His chin jerked to the side, cutting her weak protest off. “I’ve seen people murdered for fifty bucks and a pair of new sneakers. I’m making sure you get there safely. That’s final. Now get in the car.”
“O-okay.” She’d worried about someone stealing the diamonds, but not physical danger to herself…and that made her feel foolish for not considering it.
This day was not going according to plan.
Chapter Two
Tyrone’s hands clenched on the wheel as he followed her out of downtown and over to an industrial area near Cal Expo. Fury still sizzled in his veins. Unreasonable fury, which pissed him off even more. Something had happened between them last night…he wasn’t willing to put any kind of label on it yet, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to walk away from it either. His cock swelled to press uncomfortably against the fly of his pants. Jesus, he wanted her again. Right now. Sweat broke out on his forehead just thinking about it. Something deep inside him didn’t want this
thing
with Lorna to end. Not yet. But it had been a hell of a long time since he’d done anything more than a one nighter. Not since Sherona.
His cell phone blared out his older brother’s ringtone, and he winced, not really in the mood to talk to anyone. Stabbing the button on his dash to transfer the call to his SUV’s Bluetooth speakerphone, he answered, “Eli. What’s up?”
“Nothing much.” The line rustled as if his brother had shifted the phone. “Sorry to leave you to the mess last night, but at least you had help.”
“Some help.” Tyrone snorted. “Derek bailed about ten minutes after you did. Booty call.”
“That dog didn’t stay to finish cleaning up?” Eli tsked. “Apparently, we didn’t beat his ass often enough as a child. Little bro thinks he can get away with slacking.”
One of the first smiles of the day touched Tyrone’s lips. “We’ve clearly failed in our duties.”
Eli hummed an agreement. “You had Lorna there, though. I noticed she was looking especially fine last night.”
“Yes. She was.” Tyrone tensed, but refused to be baited. Both of his brothers liked to harass him about Lorna. Only an idiot would have missed the attraction that crackled between them, but his family understood he had no plans to do anything about it. As far as they knew, that was still the case.
“And I noticed you notice her fineness too.” Eli chuckled. “When are you two going to end all of our suspense and hook up?”
“Leave it alone, Elijah.”
The moment the words were out of Tyrone’s mouth, he knew they were a mistake. First, he sounded too angry. Second, he never called his older brother by his full name. Which meant Eli now knew some serious shit was going on.
There was a long, pregnant pause. When Eli’s voice came, it was hushed with shock and awe. “You slept with Lorna. Oh, my God. You actually did it. You slept with Lorna.”
And big brother got it in one guess. The Forresters weren’t a stupid bunch.
“I said leave it alone,” Tyrone replied, his words clipped.
Another pause. “You okay?”
He sighed, letting his head
thunk
back against the seat. “I don’t know.”
“She’s a good girl,” Eli stated, his tone turning severe. “Not like those bims you’ve been fucking around with lately.”
“I know.”
Eli hammered his point home. “She’s your best friend, man. She’s been like a sister to Derek and me. Mom considers her a
de facto
daughter.”
“I know that, Eli,” Tyrone snapped, not even sure who he was pissed at. His brother, himself, Lorna? He couldn’t tell up from down anymore. “Jesus Christ. I know what she is to our family and to me, I know what kind of woman she is, I know she’s not my type. I
know
, damn it.”
“Then I’ll say this just once—Lorna could be perfect for you.” Eli’s statement sucked the wind right out of Tyrone’s sails. “The only reason she’s not your type is because you won’t let yourself get over the Sherona bullshit.”
Sherona was the last serious relationship Tyrone had had…and probably the last one he’d ever have. She couldn’t handle his job, the fact that every time he left the house, it could very well be the last time she ever saw him. He knew that about his work, accepted it, and moved on. She never could, and it was finally why she’d left him. If he were honest with himself, he never should have stayed with her after he saw just how poorly she coped with his profession. But he wasn’t a quitter, and he’d stuck it out far longer than either of them could handle without a whole lot of nasty in the end. A bitter taste coated his tongue at the memory of their last, ugly fight.
Eli continued, not seeming to care that Tyrone hadn’t responded to his last comment. “If you can’t get your head out of your ass about real relationships, you’re just going to hurt Lorna. In which case Derek and I will hurt you. And we’ll be in line behind Mom.”
“None of this is news to me,” Tyrone said drily. “It doesn’t change any of the facts.”
“It’s not the facts that need to change,” Eli retorted.
Yeah, Tyrone wasn’t even touching that. “Do me a favor and keep the facts to yourself until Lorna and I decide how we’re going to proceed. She doesn’t deserve to have you gossiping behind her back like some judgmental old biddy.”
Eli grunted, but didn’t rise to the bait. “I won’t say anything, but you know Mom and Mrs. Malone have a sixth sense when it comes to any of us getting into trouble.”
“I’m not sure it’s trouble we’re in.” Not a lie, since Tyrone didn’t know what the hell they were or weren’t doing. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her again, but beyond that? No clue.
“You’re a fool if you don’t know you’re in
deep
trouble right now, my brother.” The hospital loudspeaker blared in the background, paging Dr. Elijah Forrester. Eli said quickly, “Okay. Good talk. Show that girl a good time, and don’t fuck this up.”
The line went dead.
Diamond’s tail thumped a fast rhythm on the leather seat next to him, pulling his mind away from the call. He reached out and ran a hand down her silky fur. She licked his fingers. “Good girl. After we drop Lorna off, I’m taking you home and heading for work.”
She barked as though she understood him, and he chuckled. Diamond had been a gift from his parents six years ago. Sherona hated her on sight, but Lorna loved the dog. Such different women.
And Lorna had run out on him this morning. He’d had a moment of pure panic when he found her gone. His heart had hammered when he woke and she wasn’t there, hadn’t left a note or a message on his voicemail. The icy fear had quickly given way to molten rage that she could deny what had transpired between them. She was
his
now.
No
. He sucked in a deep breath and tamped down on the possessiveness that flooded him. He didn’t do permanent anymore. If Sherona had taught him anything, it was that no woman should be put through loving a man with his kind of job. It only hurt them and drove them away. Yeah, his parents had managed it—his dad had been in SWAT back in the day—but Tyrone wasn’t his father and he’d never had a relationship like his parents’. The last thing Tyrone ever wanted to do was bring Lorna pain. It was why he’d stayed away from her for so long. Even after he and Sherona had split.
No matter what Eli said, it would kill Tyrone to see that haunted look in Lorna’s lovely eyes every time he got the call to leave the house. He wouldn’t do it to her. That thought put an ice-cold damper on his ardor. No strings attached. That was his life now. If it was lonely, then that was the price he paid for having a job he loved. He sighed and tried to stretch the tautness out of his shoulders.
Lorna’s blinker flashed to pull into the parking lot of a warehouse, so he followed her in and parked beside her. An older woman scurried out of the warehouse to greet Lorna. She hopped out of her car, her bright red locks swinging in a ponytail. He wanted to bury his hands in that sweet-smelling hair, use it to hold her still while she sucked his cock. As she’d done last night. He groaned, his dick straining as he let the memory form in his mind. He pulled himself out of his SUV stiffly, and Diamond leaped out behind him to run around Lorna and the other woman.
“Here they are, Edith.” The two of them bent over the trunk of Lorna’s car while she pulled out jewelry cases, handed them to the older woman, and shut the trunk again.
Edith set the cases on the car and bent to coo over Diamond. She glanced up at Lorna. “Is this one of the pets for the shoot today? I have just the necklace for her.”
Tyrone walked up behind Lorna until he could feel the heat of her curves against his body. He lifted his brows at that last comment and spoke softly to Lorna. “Pets in diamonds?”
She whispered out of the side of her mouth. “We were brainstorming ideas, and she liked nothing we came up with. I threw out the sarcastic idea of models posing with pets wearing necklaces as collars, and Mrs. Carraway adored it. It’s how I ended up with this account.”
“You work with some weird people.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Says the man who blows shit up for a living.”
“That’s the bomb squad.” He tapped the emblem on his shirt. “I’m SWAT.”
“Okay, who
shoots
things for a living.”
“There you go. That’s better.” He grinned at her.
She laughed, and Edith looked up at them from where she was petting his dog with a coquettish smile. “She’s perfect. What a beautiful doggie. What’s her name?”
“Diamond,” they chorused.
“Oh, I must have her now.” Edith’s laugh tinkled out like a bell. “How on Earth did you come up with that name?”
Tyrone shrugged. “My mother did. She said dogs are a man’s best friend, and diamonds—”
“Are a girl’s best friend.” The older woman beamed. “Precious. Just precious.”
Lorna cleared her throat. “Edith Carraway, this is Tyrone Forrester.”
He leaned forward to shake the lady’s hand. “You want to use my dog for a jewelry ad?”
“Yes, of course.” She gave a breezy smile, turned back toward the warehouse, and shooed Diamond ahead of her. “Come on, pretty girl. We’re going to play for a few days.”
“
Days
?” He glanced down at Lorna. She threw a desperate look over her shoulder at him, and he sighed. “You owe me.”
She nodded so hard her ponytail bounced. “Yes.”
“And you’re going to pay up…in any way I see fit.” He ran his gaze down her body so she had no doubts about what he meant.
All the color leeched from her face, making her light smattering of freckles stand out in stark contrast. “I—you’ll be paid for letting us use Diamond. All the pet owners are compensated.”
He shook his head. “That’s not the kind of payment I’m talking about, baby.”
Her eyes closed and she swallowed. “I know.”
“Are the two of you coming? Mr. Forrester needs to fill out paperwork.”
“We’re right behind you, Edith,” Lorna called back, a bright, professional smile on her face.
“Oh, I’ll be right behind you, baby.” He dropped his voice so he couldn’t be overheard. “You like it that way, don’t you?”
“Please, Tyrone.” Her tongue slid out to lick her lips. He had to grit his teeth at the sight.
“Begging is good. After this morning, you have a lot to make up for.”
They entered the warehouse, which was set up with various props and filled with a dozen or more animals in kennels. Everything from Persian cats to beagle puppies. Photographers positioned costumed models and pets wearing jewelry. He shook his head—animals in diamonds was just odd. But if it made Lorna’s clients happy, and thus made
Lorna
happy, he wasn’t about to argue.
A model in a black bustier, fishnets, and thigh high boots stepped out of a dressing room. Tyrone touched Lorna’s elbow and tilted his head toward the leggy woman. “You would look amazing in that.”
“Are you insane?” Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. “Women my size do not wear things like that.”
“I’ve seen big girls in outfits like that.”
She snorted, flushing. “Not this big girl.”
“No, I’ve seen you in a lot less. Just this morning, in fact.” And if he kept thinking about that, he’d have a raging hard-on so huge he’d embarrass them both in public.
“And who is this? Someone I’ll be posing with today?” The model approached, a pretty smile on her face as her gaze swept down his body. Lorna stiffened, and her green eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. So, she was jealous. For some reason that made him grin.
Stepping aside, Lorna tried to leave him alone with the model, but he caught her hand and hauled her back to his side. No way in hell was she abandoning him in this zoo. Insecurity flashed in her gaze when she met his eyes. She ran a hand over her hip, brushing at invisible lint on her dress. Ah, she was worried about her weight. He never understood it when she made comments about how she was fat and ugly. Lorna was one of the smartest and most beautiful women he’d ever known. Some airhead model couldn’t compete with that.
“No, ma’am.” He answered the taller woman’s question while she winced at the
ma’am
. “I’m not a model.”
“So…you really are in SWAT? It’s not a costume?” Her eyes took on the greedy gleam some women got when they found out what he did for a living. Not that he hadn’t taken advantage of a groupie a time or two, but the thought left him cold today.
He shook his head. “I’m just here with Lorna.”
“Not
with
me, with me though. His dog is going to be in the shoot today.” She gestured to Diamond, who was still being fawned over by Mrs. Carraway.
“Oh, what a cute puppy.”
Tyrone ignored the model and looked down at Lorna. “Don’t be shy now, baby. You know you’re
with
me in every way a woman can be with a man.”
His thumb rubbed circles on her palm, and she shuddered, blushing and stammering to the model. The woman grimaced at them and wandered away to find someone who would drool over her good looks. He pulled Lorna to the table Edith was standing beside. “I have some paperwork to fill out?”
“Yes, of course. Roger can help you with that.” She grinned at him. “Lorna, what do you think of this ring for the 1920s set?”