Page 48 of Dark Memories
“No, but a man can hope it could happen. Sometime in the future. But for tonight all I’m asking is for us to order a pizza, crack open a few bottles of your favorite beer, and watch a movie.” Like they used to. A quick call to his chef this morning and James had her preferred beer and a dozen limes waiting to lime down the beer cooling in the refrigerator. Beer limeade she used to call it. She had no clue the lengths he would go to make her happy, but she would soon learn.
“Now there’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
Thank you, God.“I’ll wake up Kali and get her fed, then—”
“She wanted a picnic in her fort, so I made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Her dessert was cookies and a pear. Hope that was okay.”
“Sure. I need to pack for her trip and get her into bed.” He glanced at his watch. “Meet in about thirty minutes?”
“She wants to sleep in her fort tonight, if that’s all right with you. And I’ll help you pack if you want.”
“It is and I do.” He stood and held out his hand. When she hesitated before putting her hand in his—where it belonged—he made a decision. He wouldn’t kiss her again. She had to want it as much as him. If there was to be more kissing, she would have to be the one to put her mouth on his.
Chapter Fifteen
“He’s being too quiet. I don’t like it,” Harry said the following Monday morning. She, Eve, and Gabe were in Eve’s office, bringing Gabe up-to-date on the case.
Her partner was back from his engagement vacation and hadn’t stopped grinning since walking into the station. Before last week she would have been tempted to snarl at Gabe’s happy mood, but something had changed the last few days. She was feeling a tad happy herself, not that she was going to shock her fellow detectives by smiling. They’d all swear the apocalypse was happening and run for cover. That or mercilessly tease her, asking stupid things like who was she and what had she done with Harry.
That was another thing.Harry. When the other detectives had started calling her that, she’d been good with it. It made her feel like one of the guys. Delaney had been that other woman, the one who’d been deliriously in love with stars in her eyes and believing the future was all rainbows and unicorns. Delaney had been a fool. Harry was tough. She was smart. Her heart beat for no one but herself. Harry couldn’t be hurt because she allowed no man past the thick walls she’d erected.
Now, though, she found herself missing Delaney. Delaney laughed, she played, and she kissed the sexiest man alive… In her opinion, anyway. Because it had been Delaney who’d kissed him last week, not Harry.
She’d thought there would be more kissing—maybe even a lot—after Zach had seen Kali safely off to Italy, but no. They’d talked, catching each other up with their lives, they’d reminisced some about their time together, had watched five movies, and because James was back in Zach’s kitchen, she’d dined on some of the best food she’d ever tasted. The only time they’d been apart was when she left for a few hours to teach her self-defense class after getting his promise that he’d stay safely locked inside his home.
Not once had Zach kissed her, not even when they’d cuddled up to watch the movies. Why hadn’t he? She could have kissed him—told herself to—but as the hours passed and he hadn’t seemed interested in that particular activity, she’d lost her nerve. And the stupid thing was, the longer he went without kissing her, the more she wanted him to.
“It’s possible Davidson has decided to go underground instead of causing trouble and risking getting caught. We can’t keep manpower on Zach Jamison when there’s no indication he’s still a target,” Eve said.
Harry tuned back in to the conversation. “He’s waiting for us to lower our guard. As soon as he thinks we’re not paying attention, he’ll strike.” She believed that deep in her bones, and she was not going to leave Zach unprotected. If she had to use vacation time, she was sticking by his side until Davidson was behind bars again.
“Unfortunately the lab hasn’t been able to triangulate the location of Davidson’s burner phone,” Eve said.
That wasn’t a surprise. “I stopped by the lab this morning to see if they’d picked up anything on the security cameras at the mall. Davidson arrived in a taxi. After slashing Zach’s tires, he looked straight at the closest camera, gave it the finger, and then walked away. They were able to follow him to the street where another taxi was waiting. So he must have arranged that ahead of time.”
“Cocky bastard,” Gabe muttered.
Eve drummed her fingers on her desk. “Three more days, Harry. That’s it. If he doesn’t show his face, you’re off guard duty. Finish bringing Gabe up to speed on where things stand, then the two of you get busy and find your man.”
“So you got stuck with this Zach Jamison guy all week?” Gabe said when they were back at their desks. “You’ll probably extract your revenge for that when I least expect it.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Duh. Billionaire. Arrogant. Sense of entitlement. All the things you hate in a man.”
“He’s none of those things. Well, except for being a billionaire. He is that. But he’s nothing like what you’re picturing.” She narrowed her eyes. “Stop looking at me as if I’ve grown two heads.” He studied her for a moment, making her want to squirm. She managed not to.
“Say his name.”
“Why?”
“Humor me.”
“Fine. Zach Jamison. Happy now?”
A slow grin spread across his face. “Well, well. How the mighty have fallen.”
If that heat in her cheeks was her blushing, she was never going to forgive him. “What the devil are you going on about?”
