Passion's Price

“I’m tired,” she said, but he didn’t believe her. He went into the kitchen, ostensibly for more coffee, and called Boyd in for a private conference. “Did Cody and Darlene have a problem while I was gone?”

“Well, she managed to tell him that she didn’t like cops, and he told her he wasn’t going to babysit a smart-mouthed woman and that if she said anything else to him, she’d be in jail before you got back here. Then he took out the handcuffs and put them on the coffee table. I think she got the message.”

Mike couldn’t help feeling her pain, but he knew that, if pushed, he would do the same. He poured a second mug of coffee, added milk and took it to her.

She looked up at him, and smiled. “Thanks so much. I wanted some, but I didn’t feel that I should ask.”

In other words, the weight of her predicament had settled on her. “I hope this will soon be over, Darlene, and you can get on with your life.”

“There was no way that I could have avoided this, Mike. I need to verify my client’s alibi if I’m going to clear him. The information I have led me here. What was I supposed to do but come here?”

“I always check things out first. You should have done that before you came to Memphis. Develop a good relationship with a first-class detective and talk to him or her. Investigations require special training and experience, without which you can walk right into a trap.”

“I don’t know any detectives in Frederick.”

“There must be someone in Baltimore. This business is too dangerous for a neophyte.”

He saw that she took in every word he’d said and told himself to back off. Her safety was not his concern. In truth, he shouldn’t have cared whether she was in danger or not. But he might as well admit it: he didn’t want anything to happen to her, he thought to himself.

“Thanks, Mike,” she said. “I’m the youngest in a three-person firm. How can anyone develop professionally in that environment? I work there, because being a partner in the firm is worth ten times the experience I’d get as a lawyer working alone.

For some reason he had an overwhelming desire to protect Darlene, but that wasn’t his job. He was there to protect Boyd. “I suggest we order dinner. It’ll be nearly an hour before it arrives.” He looked at Darlene and winked. “I take it you don’t want what you had for lunch.”

He could see that she bristled. “Don’t remind me of that. I want a soup and salad.”

“Okay,” Mike said.

“What are you having?” Darlene asked Mike.

So she wanted to be friendly. Fine with him. “Probably a burger and fries.”

“I’ll have what Mike’s having,” Boyd said.

Mike paid careful attention to Boyd. He wanted to make sure Boyd, who was a witness in a high-profile drug case and in protective custody, made it to trial.

Darlene had realized that Cody Johnson wasn’t as accommodating as Detective Raines. She had prayed that Mike would soon return. She decided to refrain from annoying Mike so that he wouldn’t call in a replacement.

“Do you mind if I go to the bathroom and freshen up?” she asked Mike. “I wish I could change. I’m sick of these clothes.”

“You’ll find a white terry-cloth robe in the guest-room closet,” Boyd said. “Why don’t you take off your shoes and let your feet rest? You won’t mind, will you, Mike?”

“Check out the guest room,” Mike said to Darlene. “You might be surprised by what you find?”

She slowly went up the stairs, suspicious that Mike didn’t follow her. In the guest-room closet, she found the terry-cloth robe and a pair of white furry slippers. Unfortunately, they were too small for her feet. In the bathroom, which was painted and tiled in gray, she found the makings of a luxurious bath. She wrapped her hair in a towel, filled the tub, sprinkled the bath salts in the water and stepped in. Enormous bubbles covered her body, and she closed her eyes as the scent of one of her favorite perfumes filled the room. Within minutes, she fantasized that Mike Raines’s strong fingers were stroking her legs. Then they moved boldly to her thighs. She parted them, and his fingers went into her, gently massaging her. She wet her lips and a moan escaped her lips, bringing her to her senses.

“My Lord!” she exclaimed aloud. “Have I lost my mind?”

She got out of the tub, dried off, washed her face and dried it with a plush gray towel. She examined the silver hairbrush on the dressing-room table, decided that it was clean and its bristles strong. She tamed her hair with it, then dressed again in the clothes she had been wearing earlier. She started down the stairs and saw Mike coming up.

“It hasn’t been forty minutes,” she said when they stood side-by-side on the same step.

“”I know that.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“Oddly enough, I do.”

“Then—”

Without a word he pulled her closer and bent toward her lips. Still hot from her lovemaking fantasy, tremors shot through her and her breath caught short. When she wet her lips, he picked her up and carried her back to the guest room and closed the door.

“This doesn’t make a bit of sense to me, Darlene, but I want you.”

“I hoped that you’d come back. I don’t know what I’d have done if it had been someone else for the rest of the stakeout.”

“Because of Cody?”

“No. Because I wanted you. I can still feel your hands on my body easing me through that window. I can—”

His tongue slid along the seams of her lips and frolicked there for a second before she opened her mouth and sucked him in. He tasted and tested every crevice and every centimeter of her mouth, until she felt the warmth ease down her leg as she undulated her body against him. He pulled her closer, and she feasted on him as more heat plowed through her. She rocked against him. Frantic for more of him, she grabbed his hand and rubbed it against her aching nipple. Mike plunged his hand into the neckline of her blouse and tortured her nipple. When she moaned aloud, he lifted her, braced himself against the doorjamb and sucked her nipple into his greedy mouth. She held his head to her and let him feast until the feel of his arousal brought her to her senses.

She pushed against his chest. “Oh, no. I’m sorry, Mike. I didn’t mean for this to happen, but I was still… I mean I’d been thinking… Oh, I don’t know what I mean.”

He set her on her feet, adjusted her blouse and caressed her cheek.

“I can’t believe I went crazy like that, Mike. I’ve never in my whole life felt like that. I’m—”

“When were you thinking of me? Just before you met me on the steps,” he whispered.

She could lie or she could get mad at him. She did neither. “A few minutes before you met me on the stairs. How did you know?”

“Because your face blushed with color, and you wouldn’t look me in the eye. What do you mean you never felt that way before?”

“I haven’t.”

“I see. Is there a man in your life now?”

She buried her face in the curve of his neck. “No one.”

“There’s a strong physical attraction between us, Darlene, and I think we ought to see where it takes us. What about it?”

“I don’t know. I live in Maryland, and you’re here. Besides, I’m not sure I want a guy who can make me do what I just did.”

He stepped back and stared at her. “I hope you’re kidding. You want to be with a man who can’t fire your passion? That makes no sense to me.”

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go downstairs before Boyd decides we’re up to something. Besides, won’t he sneak out?”

“No. He’s afraid to do that. You never answered my question.”