He squeezed my arse, and I jumped in fright when one finger slid between my cheeks, teasing me over the fabric of my pants. It felt shockingly good, forbidden, which was enough to jolt me out of my moment of weakness. I swore and climbed off him, then strode to the other side of the room. I was panting, and I knew my face must have been as red as a stop sign. Lifting a finger, I pointed between him, me, and the couch.

“This never happened.”

Lee smirked, his lips slightly redder than before. I felt a deep sense of embarrassment at how hungrily I’d attacked his mouth. I knew he’d been the one to initiate things, but I’d been a more than willing participant.

“Which part, babe?”

“Every part. And stop ‘babe-ing’ me. I’m not your babe.”

“A second ago you felt like you were,” Lee murmured darkly before moving across the room. My back hit the wall when his chest met my chest. Then his mouth was at my ear. “You wanted it,” he whispered.

I was staring at the hardwood floor, my fluster getting the better of me when I replied shyly, “I just don’t get how that’s your first port of call.”

His eyes searched mine for a second, his brows furrowing, and then he burst out laughing. His hands cupped my cheeks before he pulled me into a hug. “God, you’re cute.”

In spite of myself, I sank into his hold. He took a deep breath, like he was smelling me, and there was something about it that made my stomach do a flip-flop. The whole situation was just ridiculous. And I was drunk. Yes, that’s why I was bringing up anal play like a flippin’ weirdo. Levelling my hands on his chest, I pushed him back and stepped away to put some distance between us.

“Look, you can quit the nice-guy act. It’s fooling no one.”

He regarded me tenderly. The affection in his voice was making me feel things I didn’t want to feel. “There’s no act.”

“You, me…us, it would never work, you know that, right?”

“Not sure I agree.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the one with a reputation to uphold.”

“Oh, really? What do you think my boys would say if they knew I was sleeping with a cop?”

I cocked my head and put a hand on my hip. “I don’t know, Lee. According to you, they wouldn’t have a reason to say anything.”

He stared at me for a long hard moment, not speaking, the stoniness in his eyes giving me chills. I felt like our conversation had come full circle, rounding back to the argument we’d been having before he kissed me. Thankfully, the tension was broken when the door opened and Alexis stepped inside. Her hair was wild and her makeup smudged. In fact, she was still putting her clothes back to rights and looked like she was fleeing the scene of a crime.

“Lee, can you give us a lift home?” she asked in a rush.

He shot her a perplexed expression. “Sure.”

I frowned and shook my head at him. “Don’t put yourself out. We’ll get a cab.”

“We don’t have time to call for a cab. We need to leave now,” Alexis insisted.

“Why?”

I didn’t have to wait for an answer, because Stu stormed into the room.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

He wasn’t wearing a top, and the fly of his jeans was still open, which meant I was copping quite the eyeful. Stu was ripped, and honestly, I totally got why Alexis sought him out for company. I mean, if you were going to have meaningless sex, you might as well do it right. I tried to keep my eyes fixed at twelve o’clock, rather than veering toward six. Okay, so maybe I took a quick peek at five. Oh, who was I kidding? My gaze was headed straight for six, and I didn’t even feel guilty about it.

Hello.

Aaand, back to the matter at hand. Judging from the angry look on Stu’s face, I thought that maybe he wasn’t as great at keeping his emotions out of his sex life as Lee said he was.

“I told you this was just sex,” Alexis muttered, her slumped posture showing me she was disappointed in herself.

“But why? That prick left you, Lex. I’m here. I want you. Give us another chance.”

Oh, wow. I never thought I’d see the day that Stu Cross showed his emotional side.

“You don’t get it,” she replied, turning away. Stu reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

“What don’t I get?”

“Hey, don’t be rough with her like that, she’s….” I stopped myself right before I finished the sentence. It didn’t matter anyway, because a second later Alexis let the cat out of the bag.

“I’m knocked up, okay? And before you ask, no, the baby isn’t yours. Now will you just let me leave?”

Stu stared at her, frozen in place. Alexis turned and walked out the door. Lee shot his brother a stern look that told him not to follow her. Then he touched his hand softly to my lower back and led me out of the house. A minute later, both Alexis and I were in the back seat of his car as he drove us home. It was quiet until Lee announced sarcastically.

“Well, Clarky, that’s some stunt you just pulled. You should be real proud of yourself.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” I warned him.

His eyes caught mine in the overhead mirror, and I was the first to turn away. I couldn’t look at him right then, not when I could still taste him in my mouth, still feel his hands on my body. What had happened lingered between us, heavy and unspoken.