Better When He's Brave (Welcome to the Point #3)(25)

I gave her the bed and took the couch. I tried to find other places to be so that I didn’t have to breathe her in, and pretended to ignore the way every part of my body reacted to her. I was walking around with a constant hard-on, and even if I decided to ignore the pulsating sexual tension between us, Reeve didn’t. I caught the way she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. She was waiting, watching. I wasn’t sure what she expected me to do, but whatever it was, I refused to give in to the allure of her or the temptation of us together.

We were supposed to be out there putting on a show to draw Conner out, but I hadn’t had the time to figure out what was next and I wasn’t sure I could pull the game off as wound up as I was. My plan was half developed at best, and until I had a more secure end game in place, I wasn’t willing to risk her neck or my own. The condo had floor-to-ceiling windows that went dark and opaque with the flick of a switch on a remote and Race assured me that even if someone could see in during the day, they couldn’t send anything through the glass. He had literally built an impenetrable fortress, and I didn’t even want to think about where he came up with that kind of cash to sink into those types of security measures.

Every night when I finally went back to the apartment, I had to fight the urge to grab Booker by the throat and throw him out of the loft or into the closest wall. Even with a noticeable scar that decorated half of his face, Noah Booker was a good-looking dude. He was almost the same size as I was but had a much rougher façade. He wouldn’t go down without a fight, but the easy way he was with Reeve made it seem like they were both way too familiar with life on the bottom and far too comfortable there. It irked me to an irrationally furious level. Booker knew it pissed me off, so he went out of his way to make himself comfortable in the condo and with Reeve. Every time I turned around he was putting one of his massive paws on her shoulder or nudging her with an elbow like they had been friends for a hundred years. In turn, the raven haired beauty was flirty with him in an effortless way she didn’t have with me. I wanted to walk away from this stupid idea of mine and forget the whole thing. I couldn’t, but the temptation was there.

I was lying on the couch with an arm thrown over my eyes. It was well past midnight and I had been working the dead-girl-on-the-dock case all day. It turned out she had no one. She was a child of the system. Another poor kid no one wanted, so she ended up on the streets doing whatever she could to survive. It surprised me how furious Nassir was over her situation. Not that one of his girls was murdered by the same enemy that had burned his club down, but that there was no one to claim the body and mourn for her. I silently handed over the information he would need to claim the body and make sure that the young woman was put to rest properly. Nassir never struck me as the sentimental type, but it was a pleasant surprise to find out that he actually did have a heart somewhere under that three-thousand-dollar suit he wore. He cared about those girls more than the income they generated for him, and while I couldn’t condone what he was doing, I appreciated that he was doing it with his own kind of good intention.

I was tired. I was more than tired. I was soul weary and there were no reserves left to tap into. I had to recharge and get this plan to draw Roark out into the open moving. I needed an idea and I needed it yesterday. I couldn’t handle being stuck with Reeve for much longer, fighting my instincts and my body’s urges while trying to do my job effectively.

I heard the covers rustle and heard her mutter something sleepily as the moonlight cut silver shadows through the darkened windows. I bit back a groan and shifted restlessly on the couch. Luckily it was a big leather couch, so there was enough room for me and my bulk, but it still wasn’t as comfortable as my own bed or as tempting as the king-size bed up on the platform containing a too-sexy-for-her-own-good Reeve.

“Are you still awake?” Her voice was soft as it drifted down from somewhere above me.

This time I let the groan out so that it vibrated my chest, and shifted so that I was sitting up. I dropped my head into my hands. “Yeah.”

“How was work today?” There was a hint of dry humor in her tone. I sighed and threw myself back against the couch cushions and laced my fingers behind my head.

“Really?” I sounded like a dick but I couldn’t help it.

It was her turn to sigh. “We’ve been doing this a week, Titus. Each day that goes by, you get tenser and more tightly strung. Something has to give. We’re supposed to be lovers. We’re supposed to be unable to keep our hands off each other and making Roark crazy with jealousy. All you’re doing is avoiding me. I’m just trying to figure out a way to make this easier for you.”

The padding of her bare feet sounded on the stairs. “There is no easy. I’m working a murder investigation where I know who is responsible and I can’t even find my perp to question him. It’s like all those years hunting Novak while he carved holes in the city only to watch him walk away all over again. I don’t want to lose again.”

I turned my head when the cushions next to me depressed as she sat down. I had to bite my tongue to keep it from rolling out of my mouth like a horny teenager. Even in the barely-there moonlight all I could see was miles and miles of long, naked leg and endless amounts of ebony hair. Her shorts and tank top revealed more than they covered and it didn’t take X-ray vision to see that she didn’t have a bra on. Goddamn, this girl was going to be the end of me. Things big and wild started to swell inside of me.