Page 13 of Jackson
Get a grip, Stone.
He’s almost a decade younger, for heaven’s sake.
But her body didn’t care about logic.
The first time she had noticed him was when she had given a lecture at the Police Academy. His questions had been intelligent, and she had wondered where he had gotten such good instincts.
Becoming aware of him as a man had started later when she’d run into him on the job. Prior to the wedding, she hadn’t seen him since the racketeering case they had worked on a year and a half ago.
She couldn’t figure him out.
Something about him drew her to him. It wasn’t only his looks or his masculinity; she was surrounded by testosterone all day. Sometimes, it was so thick she thought it would choke her. Her ex-husband had oozed it out of every pore and hadn’t been able to stomach her getting promoted ahead of him. He had been sure she’d only made detective because the St. Louis department had been under pressure to hire more women and minorities. She clenched her fists merely thinking about him again.
Yeah, good. Anger is a good emotion.
Her ex-husband had been six-foot-two with a larger-than-life ego and had been really bad in the sack. His usual MO was pump, grind, release, and sleep without a care for her pleasure.
I hate big bad men with tiny dicks and no idea how to use them.
Only Jackson’s dick wasn’t tiny, and he certainlyhadknown how to use it.
Damn, stupid woman to think about his dick and what he could do with it right now. I haven’t always been this stupid around him. When did things change?
It took some effort, but she pasted on a professional smile. “Hello, Detective Cagney, how can I help you?”
His eyebrow arched at her formal greeting, as if he’d expected something friendlier after the night of the wedding, but he replied in a similar fashion. “Detective Stone. I have information on an old case of yours.” Jackson briefed her on his fingerprint discovery.
Paula closed her eyes when she understood the implications of his findings. “What a mess. This is going to affect Laura in so many ways. The man killed in that accident was her ex-husband. You weren’t on that investigation, but you remember the mess that followed, don’t you?” Jackson nodded and Paula continued. “We have to get Josh’s fingerprints first to exclude him from the investigation.
Jackson nodded. “I think it’s best if you get the prints. Less traumatic for the kid.”
Paula agreed with him. “I’ll call them right away.” She pulled out her cell phone, and Jackson took the hint and left. She couldn’t help but stare after him, admiring his ass while she waited for the call to connect.
Her friend answered on the third ring. “Hey, Paula. What’s up?”
“I’m not completely sure”—Paula sighed—“but we’ve finally run all the prints from the Miller house, and we need Josh’s to rule him out from the rest.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Do you want me to bring him down to the station or can you come here?”
“We get much better results with the digital scans, so it would be best if you could come to the precinct.”
“I’ll need to touch base with James and Henry Cole.”
“Henry Cole?” Paula tilted her head.
“Yeah”—Laura hesitated before elaborating—“he helped us with some legal issues when we first fostered Josh. I assume it’s okay to bring in a lawyer for this, right?”
Paula smiled despite Laura not being able to see her. “Absolutely. Henry’s a good choice.”
“Is this urgent or can it wait until tomorrow?”
“The sooner the better, but I think it can wait until morning.”
“I’ll call you back when I know Henry’s schedule, and we can set up a time.”
“Thanks, Laura. Bye.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
