She dabbed something cold and biting in the creased skin and covered the raw area with a bandage. “If that gets red or irritated, see a doctor. You should see one anyway to get a booster on your tetanus shot if you haven’t had one recently.”
She winked at him. “Those falls against sharp metal objects aren’t good for your health. Best to avoid this type of incident in the future.”
Roberta handed Wyatt and Laurie Ann damp cloths to clean their soot-smudged hands.
Wyatt pulled his shirt back on, buttoned it. His skirting the truth hadn’t fooled Roberta, but she was willing to go along with his version of the incident. “Thanks. We done?”
Roberta shined a light in his eyes and had him follow it around until she nodded. “Looks like you’ll do, hotshot. Try to be a little more careful next time. Our Laurie Ann isn’t used to guys falling for her.”
Laurie Ann blushed, and Roberta laughed as if she’d heard the funniest joke in the world. Wyatt decided the joke was on him. He hadn’t fallen because of Laurie Ann. He’d ducked to get out of the way of a bullet.
If he hadn’t twisted instinctively when he dropped, his arm wouldn’t have been in the way of the bullet. His chest was the target.
The arsonist wanted him dead.
Chapter 24
Laurie Ann puttered around her yard, snipping here, weeding there. After the eventful morning, Wyatt had set up his computer in her dining room. When his mother had phoned a few minutes ago, she’d stepped outside to give him privacy.
Not that he’d asked, but she would have expected the courtesy if the situation were reversed. What must it be like to be related to the President? Would legions of elite soldiers descend on her place and spirit him away to safety?
Wyatt didn’t act like he was entitled to better security, but maybe his family thought so. She groaned. Would she get reprimanded for his brush with death today?
One thing was certain. He looked right sitting at her table. A long time ago, she’d asked her dad how he knew her mom was the woman for him. He’d said she looked right in his world. That comment had mystified her for years, but she finally understood. It didn’t have anything to do with appearance. Instead, she was responding to the image of Wyatt using her things. His hand on her coffee mug. His shoes by her door. His smile as he washed the dishes.
Given the fact that someone had taken a shot at him, she wouldn’t allow him to return to the hotel tonight. With their chemistry, the evening had the potential to become intimate. Did she want that? He’d been up front about wanting her. He’d also said he was lousy at relationships. If they got involved, it would be painful when he left.
What she wouldn’t give for a sister right now. She’d love to voice her thoughts and fears. Instead, they swirled endlessly around in her head. She was too picky. Life was passing her by. She didn’t take chances. With Wyatt, she had a chance at experiencing passion.
But she had to think about her career.
Would being a great cop sustain her for the rest of her life?
Should she sacrifice in one area to achieve success in another?
Why couldn’t she be a top-notch investigator and still have a personal life? Where was it written that women had to choose between career and family? Those archaic days were long gone. She wanted it all.
“You going to cut that shrub to the ground?” Wyatt asked.
She shrieked at the sound of his voice. “You snuck up on me.”
His devilish grin surprised her. “I did.”
She noted his color had evened out after eating and working on his computer. The effects of being shot must have worn off. “I bet you gave your sisters fits.”
“I might have.”
“Is everything okay at home?”
“They’re fine. Mom was checking on me.”
“Lucky you.” Laurie Ann glanced down and saw that she had cut the lantana to the ground. Good thing it was a perennial. It would come back bigger than ever. She gathered up her clippings and carried them over to her new compost pile.
“It doesn’t feel so lucky to have them hovering over me,” he said. “I wish they’d accept the fact I can take care of myself.”
She brushed off her hands and turned to face him. Wyatt was temptingly close. Her heart did a funny leap. “I have the same problem with my dad.”
How dull, talking about families when she wanted to take action, when she wanted to leap into an affair with Wyatt, when she wanted to rip his clothes off.
If you envision it, you can make it happen.
She’d heard that at a vision-boarding seminar she’d attended.
Why not?
In her mind, she reached for his shirt and unbuttoned it.
Chapter 25
Wyatt wondered about Laurie Ann’s mysterious expression. In a few short days, she’d gone from stranger to friend, and it wasn’t enough. She was no longer a cop or a job. She was Laurie Ann, a person with feelings, with a family, and with a large heart. Her caring for others was such an integral part of her make-up.
Self-conscious about staring, he glanced at her sweet-smelling flowers. Her three-legged dog sniffed his way through the blossoms. “It’s peaceful back here,” he said to fill the silence. “I see why you enjoy living in the woods.”
“My grandmother always had flowers. Those big azaleas over there are older than I am.”
“I see pear trees, two figs, a lemon tree, and a grape arbor by the old fence.”
“I added the lemon tree. Nothing like ripe lemons right off the tree.”
“With such a green thumb, I’m surprised you don’t have a vegetable garden.”
“I tried, but there were so many weeds, it became a chore. I do have a soft spot for flowers, though. One day, I’ll have more time for a vegetable garden.” She turned to face him. “Enough about me. How about you? Did you finish your work?”
“I’m running some searches. I’ve been cross-checking the historical fires here with the new state database.”
“You think the arsonist lives here?”
“I think he spends time here. Maybe he’s someone’s grandson that visits frequently. Maybe he owns a fishing cabin. I can’t say yet.”
“How many suspects are you talking about?”
“I started with ten suspects, but I’ll be lucky if five of them amount to anything.”
Her eyes danced with interest. “It could take a while to track down ten murder suspects.”
He edged closer to her, filling his lungs with her heady scent. “It could take a while to find an arsonist.”
She released a husky laugh and closed the remaining inches between them. Her eyes never left his face. “As you know, my assets are totally at your disposal.”
Birds chirped. A light breeze stirred strands of her sun-kissed hair. His gaze narrowed to the lower lip she was chewing. He had to be reading her right.
Please, dear God, let this be her green light.
“Are you flirting with me, Dinterman?”
“What if I am?” Her brows arched to match her sassy tone. “Whatcha gonna do about it?”
He tipped her chin up and brushed her lips with his. A soft sound in the back of her throat sent him over the edge. Desire fanned into a full three-alarm blaze. His hands stroked her spine, his fingers slid through her silky hair. His thoughts fogged. He wouldn’t be satisfied with a kiss this time. He wanted to feel the slide of her smooth skin against his.
With regret, he pulled back from the kiss, his pulse thundering. He gazed into the depths of her luminous eyes. “You sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
He fought for a breath. “I don’t know what this is between us or where it’s going, but I feel so close to you, so connected. I want to touch you all over.”
“I want that, too.” Her fingers clutched his shirt.
He kissed her again, feeling the thrust of her nipples in his chest, the heat of her lean hips molded to his. “Inside,” he managed as she fought him for the embrace.
“Outside,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
He realized she was caught in the same fever. Unlike her, he wasn’t far enough gone to want their first time to be in the yard. Without another word, he scooped her into his arms and hurried up the back steps.
“Door,” he gritted, trying not to think about the pain in his hurt arm.
She opened it. The dog followed them inside.
“Which way?” he asked as she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt.
“Second door on the left,” she muttered between the feathery kisses she placed on his chest. “But I can walk. I’m too heavy for you to carry with that arm.”
He stopped in the hall to taste her again. His blood heated to the flashpoint. “You’re just right. Everything about you is perfect.”
She writhed in his arms and sensuously flowed down his length. He held his breath as she encountered the part that was rock hard. The firm curves of her hips and breasts burned into his skin.
A rush of desire shot to his knees, causing him to slump against the wall. Like a fiery backdraft, the sensation stole the air from his passion-starved body. Who needed air? Flames tinged his carnal thoughts.
Laurie Ann’s hands stilled. “Are you all right? Is it your arm?”
“My arm’s fine. It’s you. The heat of you. The smell. The taste of your kiss.”
“Good.” She planted a kiss on him that made his head spin. Then she lifted her arms and tossed her shirt to the side. The sight of her went straight to his groin, and the stroking of her hands on his chest didn’t help keep things in place.
His cop didn’t do anything halfway.
Neither did he.
They needed a bed. He needed—protection. He hit the brakes, moisture beading on his brow. He didn’t carry a condom in his wallet, a practice he needed to reinstate. “Laurie Ann. I don’t have protection with me. Do you have anything?”
“I do. Indeed I do.” She reached back, unclasped her bra, and tossed it on the floor. “Follow me.”
She stopped at a bedside table and withdrew a box. Economy pack. Unopened. His heart raced faster. When she couldn’t get the box open, he snagged the package and bit through the plastic wrapping. She grabbed it back and shook it over the bed, as if the prophylactics were scented rose petals.
With a deep chuckle, Wyatt drew her into his arms and tumbled onto the queen-sized bed, sending the cat on a fevered exit as Wyatt took the brunt of the fall, then rolled to be on top. “I love preparedness in a woman.”
He levered his weight on his elbows to keep from crushing her. She locked her legs around his waist. “In a hurry?” he asked as she rolled them and took the top position.
Her fingers mussed his hair. She shifted urgently against him. “Can’t wait.”
He skimmed her breasts, caressing the peaks of her nipples. He kissed her again, drawing in her sweetness and warmth, her wholesome enjoyment of lovemaking. How was he so lucky?
He stopped to gaze at her again. From her creamy skin to her chestnut hair, she was all woman. And she was on fire for him.
“
Wyatt.
”
“Patience,” he said, opening her cargo pants, feeling the swell of moist heat against his palm.
Her fingers sank into the tight muscles of his shoulders. “Nice. So nice,” he whispered.
She stroked down his bare chest and over his pants. He closed his eyes to the pleasure. God, her touch lit him up like a wildfire.
When she reached for the fastenings of his pants, he stayed her hand. They were about to go super nova, and he had more areas to taste.
“Need—” His thoughts shattered as her fingers closed over him. “More,” he said greedily, luxuriating in the touch. “Need more. Touching, I mean,” he finally managed as he stroked her steamy depths.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, opening wider for him.
Sweet tension knotted his body as he discarded the rest of their clothing. He fondled her full breasts, lavishing them with kisses, savoring their dusky tips. He kissed a trail down her flat belly.
So muscular, his cop.
She shrieked with laughter and need as his lips followed his hands to her sweet spot. The scent of her drove him wild.
His name rolled off her lips with a keening sound. He donned the condom and moved back up to kiss her again.
She pointed to his arm.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s minor. I have a higher priority here. Us. This is our moment.” With that, he sheathed himself in her. He’d never felt anything so exquisite.
He kissed her and caressed her until she shimmered like heatwaves on beach sand. She was so beautiful.
“Please,” she whimpered.
He set the rhythm, his hands on her hips, his eyes full of her. They were so close. He felt the ripples inside her. Moments later, she arched and climaxed. He followed her over the summit, a fiery joyride to the stars.
Chapter 26
Laurie Ann clung to Wyatt’s chest, drifting languidly through time and space, wanting this relaxed and connected sensation to last forever. Air from the ceiling fan swirled in lazy eddies across her bare back. Shadows stretched across the room. A sheen of moisture sealed her front to his.
They’d made it to her bed, barely. She blushed remembering the brazen way she’d been with him. That wasn’t how she acted. At least, not with anyone else. Something about Wyatt made her bolder, demanding, and playful.
She’d never felt so exhausted or satisfied. Lying here with him seemed the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe she should handcuff him to her bed. The thought made her smile.
“What?” he asked, his fingers massaging the back of her head.
“I feel…good.”
“Must be going around. I’ve caught the same bug.”
She pushed up to study him. He seemed so at ease in her bed. The shadow of a beard gave him a rakish look. The burn scars on his lean and muscular torso were marks of honor. He was a hero.
Her hero.
She bent down to kiss his scars.
“Don’t,” he said, looking away.
She touched her lips to another badge of courage, then caught his hand. “Why?”
He took his time answering. “My scars. They’re…ugly.”
She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand until his gaze met hers. “No, they’re not. Each one is who you are. What you gave of yourself for the job. You should be proud of them.”