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“Bitch,” she repeats.

“Okay, come over now. I’m finished for the day.”

“See you soon.” She hangs up.

I peek at the time and know Walker is still knee deep in work. It’s only four-thirty, and he’s been working until at least seven each night. He can’t tell me much, but he’s shared it’s a case he’s working with SLED dealing with a car theft ring. It’s obvious he’s tired and frustrated, but when he sees me, his whole demeanor changes. I try to keep his mind off work every second he’s with me, and it seems to work.

Since the night I returned from Myrtle Beach, there has been a colossal shift in my relationship with Walker, and it’s more than the endless nights and mornings of sex. When he told me we had crossed into new territory, I didn’t catch on right away. But from that moment, he’s proved there was nothing casual about our relationship.

We are now an us, and I am completely in love with him. Three weeks is all it took for me to fall head over ass in love with Walker Scott. Truthfully, I think I fell in love the second he kissed me before our first date.

No second-guesses, no turning back, I was all in. Part of me was scared to death, seeing as I’d never really dated before, and now, I was ruined. If we didn’t work out, no man would ever live up to him. But the other part of me pushed those thoughts to the side, because if that happens, I know I’d be a bonafide cat lady for the rest of my life.

And I’m allergic to cats.

Instead of calling and interrupting his afternoon, I send him a short text.

Me- I’m going to dinner and drinks with Maren tonight. I’ll stay at my place and not wak

e you up.

My phone rings almost instantly, his name flashing in the screen.

“Hi.”

“We’ll stay at my place. Call me when you’re ready and I’ll come get you,” he informs me in greeting.

“It may be late. I don’t want to wake you.”

“Won’t matter.”

“Don’t be silly. Maren’s free of the corporate handcuffs and has tomorrow off. No telling what the night will bring.”

“That’s exactly why you’re coming to me. Because in the last few minutes, I’ve discovered that it’s not only you and Maren, it’s Nina and Rachel, too. And if rumor has it straight, Maren’s on the prowl for a man because she hasn’t been properly laid in forever. Now that her best friend gets, and I quote, ‘mind-blowing, toe-curling, window-shaking, life-altering’ sex, she’s feeling left out. You are not on that mission because you already have a stud, Nina’s making plans to help her.”

Heat flames up my neck and face. “Please tell me that Nina did not announce that to the entire police station.”

“Anyone within a one-mile radius heard her.”

“No! That’s not for public knowledge!”

“I’ve come to learn there aren’t many secrets in your crew. You’re the one who shared the details with Maren. For the record, I don’t mind.”

“Of course, you don’t mind. She’s labeled you a stud. How the hell can I show my face to those people?”

“Baby, this is not news to them. Remember, the Captain heard you through the phone the first morning. His mouth is as big as your friends’.”

“He didn’t know it was me.”

“Babe, don’t insult the man. He’s not a complete idiot. I wasn’t shy about my intentions with you.”

“So, everyone you work with thinks I’m easy?”

“Emi,” he says low in warning. “Now, you’re insulting me.”

His rough voice sends a little tingle over my skin. Without being in the same room, he can still affect me. Desire surges through my veins, thinking about that same voice, demanding things from my body like no one else. The embarrassment disappears, replaced with a new feeling. A faint moan escapes, thinking about going to him after a night of drinking. Maren was right; drunk sex with Walker is something to look forward to.

“Fuck, stop that.”