Page 16 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

“Oh my God, Birch,” she sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear.“I am so, so sorry.My phone battery drained so fast on the highway and neither of the guys had the charging cord I needed.You weren’t too worried, were you?”

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his forehead against hers.“Not at all.Just mentally replayed every single forensics show I’ve ever seen and made notes in case I needed to assemble a search party.”

She laughed, but he wasn’t kidding.

Ryder’s presence in the shop was the only thing standing between him and overreaction as the hours ticked by without hearing from her, the two texts he fired off to her going unanswered and unread.His imagination blended into his personal experience with the Epson PD and his thoughts became darker the longer he went without contact.Logically, he knew she was riding along the right side of the law and wouldn’t face the kind of rough treatment he and his brothers were given over the years.But he, Winter, and River still had scars from some of their interactions with the local cops.And seeing those marks on his brothers helped seal his opinion of their regional boys in blue.

Her thumb grazed across his jaw and he looked down, meeting her worried gaze.

“Birch?Why don’t we get pizza and go back to my hotel room?I don’t feel much like sitting in a restaurant tonight.”

If there was one thing guaranteed to slam his walls down fast, it was pity.He’d been on the receiving end of it his whole life.Teachers, nurses, bank tellers…a good half of the people in town who didn’t treat him and his brothers like scum shot right past empathy into an infuriating condescension.He could block it out whenever necessary, but seeing his younger brothers on the receiving end had made him hyperaware.Because there was a very big difference between being made to feel like the day’s charity case and being made to feel like someone gave a rat’s ass how he and his brothers ate that week.

With Jocelyn, her concern for him didn’t feel like pity.It felt almost protective, something he hadn’t experienced from a woman.Ever.

He followed her car to the hotel, knowing she had adjusted their plans to make him less wound, less tense.Sure, she might be tired after a long day and not too fond of the idea of being out in public, but he knew it wasn’t her own comfort level she was thinking about.

And damn if that didn’t put her higher onto that pedestal.

Following her through the large sliding doors, he answered her questions about the two clients he saw that day, one opting for a simple cartoon he suspected he’d be going over in a few years and the other a cover-up of a home job scorpion.

Kicking her stilettos into the corner of the room, she passed him the hotel’s local menu and grabbed a change of clothes from the closet.“Order from wherever and my boss will pick up the tab,” she called from the bathroom, while he sat on the expensive green sofa.“Add drinks and desserts, too.He owes me big time for spending six hours with all that misplaced testosterone.”

He scanned over the dinner options and called down to the restaurant with the order, feeling completely out of his element with the formality of the woman on the other end of the line.

And for the thousandth time, he wondered what the hell he was doing.

Jocelyn was not only out of his league, she had him spinning circles in the mud trying to figure out what was going on between them.He was certain she was going to kiss him in the bed of his truck last night, and again when she walked into his arms outside Serpent’s Tongue today.Both times, he saw desire lighting up those steel eyes moments before a flash of uncertainty dulled them, tossing up a barrier he wouldn’t cross no matter how bad he wanted to taste her.

Especially since he had a sinking feeling the barrier was spelledBAKERand came with a shit-ton of rumors.

She emerged a few minutes later, her business look replaced by oversized sweat pants and a tank top with a faded university logo emblazoned across the chest, her hair unpinned and wild around her shoulders.“How long until we eat?”

“Twenty-five minutes,” he replied, brows lifting when she walked over and straddled him, her knees pressing against his hips.Gripping the remote tight enough to snap it, he swallowed and tried to will his uncooperative cock into standing down.“Do you want to pick a channel or should I?”

“I don’t particularly care what’s on in the background,” she said with a smirk as she splayed her hands across his chest.“But no documentaries.Those are distractingly informative.”

The remote dropped from his hand when she dipped her head into the crook on his neck.She trailed her tongue up to his ear while her fingers tickled their way up to his shoulders.

Weaving his hands into her hair, he let out a low groan.“You’re killing me.I hope you remember that little tidbit when you’re giving my eulogy.”

“I will,” she breathed against his skin, her lips moving along his jaw.“Any guess which one I’m wearing tonight?And no peeking.”

He slid his hands down her body and grasped her hips, his thumbs hooking into the silky ribbon.“The turquoise one I can undo with a single tug,” he growled, his grip tightening to keep his fingers from doing just that.“I love this one.”

“You haven’t even seen it on me.”

“Don’t have to.”He grinned as she sat up straighter, her fingers trailing along the collar of his shirt.“I picked it out with you in mind, so I know it’ll look incredible.”

She bit her lip.“You haven’t asked to see it.”

“It’s not my place to make that decision.”

“Why did you buy them for me?”

“Because you told me to, and I figured they’d make you happy.”When she narrowed her eyes at him, he shrugged and skimmed his fingers over hers.“And while I definitely won’t look away if or when you want me to see them on you, they’re for you.Not me.”

He stopped talking there, not wanting to admit he was already scouting out more online, saving his favorites just in case.

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