She’d hate me. I let him get away with his bidding and she would hate me more for it.
The certainty greets me at the same time as she does, with her beautiful smile that makes her high cheekbones appear even more feminine. Her tawny gaze and gentle sway of her delicate shoulders let me know she’s more than a few glasses deep.
“Hard day,” she says and her excuse comes with air of ease and flirtation before I can suggest a damn thing. Her smile doesn’t falter and the blush in her skin is hot against her sable skin. With the flowing lines of her slim-fitting, cream button-down tucked into her dark blue jeans, no one would deny that she’s beautiful.
How someone so soft, so elegant and sweet came into this profession, I’ll never know. It’s like Marcus sent her to me. The thought makes me close my eyes, lowering and tilting my head in search for the waitress.
Whiskey will be my lover tonight.
“It’s been a week since I’ve seen you.” There’s an accusation hidden in her tone which is harder now, lacking the flirtation she greeted me with.
“Just busy, promise I’m not cheating on you.” The words fly from my mouth without conscious consent as I glance up at her and those wide eyes blink rapidly, her thick lashes fluttering as if surprised, as if maybe she made up what I’ve just said in her mind.
I’m such a prick for leading her on. But damn do I love to be wanted by her. To be so obviously desired, it makes me feel in ways I’ve never felt before.
Thankfully Sandy interrupts the moment and I order my go-to Jack and Coke, although I don’t actually have to say the words. I simply nod when she asks, “The usual?”
“So,” I say and my gaze is drawn to Delilah’s slender fingers slipping around the base of her wineglass. The pale wine is fragrant, drifting to me and mixing with the sweet smell of whatever lotion she must use. “A case hit my desk today,” she starts and my hackles rise, prepared for whatever case it is to be the ghost that Marcus referred to. “The evidence is unreal, and I’m bored as hell. He’s an idiot for not taking the plea.”
Delilah’s discontent with not being challenged with work always bring a light to my eyes, a fire deep inside of me that blazes hot to tease her, to provoke her in ways I doubt any man has before.
“Is that the case with … what’s his name?”
“Tanner. Yes. It’s too easy to be fun.” She throws back the last bit of her glass and before I can stop her, the waitress stealing my attention for just a moment with the glass hitting the high-top table, she’s reaching for the thick red jacket dangling from the back of her chair.
“I’ve already had enough so I’m going to—”
My hand acts of its own accord, my fingers gripping around her slender wrist. My skin brushing against hers is hot to the touch, singeing and I’m quick to take it back, but Delilah stands there, still and caught in the shadow of what happened for only a split second.
My heart hammers, my pulse quickening although I don’t show it like she does. I can hide my desire so easily. I’m a bastard for even thinking about getting lost with her tonight.
I’ve seen this vulnerable woman standing only inches from me hide everything in the courtroom. I’ve seen her strong and vibrant but in front of me now, in a room full of people, the lights dimmed but the intention illuminated, she waits for me. She questions everything and I can so clearly see it.
“Right,” I say, my own needs protesting against the ease with which I sit back and the calmness in my tone. “Good luck with the trial, don’t fall asleep in there.” I leave her with a joke that doesn’t bring an ounce of humor to her eyes. Even though my gaze lands on the amber liquid as I bring the heavy glass up to my lips for a swig, the corners of her plump lips dropping are clearly seen in my periphery.
I don’t know what’s gotten into me. For years I’ve sat with temptation, joked with her and confided in her. The heat between us and the sexual tension is constant, but acting on it with all we’ve been through together would be wrong on so many levels.
“When are you going to take me home, Cody?” she says as her small hands land on the table. She leans forward, bringing a drift of her perfume and with a single glance, a peek down her blouse, exposing the smooth curves of her chest. The gold necklace she’s wearing dangles between her cleavage, swaying until I lift my gaze, staring back at hers that’s drowning in need and query.
I part my lips to answer her but she stands up straight, never breaking my gaze as she pulls her red wool coat around her shoulders and slips her black purse gracefully over her shoulder until it lands at her hip. She doesn’t back down. She’s never been so blatant, never been so clear as to what she wants.
“You want me to take you home?” I question her feigned innocence, but take another drink after. Alcohol and bad decisions taint the air between us.
“I had a really horrible week and I want someone to take me home,” she admits to me, teasingly even, taking her eyes from mine only to pretend to glance around the room for a suitable fuck.
Anger simmers with jealousy, but my own need and greed are far more prevalent.
“We’ve been friends for a while, Agent Walsh. Is that all we are? Just friends?”
The way her strength leaves her, the rawness and slight suffering that are evident in her pinched brow and tightened cords in her neck as she swallows, beg me to tell her the truth.
That I’ve wanted her from the first time I saw her.
Marcus
It’s colder in the evening, bitter cold. Of all the places we’ve been, I love this one the most. Lincoln Park is only miles away and I still remember the first time I saw her there. Going over the details of the crime, searching for answers everyone else couldn’t find. She doesn’t know how close she got and if it’s up to me she never will. She doesn’t need to be involved.
Cody Walsh though… I think if only she pushed, she’d be able to pull out every dark secret the man has. Just like tonight.
The wind brushes against my neck, leaving a pricking sensation that I tell myself has nothing to do with the way she provocatively leaned into him back at the bar. My gaze moves from the reflection of the moon against the windowpane to the soft curve of her back as she arches. His lips barely leave her skin… not even to breathe.
That’s the way I’d do it too.
Cars drive by and I don’t bother to look at them. I know they can’t see me here, motionless and bathed in the shadows from Delilah’s apartment building. She doesn’t know a damn thing about me; maybe she thinks she does, but she doesn’t. I know plenty about her, though.
Specifically, that she initially requested a different floor of this apartment building, even though this one was the only one with a vacancy on such short notice. I’m surprised she stayed and didn’t transfer apartments as soon as another came available. I waited for that transition, for the challenge of following wherever she went. The workaholic never made herself a priority. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised by it all.
But she does that to me more than anyone else. She surprises me.
Her head falls back, her lips parting and her hair laying across her shoulders then over her back as she moves. The repetitive motion is seductive, and Walsh is very much under her spell.