His Wicked Ways by Joanne Rock Page B

resources and her partner’s clear cop-vision? Wes Shaw was a detective she respected because he possessed brains and balls in equal doses, but opted to rely on street smarts rather than guts ninety percent of the time, which seemed damn rare in a lot of cops. He’d have good advice for what Vanessa should do next, and more importantly, he could make inquiries about the carjackers.
    Judging by Alec’s quiet expletive, however, Vanessa figured he’d already guessed her plan.
    “You can’t go into work today, Vanessa. We’ve been over this.”
    “We could find out who took your car.” The nerdy researcher inside her couldn’t wait to access the computer at her desk. “For that matter, if I don’t call into work and tell them something, my partner is going to have half the precinct out looking for me since I’ve never skipped a day on the job.”
    No question, Wes would be worried. His last partner had died while working undercover, so she wouldn’t give him any reason to be uneasy about her. They had always been content to give one another a lot of room, but even laid-back Wes would protest if he discovered the extent of her plan to hide out with Alec until she could ensure his safety.
    “You’re working on a perfect attendance record?” A small, rare smile caught her off guard.
    “I made a commitment to this job.” For reasons that still scared the hell out of her. “I didn’t sign on with the police department to tick off personal days and let somebody else solve my cases. I took it because I wanted to…”
    Nail the bastards who hurt Gena.
    “Protect and serve?”
    “Something like that.” She just hoped she hadn’t lost her edge by sleeping with Alec and turning on all the emotions she’d managed to shut off. In the past, she’d dealt with a lot of scary crap by being detached. Remote.
    Now she was practically choking on new sensations bombarding her from every angle. Fear? Definitely.
    Lust? Even more prominent than fear. Especially since Alec had never bothered to button his shirt.
    Damn, but she’d never make her call to Wes if she didn’t get her mind back on her case and off Alec’s body.

    S HE DIDN’T EVEN CHECK OUT his package.
    Alec had no idea what to make of this woman who took her job so damn seriously she never called in sick, yet she seemed to have all the time in the world to think about sex. Or maybe she just devoted a lot of time to making him think about sex. Either way, he was stuck battling big-time attraction and the most persistent freaking hard-on in the known universe.
    “So contact your partner.” He could see her point about not wanting the guy to worry needlessly and maybe draw a lot of attention to the fact she was gone. “But I wouldn’t use the apartment phone in case they track their incoming calls.”
    “I’ve got my cell phone.” She didn’t reach for it, however. She just stared up at him with that endless confidence he’d seen in her before anything else yesterday.
    And what did it say about him that the snooty tilt of this woman’s nose turned him on?
    “I’m not too keen on this call in the first place, lady, so if you want to dial those numbers anytime soon I suggest you get on it before I wrestle you to the ground and have you every which way I want you.” He ground his teeth to keep himself from touching her, grinding himself into her.
    “In your dreams, I’m sure you could.” Smiling her Mona Lisa grin she flipped open her phone and turned her back on him to touch base with her partner.
    He placated himself by making plans to tear her clothes off the moment she finished her conversation. Hell, maybe wrestling her to the ground wasn’t such a bad idea.
    “Wes? Are you alone?” Vanessa’s soft words for her partner on the other end of the phone yanked him back to the present.
    Her body language shifted. Even standing behind her Alec could see a tension hum through her shoulders as she spoke to the guy—some noble cop crusader who was