“You know what?” he said. “Forget I mentioned it.”
She rolled her eyes. “How come your badge is all bent out of shape? You brought it up.”
“No, you did,” he reminded her. “Asking about my family and telling me about yours.”
“I thought most guys wanted to be bachelors, but you’re the one pushing the perks of matrimony. I disagree with everything you said, and now you’re crabby—” She stopped. “Make that more crabby.”
She was full of intensity and obviously capable of strong feelings. More than his next breath he wanted to hold all that passion in his arms. And every rational part of his brain not drenched in testosterone was telling him to move as far away from her as he could get. The problem was the locked door meant he couldn’t go anywhere. Shutting down this conversation was his only choice.
“You are absolutely right. Being on my own is good. I like being on my own.” His face was only inches from hers. “The best thing about my life is not having any commitments.”
“A girl could get a serious case of whiplash the way you change your mind. Just what makes you so happy about not being committed?”
Before Russ even knew what was happening, he closed the small distance between them. “Because if I were committed, I couldn’t do this.”
He hadn’t planned to kiss her, didn’t know he was going to until his lips touched hers. But once it happened, he couldn’t seem to stop. She had, without a doubt, the sweetest mouth he’d ever tasted. He cupped her smooth, soft cheek in his hand, ready to go wherever she would take him. Her sigh of contentment said she’d take him somewhere special, make him forget where they were.
That thought was like getting a bucket of ice water dumped over his head. They were in jail, dammit. With an effort, he pulled back and dropped his hand. “I’m sorry. That was wrong.”
Lani blinked at him, trying to focus her fuzzy brain. “Why?”
“I’m an officer of the law. Using a position of power to take advantage of you is the very definition of sexual harassment. You have every right to be upset.”
Upset? Lani wasn’t the least bit upset. He’d finally noticed her! He’d kissed her and it felt really, really good. She wanted him to notice her some more. “I’m not upset.”
“Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you added sexual harassment to that false imprisonment complaint.”
“Why did you really stop?” She slid closer, until their thighs were touching, and her arm brushed his. The heat of just that small contact threatened to make her go up in flames.
“I’ve sworn to uphold the law. There are rules.” His voice was ragged, and he was breathing hard.
So was she. And right this moment she didn’t give a flying fig about rules.
“Maybe rules were made to be broken.” She searched his eyes for a moment and then leaned in and kissed him.
She felt his hesitation and heard him make a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a curse. Suddenly, he was kissing her back, touching her everywhere, and she was tugging the shirt from his waistband. All she could think about was getting closer. The sound of their ragged breathing filled the small space.
“Damn it. I don’t have protection.” Frustration snapped in his voice.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m on the pill.”
“Oh, thank God.”
He slid her dress up to her waist then yanked his shirt off and lowered his jeans. She couldn’t believe that he wanted her as much as she did him. Still, it seemed they’d been heading toward this since the moment he’d scooped her into his arms earlier. Never taking his mouth from hers, he gently lowered her to the mattress and slid her panties off. He ran his hand down her side, letting his fingers graze her breast. Everywhere he touched she caught fire, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
“Lani, I want you.” The words were hardly more than a breath against her lips.
All she could say was yes and that was all he needed to hear. When he tenderly and carefully entered her, she wrapped her legs around his waist. With every stroke he took her higher until pleasure exploded through her and she cried out from the sheer power of the feelings.
“Lani—” A groan cut off his words, and he went still then found his own release.
Their breathing slowed and returned to normal, the only sound in the small cell. Cuddled up to Russ, being held in his strong arms, made Lani decide that getting arrested wasn’t so bad, after all. She wasn’t sure what she’d been drinking at the wedding reception, but something had lowered her inhibitions and let her go for it.
And suddenly she was really sleepy and found her eyes sliding shut.
She wasn’t sure how long she dozed, but sometime later she felt him move.
“My arm is numb.”
Lani blinked her eyes open at the sound of the deep voice. It took her several moments to realize where she was. And what she’d done. What they’d done, right here in the cell. And he’d let her sleep, long enough for his arm to go numb. That was awfully sweet.
“We better get dressed.” Without waiting for a response, Russ rolled away from her and off the bunk. He picked up her panties and handed them to her. Then turned his back while she righted her clothes.
“Thanks.” Although he was correct that they should dress, she missed the warmth of his arms around her, his body pressed to hers. And he’d gone back to the good-looking guy who didn’t notice her.
A little while ago they’d been as intimate as a man and woman could be, but now he wouldn’t even look at her, and you could cut the awkwardness with a dull knife. She straightened her dress then stared at the bars. If they weren’t locked in, she could quietly slip away, but any walk of shame was limited to a six-by-eight-foot cell.
“I feel as if I should say that this isn’t something I normally do.” Russ met her gaze.
“Me, either.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You look kind of—I don’t know.” His mouth thinned to a straight line, clearly regretting what happened. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She shook her head. An apology implied what they’d done was wrong, and she refused to believe that. The responsibility for them being in this situation was hers, and she had to confess. “Look, I need to tell you something—”
He held up his hand to stop her. “I know what you’re going to say. I guess technically it’s morning and you hate yourself.”
“No, I—”
The outer door opened and slammed closed. “Russ? You in here?”
“Back here,” he called. There was a grim look on his face. Probably because he was about to face his boss and explain how he got locked in here.
Gage appeared in the doorway and did a double take when he saw them in the cell. “What the hell?”
“Boy, am I glad to see you.” Russ dragged his fingers through his hair.
“You want to explain to me what’s going on here?” the sheriff asked.
“Not really. But I guess you should know, since you’re the boss.” Russ took a deep breath. “I lost the key.”
A wry look settled on Gage’s face. “I’m not a detective like you, but I sort of figured that out. It’s the part where you’re in the cell with Lani Dalton that could use some kind of explanation.”
“I arrested her for creating a public disturbance.”
“It’s