Page 68 of Ace of Spades

“Delaney,” Taylor said, putting her hand on the woman’s arm. “I need you to wake up, hon.” She brushed the woman’s hair away from her face. “Delaney. Wake up, okay?”

Nate’s phone buzzed, and at seeing Court’s name on the screen, he stepped out of the room. “Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“At the hospital. Our man struck again tonight, but the woman managed to get away. Taylor’s interviewing her now.”

“Glad to hear she escaped. I might have something. Stop by my place when you get back.”

“Should be in about an hour. I’ll bring Taylor with me.”

“Great. See you then.”

Nate eyed the door to the woman’s room. If he walked back in now, he would interrupt the flow of Taylor’s interview. She had a knack for remembering conversations word for word, so he decided to wait in the hallway. The cop studied him with interest when Nate leaned back on the wall. Keeping his expression blank, he closed his eyes, hoping he wasn’t about to get grilled on how to become an FBI agent.

While he waited for Taylor to finish, the image of her pressed against his wall, wearing nothing but a lacy pink bra and matching bikini panties filled his mind. It was true what he’d told her. Every time he passed that spot, he would visualize her there, her quiet little sighs and moans, her fingers digging into the wall as he pleasured her. Arousal stirred just thinking about it. To get his mind off an almost-naked Taylor before he embarrassed himself, he ran through their conversation in the car.

What had brought that on? Why was she even thinking of him with other women? He’d never been a touchy-feely man, but with Taylor, anytime he was near her, he wanted to touch her. Whether it was a hand on her back when they walked, tucking hair behind her ear, or his fingers on her arm, the contact pleased him. He had no problem with exclusive, he just didn’t want to say it. Putting it out there took them to relationship status.

If he were smart, he’d back away before things between them got messy—or messier—but he didn’t want to. Apparently, he was a selfish bastard. She’d said she wasn’t looking for anything permanent, so maybe he was making too much of this. They just needed to talk and make sure they were on the same page.

That shouldn’t be too difficult.