Asa (Marked Men #6)(23)

She jerked around when I said her name and gazed at me with dark and hypnotic eyes.

“I’m not stalking you.” She stiffened as I made my way over to her. She seemed automatically defensive.

“I didn’t think you were.”

She sighed and let her head roll back to hit the window. “I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the gym. That didn’t help, so I thought I’d stop and have a drink, then I remembered you don’t want me here. So then I had to sit in the car for a few minutes and decide what I wanted to do, but while I was doing that a really drunk girl came out of the convenience store over there.” She pointed to the little corner store across the street. “She was going to drive, so I had to go over and say something.” Her pretty mouth quirked up in a tiny grin. “I took her keys and waited until she got a cab, only as usual I left my purse inside the 4Runner along with my keys and phone.” She thunked her head back again and I wanted to reach out to pull her into a hug. “I locked myself out of my car.”

I blew out a breath and it fogged in the air between us. It was much like the last time we had been here, only her hand wasn’t around my dick and I wasn’t pawing at her like a crazy person.

“You don’t keep a spare?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I do. But not on the car. I’m a cop. That would just be asking for trouble or a pissed-off perp waiting for me in my backseat after a shift. Saint has one, Dom has one, Nash even has one, but it’s three in the morning and I don’t exactly want to make that call and piss everyone off. Besides Dom is the one I would call and he can’t exactly ride to my rescue right now.” I saw her gulp as she said it and her eyes darted away from mine.

I groaned and I knew she heard it. “Come on. You can come crash at my place and call the cavalry in the morning. It’s cold and I’m too tired to try and figure out a smarter solution.”

She cocked her head to the side and considered me for a long moment before asking, “Smarter solution?”

I took her by the elbow and felt her shiver. I took my coat off again and wrapped her up in it. Someone needed to explain to her that it was f*cking freezing outside and she needed to wear more than skintight workout gear if she was going to wander the streets at night.

“You and me alone is the dumbest idea I ever had, Red. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

CHAPTER 6

Royal

I knew I could just ask him for his phone to call a cab and get a ride back to Capitol Hill. I also knew Nash would be happy to get up and come collect me even if it was well past the middle of the night. But I had been angling for Asa to take me home for weeks, and if this was the only opportunity I was going to get, then I was going to roll with it, even if he looked more annoyed and agitated than amorous. Besides, he had given me his coat again when the temperature was freezing cold and I knew somehow that meant something even if he wasn’t aware of it.

“How was going back to work?” His drawl was honeyed and warm as he guided me along the silent streets. I don’t think I knew anyone else that was a grown-up yet didn’t own a car. It was just one more piece of the puzzle that was Asa Cross.

“It’s been tricky. I’ve never partnered with anyone but Dominic, so it’s strange being on patrol with someone new.”

My temporary partner was a guy named Barrett. He was quite a bit older than me and most definitely the strong, silent type. I was used to letting Dom take the lead, to following his moves, so it was strange trying to adjust to being the more vocal partner. So far my shifts without Dom had been pretty uneventful and I hadn’t had to pull my gun or really wade into any danger. I was dreading the day it happened, even though the department shrink told me that was normal. She was convinced I was suffering from some low-grade PTSD symptoms and that my guilt at being distracted and seeing Dom almost die was tied to the fact that I had escaped the shootout unscathed.

I leaned into Asa’s side when I noticed that he was shivering in the cold. A thrill raced through me when he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and huddled into me. Sure, it was probably for warmth, but my libido didn’t care.

“How is your partner doing?”

I hated to think about Dom being laid up and healing. He was a guy that liked action, that liked to be hands-on, but in his current state all he could do was lie in bed and watch endless hours of Netflix while his sisters hovered over him. It also rankled me every time I put my uniform on that I was the one that got to go to work, that I was the one who ended up all right, while Dom was the one stuck not knowing what his future was going to look like. The unfairness of it all grated across my skin and sat heavy in my gut every single shift.

“He’s getting there. He’s going to need a lot of physical therapy once he’s back in fighting form. That broken femur is no joke.”

“If you need a name, I know a guy.”

I looked up at him from under my eyelashes. “You know a guy?”

We reached a very nondescript and frankly crappy apartment complex and I followed him up a few flights of stairs. This isn’t ever where I’d picture him living.

“Well, Rome knows a guy. He used to date Rome’s younger brother, Rule’s twin, Remy. His name is Orlando Fredrick and he’s some big-shot sports physical therapist. I’ve met him a few times when he popped into the Bar to talk to Rome. He seems like a pretty cool guy, and according to Rome, he knows his shit.”