Ian was restless. It was two minutes until seven and still there remained no sign of Fallon. He looked down at his clothes, hiking boots, jeans, and a long sleeved shirt under his Seahawks jacket. He didn’t want to overdress, but part of him had.

God, I’m acting like it’s a date.

“What is all this about, Detective Cavanaugh?”

He almost jumped. One second she wasn’t there, the next she was, materializing out of the air for all the noise she made.

“Good evening, Ms. Maddox.”

His heart sped up as their gazes met. There was just something about her. Ian watched her eyes, noting the emotionless state of her gaze. There was no fear, which pleased him, but there was not anything there at all. That bothered him.

“I didn’t come here for another of your lessons in manners, Detective. Your kind has nothing I wish to learn.”

He ran his eyes over her. Hair pulled back in a bun, as opposed to lunch when it had flowed about her otherwise she wore the same thing.

“What do you mean my kind?” He knew she had three white brothers, so it couldn’t be race, could it?

“Cops. You and your blue blooded camaraderie that covers for each other.” Her contemptuous tone told him that this was exactly what she’d meant by her earlier statement.

He bristled. “So what, you prefer Marines to cops? Is that why your hair was down with him?”

“Is this what you wanted to discuss with me, Detective? My hair? Why I prefer the company of Marines to cops?”

Ian held up a gloved hand. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things.” He flinched when the wind picked up.

“Why am I here?”

“I wanted to talk to you about the case.”

Fallon leaned back against the railing. “So talk.”

Ian watched her face in the glow of the streetlights. The weather didn’t seem to bother her, instead it added a rosy tint to her beautiful dark skin. The horn from a ferry broke through the night.

“I think you’re right. There is something off about the report. I want to find the truth and I think if we can put aside our differences we could figure it out.” Ian waited. He frowned as amusement crossed her face.

“Is that what this is? An attempt to ferret out what I’ve learned?” She pushed away from the rails and closed the distance between herself and him. “And tell me, Detective. How far are you willing to go with this charade?”

Ian tried to ignore his body’s reaction to her nearness. How the lights shone off her lips, calling him to taste them. He swallowed and tried to tell his rapidly hardening erection to behave.

“It’s not like that.”

Fallon moved closer still. “No?” Her voice got all low and throaty. “I want to know how far you’re going to go to make me happy in hopes I’ll tell you what I know.” Her hands left her pockets and slid up his chest.

Ian fisted his gloved hands at his side. He had to forcibly stop himself from moving. Either into or away from her touch. His cock leapt to attention.

“Tell me, Detective. What have you been cleared to do? What’s the limit?” She wrapped her hands around his neck, pressing flush against him.

He gulped as her mouth moved closer.

Fallon’s fingers covered by soft leather teased the back of his neck. “Will you take me out?” She blinked once, slowly, her thick lashes falling and rising again. “Would you actually sleep with a Maddox?” Her lips were millimeters away from his, fanning his mouth with her warm breath.

Ian gave in with a low growl. He hauled her in close and covered her mouth with his.

Copyright © Aliyah Burke, 2010.