I was glad she was gone. I wanted her safe, and being around me would clearly not be safe.
But part of me missed her. Missed what might have been.
I missed the stormy color of her eyes. I missed the way her hair fell over her forehead. I missed her smile. I wanted to know what it would be like to suck her lip into my mouth and nip at it with my teeth. I wanted to hear her moan my name in the middle of the night…
Yep. I was acting like a damn woman. A damn, horny woman.
I shoved away from the wall and walked back into the club. I wasn’t sure how much damage I had done to my cover in the last few minutes, but I needed to find out.
Hell, part of me hoped my cover was blown, that I totally ruined all chances of being trusted, being pulled into whatever operation they had going on. It was impossible to have a life when you couldn’t be yourself.
But this case was bigger than me. It was bigger than my life.
It sucked to have to give up something that I really wanted, but I didn’t have a choice. This was my job. The safety of others was important to me. I thought about the kids that lost their life due to drugs… I thought about everyone who lost their life to drugs. Senseless deaths. All of them.
Cracking this case would mean helping to lower the number of senseless deaths. I wasn’t naive enough to think I would stop all drug-related deaths, that I would wipe drugs off the streets for good. But I could help. I could do something. Wasn’t something better than nothing?
Wasn’t one life better than none?
Of course me doing my job did have its price. The price was just personal. It was costing me Julie. Yeah, we only had one date. Yeah, maybe we would go out three more times and she would hate my guts. Maybe she was the kind of girl who would nag me to death about everything and wear ugly ass granny panties beneath her sexy little clothes.
I guess I would never know.
And that is what sucked the most.
My option for finding out what was between us was gone.
Slater was sitting at the booth, which was surprisingly vacant… He barely looked up when I slid across the cheap vinyl seat. I picked up a beer, not knowing whose it was, and took a long pull. Then I took another.
If I hadn’t known beforehand that Slater was undercover, I never would’ve guessed he was a cop. He had closely cropped dark hair, dark eyes, and a square jaw. A brooding and arrogant air surrounded him at all times. He fit in well with this crowd. He looked like he belonged on the streets with them. Slater barely spoke and gave the impression he barely paid attention to anything but beer and women, but I knew better.
He hid a sharp and cunning mind beneath his streetwise exterior.
I drained the rest of the beer and set it down on the table, slouching back against the booth. Slater glanced at me.
“What the hell was that?” he said.
I did a quick scan of the area around us to make sure none of the crew was listening.
“They’re in the bathroom, cleaning up Dom’s face.”
I smirked. He was a pansy ass. I still wasn’t sure how he became the quote-unquote “leader” of the organization here, but somehow he pulled it off.
“I can’t believe you went at him like that,” Slater said, picking up a beer and taking a sip to cover the fact he actually spoke a long sentence.
“She’s off limits,” I said, no room for debate in my words.
Slater studied me. “Gets messy when you work on your own turf.”
I didn’t say anything. But he was right. Working undercover in the same town I lived in posed a whole new set of challenges to go with the others I already faced.
“That display of temper actually bought you some points,” Slater said around another large gulp of beer.
I tipped my chin as I spoke. “How?”
“You went right after the boss. No fear. Most guys—especially new ones—try to prove themselves.”
“I ain’t got nothing to prove.”
Slater’s lip curled up on the side. “Not now you don’t. Word of advice?”
I spread my palms wide, inviting the advice.
“Don’t do it again. He’s the kind who wants strong people around him, but if he thinks you’re going to try and take over, you’re out.”
I let those words sink in. A couple of the crew members came back to the table, giving me apprising stares. I kept my body relaxed, but inside, adrenaline pumped through me, putting me on high alert.
One of these lackey’s might decide they wanted to “prove” to the boss that they got his back by coming after me.
The ring in my lower lip stung and irritated me. I didn’t know how people with fifty piercings did it. I suppressed a sigh. This was just one more thing to suck up for the job.
Dom came out of the crowd and stopped to talk to a few people at a nearby booth. He picked up one of the beers and saluted the table, then turned his eyes toward me.