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There was a sound, much like a purr, that filled his cab. “I woke up missing your big, warm body next to mine,” she murmured sleepily. “And knowing what time you said you roll into work, I figured I’d catch you between children and co-workers to tell you that.”
“You timed it perfectly,” Mike beamed, pleased with her assertion. “And I miss you, too,” he admitted.
“Excellent. So how about some hot phone sex before you get to the station?”
Mike groaned. “Seriously, Joe? Please don’t do this. I’m only three minutes away from parking, and I don’t want to walk into the precinct sporting wood.”
Just imagining her in bed, naked and luscious… She’d be stretching, her hands above her head, her tits arching upward, her pussy?—
Fuck. Too late.
“You are so bad,” he grumbled, adjusting his hard-on so he could continue driving as Joe laughed huskily.
“Ready for me, are you?” she cooed. “I’m a little sore this morning, but I’d be willing to go a few more rounds if you’ve got something going that’s ready and willing.”
“Joe. I. Have. To. Work.” He pronounced each word succinctly.
Now she pretend-whined. “You can’t take the day off? I’d love some company. When was the last time you called in sick?”
“Nineteen ninety-eight,” he answered without missing a beat. “Which means if I phone in today, I’m going to get all kinds of shit. The entire department will know something’s up.”
“Mmm. They’re going to know something is up the minute you walk in with a tent in your PDU’s.”
Mike was amused but not surprised that Joe realized he had an actual boner, and that she knew what to call his every day tactical pants. Maybe the DEA were outfitted similarly to police officers with their daily uniform. He couldn’t wait to find out by stripping her out of it one day after she’d come home off a job.
Joe must have known she’d pushed him enough on the erection thing, because she changed the subject. “I was actually wondering if you might stop by the bar tonight?”
“You want to see me again?” he teased, knowing the answer. After a combined five orgasms last night, there was no doubt in Mike’s mind that she wanted to continue exploring what they had together.
“Would you even believe me if I said…meh?”
Mike burst out laughing. “Uh, no,” he quickly rebutted. “I barely made it out of your bed last night, and I have the scratch marks to prove it. You were really hanging on to me so I wouldn’t leave.”
“And you would have stayed if not for your kids,” she responded smugly. He could hear the satisfied smirk in her voice. “And FYI, I would have been completely onboard for an all-nighter.”
Mike chuckled. Joe didn’t hold back on her feelings, and he loved that about her…
Wait. Love?
Had he just thought that? Seriously?
Mike’s gut clenched and his stiffy shriveled to half its size.
When Mel had left, Mike had told himself he’d never fall for a woman and her duplicity again. He didn’t enjoy feeling like a chump, and that’s what had happened with Melanie; being blindsided by her infidelity. Mike knew damned well that the only way to keep the same thing from happening in the future, was to keep his feelings under control at all times.
Fuck.
Somehow Joe had gotten in under his well-constructed, fortified barriers, because what he was feeling right now was awfully damned close to infatuation, if not full-blown, fall-over-the-cliff love. He wanted to see the woman, talk to her, touch her, and breathe her in every single waking and sleeping minute.
Mike groaned silently.
Shit.
He had it bad, and there were no takesies-backsies for him. Mike was an all-in kind of guy. But to cut himself some slack over his misstep, he thought he’d been dealing with his lustful left brain, when clearly, all along, his sneaky right brain had been making long-term decisions. He’d gone into this thing with Joe, maintaining a healthy view of having a simple, physical relationship over the course of months, that would end up with them liking each other enough to hang out and be good friends with benefits, but now he wanted more. Nope. Not just more, as he'd fooled himself previously. He wanted it all.
And that was an entirely different ballgame.
“Uh, Mike? Are you still there? You’ve been quiet for a long time.”