Chapter 10
“Clouds are just Mother Nature’s way of reminding you that shade can be passive aggressive.”
—It’s science
Hector
I had to take Sarge for a walk. Not because he needed to go out, but because I needed to get away from Iris before I did something stupid, like kiss her or fuck her senseless.
When she said she was drawn to larger men like me because she wouldn’t feel self-conscious being on top during sex, I instantly felt all the blood in my body rush to my dick.
Listening to her talk about her career and all her nerdy facts was damn adorable—all I wanted to do was kiss that super-smart mouth of hers.
If I dreamed up my perfect woman, Iris would be it. Yes, because she had the most amazingly sexy curves, but also because she was smart, kind, and loyal. She was everything you would ever want in a partner.
As much as I would love to be the man at her side, I couldn’t be. She deserved so much better than what I could give her.
After giving myself fifteen minutes to level my thoughts—especially the inappropriate ones—Sarge and I went back inside. I found Iris sitting on my couch with a bag next to her, some kind of fabric circle thing in her lap, and a bunch of string.
“I’m sorry if I made things uncomfortable,” she said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and avoiding any eye contact with me, indicating she was nervous.
I didn’t want her to feel bad, and even more than that, I did not want to discuss this topic further or risk getting another hard-on.
“Don’t apologize,” I told her. “I’m gonna go grab him a snack. Do you mind if I watch the game?”
“Oh sure,” she said, starting to grab the items in her lap. “I can move all my needlepointing stuff over so you can sit here on the couch.”
“I’ll take the recliner. Don’t worry about it,” I told her, needing to keep my distance from her.
I had no idea what needlepointing was, but I guess I was about to find out.
As soon as Sarge got his treat, he bolted into the living room and jumped up on the couch to sit next to her.
“Watch out, buddy. I don’t want to stab you,” she said to Sarge, moving some items around on her lap.
I was just about to sit down in the chair and relax when I heard a car door slam shut outside. Sarge barked and hopped off the couch, heading for the tall, narrow window by the front door. I followed him there since I wasn’t expecting any company.
I got there just in time to see Jennings and Diden walk up to my front door. I opened it since I knew they wouldn’t come here without a good reason.
“Hey,” I greeted them, opening the door.
“Hey, Chief. You mind if we come in?” Jennings asked.
Yes, I minded, because if they came in, it would take longer to get rid of them. Nevertheless, I opened the door wider and signaled for them to come in.
“Hey, Sarge,” Jennings said, leaning down to pet him, and then he turned the corner.
“Oh, sorry, man. I didn’t know you had company,” he said to me, looking half shocked that I had someone in my house, and even more shocked that it was a female.
“You two remember Iris O’Hara,” I said and then turned to Iris.
“Uh, yeah. I’m Jordan Jennings, but most people just call me Jennings,” he said to her, the shocked look still on his face.
“Good to see you again,” Iris said to him politely.
“I didn’t know you guys knew each other that well,” he said, and I heard the unspoken part about how weird he found this since I was one of the people originally assigned to the case.
Technically, it was pretty much fully handed over to the ISB now, but the optics were strange, and I knew it, and so did he.
“I worked briefly with her brother-in-law and sister, so we’ve met before,” I said, giving him just enough to answer his question, and then I tried to move on.
“What’s up?” I asked him, hoping to make whatever this was quick.
“Uhh, some prick from the ISB called to let us know Ms. O’Hara’s apartment was broken into and they think it might be from the podcaster, Steve Stanton,” Diden chimed in, having just come fully into my living room after petting Sarge.
Both she and Jennings looked back and forth between the two of us, likely feeling uncomfortable talking about this in front of Iris.
“That’s why she’s here,” I told them. “I met with the officers at her apartment and walked through what we had on our end so they had everything they needed to see if it is, in fact, the same guy. They suggested she not stay there tonight, so she came here.”
Jennings nodded and then turned to Iris. “Uh, both of us have cabins nearby, so if this lug gives you any trouble, you’re more than welcome to stay with either of us.”
This motherfucker was not seriously asking her to leave my place and go hop to his...
“I’m okay. Thank you though,” she responded politely. “It’s just for one night until I can get myself set up at a friend’s house. And Hector has helped my family out before, so I know he’ll keep me safe.”
I felt a sense of pride in her words and also enjoyed that she had essentially shot him down.
“Well, it appears that you already knew about the break-in,” Diden said. “Sorry to bother you, Chief. You weren’t answering your phone, so we figured we’d stop by.”
I looked over at my phone, picking it up from the side table and noting the black screen. “It looks like it died. Sorry.”
“No big deal,” Jennings said. “Keep us posted on what you hear, especially if you need us to start making more patrols around the crime scene if this loser really does show up.”
“I will,” I told them.
“Thanks for taking the time to come by anyway,” Iris said to him politely while I internally rolled my eyes.
I walked them back to the door and locked up before returning to my chair to finally relax.
“That was nice of them to stop by,” she said to me.
Of course, she would think that. “Super nice,” I said, and even I could hear my voice dripping with sarcasm and disdain.
“Do you not like Jennings and Diden?” she asked me.
I sighed. “I do. I just don’t like people from work coming to my house,” I explained, also not liking how he flirted with her but choosing to keep that part to myself. “I see these people all day, so of course I would be thrilled to see them after hours as well.”
She smiled a weird smile at me.
“What’s that look for?” I asked her, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“I just never pictured you as the sarcastic type—mostly just broody,” she said with a grin.
“Yeah, well, punching people in the face is frowned upon by management, so I use sarcasm to get through the day,” I grumbled.
“That’s why I crochet and do needlepoint,” she said, nodding to the stuff in her lap. “Murder is wrong. Needlepoint is safer. I stab fabric so I don’t have to stab people.”
For the first time in a long time, I burst out laughing.
I slept terribly last night. Tossing and turning to thoughts of Iris. Thoughts of her being kidnapped. Thoughts of her being harmed. And also, thoughts of her amazing body, naked and underneath me.
I had never really let a bystander from a case get to me like this.
Realizing sleep was never going to come, I finally got up and started to make some coffee just as the sun was coming up. After letting Sarge out to do his business, I came back inside to hear the shower kick on down the hallway.
I powered through while she showered. She already consumed my thoughts hourly. I didn’t need a further reminder of how her body would look. It was excruciating knowing she was just on the other side of the wall—naked, wet, and touching her body.
Stop. Do not go there.
That would not be happening between us. It couldn’t. She not only deserved better than a flawed grump, but also—as observed last night with Jennings—the optics were bad.
I busied myself with making breakfast, which, since I didn’t cook very often, meant I was having a simple bagel.
I heard the bathroom door open and her bedroom door close, and images of her in just a towel filled my mind.
Focus.
With my mind distracted, I grabbed the bagel to spread the cream cheese but forgot I had just pulled it out of the toaster. I dropped not only the bagel slice on the floor, but the knife with the cream cheese spread already on it as well—directly onto my favorite flannel shirt.
I pulled it off and tried wiping the spread off, but I just ended up making a bigger mess. Giving up on the shirt, I threw it onto the far kitchen counter for now. I turned to put another bagel in the toaster just as Iris came into the kitchen.
“Do you want a bagel?” I asked her, looking up to see her eyes on my now bare chest.
She didn’t respond, either because she hadn’t heard me, or because she was too focused on my shirtless body. I watched in real time as the heat in her eyes grew darker, which caused my own lust to grow too, knowing she was enjoying what she saw.
If she kept looking at me like that, whatever morals I still had would be gone.
“Iris,” I said a little louder, hoping to get her attention.
“What? Uh…sorry. Did you say something?” she asked, her eyes now on mine, but her cheeks started to turn pink.
“I asked if you wanted a bagel.”
“Oh, umm, sure,” she said, looking down at the counter now and avoiding eye contact with me.
Seconds later, a phone buzzed on the counter, followed by Iris’s voice.
“Hello, this is Iris,” she said and then paused. “Oh, hi, Officer Clarkson.”
I turned to look at her to make sure what Clarkson was telling her wasn’t going to upset her, but she mostly just responded with “uh-huhs” and “okays” and a few “thank yous.”
“Okay, well, thank you for calling,” she said and hung up the phone as I put a plate in front of her.
“I don’t know what you like on your bagel, but I have cream cheese or butter,” I told her as I set both options down on the counter.
“Thanks,” she said, seemingly deflated.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she answered, nodding as though she was trying to shake the worry out. “Umm, he said I can go back to my place today, that they’re all done for now, but they may need to come back if they missed something.”
“That’s good,” I told her, assuming she’d be happy about this news.
“Yeah, totally. Definitely. Yes,” she said, nodding again as if saying it out loud multiple times would make her believe it.
“Do you work today?” I asked, something I probably should have asked her last night.
“No,” she said. “Unless there’s some kind of special event or we’re short-staffed, I usually just work Monday through Friday.
“Okay, well, even though it’s a Saturday, I have to run into the office for a few minutes this morning to sign some paperwork,” I said, deciding not to give her the specific details that the papers I would be signing were to have more patrols and barricades put up around where the body had been found now that someone was escalating things.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll just swing by and take care of that, and then I can take you over to your place. ”
“That’s fine,” she said. “My leasing office emailed and offered to change the locks and add a few more security features for me. I’m guessing because he doesn’t want word spreading that we’d had a break-in at our complex. This should give him enough time to do that.”
If not, I would offer to add some security features as well.
“Good. I can take a look at all of it for you when we get there,” I told her.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling up at me. “Can we bring Sarge with us?”
Did I want to? Not really.
Would I do it? Yes.
Why? Because she asked, and I was quickly learning that saying no to this woman was incredibly difficult.