Page 41 of Honor ’N’ Duty

Whether she liked it or not.

Chapter Twelve

Kade headed north on Route 71 toward Laia’s house in Asbury Park. Luckily, Monday morning traffic in the summer wasn’t that bad.

At ten a.m., the sun was shining, the temperature already near eighty, and the humidity was as thick as a stick of butter. Laia sat beside him, but neither of them had spoken a word about the “sofa incident.”

He never should have let her get under his skin. He never should have let her get on his skin, but when she’d crawled onto his lap, every ounce of gray matter in his brain dove directly south. To his other brain.

He cranked the AC higher.

Smoke stuck his head through the opening between their shoulders, providing a barrier between him and Laia. That didn’t stop Kade from remembering more things he wished he wouldn’t.

Last night he’d been on fire, his skin seared with every light touch of Laia’s fingertips, every whisper of her sweet, soft breath on his face. Sex with Laia would have been—

No, not sex. He had a feeling that sex with Laia would be…something more, because where Laia was concerned, both his heads were in deep.

Again, he shifted in his seat, staring straight ahead and gripping the wheel tighter. Looked like his dick was directly connected to his thoughts because he was on the verge of a giant, embarrassing boner.

“Kade, are you all right?” Laia asked. “You haven’t said a word since we left the shack.”

“I’m fine,” he managed. About as fine as a horny, blue-balled teenager with no place to bury his raging hard-on.

“You don’t look fine.”

Yeah, well… But a quick glance told him she wasn’t staring at the uncomfortable bulge in his crotch.

She rubbed Smoke’s ears, peering around his furry head. “Is everything okay with your boss?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, trying to swallow the sandpaper that had taken up position in between his tonsils. “We’re good. He gave me a week to figure this out.” Although initially, they hadn’t been good.

Before leaving Rosa playing piggyback with Jamie, Kade had called his boss and requested he be taken off shift at the airport. He could practically feel heat from the steam that had to be shooting from the man’s ears.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” When she leaned around Smoke, all he could think was: Don’t. Look. Down.

He adjusted one of the vents, angling the air directly at his crotch.

“You seem awfully quiet.”

“I have a lot on my mind.” Not just about sex.

Not telling her the truth about Josh was eating away at his insides like acid. If they’d had sex, it would only make things worse when she found out. If she found out. Part of him wanted to get it over with and just tell her.

“Something’s up with Jamie,” he said instead. Aside from kissing Laia’s hand, nothing his friend had said or done last night was the Jamie Pataglio he knew. And there were still lingering questions about Jamie’s frequent and extended disappearances over the last two years.

“Did you talk to him after I went upstairs?”

“Kind of.” He braked for a red light. “He wouldn’t even tell me where Jax was.”

“Who’s Jax?”

“Jamie’s K-9.”

Smoke pulled his head back, giving Kade an unobstructed view of Laia’s bright-green sundress, the color of which really brought out the green flecks in her eyes. Another set of long earrings dangled from her ears. Arborist he wasn’t, but even he could identify them as palm trees.

“He’s not at a kennel?”

“No. We take our dogs home every night. They live with us just like family.” Kade couldn’t imagine being without Smoke. It would be like having his right arm torn off.