heavy blue jacket. Her heart jackhammered.
“Jesus, aren’t you two a bit old for that carry-on?” the cop said. “Usually it’s teenagers I’m sending home from here.” His gaze rested on her hand. Shit. Around it, Jamie’s skin was noticeably red.
“None of my business at all but I do hope this man is at least yourhusband, ma’am,” he said, his gaze drifting to her other hand, and nodding at her engagement ring. “If not, I’d suggest you find a venue that’s not so public.”
She exhaled. He was looking at her rings, not the wound.
“There’s a woman lives over there...” He nodded toward a strip of houses across the road. “Who rings us every single bloody time someone parks up here, thinking someone’s being raped. You’re not being raped, are you, ma’am?”
“No, sir,” Samira said, mimicking Jamie’s Scottish accent for some reason. “Not at all.” She could still feel the look of terror on her face. She planted her free hand on Jamie’s chest, to back up her story. How come he was always so warm? “Sorry. We were just...having some...time out from the kids.”
“Believe me, I get that. But in future just...don’t. You may not have better things to do with your time but I do.” He scanned the interior of the car. “And in your work car. Ugh.” He shook his head and pushed the door shut. Dismissed.
Jamie stared at her, looking as bemused as she felt. As the patrol car pulled out, he laughed, his chest shuddering. She pulled her hands off him.
“Shite, that was a good accent, Samira. You sounded terrifyingly like my aunt Morag.” He stared straight ahead, into her cleavage. “Which is a little disconcerting, considering...”
She awkwardly shuffled back and climbed off his lap, his hands still on her waist, guiding her. The throb between her legs was so fierce she wouldn’t be surprised to hear drumming.
“We’re like Bonnie and Clyde,” Jamie said as she climbed over the coat and plunked on the seat beyond.
“Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down by police.”
“Killjoy.”
“And I am about the least Bonnie-like woman you’ll ever meet.” She straightened. “How did he know it was a work car? There’s no signage.”
“I guess he ran the plates before he approached us.”
“Oh no.”
“It’s a good sign—means the car hasn’t been reported stolen yet or he wouldn’t have just warned us about...” His words dissolved into a chuckle. She joined in but her laugh sounded as fake as her attraction was real. He cleared his throat, his gaze dropping down her body, then quickly back up. His pupils had swelled, making his eyes look darker. Wasn’t that a sign of—?
Shit, her dress was hiked way up over her waist, her lacy underwear visible through her stockings.
“Like I told you,” he said, lifting the overcoat off his supplies, “it’ll take them a while to figure it out. We should get out of Dodge, though. At some point even the sluggish neurons of bureaucracy might connect.”
She tugged her dress back into place. Holy cow, that kiss, that connection. And that time it hadn’t even been for real.
“Are you okay?” Jamie said. “You look shaky.”
“Eshi,”she said, dismissively. “I’m just a little...um.”
“Samira, if he’d known the car was stolen he’d have arrested us by now.”
“Oh. Yes. Good.”
If Jamie kissed like that when they were “history”...
Not going there.
He looked at his wound. “I’ll have to sterilize this again.” And suddenly he was back at Serious Jamie, likethatdidn’t just happen. “You were saying something about the picture, before we got interrupted...?”
