24. Scarlett
Scarlett
The bright spot lighting in the police department parking lot wasn’t helping my nerves as I left the building just after midnight.
A couple of guys were huddled around a streetlight just off-site.
There were only two of them, and I was technically still at the police station.
It would be stupid of them to start trouble right here, but that still didn’t mean that I trusted them.
I walked to my car, unlocking it with my key fob to save time when I got to it.
“Damn, girl. What do I need to do to get you to arrest me?” one of the men said. Not even a man, really. It was hard to tell with the overhead glow of the streetlight casting shadows over his face, but I had to guess he couldn’t have been more than eighteen to twenty.
“Not really my thing, but there are plenty of big, burly guys inside if you’re looking for a thrill.
” I didn’t stop walking, and as I got closer to my car, the same guy who spoke started to come toward me.
I couldn’t let him know that he had me rattled.
He was just a punk kid who was probably bored on a Thursday night, and I was at the police department, surrounded by lights and cameras d protected by my colleagues inside.
As soon as I reached my car, I popped the door open just enough to climb inside and shut it quickly, locking it as well. The guy stopped where he was, no longer moving toward me, but now that he was closer, I could see his face in the bright department lighting. Cold, dark eyes stared back at me.
My hands were shaking as I slowly drove out of the lot, pointing my car in the other direction of my house.
Luke and I spent every moment we could together, and still, it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Every time with Luke left me so completely sated and yet wanting more.
With him on first shift today and me on second, we hadn’t made any plans after work. I was going to go back to my place, sleep in my own bed and all that, but that wasn’t where I was heading.
I pulled up along the curb in front of Luke’s—technically Wyatt’s—house and walked up to the front door.
My heart was still beating uncomfortably in my chest, the quick drive to the other side of town not doing anything to settle my nerves.
My knuckles had barely connected with the door when it was flung open.
A shirtless, groggy Luke stood before me, sculpted from stone and adorably sleepy.
“Letty Girl, what are you doing here?” His lips pulled up slowly in a tired smile. His arm hooked around my waist and pulled me to him. It was silly how quickly my mood turned around now that I was here. My breath rushed out of me at the sight of him.
It had been a few weeks since our skinny-dipping excursion… and so much more… and I still found myself dumb founded that I could touch Luke Wilder in all the ways I had dreamed, kiss him whenever I wanted.
My hands slid over his tight shoulders and down his back. “I didn’t want to go home.”
“Is everything alright?” He glanced around me to look up and down the street.
“Yeah. I just wanted to sleep with you.”
“Mmm,” he moaned. “Good, because I didn’t like not having you in my bed.” I lifted to my toes, and Luke sealed his mouth over mine. Any uneasiness from a few minutes ago disappeared when his tongue tangled with mine.
Luke hauled me to his chest, wrapping my legs around his waist, and kicked the door closed. He carried me into the bathroom and set me on my feet.
“You should have a toothbrush here,” he grumbled as he rifled through the cabinet under the sink for a spare.
My heart skipped a beat. It had only been a few weeks, and we were still exploring what this could mean for us. A toothbrush at the other person’s house was a big step. A sign of permanence.
“Do you think we’re at the toothbrush at each other’s house stage?” I laughed, infusing as much humor into it as I could.
He placed a new packaged, dentist-supplied toothbrush on the counter and locked eyes with me in the mirror.
“Yes.”
“Oh. Okay then. This one will be mine. I’ll pick up another spare for Wyatt when I go out.”
“Good.” He nodded. Before he left me in the bathroom to get ready for bed, he skimmed his hands down my arms, gathered my hands in his, and gently squeezed my fingers twice .
I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Luke was lying in bed with his hands behind his head, resting against the headboard, when I walked into the bedroom a few minutes later.
His sleepy, green eyes brightened as each article of clothing hit the floor.
“You are a work of art, Scarlett. If I could paint, I would want to pause this very moment until I captured your beauty on canvas.”
I started to laugh until I realized that he was being completely sincere.
“That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
He pulled down the sheets as I made my way to what was becoming my side of the bed. “It’s the truth. Although I’m not sure an eternity would be enough time to do you any justice.”
I kissed him deeply, trailing my fingers down his chest, then onto his abdomen, then lower again.
His deep groan was music to my ears. Luke gripped my waist tightly.
The way he touched me sent a shot of heat to my core.
His large hands splayed across my skin, his thumb making small, slow strokes just below the swell of my breasts.
With a quiet growl, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled my hand to his mouth, kissing my knuckles.
“You’ve had a long day, baby. Get some sleep, and tomorrow, you can tell me what really made you come by here tonight.”
His soft eyes were rimmed with concern. I should have known that keeping something from Luke would be impossible. Not only was he trained to detect—literally—but Luke had always had the ability to read me like a book with just about everything.
“It’s nothing,” I said.
“You’re safe with me. Sleep,” he said. His strong arm cradled me to his chest, and he placed a kiss to the top of my head. In all the time I had known Luke, I had crushed on him, lusted after him, but I think it was safe to say I was officially falling for him.
“Thank you, Luke. Good night.”
“Sweet dreams.”
* * *
My lids cracked open, and I peered at the empty spot on the bed next to me. A deep inhale filled my lungs with the scent of fresh coffee.
In the living room, I found Luke poring over pages of information from the folder on the coffee table.
“Good morning.” I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.
Well, it was supposed to be a quick kiss, but before I could turn toward the kitchen, Luke had pulled me down onto his lap.
One hand cupped my face while the other tangled in my very messy hair.
After being kissed so thoroughly, my skin tingled with desire, and we eventually had to come up for air.
“Good morning,” he smirked.
I had to shake off the dazed state he left me in. “Is that the Karrigan case file?”
“Yeah. I’ve been going over everything, looking for something that I missed the first time. I wanted to believe that Wes was wrong on this one, but after that note was left on your car, I can’t. There has to be more here than meets the eye.”
His steady heartbeat thumped against my chest. It was a reminder of his strength and care. I placed a light kiss on his jaw, leaving him to his review while I poured us both a fresh cup of coffee.
“Here you go.” I passed him a mug, taking a seat next to him. The cool autumn air mixed with the warmth of the coffee between my hands and Luke’s solid presence had me sinking into the cushions with a content sigh.
Luke placed his mug on the table and turned to me.
“Not that I’m not glad you’re here, because my day only gets better when I’m with you, but what brought you by last night?”
“It was nothing, really.”
“Letty, you had a frantic look in your eyes. It put me on my guard. Something happened, didn’t it?”
I put my mug next to his, sitting up to talk to him. “These two guys, kids really, were loitering near the police station last night, and one of them just creeped me out.”
He had this intensity to him as he listened to me. “Did they say anything to you?”
“Yeah, stupid stuff. They didn’t threaten me or anything.
They would have been idiots to do anything right outside of the station.
It was just…” I trailed off. I wanted to express what bothered me so much about them, specifically the guy who tried to approach me, but I wasn’t sure if I could put it into words.
Luke brushed my hair away from my face, waiting for me to continue without pushing. This, right here, was why I had come to Luke’s last night. With a simple hug from him, a touch of his finger on my skin, I had never felt more safe and secure.
“I didn’t like the look in his eye. It wasn’t a punk kid trying to get a rise out of me or thinking he was being funny. It was cold. I guess I just let it get to me, and I didn’t want to be alone last night.”
“You can stay here anytime, baby. Having you in my bed is never a hardship. You didn’t recognize them, I’m guessing.”
“No. He looked familiar, but it’s Calla Bay. Everyone looks familiar here.” I shrugged.
“Okay. If you see them hanging around again, let me know. I’ll swing by wherever they are and see if I know them.”
I agreed easily. “Thank you, babe. And thank you for letting me stay here.”
My fingers had just grasped the handle of my coffee mug at the same time Luke pulled me in for another kiss. The mug tipped over, spilling the contents onto the table directly next to the case file.
“Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry,” I shouted at the same time Luke said, “Shit, shit, shit.”
We both hustled to move the papers out of the way as quickly as possible, but one of the reports was too close to the chaos to save.
The full cup of coffee needed more than napkins to clean it up. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed a towel. When I got back to the living room, Luke was holding the soggy paper by the smallest pinch and trying to dry it out.
“I’ve got this mess. Why don’t you try to blot that dry in the kitchen?” I offered.
“No. This was my fault. I’ll clean it up. Besides, there’s no hope for this page anyway.”
“Do you know which document it is? Maybe I can get another copy of it.”
Luke’s eyes snapped to mine, his lips pulled into a hard line.
“You’re not getting anything.” After a deep breath, he continued.
“I appreciate everything you did to get me a copy of this, but please do not ever do it again. It was too risky the first time. I don’t think I would survive knowing you’re putting yourself on someone’s radar again. Especially not for me.”
“You’re the very reason I would be willing to risk it,” I said.
The coffee was mostly mopped up, a sticky residue remaining that would need to be cleaned.
I dropped the towel on the floor and wrapped my arms around his waist, placing a kiss to the center of his bare chest. “You need to have the entire file, or you’ll never know if you’re missing something because it was in this report or if it’s something bigger. ”
“It was the forensic evidence report for the cigarette we found near Alana’s body. It was inconclusive anyway, but I’ll reach out to them and see if they would send me another copy but to my personal email address.”
“I’m sorry.” I felt so terrible. It was obviously an accident, but we had both worked so hard to get copies of the file made, and to have even the slightest bit of it ruined because of my stupid coffee spill felt awful.
“You should be,” he agreed. My heart dropped.
Even though I’d agreed that it was my fault and I felt bad about it, I was still taken off guard by his words for a moment.
“If you weren’t so damn kissable, I wouldn’t have pulled you to me at the same time you were reaching for your cup.
So, I think we both agree this is really your fault for looking too damn good all the time. ”
I swatted at his chest. “You’re an idiot.”
“As long as I’m your idiot,” he smirked.
Luke finished cleaning the table while I started a load of laundry.
A few minutes later, I was back in the living room, a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me.
It was such a domestic scene, but it felt so right.
I didn’t know if I believed in fate or soul mates—that was more Claire’s domain—but moments like this, I had to admit that maybe she was onto something.
If there was such a thing as soul mates, there was no doubt in my mind that Luke was mine.