“I fell asleep with the window open,” I explained sheepishly. “Bonehead move. The rain came in sideways. Soaked half the bed.”
Somewhere above us, the wind swirled. The constant patter of raindrops against the roof was growing heavier now, as the eye of the storm passed over us.
“I was… about to grab the couch or something,” I stammered. “The window’s closed now,” I added quickly. “I’ll clean it all up in the morning of course, and—”
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
Roderick’s offer fell in the dead silence between two lightning strikes. Both were loud and obnoxious. Both made the moment a thousand times more dramatic.
But it was already a pretty big moment.
“Really?”
“Sure,” he shrugged simply. “My bed’s dry, and that couch sucks. A lot.”
I hesitated, staring at my gorgeous brunette boss in his tight black T-shirt. For the first time I noticed he was wearing boxers, not shorts. Boxer briefs actually. The kind that hugged… all sorts of things.
“I… uh…”
He was usually clean-shaven but right now he hadn’t shaved in over a week. I had to admit, the beard coming in was sexy as hell. He’d trimmed it up nicely too.
“I know the rule,” he said in mock apology, “I’m not supposed to take you to bed with me until I guess your old profession.”
“Yeah, well it’s not like—”
“You were a cop.”
My heart stopped. My body stiffened.
“H—How’d you know that?”
He shrugged his granite shoulders. “It’s obvious.”
I squinted back at him skeptically. “You looked me up.”
Roderick chuckled. “Karissa Smith? No. I definitely didn’t look you up.”
He didn’t know my name, but then again none of them did. No questions. All payments in cash. It was all part of our deal, when I was first hired.
“So am I right?” he asked, crossing his big arms.
Outside the storm raged. The rain fell. Slowly, mechanically, I nodded.
“Good,” he said, without a hint of celebration or satisfaction. “Let’s go then, while my bed’s still warm. Standing out here’s getting a little creepy anyway.”
Seventeen
KARISSA
His hand was strong, his grip firm as Roderick led me down the hallway, and into his bedroom. The confidence was sexy. So was the way his ass looked from behind, hugged tightly by his boxer briefs.
Easy, girl.
It was hard to be easy. He was just so hot. Darker and more brooding than Bryce or Camden. But also, just beneath that hard outer shell, something warmer. Something sweet.
“You need a new shirt.” It wasn’t a question, but more of a statement. “No way you’re getting into my bed all soaking wet.”
He rooted around in a top drawer for a moment, then came back with a printed Tee. He tossed it to me, then turned around to face the windows, like a gentleman.
“Red Hot Chili Peppers?” I mused.
“Uh huh.”
I shimmied out of my wet shirt and into his dry one. Right away I felt immeasurably better.
“Ever seen them in concert?”
He shook his head, silhouetted by a lightning flash. “No.”
“You really should.”
Thunder struck, loud and overwhelming. It shook the walls. Or at least it sure felt that way.
“Which side do you want?” I giggled.
“You pick.”
“Uh uh,” I teased. “It’s your bed. Besides, you won the contest.”
Roderick turned, and there was mischief in his eyes. But he was also sizing me up. Trying to figure out where this was going, and perhaps whether or not taking me to bed meant taking me to bed.
“What was it like?” he asked abruptly.
“What?”
“Being a cop.”
I pursed my lips and shrugged. “It’s a lot like other jobs, in some ways,” I said. “But in others…”
He cocked his head, really listening. He had his hands folded across his chest. With the lightning illuminating him from behind, he looked like a superhero.
“Get into bed and I’ll tell you.”
BOOM!
Thunder ripped the air between us, driving us both under the sheets of the big bed. Whether it was for warmth, or comfort, or security from the storm… our hands and bodies somehow found one another.
“Fuck,” I swore. “That was loud.”
“Sure was.”
We propped our elbows on our pillows, facing each other in the darkness. It felt like a sexy sleepover. The rain was so loud now, our faces were drifting closer in order to hear.
“You have a king-sized bed,” I noted. “You all do.”
“All of us, eh?” he replied. “And how do you know that?”
Fuck.
“I’ve seen the other guys’ doors open,” I lied.
“Uh huh.”
“I have.”
“We’re big guys,” he shrugged. “These are big rooms.”
“Maybe,” I allowed.
“We like to stretch out. We have long bodies. We work hard.”
Another streak of lightning illuminated two penetrating hazel irises. I got the sense they were burning into me, stripping away the nonsense.
“Seriously, how did you know I was a police officer?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Well for one, you don’t take anyone’s shit,” he said. “You’re tough. Authoritative. You get things done. Plus you curse like a truck driver,” Roderick smirked. “Sometimes, anyway.”
I still couldn’t believe it. I lay there staring at him, my mouth slightly open.
“Up north somewhere, am I right?”
I tried to keep cool, to not stiffen. Again I nodded.
“Whereabouts?”
My silence was drowned out by the alarms going off inside my head. I didn’t know what to do, what to say.
“Listen, your secret’s safe with me,” he said. “But looking at it from the right angle, it was pretty obvious. You were either a cop or a contractor. And judging by how much we had to teach you in the beginning—”
The flash of lightning was so bright it stopped everything. It was followed by three or four more flashes, all happening in the same instant, lighting up the old bedroom as bright as broad daylight.
Yikes.
I reached out for Roderick instinctively, and his arms were already open to take me in. I melted into him just as the thunder crashed. His arms wrapped around me, protecting me from the outside world. Shielding me from the spectacular explosion as my face dug comfortingly into his big, broad chest.
His bare chest.
“I… thought
