“No.” I say, tightening my hold around her waist.
She freezes and stares up at me, her lips pressed angrily in a tight line. “Why not?” The lips that were just soft, warm and pliant against mine are now a bit kiss-swollen.
And sexy as fuck.
“Because if they see you, they will kill you.” I grind out between clenched teeth. I’m so pissed right now I could chew fucking nails.
They fucking got away!
She stops pushing against me and tries to see out onto the sidewalk around my shoulders. “That man. I need to call the police.” That’s when she looks down around her body and her eyes fly back up to mine. “My clutch! It’s on the sidewalk with my phone in it.”
Immense frustration at the turn of events has my eyes slowly closing. I didn’t see her drop her clutch, but I also know itwill notbe on the sidewalk. If they saw her drop it, they grabbed it when they ran after her, I don’t even have to look to know that.
Fuck!
This entire night has turned into a shit-show. Those douchebags are just a small part of a much larger case, I could have had them threatened and wired to go back into the hive by morning. Catching them red-handed would have given me the leverage I needed to threaten them with a lifetime of prison if they didn’t cooperate.
That opportunity just flew out the goddamn window,along with the promotion I was hoping to secure sometime this year.
Goddamn it!
Now I have to worry about them finding her, because if they find her, they will fucking kill her. If they have her clutch, they will be looking for her as soon as tomorrow.
Taking a deep breath, my teeth clench together hard enough to grind my molars into dust. I don’t fucking have time to deal with security details and safe houses right now. How could such a small, beautiful woman throw a huge wrench into everything and become the biggest pain in my ass in a short amount of time?
Her small huff of a breath has me opening my eyes, and she tries to pull her hands out of my grasp. “Can you let go of me so I can go look for my clutch before someone picks it up?”
“Kitten, they already picked up your clutch when they ran around the corner looking for you.” I’m trying to use my calm voice, but even I can hear the irritation laced into my tone.
Her face twists into a mask of anger. “Don’t call me kitten. I’m not your kitten. And how do you know? They may have run past it.”
Staring into her angry eyes, I start to feel a little sorry for her. “I don’t think you realize what you’ve just stepped into. Those men are not petty criminals, that was not a random crime, and you are now at the top of their shit list.”
Her eyes slide away from me to gaze off to the side, and her twisting wrists in my hand go limp. The anger in every line of her face drains away, and I watch as she realizes the enormity of the situation she just landed herself in.
Her eyes snap back to mine. “My family. I need to go home.”
The weirdest thing to happen to me all night is the fucking little pinch in my chest when she says the word family. She’sprobably married and has a couple of kids at home with her husband.
Not sure where the fuck that came from.
“If I let you go, will you stay put for a minute?” I ask.
She hesitantly nods. I don’t like the hesitation, but I let go of her, anyway. When I take a step back, I lose the heat of her and I suck in a deep, irritated breath of disbelief that I’m even thinking about that.
Pulling out my phone, I ask, “What’s your address?”
Her eyebrows pull together, and she stubbornly shakes her head. “I’m not giving you my address, I don’t even know you.” She starts to step around me. “I’m calling the cops.”
Slapping my hand against the building to my side, blocking her from leaving, I look down at her and try to temper my anger. “Baby, I am the cops. Now, if you want your family to stay safe, give me your damn address and I’ll get a unit to your house.”
She looks up at me with her shoulders squared and her jaw set. “I don’t know you. You haven’t identified yourself. All I know is that you crossed a line when you touched me without my permission, and now you’re holding me here against my will.” Her eyes narrow, and she lifts her chin even higher. “If youarea cop, you know just how serious those accusations are.”
She’s right, she could have me tied up in all kinds of nasty shit for a month. Not to mention having me at a desk the whole time. Regardless, the fierceness on her heart-shaped face and the big fucking balls on the little thing in front of me has me smiling despite myself.
Leaning down so my nose is just inches from hers, with my arm still blocking her way, I can smell the jasmine of her perfume. “I had to touch you to save your life. I had to kiss you to shut you up, and if I remember right, you kissed me back.” Her tough-girl front falters. “I’m not holding you against yourwill, I’m trying to help you.”
She cocks a brow and tips her head, a move that looks very practiced and stubborn. The line of frustration between her eyebrows is cute as fuck. “And you are?”
