Acquainted With the Night Read Free Page B

in and murmured, “I was making sure you knew it’s always you I want.”
    Alex said, “I think all you’ve proven is how much I want you.”
    “Good,” CJ said, approvingly. “In that case, I’ll wait up for you to get home.”
    Alex ran her nose down CJ’s cheek, nuzzling her softly. “Will you? What will you be doing?”
    “Hmm. Let me think. Reading, I suppose. In bed. Naked, of course.”
    Alex gave a little groan. “I really, really have to change clothes.”
    “Go ahead. I’ll just watch.”
    “No, you won’t. If I take off one more stitch with you in here, we both know what will happen.”
    “Umm. What was that, again?”
    Alex told her in vivid terms. CJ tried to look shocked, but only managed to feel self-satisfied.
    “Well, we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?” she managed after another of Alex’s searing kisses.
    Alex muttered, “We might.”
    “Now, now. You have to go to your meeting, so I’ll just run along.”
    Alex groaned again. “So you really just dropped in here to make me crazy for you?”
    “Just a reminder.”
    Alex pulled away a little and met her eyes. Every insecurity CJ had ever felt over two failed relationships vanished when Alex looked at her like this. “You don’t have to remind me,” Alex said. “I never ever forget how much I want to be with you. You’re the person I waited for all my life.”
    CJ relaxed in her arms a little. “Not the package you expected, though?” she teased.
    Alex kissed her a final time. “You’re so much more than I ever thought I could have. Sometimes I can’t believe how beautiful you are. Now, please get your gorgeous self out of here, or I really am not going to make that meeting.”
    CJ went to the door, but stopped and turned back with her hand on the knob. “Sure you trust me in the same room with Steph?” she teased again.
    “Of course,” Alex replied calmly. “You are carrying your backup weapon, aren’t you, Lieutenant?”
    CJ laughed. “Darlin’, you know I never leave home without it.”
    “Good. Then remember to always use the force appropriate to the situation.”
    “You are such a cop sometimes.”
    “Go. I’ll call you on the way home, okay?”
    “Okay. Be safe, darlin’.”
    “Always. I have a really good reason to come home safely.”
    * * *
    But she hadn’t gotten home safely, CJ thought miserably, still sitting near the emergency room.
    Nicole Ryan Castillo, walking fast, came into the waiting room. Her trench coat was thrown over jeans and a sweatshirt. CJ stood up and Nicole went immediately into her arms for a quick hug.
    “What do you know?” she asked, sitting down next to CJ.
    “Not much,” CJ admitted. “They haven’t come out yet to tell me anything. She was conscious when they put her in the ambulance, said a couple of words to me. She was in a lot of pain, though. We weren’t exactly having a conversation.”
    Nicole gripped her hand tightly. CJ saw that she was close to panic, and it frightened her. Alex’s younger sister was typically calm in a crisis, using her lawyer’s logic to handle her emotions. At this moment she looked tightly wound, jaw clenched, the tiny muscles around her eyes tensed. Despite the five-year gap in age and the extra ten pounds or so that Nicole carried, CJ thought again how much she looked like Alex.
    “Was she moving? Could you tell anything?” Nicole asked.
    “She squeezed my hand as they took her in. They had her on a backboard, in a brace, but that’s usual until they can eliminate spinal injuries. She…” CJ stumbled a little then went on, “She had some blood on her face, a cut or something, so I’m sure they’re looking at her for head injuries, too.”
    “God damn it!” Nicole let go of CJ’s hand to drop her head into her palms. CJ could see her shoulders shaking beneath the coat.
    It tore at CJ’s heart to see Nicole like this. She slipped her arm around her, rubbing her hand across her back, brushing away the tiny