Page 52 of Blood Money

Because I don’t trust myself to be alone with you ever again.

Gray chuckled. “You don’t have a say in the matter, babe.”

She turned to face him. “The hell I don’t. And don’t you dare babe me.” Last night was sheer torture. There was no way she could live in her tiny apartment with a man she wanted more desperately than she wanted to breathe.

“Too late,” Gray said in a cold voice. “It’s done.”

She grabbed his shoulder. “I do so have a say in this. I’ll talk to Lt. Frye.”

“Negative.”

“Negative?” Alex shouted. She lowered her voice so she didn’t wake Nicky, who was still sleeping comfortably in the car seat. “And don’t speak to me like I’m one of your cop cronies. Why does it have to be you?”

“Because not only won’t the department pay for your protection, but I don’t trust anyone else to keep you safe.” He briefly met her gaze, and there was anger there, but Alex couldn’t decipher the source of it. He shouldn’t care about her, and he shouldn’t care about protecting her.

Ah, she thought. He’s not protecting me, he’s protecting his cooperator.

That actually made sense.

“Fine.” She crossed her arms tighter, realizing the last thing she should do was decline the only available police protection. “But my bedroom is still off-limits. You got that, Mr. High and Mighty Detective?”

“Ten-four, ma’am. Now make the goddamn call.” His voice was low and calm, but his jaw muscles flexed. “Just don’t tell anyone why you’re taking Nicky out of school.”

Alex cued up the school’s main office, and when Mrs. Adams, the school’s administrative assistant answered, she told her she was taking Nicky out for a few weeks. Luckily, the woman was discreet and didn’t pry. The school knew Nicky had a medical condition, so Alex could only assume Mrs. Adams surmised that was the reason.

Next, Alex called Daisy. If she didn’t make good on her promise to touch base, Daisy would only hound her until she did. Daisy was one of the few solid people Alex could count on, and with no remaining family of her own save Nicky, she considered Daisy part of her family.

“Alex!” Daisy all but cried, answering the phone on the first ring. “It’s about time you called, I was getting worried. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” she lied. As close as they were, she wasn’t about to discuss the drama of the day. Daisy would throw a conniption and demand to know everything.

“How is Nicky handling things?” Daisy asked.

“He’s fine, too.” And he was, she realized, despite nearly being kidnapped. Small children were resilient in ways older children and adults were not. She could only pray the deep sleep he’d fallen into would assist him in forgetting most of what had happened that morning. “So tell me,” she continued, “did you get home okay last night with Detective Carew?”

Beside her, Gray cleared his throat.

“Yeah.” Daisy’s voice sounded odd. “I guess so.”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, you guess so?” She sensed Daisy wasn’t telling all.

There was a pause, then, “I slept with him.”

“You what?” Alex couldn’t contain the shock in her voice. She’d seen sparks fly between Daisy and Dom, but having sex with a virtual stranger was not in Daisy’s repertoire. People assumed that because her friend was bubbly and outgoing that she was easy. Reality was, Daisy was extremely selective when it came to her sexual partners.

“I know it was stupid, but I couldn’t help myself.” Daisy groaned. “He was so kind, thoughtful, and holy crap, what a body. The man doesn’t have an ounce of fat anywhere. The guy is so ripped it’s unreal.”

Despite the shock at hearing her best friend had sex with Gray’s partner, Alex laughed. Daisy hadn’t been this attracted to any man in quite a while. She truly hoped Dom wasn’t using her for a one-night stand.

“When I woke up this morning to open the shop, he was gone. No note, no phone call, nothing. I can’t believe I let this happen. I feel like the proverbial coyote ugly girlfriend.”

Exasperation and regret were evident in Daisy’s voice, and Alex wished she could throw her arms around her friend and tell her she would get over it. Then again, Alex didn’t think she’d ever get over Gray, so who was she to give advice?

“I really thought there was something different about him.” Daisy sounded wistful. “Before we jumped into bed, we talked for hours. I know it sounds corny, but it was like we had a connection. He’s a big strong, hunky guy, but there’s something hiding deep inside that drew me to him like a bumble bee to a tea rose.”

They both laughed at the floral analogy.

“After we made love, or should I say, had sex, we held each other. I got the distinct feeling he needed that. There’s something tormenting Dom that he doesn’t talk about and doesn’t let show, but I can sense it’s there.”