Chapter 20
TWENTY
MAX
“Absolutely not,” I snapped before Bailey had a chance to respond. “It isn’t right to put her in danger when she’s already been through enough. She hasn’t healed yet, and you want to use her to lure out the person who did this to her?”
Nate stared at me as if I’d dressed in drag and burst into song. Usually, I’d be amused to see him so shocked but right now, I was too upset to find any humor in it. How dare he suggest using Bailey that way? Especially to her face when we all knew how much she liked to help and be involved.
“You should just do your job and find them without putting so much pressure on her,” I continued, on a roll. “It isn’t the victim’s responsibility to find the perpetrator.”
“Max,” he said gruffly.
Ignoring him, I turned to Bailey. “You shouldn’t do this.”
I knew how impulsive she could be. Combine that with her need to please people, and I worried that she’d do whatever Nate asked just to make life easier for everyone else.
She worried her lower lip. “I have to think about it.”
“You really don’t.”
“I think you’re a bit worked up,” Nate said, and I shot him a glare. “Maybe take a breath.”
“Take a breath?” I demanded incredulously. “I beg your pardon?”
Next, he’d be telling me I was hysterical and just needed to calm down. I was perfectly reasonable. He was the one suggesting that a vulnerable, injured woman expose herself to the lowest scum of society.
Nate gestured at the window. “Don’t the flowers look great? Real fucking pretty.”
I glanced out. The neighbor’s garden was overflowing with beautiful shades of pink, purple, and yellow, but if Nate thought the sight of them would take the edge off my mood, he was sorely mistaken.
“Will both of you be quiet?” Bailey shouted, giving me pause.
When we turned to her, she eyed us warily before nodding.
“Nate, I’ll think about it. I don’t want to be in danger but—stop, Max,” she snapped when I started to interrupt.
“I can’t go on worrying indefinitely that someone might be hiding in every shadow. ”
I drew in a deep breath and let it out in a gust. I could understand that. I wouldn’t want to live in a perpetual state of fear, either, but I didn’t think risking her own safety was the best way to go about things.
“You won’t be in danger.” Nate made an impatient sound. “We can arrange things so that you’re never at risk.”
I didn’t say anything in response to that, and nor did she. I think we were both aware that there was only so much the police could do to ensure anyone’s safety.
I touched her arm and tuned Nate out, knowing that if I wanted any chance of talking her around, I’d have to put everything on the table. “I get it, but I care about you a lot, and I can’t stand to see you get hurt again.”
Her eyes widened, and she reeled back slightly. My stomach dropped. Considering the way we’d kissed, I thought she’d at least be open to the idea of exploring something between us.
Was I wrong?
Just as I was about to release her and apologize for making her uncomfortable, she walked into my arms, slid her free hand around the side of my neck, and kissed me.
“Whoa!” Nate exclaimed.
I hardly heard him, too preoccupied with the soft, lush lips pressed to mine. I breathed her in, herbs and sunshine, and my mouth curved in a ridiculous grin that I couldn’t quell even when she giggled and ran her thumb along the corner of it.
She raised her eyes to mine, becoming serious. “I care about you, too, and I’d never want to make you worry, but I need whoever did this locked up so I can sleep properly again and work without being afraid that I might get jumped.”
I was tempted to tell her that she could move into my bed permanently and I’d help her sleep, but she angled herself away from me toward Nate, even though she stayed close enough that our bodies brushed in several places.
“Like I said, I’ll think about it. We’d have to discuss details, and I’d want to talk it over with other people before agreeing to anything.”
She looked up at me from beneath her eyelashes, her expression uncharacteristically shy. It was almost as though she was having as difficult of a time believing this new development in our relationship as I was.
Impossible.
Surely she knew how irresistible she was.
She tilted her chin up, her lips awaiting a kiss, and I was only too pleased to duck my head and give her what she wanted. She wrapped her arms around me, and I brushed my lips over hers in teasing kisses until she became soft and pliant in my embrace.
A throat cleared.
Neither of us paid any attention.
There was a curse and then footsteps moving away.
Bailey pulled back a few inches and smiled at me, her gaze flitting over my face before her eyes met mine. “I have a confession to make.”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Her teeth dragged over her red lower lip. “I’ve admired you for a long time, but I thought you wouldn’t look twice at someone like me.”
I frowned. “Like you?”
Her mouth twisted. “Frivolous.”
Was that really how she saw herself?
“You’re not frivolous,” I said firmly and rubbed the back of my neck. “I, uh, have had feelings for you for a while, but I figured I was too boring for someone as vivacious as you.”
Her eyes widened minutely, then their corners crinkled with mirth. “Are you saying we’ve both had crushes but avoided doing anything about it and that if one of us had been braver, we could have been together all this time?”
Put like that, it sounded ridiculous. But also, true.
I laughed. “I suppose so.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’re too silly to make adult decisions. Please don’t ever tell Summer we had this conversation, or I’ll never live it down.”
“My lips are sealed,” I promised.
“But we know now, right? So we can do something about it.”
With a grin, I kissed her. This time, it didn’t remain chaste. Her tongue flicked along the seam of my mouth, and I opened and met it stroke for stroke.
Her grip tightened on my shirt, and she tugged me against her, all lean limbs and soft curves. I tried to keep my touch gentle, determined not to hurt her, but when she practically plastered herself to me, it was difficult to hold back.
I did, though. My touches remained light, and I gave my full focus to the kiss. She tasted faintly of green tea, and she whimpered into my mouth, seeking more.
“Bailey,” I murmured, scarcely daring to believe this was real. “I—”
The doorbell rang, cutting me off.
I checked the time and my heart fell. “Shit, I have an appointment.”