Protecting What's His (Line of Duty #1)(29)

Ginger sighed and pushed away from the door. “Listen up, sweetheart. For all your outrageous subtlety, it’s obvious you have a problem with me. Care to share?”

“It’s not so much a problem. More of an explanation.”

The obvious agenda on the blonde’s face sent a warning shiver up Ginger’s spine, but she ignored it. “Don’t let me stop you.”

Lisa smirked. “You see, I’m here with Kenny, Derek’s ex-partner. We’ve been together about two years, but before that it was me and Derek.”

Ginger schooled her features, not wanting to give Lisa the reaction she desired, but ice formed in the pit of her stomach. “Is that all?”

“Honey, you must be wondering why Derek brought you here. At first, I was a little confused, too. You’re hardly his type.” She swayed a little in her laughter then refocused squarely on Ginger. “I left Derek for Kenny. He’s never gotten over it. You’re simply here to piss me off.”

Ginger tilted her head sadly. “Looks like it worked.”

“Oh, f*ck you, Bessie.” In her drunken state, the woman tilted to the left and nearly sprawled on her ass, but Ginger caught her arm at the last moment. Lashing out with a growl of rage, she pushed Ginger away. “I just wanted him to see what he’d be missing,” she spat, red-faced. “I didn’t think he’d leave for good.”

Time to go. Ginger beelined toward the door, but somehow Lisa moved quickly enough to stop her once more. “Have you f*cked him yet? I know you have. I saw the way he looked at you. Enjoy it while it lasts, cowgirl. You’ll never get it that good again.”





Chapter Thirteen


With the reluctant bathroom attendant’s help, Ginger finally managed to get past Lisa and out of the bathroom. She pushed through the swinging door and nearly ran into Derek waiting for her on the other side, holding her shawl. One look at his face and she knew he’d seen Lisa enter the bathroom behind her.

Ginger stormed past him, through the lively banquet hall and lobby, encountering a few curious looks as she passed. She found herself on the dark street outside the hotel before she took a single breath. Derek’s hand wrapped around her arm, stopping her before she could hail a cab.

“Slow down. What the hell happened in there?” She spun on Derek and his irritated expression vanished. “Talk to me,” he implored.

“I’ve just been accosted by your hammered ex-girlfriend in the bathroom.”

“Jesus.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “What did she say to you?”

Ginger ignored the question. “You know what I don’t understand, Derek? Why you weren’t just honest with me. We’re not dating. We barely like each other. You told me this date was a favor to you. If you’d explained your reasons for bringing me along, we could have put on a real good show for old Lisa. Hell, if you’d asked nicely, I might have let you feel me up on the dance floor.”

He stared at her for a minute, expression confused, then took her arm and led her down the sidewalk, away from the hotel. A valet attendant even jumped out of his way to let them pass. Nice.

“Let me go.”

“No.”

Upon arriving, Derek had parked his SUV down an empty side street adjacent to the hotel, placing a police department placard in the windshield so it wouldn’t be towed. In the night’s darkness, the street now resembled more of an alley, steam rising in white curls from manhole covers and zero traffic passing by.

Having no choice but to trip after him in her heels, she fumed in silence at Derek’s back the entire way to the car. Reaching it, he whirled around to face her.

“Are you jealous?”

Sputtering, she pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Excuse me?”

“You are.” He nodded slowly. “Good.”

“You have no idea how close you are to a painful death right now.”

Derek stepped closer and Ginger held up a hand to stop him. He merely kept coming, pressing his chest against her palm and groaning at the simple contact.

“I don’t play bullshit mind games, Ginger. I brought you here for a lot of reasons. Making Lisa jealous definitely wasn’t one of them.”

Ginger scrutinized Derek’s face closely to judge his sincerity and sensed him telling the truth. He’d been up-front with her since the beginning of their association about what he wanted. Mind games simply weren’t his style. If she allowed herself to be honest, she’d hardly believed Lisa in the first place.

So why didn’t she feel reassured? His words did nothing to soothe the foreign emotions swirling around, bumping into each other inside her chest. She felt out of control, a little giddy. She wanted to slap Derek across the face just so he’d chase her down and make her pay for it. None of her thoughts made sense.

Derek had been watching her carefully. Now he stepped closer, right into her space. Ginger’s back came up against the SUV. Tipping her face up using her chin, Derek’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully on her face.

“Unbelievable. You’re still jealous, aren’t you?”

Her voice shook. “Let go of me. Get away from me.”

“No. I want you to explain. Explain to me why.”

She glared up at him.

He leaned down and his breath feathered across her forehead, then down to her ear where he spoke in a coaxing voice. “I can make you talk, baby. Is that what you want? If you need my hand between your legs, all you have to do is ask me.”