Cop's Passion (12 page)

It was early
with a chill in the air, the promise of autumn finally arriving
after the long, hot summer. The road was free of traffic, enabling
her to shift Cindy’s car onto it, get her own out, shift Cindy’s
car close to the garage and bring her own car up behind it. Getting
out, she locked the doors and headed back to the house.

“Maddy.” The
deep rumble, so familiar now, made her insides curl.

Looking over,
she saw Mike step down from his veranda. Dressed in his cop
uniform, he looked big and dangerous, his ‘don’t piss me off’
expression firmly in place. He seemed to don it as part of his
uniform. Or maybe he was just pissed at her.

“Mike.” She was
glad her own voice was so calm.

Moving to the
fence that separated their front yards, Mike leaned his forearms on
it and regarded her. “Come closer.”

Wondering what
he could possibly want, she walked over to him. “If this is about
the mobile phone-”

“No, it’s not,
though you’re going to get one today, right?”

“If that’s what
you wanted to tell me-”

“No, it’s not.
Well it is, but not right this instance.” Mike hesitated.

Curiously,
Maddy studied him, amazed to see a faint flush appear on his
chiselled cheeks.

He took a deep
breath and seemed to steel himself for whatever it was he was going
to say.

A little amused
despite herself, Maddy arched a brow at him. “Can’t find the
words?”

He scowled at
her. “This is no joking matter.”

“I’m sorry, I
don’t know whether to laugh or be serious right this moment.
Perhaps if you’d care to share your thoughts, I’ll know the
appropriate way to act.”

“Fine. I didn’t
wear a condom last night,” he said bluntly. “Are you on the
pill?”

Now she could
feel an answering blush.

His jaw
tightened, his expression less than pleased.

“Don’t worry,”
she said quickly. “I’m stopping by a chemist on my way to work to
get the morning after pill.”

Mike nodded
slowly. “Good. That’s good.”

She cleared her
throat and glanced away.

“I’m clean,” he
stated.

Startled, she
looked back up at him. “What?”

“Clean,” he
repeated. “I’m clean. I don’t have any diseases.”

“Oh.” She
nodded. “Of course. Thank you.”

He regarded her
intently and she realised he expected something in return.

“I’m clean,
too,” she hurriedly assured him. “No diseases. You’re safe.”

“I somehow
never doubted it,” he said.

“Then why are
you staring at me?” The words were out before she could stop
them.

“Because we
still have unfinished business.”

Maddy folded
her arms. “No, we don’t.”

“Yes, we
do.”

“I’m not going
to discuss this here.”

“We don’t have
time.” He stepped back. “I need to leave for work. I’ll see you
tonight.”

“No.”

“Yes.” He
didn’t even glance back at her over his broad shoulder.

Irritated by
his high-handed attitude, she snarled. “When Hell freezes over, you
Neanderthal.”

“It’s a chilly
day down there today.”

She watched as
he disappeared into his garage. Within a few minutes she heard the
roar of his motorbike and then he was wheeling it out backwards,
strong thighs each side of the seat. With his leather jacket,
boots, helmet, and mirrored glasses hiding his pale blue eyes, he
looked dangerous.

Those mirrored
glasses turned in her direction and she scowled at him, barely
managing to restrain herself from flipping him the bird. Swinging
around on her heel, she stormed back inside the house, and the roar
of his sound-barrier breaking motorcycle disappeared up the
road.

Muttering to
herself, she went back inside to get her purse and head for work.
Via a chemist.

~*~

The chair in
Tim’s office creaked alarmingly as Mike sat down. Glancing around,
Mike studied the cutesy poster of a cartoon dog dressed as a
dentist and holding a toothbrush in its paw. The caption beneath
the picture read ‘Has your dog had a dental recently?’

Ye gods. A dog
having a dental. Next thing they’d be bringing in doggie
toothbrushes and - his gaze caught several packets lying on desk
beneath the picture. Leaning forward, he studied them. Damned if
the packets didn’t contain toothbrushes and flavoured toothpaste
for dogs. What next?

Scratching the
back of his neck, he shook his head and resumed his relaxed
position in the chair. The sound of a dog barking and a cat meowing
came from somewhere close by.

“Hey, Mike.”
Tim came through the door, divesting himself of the white coat that
was loaded in animal hair and a smear of blood. “Time for some iced
coffee?”

“That’s what
I’m here for.”

Pulling out two
containers of iced coffee from the ‘fridge in the corner, Tim
handed one to Mike before sitting in the chair behind the desk.
Swinging his sneakers up to rest on top of the wooden surface, Tim
opened the cardboard spout and took a long swig.

“So,” Tim
finally said, after rolling the milky drink around his mouth and
swallowing with obvious enjoyment. “What’s got your knickers in a
knot?”

“Seriously, you
don’t sell toothbrushes for dogs, do you?” Mike returned.

“Seriously,
yes. Why, you want to buy one for yourself?”

“Ha ha. People
really buy dog toothpaste and brushes?”

“Dental is
never funny.” Tim ran a hand down his t-shirt.

Mike’s gaze
automatically followed his gesture to find that his friend’s
t-shirt had a cartoon picture of a dog with no teeth scowling
angrily and holding a toothbrush and toothpaste. The caption
beneath read: “Fangs for the Memory’. “One day you’ll get fired,”
he said.

“Nah. The boss
doesn’t care what I wear as long as I don’t show the customers, and
only wear my artistic creations after hours when no one can see
me.”

“Bet your
mother cares.”

Tim’s smile
widened.

“Pisses her
off,” Mike observed. “Of course.”

“So.” Tim
placed his container of iced coffee on the desk. “What’s happening
with your neighbour?”

“What makes you
think I’m here because of Maddy?”

“Mike, please.”
Tim arched a brow. “You only come to the clinic when you have a
problem.”

“No I
don’t.”

“Yeah, you
do.”

“I come here at
times.”

“No, you
don’t.”

“Maybe I have
animal issues.”

“It’s Saturday
afternoon. The clinic is shut, remember?”

“You’re a vet.
Aren’t you on duty all the time?”

“You’re a cop.
Aren’t you an arse all the time?”

“Care to repeat
that?”

“Not
really.”

“Wise
decision.”

Tim laced his
hands on his flat stomach and eyed Mike. “Care to chat, sweetheart?
Or did you just come for some TLC?”

Mike shifted in
the chair. “It’s Maddy.”

“I’m so
surprised.”

“Why are the
ladies so hard to understand?”

“Pfft.” Tim
waved one hand in the air. “Women.”

“That’s your
answer?”

“You expected
something else?”

Mike wondered
why the hell he’d thought his friend would have any words of wisdom
for him. “Aren’t you the female expert?”

“Mike, I date
them and boink them, I never said I understood them. The only thing
I know is that I don’t get close to ‘em. They’re like piranhas
circling prey - that being me. They want the bait - that being my
money. I have issues - those being my mother and her cold-hearted
ideas.” Tim smiled widely. “Hey, I guess I may have experience
after all.”

Mike shook his
head.

Tim settled
back in the chair. “So what’s Maddy done that’s upset you?”

Mike was
seriously doubting the wisdom of coming here now, but Tim was his
best friend, they’d known each other for some years, and he needed
to talk to someone he trusted. “She’s got a stray kitten on my
property.”

Tim stared at
him. “That’s it?”

“She made me
promise to keep it there for a few days while she fed it and tried
to find it a home.”

“She made
you?”

“Okay.” Mike
scowled. “She asked me and I agreed. Okay?”

Placatingly,
Tim spread his hands. “I hear you.”

“Don’t pull
that shit on me.” Mike suddenly realised just how Maddy must have
felt when he’d tried to placate her. Bloody irritated.

“Sure,” Tim
replied easily. “So now you have a kitten.”

“I don’t have a
kitten.”

“Fine. You have
a stray kitten on your property. What, you want me to come and get
it and put it to sleep?”

“What? No!”

“Sorry.”

“What the hell
made you think that?” Mike couldn’t believe it. “You want to kill
the kitten? It’s only a baby.”

Surprised, Tim
blinked. “Uh - okay. Sorry. My mistake.” He took a fortifying swig
of iced coffee as Mike subsided back into his chair, scowling.

“Jesus, Tim,”
Mike said.

“Let’s get back
to the subject of Maddy,” Tim suggested. “I think it’d be safer.”
He lifted the drink back to his mouth.

Maddy. Mike
raised the iced coffee container and almost drained it in four big
swallows. Lowering his arm, he thought about her. Sweet Maddy with
the fiery temper and… “We had sex.”

Tim choked on
his coffee.

“Yeah,” Mike
said. “We did.”

Tim wiped his
eyes. “Spring that on a man without warning, why don’t you?”

“I need some
advice.”

“Just because
you boinked the woman doesn’t necessarily mean anything, you know
that, right?”

Mike scowled.
“You moron. I didn’t boink her, I had sex with her. Made love. Big
difference.”

“Made love.”
Tim sighed. “You’re worse than a woman, Mike. You and Rick both.
Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you tried to have a little
heart-to-heart afterwards and-” He took another look at Mike’s
scowl and groaned. “Seriously?”

“Nothing wrong
in wanting to clear the air,” Mike growled. “What’s with people
like you and Maddy? Always wanting to do things but never wanting
to talk about it.”

“Wait a minute.
She wanted to have sex?”

“Well.” Mike
cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Um…I sort of, you know…”

“No, I don’t.”
Tim was intrigued. “But do go on. Please.”

“I maybe
grabbed her and kissed her.”

“Maybe? You
either did or you didn’t. There’s no ‘maybe’.”

“Okay!” Mike
snarled. “I did grab her and kiss her, and then things got out of
hand and she was kissing me back and then - whammo!”

“Whammo?” Tim
looked like he couldn’t believe his ears. “
Whammo
?”

“Yeah. You
know.” Mike downed the last of the iced coffee and crushed the
carton easily in one big hand. “We were on the sofa having
sex.”

Tim was
confused. “So what’s the problem? She was clingy? Didn’t want you
to go?”

“No, quite the
opposite.”

“She kicked you
out?”

“Damn
near.”

“What did you
do wrong?”

“I didn’t do
anything. I think it was that damned phone call.”

“Phone
call?”

“Do I keep
hearing an echo in here?” Mike threw the empty carton through the
air and watched it land unerringly in the bin on the other side of
the room before returning his gaze to Tim. “Her mother rang up and
mentioned something about another woman and Maddy’s weight or
something-”

“Ah-ha!” Tim
stabbed a finger in Mike’s direction. “That’s it!”

“What?”

“Her weight!
Maddy was embarrassed about her weight. She’s a
rather…er…full-bodied woman, and having her weight suddenly pointed
out in your hearing upset her.”

“Yeah, but I
didn’t say it.” Mike sighed. “So why kick me out?”

Tim tapped his
temple. “She’s a female. Makes perfect sense in a not-so-perfect
way.”

“So what do I
do?”

“Love ‘em and
eave ‘em, my friend, that’s my advice.”

“You can’t do
that to a lady.”

“I don’t date
ladies. I date women who are far removed from ladies.”

“And you wonder
why you have such bad experiences.”

Tim leered.
“Not all the experiences are bad.”

“Maddy isn’t
one of your kind of women.” Mike folded his arms across his
chest.

“Are you
getting defensive?”

“What?”

“Your bodily
posture. Folded arms. Holding me back.” Tim simpered. “Hiding your
feelings.”

“You are such
an arsehole. I don’t know why I came here.”

“For
advice.”

“You didn’t
give me any.”

“Sure I did.
Love ‘em and leave ‘em.”

“Have you been
sucking on your own gas while you’ve been here all alone?”

“Not
lately.”

“You’re about
as useful as tits on a bull, you know that?”

“I’m hurt.”

“Don’t tempt
me.”

Tim grinned.
“Feel better?”

“Marginally.”
Mike stood up. It was true, he did feel that some of the tension
had evaporated.

“Nothing like a
bit of banter to ease the kinks,” Tim said.

“Nothing like a
bit of battering to really work them out.” Mike flexed his
muscles.

“Ooohhh!” Tim
clutched his clasped hands to his chest. “Oh my!”

Pulling on his
leather jacket, Mike laughed, and it felt good. A little more
tension eased away.

“Seriously.”
Tim pushed to his feet. “What are you going to do about Maddy?”

“Seriously.”
Picking up the motorcycle helmet from the floor beside the chair,
Mike looked gravely at him. “What would you do?”

“Be friendly
but stay away from her.”

“Huh.” Mike
rubbed his chin.

Tim watched him
silently for several seconds. “Maybe you should talk to Rick.”

“Nah, I’m
good.” Mike nodded. “Thanks for the chat and coffee. We must get
together more often to exchange intellectual conversation. On my
side, anyway.”