Too Hot to Handle Read online

  "I'm so telling Da you had a crush on me. He'll make you marry me."

  "Don't you dare," I whispered harshly, slamming my hand over his mouth and looking around the room. Where the hell was Mark? He wasn't where I'd last seen him, and he had the bad habit of popping up when someone mentioned his name, almost like he was being conjured straight from hell. "It wasn't a crush, I just thought you had a nice ass."

  Dawes' face lit up beneath my hand, and I groaned, dropping it away while letting my head fall back on my shoulders in defeat.

  Why the hell had I admitted that? There was absolutely no way I wasn't going to be harassed constantly, and probably with pictures of his ass, and him purposely bending over in front of me at work, or some shit like that. "Oh really? What else did you like about me?"

  "Nothing," I said, putting my nose in the air snottily. "That was pretty much it."

  I gasped when he bounced up on his knees on the couch, and then threw a leg over my thighs before straddling me. He didn't put all his weight on me, which I was thankful for, since I was pretty sure he outweighed me by a person, but when my hands landed on his thighs, since I really didn't know where else to put them, I could feel the solid muscle there engaged as he held himself up.

  Don't lie, Kent," he said, lifting his shirt to show off his abs while doing a little clockwise circle with his hips. "You know you like these."

  I did. I really, really did, especially when he moved like that, making the muscles roll smoothly. I groaned, disguising it with a laugh.

  "You aren't supposed to touch the stripper during a lap dance, Kent," Wagoner yelled from across the room, letting me know that everyone was probably watching the debacle, even Devon, who I was pretty sure was snoring only a moment before, but now he sat there, chuckling softly as he rubbed small little circles on a sleeping Ricki's back.

  "You'd know," Lawton said, shoving Wagoner.

  He shrugged, chuckling as he sprang to his feet, heading toward us. "Move Dawes. Let me show you how it's done."

  "No way." Dawes shooed at Wagoner, trying to keep him back. "I heard this one tips big. He's mine."

  "Oh, I'll give you a big tip," I said, shoving against his chest, and laughing when he windmilled his arms and toppled backwards onto the floor.

  I cringed, glad he didn't bust his head open on the coffee table, and glanced up, starting slightly when I caught Da's gaze from where he stood leaning against the wall just inside the hall, his eyes laser focused on me as one side of his mouth curled up into a slightly demented-looking smile.

  Oh shit. He knows.

  Chapter Two

  May

  "D

  on't look at me like that," Kent whined, covering his face when I spun the tire swing he was sitting in around, so he was facing me. "I don't want to have a serious conversation, right now."

  I chuckled, reaching out to pull his hands down. "What makes you think this is going to be serious?"

  "Because your face was doing this…" He made an overexaggerated sad face and rolled his eyes up in his head, looking… like he was making fun of me, and I chuckled. "And you didn't even ask if I wanted to make out, which is kinda rude, really."

  "Well, do you want to make out?"

  He sighed, sticking his foot against my thigh and shoving off. "Just spit it out."

  I grabbed the tire, pulling him close and bending enough to look him directly in the eyes over the swing. "I just want you to know, if I'd met you that night, I would have chosen you over Kade."

  He huffed out a surprised laugh, shaking his head. "You say that now, because you know what a shithead Kade is, and obviously I'm amazing, but you don't know for sure what you would have done that night. Kade was on his game."

  "Oh yes I do. You're way hotter than your brother." I smirked at the dumbfounded look on his face.

  He blinked several times and shook his head like he was clearing it. "I mean, I know that, but most other people don't."

  I didn't see how that was possible. Kade was a handsome man, there was no doubting that, but it was a… flashy kind of attractive, mostly showmanship. There were plenty of people out there that found that kind of thing attractive, but I was more into the simplistic attractiveness of someone like Kent.

  He was just naturally gorgeous. And even though I had no doubt he could glitz up with the best of them, and outshine everyone, he had the ability to draw eyes without all the sequins and spotlights.

  "I bet you were wearing some light-colored jeans and a dark T-shirt. Maybe the barest hint of eyeliner, because you were out to have fun."

  He frowned, tilting his head to the side. "Did you see me?"

  I laughed. "No. I just know you. You would have kept it simple, because that's the way you are, but you would have been the hottest person in the room."

  His mouth parted in surprise, and I wanted to kiss him so fucking bad.

  He clearly didn't understand how attracted I was to him. He didn't understand that it had been like that from the very first time I'd met him… when Kade had made his dad hunt me down and then talked Kent into coming and letting me know that his brother was pregnant.

  When I'd opened my front door to find Kent standing there, looking nervous and fucking gorgeous, I'd started the drawn-out process of falling in love with the man, and he'd become an important part of my life ever since.

  "Your brother was just… convenient." I cringed, hating how that sounded, and the way it made me look. "That probably seems harsh, but that was exactly what it was. He came to me, which made things easy. I didn't even have to like him, or even really pretend to like him. It's not pretty, but it is what it is. Neither of us expected long term." I paused, smiling as I let him watch me take in the gorgeousness of his handsome face. "But if I'd have even known you existed, I would have driven you crazy all night trying to get your number, and even if I didn't talk you into going home with me that night, I would have still been interested, and I would have done everything I could to get you to go out with me."

  He sat there for a long time, staring at me like he was trying to read my mind to see if I was telling the truth, before he licked his lips and cleared his throat. "Well, it's probably a good thing you didn't then," he said, quietly, licking his lips. "We wouldn’t have that cutie in there if you had."

  "Yeah, I guess that's true."

  I wouldn't ever change the way things had happened, because I had the sweetest, most amazing little boy, and he made everything worth it, but I couldn't help but wonder if my having that fling with Kade had made it impossible for me to have anything with Kent now. I'd always thought my chances were low with him. I knew he didn't date, and not many people were comfortable with dating a sibling's ex, but now I knew an aspect of his past with his brother that made it pretty much a given that he would never want me as his alpha, killing whatever little bit of hope I'd managed to cultivate over the last couple of years.

  He chuckled, once again using my thigh to kick off. "Stop looking like that. Everything worked out the way it was supposed to."

  Yeah, but I wanted more. I wanted the adorable two-year-old that had become my entire world, and I wanted his gorgeous uncle, who had become one of my closest friends and my rock.

  I nodded, sighing. "You staying?" I asked, already knowing he probably would since it was so late, and neither of us had gotten any sleep since the day before.

  "Yeah. My roommate keeps bringing random alphas home all the time, and it just makes me really nervous." I frowned when he bit his lip, looking hesitant. "I woke up three days ago with one of them standing over my bed. I have no idea how he got in my room without waking me. The door was locked when I fell asleep."

  I jolted, reaching out and snagging the tire before reeling him in close. "What the fuck? Why didn't you tell me that?"

  He shrugged. "It didn't come up. I freaked out and kicked him out of my room, and then I bitched at Bren, but he said I was overreacting, and that the guy probably just wandered into the wrong room and I forgot to lock it. Our house isn't that fucking big. It's not like there are endless wings to get lost in, and I know I locked my door, because I hate when he brings people home I don't know, and I knew he did, because they were fucking when I walked in the front door."

  Oh no. This wasn't happening anymore. I'd be damned if he was going to be living in a house where he could be murdered or raped at any time by some creep his own roommate brought home.

  "Why don't you just stay here for a while?" I blurted, surprised by the offer, but fully approving.

  He blinked in surprise too, before laughing softly and shaking his head. "No. I'm not invading your space because my roommate is an insensitive asshole with horrible taste in men."

  "To prevent this from turning into a long drawn out argument, I'll just tell you that if you don't stay here, I'll always be worried, and I'll probably never be able to get to sleep, knowing you might be in danger, and then something terrible will happen while I'm out on patrol, because I'm too tired to concentrate."

  He smirked, shaking his head. "You're manipulating me, but we do keep the same hours when it's not the weekend. While I try to stay quiet when I get home really early in the morning, it's like Bren deliberately tries to be as loud as possible. I've mentioned it several times to him, but he just keeps saying that he forgets, because it's weird to sleep in the middle of the day."

  "Your roommate's a dick, but see, it'll be perfect," I said, batting my eyelashes. "We'll both sleep better if you're staying here."

  "You just want to parade around in your underwear, so you can try to make me fall in love with you," he said dryly, and I shrugged.

  "Win-win."

  ***

  I smirked, jerking back quickly when a hand came flying at my face, nearly nailing me in the nose. Kent mumbled something unintelligible, and I let him settle before bending over him where he lay in the guest bed, once again breathing as loudly as I could in his ear.

  "No," he whined, pulling the blanket up over his head, and curling in a ball on his side. "Why are you doing this to me?"

  "It's time to wake up, my pretty," I said in the worst impression of a witch's voice probably ever, while gripping the blankets and giving them a slow, solid tug.

  He growled, throwing his body around in irritation before grabbing his pillow and burying his head beneath it. I slid the blanket down further, revealing the smooth skin of his upper body a little at a time.

  "Are you grumpy at wake-up time?" I asked, reaching out and poking him in the ribs, and he gasped, gripping my wrist and pushing it away.

  "Mondays are hard," he whined, trying to jerk the blanket back out of my hand.

  Mondays were hard. Working nights and having to flip your schedule on its head for the weekends, so you could hang out with your loved ones at a somewhat normal hour… especially Ricki, made Mondays when we had to flip it back and then go work eight hours, rough. Unfortunately, it was necessary until we'd both been working there long enough to get to pick our hours a little more.

  Imagine how surprised I was to see Hollis my first day of work, since it hadn't been him who'd done my interview. Thankfully, he didn't seem too irritated by my presence. He'd simply rolled his eyes and walked into his office. I still didn't know if he'd known I was going to be working there before I showed up, or if it was just as big a surprise to him to see me there as it was for me to see him.

  Kent had started there about two months later, and though I'd already been pretty-much dealing with him rather than Kade all the time, that was when we really started spending time together.

  Even after two years, I was still the newest actual officer, and the other officer who was on patrol with me in the middle of the night had been there four years, so it was probably going to be a while before I had the kind of seniority I needed to get out of the night shift, but at least I got to spend it with Kent. Coming in on breaks whenever I could to spend time with him made it worth it.

  "Come on," I said, before throwing the blanket back completely and scooping him up into my arms, making him gasp and immediately wrap his arms around my neck.

  "What are you doing?" He looked longingly over my shoulder toward the bed as I marched him out of the room and toward the bathroom.

  He glared up at me as I sat him on his feet next to the shower, leaning down to start the water, and I laughed as I stood, reaching out to boop him on the nose. "Do I need to strip you?"

  He gave me a tight, slightly evil-looking smile. "Only if you want me to kill you."

  I chuckled, letting my gaze wander over his mostly naked form. He was only wearing boxer briefs, and his body was absolutely stunning, even as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me. "You have fifteen minutes," I said perkily," turning to let myself out of the bathroom, and freezing in surprise when a roll of toilet paper nailed me on the back of the head.

  He recrossed his arms when I looked at him over my shoulder. "This isn't feeling so much like a win-win for me," he grumbled.

  I smiled brightly, shrugging. "Oh, well, I'm having a great time."

  ***

  "What the hell?" Kent gasped, standing quickly from his chair, sending the thing backwards a couple of feet.

  I blinked up at him, my eyes taking a few moments to focus as I watched him lean sideways, trying to see something out of the large windows at the front of the police station.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, watching him as he nearly tipped over sideways while he continued to lean, his khaki pants pulled tight over his ass.

  "Did you see that guy out there?" he asked, turning to look at me over his shoulder for a moment, before once again looking out the window.

  "What guy?"

  He sighed, turning to lean against the counter with his arms crossed, looking irritated. "I thought it was that guy that was in my room the other day."

  "Where?" I demanded, standing too and trying to see outside, but the street was pretty much deserted, and the dawn lighting behind the tinted glass didn't make for optimal viewing.

  I started to move toward the door that led out into the lobby, fully intent on chasing some dude down the street and demanding to know what the hell he was doing, but Kent reached out and grabbed the back of my shirt, shaking his head.

  "No. Don't worry about it. Even if it was him, Salida isn't that big. For all I know he could work around here, and I didn't pay attention. I've probably seen him a thousand times and didn't even realize it."

  I wasn't so sure, but I allowed him to pull me back and fell into my seat, watching his face. He didn't look all that convinced either, but he gave me a small smile and grabbed his chair, bringing it back over to where he had been sitting before.

  It was nearing the end of my shift, so I was doing––uhg––paperwork, and even though I had my own desk, or even a conference room I could be working at, it had become my habit to come sit up front with Kent.

  We sat there for a long moment, me trying to concentrate on my work, and him continuously glancing over at the window, and then trying to play it off like he wasn't worried when he caught me watching.

  "Dawes," Hollis growled, when he walked into the front of the building, waiting for Kent to buzz him in, before marching through and glaring at me. "Why do I always find you up here flirting with my son."

  "I'm sorry, sir, but if you're going to put such a gorgeous specimen out here in the middle of everything like this, you have to expect that I'm probably going to be distracted." I shrugged, giving him a smile. "This is kind of your fault."

  He leaned across the counter I was using as a desk, glaring into my face. "Stop looking at my son's specimen," he grumbled, before turning to look at a smirking Kent. "Where is your car? I didn't see it in the parking lot."

  "I rode with Dawes," Kent said without hesitation, reaching his foot out and pushing it off the side of my leg.

  I grabbed his ankle, lifting his foot quickly, and laughing when he gasped, gripping the arms of his chair like he thought the thing was going to go over with him in it. I laughed, but instead of letting his foot go to drop to the floor, I propped it on my thigh, rubbing his ankle.

  "Your apartment isn't on the way from Dawes's," Hollis said, glaring back and forth between the two of us when we'd calmed.

  I gave him another smile, knowing it would irritate him, and Kent used his heel to dig into my thigh, warning me to leave his dad alone.

  "I'm staying with him for a little bit, because my roommate is really loud during the day while I'm trying to sleep," he said, really only half lying, since that was one of the reasons I'd used to talk him into staying in the first place. "Dawes and I have the same schedule, so he offered to let me stay with him."

  There was a short pause, and I glanced up at Hollis only to find him watching me with narrowed eyes. "Dawes, I assume you have a guest room?"

  "No, sir," I said as seriously as I could, only to earn another kick from Kent.

  "Cut it out," he growled at me through clenched teeth. "Yes, Dad. He has a guest room."

  "It's where I keep the whips and different things."

  Hollis rolled his eyes, standing up fully before shaking his head at me. "You're lucky you make pretty kids."

  I smiled brightly at the man, and he sighed, walking off and grumbling to himself about firing me like he always did. Hollis was a big grouch, who didn't show much softness toward many people, but he loved his boys and his grandson, and even though he tried really hard to act like he didn't, I knew deep down the man actually liked me. He wouldn't put up with my shit so much if he didn't.

  "He's going to kill you some day," Kent said, sounding amused.

  I smirked over at him, crinkling my nose and shaking my head. "No way. He'd never kill the man you adore."

  He snorted, rolling his eyes, not unlike his father, but I didn't miss the way he glanced toward the window again, clearly not completely settled, and I didn't blame him. I wasn't settled either.

  I rubbed his leg, massaging the calf, my stupid paperwork completely forgotten as Kent let out a small moan, sinking lower in his chair and raising his other leg to my lap. His eyes were closed, and he had his head leaned back against the chair, showing off the line of his neck and jaw.