Ripper (Hunter #1)(16)

I leaned over and kissed my big brother’s cheek. Sloane didn’t matter. He didn’t mean a thing to me. He was one more hot guy who thought he was better than everyone else. “I promise. Now, I’m going. I can’t stand all the brotherly concern. Call you later.”

I walked out without another glance at the gorgeous man I wasn’t going to be seeing again for various reasons. I heard Nathan going through the drawers in my bathroom. I should have yelled and screamed and told him to keep his hands out of my business, but I didn’t. Nathan had been the one to find me bleeding that day so long ago. If it hadn’t been for Liv, he would have been the one to hold me while I died. He deserved some leeway.

“I hide my hardcore stuff in with the tampons, Nate,” I yelled and giggled a little at the thought of him pawing through feminine necessaries.

Nathan’s head poked out from the bathroom door. “Don’t think I won’t look, Kels.”

“I know you will.” Despite our fight the night before, I felt a great rush of love for him. He didn’t understand me the way Jamie did and I annoyed him greatly, but he never backed away. Dan was wrong. I already had a couple of people who wouldn’t let me push them away. “Your vigilance has kept me from becoming a heroin addict.”

Nate’s face softened and he gave me a little smile. “That’s the plan.”

I decided to needle him a little. He’s my brother. It’s my job. “Hey, and when you get to the little drawer in my nightstand, why don’t you go ahead and change out the batteries on the vibrator? They were low a couple of nights ago.”

I heard his strangled scream. “Disgusting, Kels.”

I was smiling as I turned and ran into the brick wall that seemed to be shadowing me that morning. I tried hard not to blush because it would have been nice to have not mentioned a vibrator around Sloane. “Excuse me.”

“I’m sorry.” Sloane didn’t move an inch. “I didn’t have any right to make a dumbass statement like that. I was rude, but you threw me off a little when you mentioned meeting Nate’s friends. It’s a bad idea to be vulnerable around them. I don’t like the thought of some of them taking advantage of you, but I don’t have any right to judge. I wasn’t really doing that. I was thinking more along the lines of protecting you, and I get that I sounded like a judgmental douchebag. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged, unwilling to think about why I got a warm, gooshy feeling when I thought about Sloane protecting me. He was so stinking gorgeous, from his perfectly square jaw to his broad shoulders. He was so not for me. “Not a problem, Lieutenant Sloane. I’ll keep my drunken affections away from my brother’s friends. Have a nice afternoon.”

A big hand settled on my arm and pulled me around. Before I knew what was happening, I was really close to Grayson Sloane. He was taking up all the space, making me feel small. It takes a whole lot to make me feel small. “Let me make something plain to you, Kelsey. I’m not your brother, so don’t lump me in with them. I wanted to come here today because I’m interested in you and I have been for a long time. I’ve asked Jamie to set us up for a while now, but he thinks you’re too fragile to date. I think if you’re strong enough for meaningless one-night stands, then you can handle an honest to goodness date. Dinner tonight?”

I was sure my eyes were wide as saucers and I realized Jamie was right. I wasn’t ready for this. No way. No how. Luckily, I had an excuse and it found its way out of my mouth. “I have to work tonight.”

“You can take a couple of hours off,” Sloane said smoothly. “You have to eat, right? I’ll bring my files and we can talk about any similarities in our cases. We can call it a working dinner if date is too much for you.”

But it wasn’t work. I stood there with big, gorgeous Sloane looming over me and knew this wouldn’t be professional. It would be personal and it wouldn’t end there. If I thought for a second I could take what I wanted from Grayson Sloane and happily send him on his way, I would have thrown down with him at the first given opportunity. But something told me he wouldn’t take his walking papers with aplomb.

I smiled with a jauntiness I didn’t feel and pulled my arm out of his hand. “I think I’ll skip working with you, Sloane. I’m kind of a loner. How about I promise when I solve my case, I’ll let you know so you can close yours, too?”

I winked at him and walked out the door, got in my Jeep and took off. I drove to Dallas like the devil was following me.





Chapter Four





I walked across the tree-lined, stately campus of Southern Methodist University. I had unhappily parked about a flipping mile off campus because, unlike Liv, I didn’t have a magical parking pass and I really needed to avoid tickets. I couldn’t afford them. I hated to think about what my drinking binge had cost me last night. My local bar might be a shit hole, but they still charged for drinks.

I stopped and studied the map I’d picked up at the student center then took a quick left as my cell rang. I was prepared to ignore it as I had ignored all of the increasingly pissed-off texts from Liv. If she was escalating to actual calls, I might have to turn off the phone. I glanced down at the number and a cold chill went through me. I ran my thumb across the screen because this person would never accept that I didn’t answer. She would call and call and leave message after message.