Dare Me Again Read Free Page B

apart.
    He got that she had embarked on a new and exciting career in medicine. He loved watching her in action. That genius brain of hers was damn sexy. So was knowing that she was pregnant with his baby. He loved the changes in her body and the power he felt each time he pressed his hand to her belly, knowing his seed had struck home. They hadn’t planned on having kids so soon, but when she took the test, they both cried. And he had experienced a bone-chilling fear. As a cop he had seen the ugly side of what humanity did to itself. As a father, he would vigilantly protect his family.
    They were both taking several months off when the baby came, and when Kat decided when she wanted to return to work either full-time or part-time, his mom was going to babysit. That was an enormous burden off his shoulders. Call him old-fashioned, but he didn’t want a nanny or some Swedish girl spending more time with his child than he did. If it was up to him, he’d stay home and be Mister Mom. He chuckled at the idea. But damn if he wouldn’t.
    Finally happy with his knot, Simon took his shoulder holster from where it hung on the back of the bathroom door and hoisted it on. Purely from habit he checked his Sig, confirming there was a round in the chamber. He slid it securely into the leather sheath. Then he slipped his wallet into his back trouser pocket. Yanking his suit jacket off the hanger on the door, he grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and stood for one last moment to stare down at the woman who had stolen his heart.
    Katrina Winslow West was as hot as a habañero, as sweet as a peach, and as sharp as Einstein. And she was all his. His chest tightened painfully with emotion. He’d almost lost her a few months ago to a savage asshole. If the prick wasn’t locked up in jail awaiting trial, no way Simon would let Kat out of his sight. She thought he was interfering with her job now? Fuck that; she’d be glued to his hip and armed to the teeth if Evan Scott was a free man. But that wasn’t going to happen. Because once that loser was convicted, he was going to be eating slop from a metal tray for the next twenty-plus years.
    He squatted down so that he could see her face when he kissed her good-bye. As much as he wanted to wake her, he decided she needed sleep more. Smoothing her chestnut-colored hair from her creamy skin, he smiled when her big blue eyes fluttered open and she smiled.
    “Hi,” she said softly.
    Simon smiled, that familiar ache in his chest when he looked at her hurting a little more this morning than it usually did. God, he didn’t want to leave her.
    “Hi,” he said back and kissed her parted lips. He wanted to linger. To run his fingers through the gentle tangle of her hair, to hold her close and stroke her soft curves, and to hear her soft cries of pleasure as he entered her. But there was no time. He was late.
    He told himself they’d have a whole week to enjoy each other. He just had to get through one more damn day.
    “I have to go, Princess, or I’ll miss my flight.”
    She grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers with his. “So miss it.”
    He was on the edge of staying. But as the Bay Area point man of Nor-GET, the Northern California Gang Enforcement Team, which was a collaborative effort between county, state, and federal law enforcement, he was expected to be at the meeting in LA with their southern California counterpart. Big shit was brewing between several rival gangs, and Nor-GET was right in the middle of it.
    “I’ll be home by ten. Have yourself packed. We’re leaving tonight.”
    “I have all of my winter clothes in the city at the apartment.”
    “I’ll buy you new clothes. I don’t want you to leave the house while I’m gone.” As he said the words, the hair on the back of his neck spiked. He hadn’t even meant to say them. Wasn’t exactly sure why he did. But now that he’d said them…
    She frowned. “Simon—”
    He grabbed her hands and pulled her to him.