off the handle once.”
“What a liar! You fly off the handle all the time. You nearly broke my arm dragging me away from the news-stand the other day when that silly gossip rag printed that shot of Manny Martinez kissing my cheek—”
“He wasn’t kissing your cheek, and you were naked.”
“I wasn’t naked! I don’t know how they got that shot. It was taken on the set somehow when he was guest-starring as the Italian music craze at Prima Piatti—”
“Yeah, right, everything with you is a pub shot, and I’m supposed to look the other way.”
“It was on the set—”
“Yeah, it was on the set, and then there was the article about you and Manny Martinez doing a lot more than steaming up the set, and you went right along with that.”
“I didn’t go along with it. It’s not that easy to sue—”
“Forget it, Serena, forget it.”
“I will not forget it!”
The water was hot, streaming down around them. He was getting soaked, and so was she, and steam was rising. “You take off all the time—because you’re a cop. Cop! I think the word means God to you. Sometimes, instead of being so superior, you could try being supportive.”
“A cop is different!” he flared.
She was mad already. That made her madder. And the madder she got, the more she wanted to hit him. So she did hit him. With both wet fists, right on the chest, and she stepped out of the shower still hitting him. “You know what I do for a living, you’ve always known what I do for a living, and you’ve no right to think you’re better—”
“I never said better!”
“And as to the stupid pictures, you know the magazines will print anything, and—”
“And I know that you can correct people, and that you can stop some of it. Then, if you’re not sleeping with every male who does a guest appearance on the show, you should—”
“You bastard! What a horrible thing to say!”
“Yeah, it is, right? But the magazines write it all up, and you don’t change any of it!”
She faltered slightly. Joe had suggested that she let the last article, implying a lot, saying nothing, slide. So she’d done so.
“If you believe any of the rot you read, if you have any doubts about me, go—just go!”
“I’m going!” But he’d been backing away while she’d pounded his chest, and he suddenly caught her hands, and she came against him, and in all her life, she’d never needed anything more than to feel the pressure of his body against hers. She wasn’t sure who started it, but he was kissing her, or she was kissing him and they were both soaked and burning and it wasn’t just her, because when she ran her hands down the length of his body, he was aroused, really aroused, and that aroused her, and she couldn’t have pulled away from him if the “big one” had struck California. And the way he made love, getting every little lick of water off her body, merging with her as if they were one, she felt as if she exploded into a physical rapture that surely brought them into a new place of being, and with something so wonderful, he had to understand; they’d talk calmly, and rationally, and …
It was his house, but he was up before she was breathing normally.
He could dress with the speed of lightning. While she was still there, stupidly staring at him, thinking she had just been to heaven and back.
“I can’t do it, Serena. I can’t.”
“What—”
“If you can’t see that you need a private and personal life, I can’t do it. Your minutes are great, but I don’t want a few minutes.”
“You’ve lost me completely—”
“No, I never had you.”
“Liam, this is crazy. You leave all the damned time.”
“I’m a cop. And even being a cop, I don’t have a quarter of the ‘emergencies’ that you do.”
“Liam, that’s a lie. You’re behaving like a jealous idiot.”
“Serena, I can tolerate a lot. But you’re not even playing the same game.”
He was reaching for his jacket.
“You’re walking
“What a liar! You fly off the handle all the time. You nearly broke my arm dragging me away from the news-stand the other day when that silly gossip rag printed that shot of Manny Martinez kissing my cheek—”
“He wasn’t kissing your cheek, and you were naked.”
“I wasn’t naked! I don’t know how they got that shot. It was taken on the set somehow when he was guest-starring as the Italian music craze at Prima Piatti—”
“Yeah, right, everything with you is a pub shot, and I’m supposed to look the other way.”
“It was on the set—”
“Yeah, it was on the set, and then there was the article about you and Manny Martinez doing a lot more than steaming up the set, and you went right along with that.”
“I didn’t go along with it. It’s not that easy to sue—”
“Forget it, Serena, forget it.”
“I will not forget it!”
The water was hot, streaming down around them. He was getting soaked, and so was she, and steam was rising. “You take off all the time—because you’re a cop. Cop! I think the word means God to you. Sometimes, instead of being so superior, you could try being supportive.”
“A cop is different!” he flared.
She was mad already. That made her madder. And the madder she got, the more she wanted to hit him. So she did hit him. With both wet fists, right on the chest, and she stepped out of the shower still hitting him. “You know what I do for a living, you’ve always known what I do for a living, and you’ve no right to think you’re better—”
“I never said better!”
“And as to the stupid pictures, you know the magazines will print anything, and—”
“And I know that you can correct people, and that you can stop some of it. Then, if you’re not sleeping with every male who does a guest appearance on the show, you should—”
“You bastard! What a horrible thing to say!”
“Yeah, it is, right? But the magazines write it all up, and you don’t change any of it!”
She faltered slightly. Joe had suggested that she let the last article, implying a lot, saying nothing, slide. So she’d done so.
“If you believe any of the rot you read, if you have any doubts about me, go—just go!”
“I’m going!” But he’d been backing away while she’d pounded his chest, and he suddenly caught her hands, and she came against him, and in all her life, she’d never needed anything more than to feel the pressure of his body against hers. She wasn’t sure who started it, but he was kissing her, or she was kissing him and they were both soaked and burning and it wasn’t just her, because when she ran her hands down the length of his body, he was aroused, really aroused, and that aroused her, and she couldn’t have pulled away from him if the “big one” had struck California. And the way he made love, getting every little lick of water off her body, merging with her as if they were one, she felt as if she exploded into a physical rapture that surely brought them into a new place of being, and with something so wonderful, he had to understand; they’d talk calmly, and rationally, and …
It was his house, but he was up before she was breathing normally.
He could dress with the speed of lightning. While she was still there, stupidly staring at him, thinking she had just been to heaven and back.
“I can’t do it, Serena. I can’t.”
“What—”
“If you can’t see that you need a private and personal life, I can’t do it. Your minutes are great, but I don’t want a few minutes.”
“You’ve lost me completely—”
“No, I never had you.”
“Liam, this is crazy. You leave all the damned time.”
“I’m a cop. And even being a cop, I don’t have a quarter of the ‘emergencies’ that you do.”
“Liam, that’s a lie. You’re behaving like a jealous idiot.”
“Serena, I can tolerate a lot. But you’re not even playing the same game.”
He was reaching for his jacket.
“You’re walking
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