Carefully, I turn my head on the pillow to look at Hemi’s gorgeous face, relaxed and a little more boyish in sleep. It gives me the opportunity to study him unnoticed, so I do. It doesn’t take me long to realize that, in wakefulness, Hemi is extremely intense. Everything about him from the sharpness of his eyes to the squareness of his jaw to the firm set of his mouth is intense. But now, lying here resting beside me, he just looks handsome. And a little more fragile. He seems invincible, bigger than life when he’s awake. But now, he looks like a mere mortal, vulnerable and woundable.

I glance down at his bare chest and the ribs exposed to my eyes. I wonder again who has wounded him in life, what events have shaped the sad and bitter edge to his personality. He hides it well, but it’s there. I notice it because I have one, too. Again, everyone has their secrets. Hemi included.

I hear my phone buzz from my purse somewhere toward the end of the bed. As easily as I can, I slip out from under Hemi’s arm and tip toe to get it before it wakes him.

It’s Dad.

I walk down the hall to the room I slept in that first night, pulling the door shut behind me before I answer.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Why is your car still at that tattoo dump?”

“Dad, it’s not a dump. It’s a very nice shop, actually.”

“Young lady, don’t test me.”

“I’m just saying. And if you want to know the truth, I rode home with Hemi last night. I mean, we are staying at the same house, you know.”

He grunts. There’s nothing he can say. He just doesn’t like not being in control of every little detail.

I smile.

Welcome to my adulthood, Dad!

“How’re things coming? Any progress?”

I mentally cross my fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes, hoping it might take ten years for them to find out anything useful. Of course, that’s selfish on my part. I want to stay with Hemi as long as I can. As long as he’ll have me.

Thinking of being selfish makes me think of last night, which makes me flush, which makes me squirm, which makes me want to get off the phone with my father.

“We’re making head way. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Just be careful.”

“We always are. I should be telling you to be careful.”

“I’m not in any danger, Dad.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” he mutters.

I ignore that little dig. “Well, keep me posted.”

“What are you doing today?”

I bite my lip as I think about breakfast. I’ve never felt so much pressure about a meal, never felt like it was more important. “I don’t know yet. I may end up at Sarah’s later. But then I’ll be at the shop tonight.”

“I hope this career pays off. You sure are having to put in a lot of hours.”

“It will, Dad. It will.”

If I make minimum wage for the rest of my life, it would still be worth it to have this time with Hemi.

“Be smart. Call me later.”

“I will. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

When I poke my head around the door to Hemi’s room, I see that the bed is empty. I walk on in, grabbing some shorts and a t-shirt from my bag as I pass. Hemi’s not in the bathroom, which makes me think he’s already downstairs.

I debate whether or not to take a shower and get ready and just tell him, in a super casual way, that I’ve got plans with Sarah and then just leave. I don’t want to make this uncomfortable for either of us. I know he said he wanted me to stay, but still… I remember that conversation. I know how he feels about breakfast.

Still na**d, I’m standing at the foot of the bed, staring at it, lost in thought when Hemi wraps his arms around me from behind. I yelp and jump like I’ve been shot.

“Just so you know, nudity in this house is considered to be an open invitation. So, at this point, you’ve got two choices. You can get dressed, preferably in something ridiculously skimpy or nearly transparent, and come downstairs to eat or you can get back in bed and prepare to be ravaged.” I smile and start to answer, but he cuts me off. “I should warn you, however, that either way, before lunch you will be na**d and back in bed, being ravaged. At least once. So feel free to postpone it if you need food.”

I’m inordinately pleased to see him in this kind of mood, speaking not only of breakfast but of spending the day with me. At least up to lunch. “How can you think about food when we ate all that pizza last night?”

“I plan to work it all off. With you. I consider it an investment. In my stamina.” His grin is wicked and more stunning than anything I’ve ever seen.

“Well, in that case, I suppose I need to eat a little something so I can keep up. I mean, far be it for me to fall behind to an old man like yourself.”

One dark brown brow shoots up and he moves over to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me in snug against his body. “I’d be happy to show you just how…spry I am,” he says, sliding his palm down to my lower back and pressing me into him.

“Oh, I’ll probably never forget how…spry you are,” I admit, already feeling warm and moist and breathless.

Although there is still heat in his eyes, something else sweeps across his face. Something that makes my stomach feel jittery and my chest feel tight.

With hope.

“Then my mission is accomplished. I don’t want you to forget. Ever.”

I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to say too much, or say anything that might cause him to back off, so I simply smile, keeping all my hopeful, chaotic thoughts to myself.

With a slap to my bare butt, Hemi steps back, shaking off whatever mood overcame him for those few seconds, and heads for the door. “You’ve got five minutes or I’m coming back up here.”

I salute him as he backs out the door. He winks at me as he turns the corner. My heart flops around in my chest like a fish and, with shaking fingers, I pull on my clothes.

When I enter the kitchen, it’s to be greeted with the most amusing sight I’ve ever seen. Hemi’s standing at the huge island with his back to me, piling two plates high with every kind of breakfast food imaginable.

“How many people are you feeding?” I ask as I come up behind him.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just fixed everything I had.”

“You didn’t tell me you could cook,” I say, moving around to the other side of the counter.

“I can’t, but I can microwave like a son of a bitch,” he declares with a grin.

Now that I’m in front of him, I can see that he’s wearing a bright red apron that loops around his bare neck and says I’VE GOT YOUR SAUSAGE across the front. I can’t help but smile.

“So what all did you microwave us?”

“Bacon, country ham, Texas toast sandwiches, hash browns, and mini quiches. Oh and I toasted, too. That’s another fool proof appliance.”

“Wow, you went all out,” I tease.

“I did, mainly because bagels are nasty cold and waffles are soggy microwaved.”

“Soggy waffles. Gross.”

“Exactly. So they got toasted.” Hemi dusts off his hands and throws another package into the trash before he carries the plates around to my side of the island, setting one in front of me and taking the next seat as his own. “Besides, you’re worth it. I’d clean out my freezer for you, baby,” he says with a grin.

“You say the sweetest things,” I reply with a flutter of my eyelashes.

“I’ve got more where that came from. Just wait until I tell you all about my meats. I have a very healthy supply of meat.”

He waggles his eyebrows and I laugh out loud as I snap off a bite of crispy bacon.

Hemi watches me chew for several seconds, his own amusement fading into something a little more sincere. “Good?”

“Very. Thank you for fixing me breakfast,” I say, tucking a stray hair behind my ear nervously. “I know… I mean I didn’t expect you to…”

Hemi sighs. “Sloane, can we just pretend that conversation didn’t happen? This is different. I wasn’t talking about you. I was…I meant…this is just different. You’re different.”

I try to turn the dial back on my smile so that I don’t look too goofily overjoyed by his words. “Really?”

“Yes. You’re not some woman I fu - slept with and am trying to get rid of.”

“I’m not?”

“No. You’re not. And I think you know that.”

His eyes are steady on mine. Still, I’m afraid to hope for too much. But I’m not too afraid to stick around and find out.

Live, no regrets.

We are so much alike in so many ways. Maybe all we need is each other…

“You should hurry up and eat,” I say as I nibble a warm cinnamon bagel.

One dark brow rises, making the silver stud that pierces it sparkle in the sunlight streaming through the window. “And why is that?”

I reach over and tug at the apron he’s still wearing. “You owe me some sausage.”

Hemi glances down at the apron and then back up to me, his lips curving into a cocky grin. “Oh I’ve got your sausage.”

With hands as quick as any snake’s strike, Hemi reaches over and drags me into his lap, crushing my lips with his. When we’re both panting and electricity is buzzing between us, he raises his head. “You’re awfully good at this to be a virgin.”

“I’m a fast learner. And I have a very good teacher,” I say, pulling his mouth back to mine. I taste a hint of syrup on his tongue when he eases it between my lips. I’m barely aware of him standing and setting me on the island. It’s not until I feel my bare br**sts brush the smooth skin of his chest that I realize I’m already half na**d in his kitchen. And I’m loving every minute of it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - Hemi

“Just look into it,” I tell Reese, glancing over my shoulder again to make sure Sloane’s nowhere around. After a marathon morning of sex, I left her in the shower to clean up before we head to the studio later this afternoon. My plan is to go in early so we can leave. I’ve got plans for us this evening. I’ve got plans for her.

Reese sighs. “I don’t know why you’re so plagued with doubt all of a sudden. You’re the one that’s been so gung-ho about this from the beginning.”

“Damn, Reese! What the hell should I be? He was my brother. He was your brother, too. You should’ve been just as determined as me to see this shitbag found and brought to justice.”

“I am. What do you think I’ve been doing all this time? Twiddling my thumbs? Just because you were closer to Ollie doesn’t mean I care any less.”

It’s my turn to sigh. “I know. I’m just…I’m just frustrated, I guess. I don’t want to be wrong about this. And I’m beginning to think I am. I mean, Tumblin was the street the guy lived on. That’s pretty thin as far as evidence goes. What if Locke isn’t the right guy?”

“Then IA will figure it out. All we did was point ‘em in the right direction. We didn’t convict the guy, Hemi.”

“Someone shot up his house for God’s sake! If we had anything to do with that, we might as well have convicted and sentenced him.”

“That was never an intended outcome and you know it.”

“But you knew it was a possibility.”

“So did you,” he reminds me flatly.

And I did. At the time, I didn’t give a shit. I just wanted revenge. But now that Sloane’s involved…

Movement behind the glass doors that lead from the pool area, where I am, back into the house catches my eye. When my eyes adjust to looking past the glare, there’s nothing there. Just my own reflection. And my paranoia. And my guilt.

“Look, I just want to make sure this goes down the right way. That’s all. See to it, okay, Reese?”

“You’re a bossy little bastard, but I know you’re heart’s in the right place,” he says gruffly. “Stop worrying. It’ll all work out. Trust in the system.”

“The system that didn’t catch our brother’s killer? The system that breeds dirty cops like fluffy bunnies?”

Reese’s laugh is bitter. As bitter as I feel. “Yeah, that one.”

“I’ll work on it,” I reply acerbically.

“You do that. In the meantime, just let things run their course.”

“I’ll try. But if it puts Sloane in danger, I’ll have to do something.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

“Hey, I’ve been tiptoeing all this time. These assholes don’t want to see me when I come out of hiding.”

“That’s probably true. They’ve never seen your temper before.”

“Or my resources. We can’t forget who we are, Reese.”

“You’re the only one that’s ever tried.”

“I’m not trying to forget who I am. I was just lying low so I wouldn’t draw any attention.”

“Don’t get lost in this charade you’re playing.”

“It’s not a charade. This is who I am.”

“Not completely. Who you really are is somewhere in between. And that guy will find his way to the surface eventually. Remember that as you make these…relationships that seem to be so important to you now.”

“I haven’t forgotten anything, Reese. And who I am has no bearing on my relationships.”

The doubt in his voice is plain. “Whatever you say.”