Page 48 of Criminally Yours

Cam attempted to turn on the radio. Strike grunted, and his hand recoiled.

He couldn’t tell Millie why’d he left, and in his heart, he wasn’t sure she actually wanted to know. He’d be dropping a bomb on her family relationships, and they were all she had.

He only needed to keep his secrets a little longer. Once Millie gave a statement, this could be over, and she’d be out of his life.

Strike checked his phone and growled.

Liss: You’ll thank me one day.

Strike tapped his reply so hard he kept missing the letters.

Strike: I hate you.

Liss: And I love you, too.

He slammed his palm on the dashboard. Cam veered into the wrong lane.

“Are you trying to kill us?” Strike snapped.

“Finally, someone speaks. I was losing the battle with my overthinking,” Millie stuttered from the back seat.

Strike turned. Her lips were red, like she’d spent the hour chewing on them. They should be running through her statement for the police, but that meant talking, and if she spoke, she might ask what Liss meant, and then…

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He turned back to face the front. Hearing her speak to her overprotective brother was bad enough. Dexter hadn’t wanted them to be together years ago, and her mum would be livid that Millie was with Strike now.

“I finally get to meet Casey? It’s about time,” Cam said, butting into Strike’s thoughts. “I’ve got a thing for women with handcuffs.”

Millie’s laugh slipped out. Cam winked at her in the rearview mirror.

“Cam,” Strike warned.

“Chill out, boss,” he said, overemphasising the last word. “You’re grumpier than ever.”

“Why is that?” Millie replied.

Strike stared at her, unable to resist the pull of her dark eyes. He’d seen them every night in his dreams, but nothing compared to the reality.

His gaze dropped to her red lips as she added, “What’s changed?”

Cam teased, “Yeah, Strike, what’s changed?” Strike whipped back around and scowled. “One minute, you’re giddier than Liss eating Bear’s homemade cookies, and the next, you’re stropping about. Something’s changed in the last two days, and I can’t imagine what it is.”

“You used to respect my authority. That’s changed.”

Cam tapped his chin with one finger. “No. That’s not it.”

“I can fire you, you know.”

“I’d love to be at that disciplinary meeting,” Millie said, earning a wider grin from Cam.

Fantasies Strike had only told his therapist reared as he remembered Millie’s favourite dark romances. Anxiety about the trip to the police station dulled his usual filter. “Why? To watch me dominate the situation?” he grunted, turning in his seat to look at her.

Her face instantly reddened as she locked his stare. The pulse in her throat fluttered, demanding his full attention. She gripped her seatbelt as she sucked in a breath.

“No,” she stuttered. “Because your reason for firing him would be ridiculous. Do you like being a dominant man?”

Strike shrugged. Millie twisted a wave of hair between her fingers. He set his jaw, trying not to imagine those fingers drifting across his skin, skimming his abs before wrapping around his dick.