Fool Me Once (Codie Snow #1): A Romantic Suspense Series by Jade C. Jamison Page B

we went to the other night on my shift?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, I can’t say much except…check the paper tomorrow.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Not even a hint?”
    She could hear the firmness in his voice and it made her feel tingly as she remembered his tongue against her lower lip.  She let out a slow breath and closed her eyes, hoping to keep her shit together.  Before she opened them again, Pete said, “You gonna come on a ride-along again soon?”
    She couldn’t help but smile.  “Maybe.”
    “I could show you a lot more.”
    The giggle that ruptured from her mouth couldn’t be stopped.  “I don’t think so.  I pretty much saw it all, I think.”
    “On patrol , Codie.  Man, your mind went in the gutter fast.”
    Her voice sounded strange to her own ears, throaty and full of desire.  “I thought you liked it that way.”
    He chuckled, but she could hear it in his voice too.  “You tryin’ to get me in trouble?”
    “No…but, um, I just wondered what you were doing for lunch.”
    Fortunately, Pete understood that Codie meant his lunch break, not hers…
     
    * * *
     
    Codie lay with her head resting against Pete’s chest, relishing the feel of his arm hairs under her fingers as she brushed them back and forth.  He smelled really good tonight.  She’d expected a different scent, maybe one of exertion and heat, considering the weather had been warming up quite a bit lately and he had to wear that starchy uniform, but he smelled almost as fresh as if he’d just showered.
    It made her consider licking him.
    Instead, she let her common sense rule her mind for a bit as she wondered what this ( this being another hop in the sack) meant for them.  Were they going to really get together now, after walking away from each other all those years ago?  Could they see past their juvenile differences and become adult lovers who were meant for one another?
    Codie continued to ponder it until she remembered something else very important.  She sat up a little so she could look in Pete’s eyes.  “So what exactly were you talking about on the phone earlier?”
    He lifted his eyebrows but his eyes were shut tight.  There would be no reading them.  “Hmm?”
    Was he pretending he didn’t know what she was alluding to?  “You know…what you said about checking the paper in the morning.”
    “Oh, yeah, that.”  He half-shrugged his free shoulder but he still didn’t open his eyes to look at her.  “You know the dead body at that religious house?  Name of Dinsmoor?”
    “Yeah.”
    “They’re saying it wasn’t murder.”
    Codie sat up.  “Seriously?”
    “Yeah.  They’re not saying suicide yet, but…”
    After a few seconds, Codie added, “That’s what they suspect?  Suicide? ”
    “I think so.  But that’s all I can say.  It’s still under investigation.”
    “Of course.”  She tried resting her head on his chest again, but she knew he was going to have to get up in a little bit anyway.  She imagined he was pretty strict about getting back to work on time—that was just the way Pete was.  “You should come over for dinner sometime.”
    “Dinner?”
    “Yeah, you know—the evening meal.  But since you have lunch around two in the morning, I could make you pancakes and bacon before you go to work.”  She grinned.  “Or we could do it when you have a night off.”
    Pete shifted under her head and arms, and she could tell he was trying to squirm his way out from underneath her.  Yes, squirm …and she felt herself grow angry before he could even say a word.
    Angry, because the alternative was hurt.
    He sat up and made sure he was poised on the edge of the bed before he said, “Why can’t this just be for fun?  Why do we have to make it something more?”
    Jesus Christ.   And she’d thought Slade was commitment-phobic.  At least her ex had no issues with a perma-girlfriend.
    She pursed her lips together so hard they started to feel numb and then, as Pete