Page 82 of Missing Justice

Once inside she headed for the elevator and punched the button. The elevator doors whooshed open and he set his hand on her lower back, guiding her in front of him. “You’re funny, Tay.”

“I am funny. Sometimes I don’t appreciate that about myself. I’m too serious. You’ve helped me lighten up though. So, thank you.”

Wow. Now there was a compliment of all compliments and it left him…stunned. Not stunned enough, however, to ignore an opportunity. A grand one. He waited for the doors to close, then hooked his hand around her neck and hit her with a kiss that had him contemplating the benefits of the emergency stop button. As usual, she responded, arching into him and playing hide-and-seek with her tongue.

Thoughts of pressing her against the elevator wall and sliding into her raced through his mind. Damn, he was crazy about her. She upped the ante on the kiss and slid her leg up his calf.

God, this woman was exceptional. Wicked, wicked woman.

Ding.The elevator cruised to a halt and Taylor angled back, pressing her hands against his cheeks. “Oh, my,” she said. “I think we’ll have to finish this later.”

They sure would. “You can count on that.”

He and Taylor had been competitors for months. That sense of competition had driven his lust for her to another level. From the second he’d seen her, he wanted her. Then when she opened her mouth he wanted to shut her up. By kissing her. Kissing that mouth.

Kissing everything. Taylor, pain in the ass that she was, did it for him. Intellectually, physically, emotionally, all of it. The highest of the highs.

But with the highs there had to be lows. That was life and sometimes it sucked. In fact, life sucked a lot. He’d learned that when his baby sister had been murdered and his mother became a drunk. The trick was making the most of the times that didn’t suck.

He and Taylor? They’d yet to experience the lows with each other. Sure, she’d curtailed the drinking, but maintaining that sobriety was a different animal. Could she do it long-term and maybe give them a shot at an actual relationship? At commitment, dinners, and the mundane trappings that came with being a couple?

He hoped so.

The elevator doors slid open and straight ahead, against a stark white wall, an ornate brass sign indicated units 2A and 2B to the left.

Taylor, having perfect vision, hooked a left. “Look around,” she whispered. “Check for security cameras.”

“On it.”

He did a visual sweep of the corridor, his eyes darting up and down, checking the corners and ceiling for any overhead cameras. “You see anything?”

“Nope.”

“Me neither. I think we’re good.”

“Really, the security is extremely lax in this building.”

“Good for us.”

He stopped at unit 2B tucked in the corner. Another lucky break given that he only had to worry about nosey neighbors from one side. He knocked on the glossy red door and waited. Nothing.

“Try again,” Taylor suggested. “Just to be sure.”

Matt rapped on the door again, harder this time, but not banging. No sense alerting the neighbors to the B&E about to happen.

He leaned closer to the door, his ear almost pressed against it. No sound came from inside.

Satisfied no one was home, he nodded. “Huddle up here. Block the view in case someone comes into the hallway.”

Taylor did as he asked and the scent of her perfume, something soft—jasmine?—distracted him for a few seconds.Focus here, dumbass.

Sliding the tension wrench into the lock, he turned until the inner cylinder moved then inserted the pick, finagling it until he’d moved each pin, one by one and…done. Lock popped.

Working quickly, he pushed open the door, heard a chime and halted. Door chime.Security system.But the chime went silent so Matt slipped inside with Taylor behind him. The keypad on the wall told him the alarm was inactive.

The fading aroma of fresh baked cookies tickled his senses. He locked the door behind them, then held his hand out, blocking Taylor from moving as he listened. Just in case someone was home, maybe in the shower, about to walk out andhello, strangers.

“I don’t hear anything,” she said.