Big Bad Easy Read Online Free Page B

Men are too much trouble in the long term, and I should know since I spent so much time around a platoon of them.”
    There went his idea of spending more time with her once he caught the thief. He could still fantasize about her, and he was sure he would this evening. First, he’d focus on the line that separated her quads from her hamstrings on those long, muscular legs. He’d trace that line, massage the muscles, and lick his way up those luscious legs all the way to her pussy.
    “So,” she shoved him with her elbow again, “got anyone that you’re gonna track down?”
    “A few suspects, and I’m meeting with the managers of a few stores today to check if they still have their video feeds from three weeks ago.” He stopped jogging since he’d made his circuit of the park and planned to pop out some pushups and sit-ups at the pavilion near the parking lot where all the break-ins happened. “I’m going to case the place a little longer here, shower up, and hit the exciting world of video monitors.”
    The smile she shot him was the biggest he ever seen, and it transformed her into a beauty with glowing cheeks. He suspected her eyes sparkled, too, but with the sunglasses, he couldn’t tell. “You’re really working on this. Awesome.” Without warning or without asking permission, she launched herself at him with wide arms. She caught him in a full body hug.
    Her breasts pressed against his chest and her hot breath heated his neck as she squeezed harder. With her arms wrapped around his upper arms, he couldn’t disengage her, and he didn’t want to let her go. She released her grip, grabbed his face, and planted a sweaty kiss on his cheek. He steadied himself by taking hold of her waist, which fit so perfectly into his hands. From here, he could explore up or down and forget that he had a job to do.
    “Thank you.” She kissed the other side of his face. “Thank you for doing something. This makes me crazy happy.”
    His fingers touched the place where her lips had been. Heat radiated from that spot and filled him with renewed need for her. “You’re welcome, but save the real thanks for when we catch the guy.” He searched his memory for the rules of fraternizing and came up blank. He’d love to tango with this lady. “I may return tomorrow, so don’t call me sergeant then.”
    She dropped her hands and stepped farther away from him, but still close enough that he could smell the salt of her sweat. “So, how did I meet you? We’ll need a cover story.”
    “I’d say at your local—gonna have to use that as my new term—but those guys would know better. Let’s say a coffee shop, and that’s close enough to the truth. We discussed exercising, and you shared your story about the break in.” After he looked at the videos from the stores, he was going straight to the bar she frequented. Those guys were at the top of his suspect list.
    As if they knew he was thinking of them, the men in question walked by them. “Hey, Zara, haven’t seen you at the bar lately.” That one talked in the yat accent of the region, so called because they turned the words you and at into yat . It was normal to hear people on the phone asking the person on the other end, “Where y’at?”
    “Been busy.” She still wore a smile, although it had changed from the wide one of elation to a normal, friendly smile. “I’ll be by today. I’m gonna celebrate some good news.”
    “What’s that?”
    Jameson hoped he covered his surprise as she threaded her arm through his and proclaimed, “Scoring a new training partner. This is James.”
    The thinner guy who’d done all the talking narrowed his eyes and jerked his head back in surprise. “You celebrate things like that?”
    “Well, yeah.” This time she slipped her arm around Jameson’s shoulders, and he made it look natural by putting his arm around her waist. He wished he could make this an everyday occurrence. “This means something to me. It’s like going