Page 18 of Bombshell (Whiskey Dolls 1)

I sure did. “Slutzilla attempted to caress unsub’s chest, but he stepped out of her reach and is now offering his hand for a companionable shake,” I told the recorder.

Layla and I watched in rapt fascination as the woman took Nick’s offered hand, but instead of leaving it at a shake, she stepped closer and lifted up on the tip-toes of her pencil-thin stiletto heels to press a kiss on his cheek...dangerouslyclose to his mouth. The instant she did that, Nick disengaged and took a step back. Moments later, they both turned in opposite directions and took off.

“Well this whole damn thing has been one giant waste of time,” I groused, dropping the binoculars back into my lap with an unhappy frown.

“I told you it would be,” Layla chided, popping a cheese puff in her mouth and crunching down. “I said this was a stupid idea, and I was right.”

I kept my eyes pointed at the windshield, to the spot where my brother-in-law had just been. “Istilldon’t have any clue what the hell is going on.”

“And you probably won’t until you pull up your big girl panties and justgo talk to him already.” She smiled sweetly when I threw her a nasty look. “Can we go home now?”

With a defeated sigh, I turned the car on and put it in gear.

“Do you think there’s a drive-thru around here somewhere? I’m starving, and I’ve got a craving for tacos.”

She might have been the worst stakeout partner ever, but her suggestion of tacos was brilliant, so I decided to forgive her.

8

Marin

Iwasn’t sure what the hell it was that brought me back to the seven circles of hell, also known as that stupid singles cooking class, but itwasn’tbecause I wanted to see Pierce again. It wasn’t! And I absolutely did not feel a pang of disappointment in my chest when the class got underway and he still wasn’t there.

Nope. Not even a little bit. I didn’t care if I ever saw him again. I was living my life, doing my thing, and I was going to conquer the shit out of the little taco cup thingies Chef Jodi was having us make.

I had all my ingredients lined up on my work station and was rereading the prep and cooking instructions for the fourth time when Chef Jodi let out a happy little chirp at the front of the classroom.

“Looks like we have a latecomer, class,” she said, pulling everyone’s attention to the person who’d just entered the room.

My heart lodged in my throat when I turned and saw Pierce walk into the room. “There aren’t any empty stations, but I’m sure Marin wouldn’t mind sharing.” She glanced over at me with a smile. “You don’t mind, do you? As a matter of fact, maybe it would be good for the both of you to have a little bit of help.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a slight on my cooking skills—okay, that was a lie, I totally knew it was a slight—but it wasn’t like I could refuse to share a workspace after she’d called me out in front of the whole class. Chef Jodi was a pain in the ass, but I’d always been somewhat of a teacher’s pet, and I found myself nodding in agreement just before the woodsy scent of Pierce’s cologne invaded my senses when he stepped up to the table beside me.

“Sorry I’m late,” he mumbled slightly under his breath.

“No worries,” the instructor waved him off. “Marin can help you catch up.” And with that, she flitted away, leaving him in the hands of the worst cook in the whole class.

Yay.

I watched surreptitiously from the corner of my eye as he slid an apron over his slacks and button-down, looping the strings around his waist and tying them in place. An apron shouldn’t look sexy, but the way it highlighted the trimness of his waist against the wide expanse of his chest and broad shoulders made my mouth feel dry all of a sudden, my tongue like sandpaper.

My cheeks heated, and I had no doubt they were stained with a pink blush when I looked over and saw him watching me intently. “Hi,” I muttered.Real lame, Marin.

“Hey,” he returned, one corner of his mouth lifting infinitesimally.

“I didn’t think you were coming tonight.” I wanted to reach into the ether and rip the words back so they’d never happened. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Hell, I hadn’t even meant to think it. My lips had parted and the words just came spilling out before I could stop them.

“Wasn’t sure I was going to be able to,” Pierce confessed, keeping his eyes to the worktop as he reorganized all the ingredients.

I should have left it at that. A tiny voice inside my head screamed at me to let the subject drop right then and there, but it was becoming clear that my brain and my mouth weren’t on the same page this evening. “Everything okay?”

He sighed, reaching up to drag a hand through his dark hair. Even slightly disheveled, he still looked like an Adonis. The way his forearm flexed beneath the rolled cuffs of his sleeves was way more tantalizing than it should have been.

Damn it. Maybe my friends were right, maybe I did need to start dating again, or at least get laid so I’d stop looking at a man I hated like he was a Grade A steak and I hadn’t eaten in a month.

“It’s nothing, really. The sitter fell through. My mother agreed to watch him for me, but not before giving me a lecture about it first.”

My brows dipped into a V as I studied his profile, mainly the five-o’clock shadow that was sprinkled across his extremely tense jaw. “Why would your mom need to lecture you on anything?” I asked in bewilderment as he began to chop the vegetables on our table.

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