Page 11 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

He didn’t want her.

He fucking craved her.

Neither of them had said anything when they walked her to her car in silence.He’d given her a tight smile and a noncommittal hmmm when she’d rolled down the window before she hit the road.

“Same path, same time.If you think you can handle it.”

Throwing his truck into park, he killed the engine and got out.

He could handle it.

After all, there was a guaranteed end to whatever game they decided to play.Whether it was two weeks or seven, he was walking in knowing it.And so was she.

Breaking into a jog, he headed down the eastern trail.

Every other part of his life was on track.Serpent’s Tongue Ink was not only staying afloat and paying the bills, he and Ryder had managed to build up a small surplus they’d squirreled away for an emergency.Grey’s car needed a bit of work to keep it on the road, but it was nothing the two of them couldn’t tackle on a weekend.River was steadily building his career, the swimsuit modeling gig he’d landed a few months back plastering his half-naked ass all over social media.

And Winter wasn’t going anywhere for another fourteen years.Nine, with good behavior.

A few weeks of selfish indulgence wouldn’t derail anything he’d sacrificed for.

He picked up his pace and closed in on the blond ponytail ahead, almost tripping himself up when he caught sight of his handiwork running down the length of Jocelyn’s spine, only a few inches of it hidden from view by her black sports bra.

It was mesmerizing, the way the black ink moved along her back and disappeared under the band of her leggings.The memory of her spread out on his chair waiting for him to mark her pulsed through his head and down to his hands and he clenched his fists, keeping himself from reaching out and touching her as he caught up and hit his stride.

“You’re late,” she panted without removing her earbuds.

“Your ass looks great in those leggings.”When she gave him an unimpressed glare, he grinned.“Sorry.Thought we were playing the obvious game.”

They ran the rest of the loop in silence, her pushing harder during the final stretch and him dragging his feet up the last hill while half-wishing lightning from the clear sky overhead would strike him down.

He collapsed on the grass where she paced to cool off, rolling onto his back and tossing his arm over his eyes.“I think you need to carry me to my truck, because I’m dead.”

She grabbed his foot and tugged with an exaggerated grunt before straddling his waist.“I’ll bring a shovel with me after breakfast and just bury you here.But I have to warn you, it’ll be a shallow grave because I have work to do this morning.”

His exhaustion forgotten, he glanced around to ensure they were alone before putting his hands on her hips.“Interested in hanging out tonight?My last client should be done by seven.”

She ran her hands across his stomach, patting his chest as she hopped off him.“There’s a nine o’clock showing of that new thriller, so why don’t you pick me up around eight thirty?That should give you enough time to pick me up a thong you might like to see on me some time, since the one I wore last night wasn’t tempting enough.”

*

Jocelyn turned offthe gravel road onto the highway and pulled over at a rest stop before making her call.

“Hey, Angelo,” she greeted her boss, while she hunted through her purse for her lip gloss.“We can strike the Clamburgh Road address off the list of potential locations.Unless you think someone in the graveyard is hiding something.”

She could envision Angelo Herrena in that moment, removing his glasses and folding them, setting them on his desk as he leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his face in frustration.“That leaves the Hullenshead one and the Knot Hill one.Are you close to either right now?”

“Nope.Opposite directions,” she replied, checking the time.“I can probably knock them both off tomorrow if I get an early start, though.”

She could hear the rustling of paper through the speaker.“Works for me.But call me before you go out.I’ve heard rumblings the local police are sniffing around, so if I get the official word, you’ll need to work with them.”

“Will do.Talk to you tomorrow, Herrena.”

“Jocelyn?”Angelo called out moments before she hung up.“Make sure you’re tracking mileage and keeping your receipts.And remember to keep your wits about you.We don’t know the scope of this case or who the major players are yet.”

“Always do.At least, I always do, now.”

Ending the call, she continued on to Epson, hitting the town limits shortly after five and deciding to swing by her parent’s house to kill some time before her date.

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