Chapter 15

15

I stared at my phone and frowned before I tossed it in my purse.

"Who was it?" Valentine asked.

"My mother."

Valentine pulled into a guest spot near my building and put the Rover into park.

"Have you talked to her since that day at your apartment?"

"No."

"But she's calling you. You're just not answering."

"Correct, and texting."

If I'd had a different kind of relationship with my mother I would've felt guilty for not returning her calls or texts. But I didn't have a different kind of relationship with her. I had the one I had and I didn't feel like getting laid into.

When Valentine didn't say anything I turned my head to look at him. He was staring out the windshield but I doubted he thought the cinderblock wall in front of him was interesting enough to study.

"I don't know what to say," he started. "I think I'm supposed to tell you she's your mother and you should call her and give her a chance to apologize. But from what I saw, I don't think that's what would happen."

"You're right. That's not what would happen."

"Right," he clipped. "Then stick to your boundaries."

"Are you close to your parents?"

The instant the question left my mouth the inside of the car became stifling. The air turned thick. And an unease like I'd never felt prickled my skin.

"My mom's dead."

Those three words ricocheted around the Rover and pierced my heart.

"I'm—"

"My dad's…not close to anyone."

I waited and when he offered no more I gave him a useless platitude since I didn't know what else to say.

"I'm sorry, Valentine."

"It was a long time ago."

He said the words but his statement didn't match the sorrow I heard.

Saying anything else at this point would've been cruel. Not that I had a choice in dropping the subject because he was out of the SUV.

Damn .

I collected my purse and gathered my thoughts before I got out and joined him. When he grabbed my hand I felt marginally better.

"I shouldn't've?—"

"You didn't know." He let me off the hook. "And like I said it was a long time ago."

I chanced a question.

"How long ago?"

"I was thirteen."

I didn't know exactly how old Valentine was but he had to be around my age, so indeed a long time ago. A long time to still be mourning the loss of his mother. As much as my heart hurt for him I was glad he had the kind of mom who he loved so much that still after all these years he sounded pained when he spoke of her.

Valentine jerked his head in the direction of the covered tent parking.

"Hayden's home," he noted.

I glanced at Hayden's truck parked next to my car and asked, "Is that a problem?"

"No. But before we walk in there hand-in-hand I wanted to give you a heads up in case you didn't want him knowing about us."

It was seriously hard remembering I'd agreed to give him time when I really wanted to know who had made him question himself.

"I want everyone to know I landed the hottest cop in Hollow Point. I want everyone to know how happy I am he picked me. I want to go get coffee holding your hand so I can sit across from you and dash the hopes and dreams of every single woman getting her morning coffee fix. I want to walk into a restaurant on your arm. I want you to know that I will make it worth it for you to put up with my irrational jealousy when it rears its head. And I'll make it worth it for you when you give me a choice of takeout menus and you have to wait thirty minutes for me to weigh my options. And I'll?—"

Valentine tugged my hand, spun me, then dropped another soul-splintering kiss on my mouth.

I guess he was done with me blathering on.

And if this was how he shut me up when I was on a rant, I was A-okay with that.

"You're heard, baby."

I wasn't sure I was but I let it go.

"Irrational jealousy?" He chuckled.

"Totally."

His smirk would've been infuriating if it wasn't so damn hot.

"Looking forward to seeing it."

It was good he thought that, because I wasn't joking.

"For the record, I get to pick where we eat unless you have something specific in mind. No way in hell am I waiting half an hour for you to weigh your options."

"Works for me."

We were almost to my front door when he quietly muttered, "Just so you know, my jealousy won't be categorized as irrational."

I barely hid my smile when I said, "No? How would you categorize it? "

"Possessive and feral."

I tossed his earlier words back at him.

"Looking forward to it."

Valentine slipped his arm around my shoulder and chuckled.

I unlocked the door, stepped inside, and offered my normal greeting. "Honey, I'm home."

I heard Valentine grunt behind me.

"Possessive," he warned. It was probably against some rule in the woman handbook but I shivered. "And feral."

Our banter was cut short when Hayden appeared. His gaze danced between me and Valentine before a huge smile split his face.

"Huxley. Valentine, good to see you."

"Winslow…" I trailed off when a beautiful brunette materialized from the hall.

I felt Valentine's heat hit my back, his arm went around my waist, and he planted his hand on my belly, holding me tightly in front of him.

"Khloe, this is my roommate Sophie and her man, Valentine."

"Hi, nice to meet you both," she sweetly offered.

Valentine's fingers dug in and he stepped closer.

"Hey, Khloe. Nice to meet you, too."

The woman smiled.

Then it became awkward.

This wasn't the first time I'd met one of Hayden's dates. Some were nicer than others. Some gave me the side-eye because I was female and the roommate. Others didn't pay me any attention. A few I'd even watched a movie and scarfed down pizza with before I absented myself to my bedroom to give them privacy. It was rare but occasionally I'd walked into my kitchen in the morning and found a woman I didn't know helping herself to the fridge.

But that wasn't the reason it was awkward now. Khloe was staring at me with daggers in her eyes.

"Hayden. Khloe, it was good to meet you. If you'll excuse us."

Hayden, being none the wiser to his date's death rays, tagged her around the waist and pulled her into the living room.

"I'm making breakfast. Hungry?" Hayden asked.

I was starving but I was afraid if I said yes, the woman might spit in my food.

"No thanks."

"I'm good, brother," Valentine answered and propelled me forward, not letting me go until we rounded the corner into the hall. And I meant, we . It was like we were one as he shuffled us past Khloe.

The moment Valentine closed the door behind us I gave him big eyes and whispered, "You saw that, right?"

"Not gonna lie, Soph. I might've sized up Hayden if you brought me home and I didn't know him. But, yeah, I saw it. That chick was sending over-the-top death rays in your direction."

Wait .

"Hayden's just a friend. Nothing's ever happened. The closest he's ever come to touching me is giving me a foot rub."

Valentine's eyes narrowed.

"My socks were on."

He said nothing so I went on.

"It only?—"

"Sophie."

"Yeah?"

"I don't share."

Well, that was good news.

"I don't either."

"Right. I'll explain." He stalked across the small room and pulled me to his chest. "I don't share. Not even your feet."

I stared up at him and pinched my lips to stop myself from smiling.

"Are we clear?"

"Sure, we're clear, as long as we're also clear I'm answering in the affirmative assuming this is you being possessive and not condescending."

"And feral," he reminded me.

"And feral."

He kissed my forehead, then pulled back.

"For the record, I'd never be condescending."

"Good to know."

Valentine kept his chin dipped and held my stare. Something was working behind his steely-blue eyes. Even though I didn't know what he was working out, it was fascinating to watch .

"You gonna be okay here alone?"

I wanted to point out his question was one of the many things that made him worth risking my heart. He would whisk me away if I told him I didn't want to stay. That wasn't possessive, that was protection.

"I'll be fine. I can work in here until they're done with breakfast."

He stared at me a beat with his brows pulled together.

"Not cool you having to lock yourself in your room, baby. You wanna work from my house today?"

Again, worth it.

"It's not a big deal," I assured him. "And they won't be long."

At least I hoped not. At some point I had to shower and get ready to meet a new client for lunch.

He didn't look happy when he mumbled, "Alright, Soph. Kiss before I leave and let you get your day started."

I rolled up and kissed him. That lasted all of three seconds before he took over and kissed me.

His kiss was way better than mine.

"Damn, woman, you can fucking kiss."

"I was thinking the same thing about you."

I saw him smile. Up close the steely-blue looked like gun metal.

"Sucks I can't see you tonight. Lunch tomorrow?" he asked.

That's when it hit me .

Hot Cop.

I was dating a cop.

And not just a cop, a SWAT officer.

Tonight he'd be out with his team doing whatever the SWAT team did, which were things I knew I didn't want to think about too deeply or it would scare the hell out of me.

"Yeah, Valentine, lunch tomorrow."

"Would it fuck your day if after lunch you worked the rest of the day at my house?"

It absolutely would. I had very little faith in myself that I would be able to concentrate on work with a hot, six-foot…

"How tall are you?"

"Six-two. What does my height have to do with you working from my house?"

"Nothing. I was gauging my ability to concentrate around a certain hot, six-foot-two beast with the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, who's possessive, feral, and bossy in a way that totally works for me. But really, those three things aren't about control and ego, they're protection and safety."

"Fuck," he growled. "Now I gotta kiss you again."

"Works for me."

"I know."

This kiss was nothing more than a tease. A stroke of his tongue against mine with a sweet peck to the corner of my mouth .

"What'd you come up with?" he asked as his lips brushed over my cheek.

"Huh?"

"Work. My house. Concentration."

Another lip brush. This one glided over the sensitive skin under my ear.

"Yes."

"Yes, you'll be able to concentrate?"

Not on work, I wouldn't.

"Yes," I lied.

"We'll see."

Valentine bit my earlobe and straightened.

Goodbyes were said that included me telling him to be safe and call me later. His included a smile and confirmation he'd touch base later.

Now I was standing in my room, my concentration shot, unable to think about anything other than Valentine—the way he kissed, the way he touched me, the way he smiled, the way his eyes gave away his every emotion, what he'd said about me in his kitchen, his mom…I couldn't stop thinking about all things Valentine. He was protective, strong, and confident. Which meant whatever it was that made him feel unworthy wasn't a woman. I was well-aware there were many ways a woman could scar a man, make him question himself, build walls, but this was different. This had rooted itself deep. This, whatever it was, had shaken the foundation of his life.

I hated that.

I wanted to pry. I wanted to beg him to tell me. Or throw drama and break Valentine until he spilled his secrets. But this wasn't about me and for once I was going to be ‘less Sophie' as my mother called it when I was being too much of anything and let this play out how it needed to play out.

On that thought, I needed coffee.

My affinity was such I would brave the kitchen and Khloe's obvious dislike to fetch a mug.

That was how I found myself tiptoeing down the hall, listening for voices, praying Hayden was feeling randy and aborted his mission to feed his date in favor of taking her to bed. I paused at the end of the short hallway and waited.

No voices.

Perfect.

I stopped dallying and rounded the corner to find Hater Girl in my kitchen alone.

Shit .

Her unhappy gaze landed on me and became less happy.

Double shit .

"Hey." I infused as much friendliness as I could.

Maybe she was a nice person and Valentine and I had caught her off-guard when we showed. Not everyone was great with impromptu meet-and-greets.

"Sophie." She all but snarled my name.

Nope.

Just a bitch .

I hated her for Hayden .

"Where's Hayden?"

"Why?"

Holy Hannah .

"Um…just making small talk."

No longer wanting coffee but also not wanting to allow this bitch to make me feel uncomfortable in my own home, I went straight to the cabinet and grabbed a mug.

I pulled the carafe from the burner but gave her my attention when she softened her tone and answered, "Someone from the clubhouse called and said a box had been delivered yesterday. He went to get it."

The woman was no longer shooting death rays in my direction. She almost looked excited. Her eyes went from me to the coffee machine then flicked back to me several times. It was creepy. She gave me the heebie-jeebies. I didn't like her at all.

But still I sucked in a breath and tried again.

"One of the great things about living here. Darrell, the clubhouse manager, keeps an eye on packages for us."

Her lip started to curl up but she caught herself, and fake as fuck, she smiled.

"That's great. Don't let me hold you up." She tipped her head toward the coffee pot.

Whatever .

This woman was strange and not nice and I hoped Hayden wasn't planning on keeping her.

I poured my coffee, doctored it up with cream and sugar, and didn't bother with farewells.

Fifteen minutes later, three emails answered, my stomach protested my coffee intake without food balancing the acid that was now swirling.

I should've grabbed a bagel.

I pushed through two more emails, finished my coffee, but could no longer ignore my stomach churning.

And that was how I ended up back in the kitchen with Hayden and Khloe. But I stopped dead when I saw her smiling at him. For a moment I questioned everything. She was very pretty but with her beaming a huge smile at Hayden I got what he saw in her. She looked like a fun, sweet, pretty woman. But when Hayden turned to do something at the stove and she caught sight of me, a flicker of hate flashed in her eyes. Maybe Valentine was right; it was that I was her man's female roommate. But Hayden would've explained there had never been—and never would be—anything beyond friendship.

Again, whatever.

I had shit to do to prepare for my meeting.

"Sorry to interrupt," I announced. "Just grabbing a bagel then I'll be out of your hair."

Hayden turned off the burner, plated the eggs, then glanced at me with narrowed eyes.

"Soph, if you're hungry I'll make more eggs."

God, he was blind.

"No time, Winslow, I got work to do."

And at this rate if I didn't get a bagel in my belly I was going to puke.

I didn't waste time toasting it and sloppily slapped cream cheese on the slices. I was reaching for a paper towel when I noticed the empty coffee carafe.

"You know the rules. Whoever drinks the last cup makes a new pot."

With my bagel in hand, needing to make a quick escape because now my stomach was cramping, I barely stopped when Hayden returned, "There was a full pot when I left. How much?—"

"Sorry," Khloe sweetly interrupted. "I drank the last of it. I'll make more."

"I got it, babe."

Barf .

With my back to the couple I rolled my eyes and immediately regretted it when a wave of nausea washed over me. I hustled to my room, not giving the coffee-guzzling-bitch another thought.

I took my bagel to my bed, shoved my laptop to the side, and ate with my eyes closed, hoping I didn't vomit with that woman in my house. I was what one would call a loud upchucker. It was a curse. It was never pretty. And it rarely happened unless I drank too many Bloody Marys.

An hour later I was praying for death and had to cancel my meeting with the bowling alley owner who wanted to revamp his marketing.