Frisk Me(27)

But he didn’t recognize the picture she showed him.

If memory served him correctly, the one that had been printed in the paper was a posed, forced-smile shot.

But this was a candid one.

Vincent appeared to be about to sock Luc in the gut, and they were all laughing, even Police Commissioner Moretti. As always, Luc’s father had that perfect combination of authority-figure and paternal-approachability.

Despite his bad mood, Luc smiled. Moments like the one in the picture were part of the reason he became a cop. That sense of belonging to something…belonging to something decent and good.

“Where’d you get this?” he asked.

“Sources, Moretti. Sources. But my point is, this is the Luc I want people to see.”

“The twenty-three-year-old version?”

“The happy version. Where do I find him?”

Luc rubbed his chin with his palm as he pretended to consider. “I think he bailed right about the time he saw you in Brinker’s office.”

She stepped closer, getting in his face, and his hands lifted instinctively to reach for her hips, but he clenched them into fists instead.

It wasn’t the urge to touch her that bothered him; it was the naturalness of the urge. As though Ava Sims were his to touch whenever he wanted.

“If you cooperate…just the tiniest smile, I’ll buy you a drink after,” she said.

“You’re bribing an officer of the law? Or just really desperate to spend time with me, Sims?”

Ava sighed. “Two questions, Moretti. What exactly is up your ass? And how the hell do we remove it?”

He ran a hand through his hair, answering honestly, because honesty was what Morettis did best. “Sexual frustration. As far as how to fix it…”

His eyes fell on her mouth.

Her eyes narrowed before she took a tiny step backward.

She huffed in frustration and Luc grinned, because the only thing better than getting into Sims’s pants was getting under her skin.

“Coward,” he said, leaning forward and grinning.

“Ass,” she shot back.

Click.

Click.

There were three more rapid-fire clicks before Luc finally tore his gaze away from Ava to realize that the cameraman had been dancing around them, taking pictures as they’d argued.

“I think we’ve got something, Ava,” the photographer said, looking at the most recent shots.

Ava shot Luc one last warning glare before she walked to the photographer and looked at the camera. In seconds, her face transformed from frustrated to elated.

She shot him a cheeky grin as she moved closer. “Well whadya know, Moretti. I make you smile.”

He grunted in irritation, and she twirled her hair around a finger flirtatiously before winking.

“Okay, that’s enough with the seated headshots. Let’s get a few with him standing.”

Luc groaned.

“Don’t worry, baby,” she said in a sugary voice, “you can scowl for these ones.”

“Much as I’d love to be your boy toy for all day, I’ve got things to do—”

“I know, I know, puppies to save, tickets to write, et cetera, et cetera. But really, Moretti, is this so different from your regular life? You’re just posing for a big camera now, instead of a tourist’s iPhone.”

He didn’t realize he’d moved until his fingers were wrapped around her bicep, pulling her around to face him before she could move away.

Her look of surprise turned to one of nervousness, and Luc knew exactly what she was seeing in his face.

Anger.

“You want to hold on to your jaded little fantasy that I’ve intentionally brought all of this on myself, go right ahead, but you damn well better keep it to yourself. I’m doing this because it’s my orders, and that means something to me. And I jumped into that river because it’s my job, and that means something to me too. All the cameras in the world could self-destruct, and I’ll do it all over again. You got that?”

The formerly bustling room had grown dead quiet, and though Luc hadn’t raised his voice, it was immediately clear that everyone had overheard everything. Or at least caught the gist.

Ava’s cheeks were pink, and at first he thought it was embarrassment, but then her fingers found his where they gripped her hand, the cool pads of her fingertips lightly touching his knuckles. “Luc—Officer—”

He jerked his hand back, releasing her as suddenly as he’d grabbed her, annoyed with himself for losing his cool.

“Forget it, Sims.”

“No, wait, I—”

“Ava?”

Ava froze, her entire body seeming to stiffen before turning toward the sound of the voice.

Luc, too, turned, watching in interest as an attractive brunette in black slacks and a striped top walked toward Ava, arms outstretched.

“Miranda.”

The woman’s arms went around Ava, although there was a definite pause before Ava returned the hug.

The woman—Miranda—pulled back slightly to look Ava over. “Sweetie, you look adorable.”

Luc’s eyes narrowed slightly. The words were complimentary. The tone was just subtly condescending.

“What are you doing here?” Ava asked.

Luc’s eyes narrowed even further. Ava’s voice was all excitement, but there was a false-note too. Whatever the relationship between the women, there was an edge there.