Page 68 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

I smiled. “I can do that.”

“Never had any trouble before,” he said, humor lacing his voice.

I turned more fully in his arms. “The other morning, when you and Van were talking? Was it . . . was it about my case?”

He kissed me softly. “No.”

Relief washed over me. “Okay.” But my relief was swiftly followed by another dose of guilt. I hated that I was lying to him, but I knew he’d try and stop me if he found out I was trying to find Scott as well. “It’s only a matter of time. This will all be over soon. I know it will.”

He gave me a squeeze. “Let’s not talk about it tonight, okay? Tonight, I just want to hold you and forget everything else.”

I could give him that. “Sounds good to me,” I said.

As much as I wanted this nightmare to end, there was nothing we could do tonight. I also wanted to just let him hold me and, yeah, just forget everything for a little while.

Just until the morning.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ruby

I watched Neco walk into the living room. He was fresh from the shower, but he hadn’t shaved, and he had that sexy scruff thing going on. His jeans hugged his thighs as he strode to the coffee table and grabbed his phone and wallet, shoving them in his pocket. His T-shirt was black as usual and clung to his pecs, a little looser over his abs, showing off the ink covering his arms. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

And dear God, did the man have beautiful lips. I wanted to suck on them . . . all the time.

I didn’t think my need for him would ever lessen.

He joined me at the breakfast bar and I slid a cup of coffee toward him. He ignored it, came around to me, grabbed my butt, and lifted me up so I was sitting on the counter.

His strong fingers dug into the globes of my ass, squeezing and massaging.

“If you’re trying to get me to skip work with you by walking around in that thong, you’re succeeding,” he said.

“It seems you worked out my cunning plan.” I nipped his lower lip. “Am I so transparent?”

“Yes.”

“I kinda thought the tank would be what tipped you.” I’d dragged on my discarded clothes from the night before. The worn fabric hid nothing, and I was pretty sure you could see not only my barbell, but the color of my nipples though it.

His hands slid higher, flexing at my waist then up to cup my breasts. “Oh, these tits have definitely factored into my decision making, you can be sure of that.”

“Phew! For a minute, I thought the girls had lost their super power.”

“Nope.” He dropped his head, smooshing his face between them and gave me a motorboat.

I squawked, giggling like a lunatic, while I tried to wiggle free. My legs ended up spread wider and the very hard length of him was flush against my rapidly dampening flesh. I squirmed some more, which just caused the lace to rub against my clit in a really good way. He caught my nipple between his teeth though my shirt, tugging on my piercing, and I squealed again, which quickly broke off on a moan when he sucked away the sting.

I reached down, attacking the front of his jeans, popping the button . . .

His phone started ringing.

We cursed simultaneously.

“Don’t move,” he said, fishing it out of his back pocket.

I froze, striking a goofy pose while grinning like an idiot.

But his grin, the lightness, the humor, on his face vanished pretty fast when whoever was on the other end of phone started talking. His voice went tight, his answers short. He talked for a few moments more, then ended it, and shoved his phone back in his pocket, looking tense as hell.