Get a Clue(97)
“I get it,” he said dryly, stroking a finger over her temple along her hairline as a gust of wind hit, sprinkling a dusting of sparkling snow over them. “I scare you.”
“Yes.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “But you also make me feel. I mean really feel, and it’s just so good, it might be worth the pain.”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said through an aching throat. “No pain, Breanne.”
“You say that now, but you don’t really know all my faults.”
“They can’t be that bad.”
She laughed, then pressed her forehead to his. “I can’t even tell you.”
“I could tell you mine first, if that would help.”
“You could?”
He shifted more fully around, facing her now, putting his hands on her thighs. “I let work fuck with my head.”
“I know.” Everything within Breanne softened as he let her see the things he usually kept hidden: frustration, anger, even shame, and if she’d managed to hold back her heart at all, it tumbled hard in that moment. “Anyone would have after what you went through.” She rubbed her cheek to his, feeling her soul follow suit and tangle with his. “That you do what you do, day in and day out—”
“I walked away, remember?”
“But you’re going back.”
He looked down into her face. Slowly shook his head in amazement. “You seem so sure.”
“I believe in you, Cooper.”
“Even when I don’t.” He seemed unbearably touched at that. “You should know, being a cop in a relationship hasn’t worked out for me in the past.”
“Then maybe I’m not the only one who’s made poor choices.”
He laughed softly. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “I guess I am going back. Is that going to affect your seeing me in the real world?”
“Why would it, if being a cop is who you are?”
His eyes were misty, his voice a little hoarse. “I have other faults, too,” he warned.
“Please don’t say that you like to hum Elvis tunes.”
“I don’t hum Elvis tunes.”
“Thank God. Give me your worst, then. I know you put the seat down, and you don’t snore.”
“No.” He was smiling. “But I don’t fold my clothes. Hell, I don’t even own an iron.”#p#分页标题#e#
“But you like me in sweats. You get bonus points for that.” She kissed him then, gliding her tongue to his until she lost her train of thought. “I bet you never have problems deciding what to wear. Maybe you’ll rub off on me.”
“Tell you what.” He stroked his thumbs along her jaw. “I’ll rub you and you can rub me. Any time.”
She laughed. “Stop it. You don’t know how bad my faults are yet.”
“Name one.”
“My Visa is always hovering at the maxed-out limit, even though my closet is overflowing with more shoes than all of San Francisco could wear.”
“I don’t care what your closet looks like, but I’m rather fond of those lace-up boots. You have any more like those?”
“Stop it. I’m being sincere here. I’m a bed hog—”
“Now that I already know,” he said, wiping snowflakes from her cheek. “And I’m here to tell you, you can hog my bed any day of the week.”
“I also like to get my way,” she warned.
“Well, Princess, so do I. Maybe we could take turns.”
She stared at him, her throat burning. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“Baby, I’m serious as a heart attack. I don’t give a shit if you steal all the blankets and can’t afford anything but macaroni and cheese. Just so happens I have a closet full of blankets, and a savings account. Not a big one, but it could probably handle anything that comes up, Nordstrom sales notwithstanding.”
“The good stuff rarely goes on sale.”
“Give me a real reason we can’t see each other.”
She swallowed hard, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. “Because I like you.”
He looked as if maybe he didn’t see the problem.
“I really like you,” she said. “And that has never worked out for me before.”
“Does this feel like any of those other times?”
She blinked, and thought about that. “No. No, it doesn’t. Actually . . . this feels much different.”
“How does it feel?”
“Real,” she admitted.
He let out a rough sound of pleasure and hauled her across him, cradling her over his lap, pulling her close for a long, deep, and decidedly not sweet kiss. “You know,” he murmured when they came up for air, “I really thought life sucked. But then I saw you in that dark foyer, lighting the night with that pink vibrator.” He grinned when she smacked his chest, but then he took her hand and held it over his heart, his smile fading. “I’m falling for you, too, Breanne, and to walk away now, before we give it a shot, just doesn’t seem fair.”