Page 76 of Parting Shot

Aaron was suddenly behind me, hands on my hips, his chin on my shoulder. “We’re going to do this, and then we’re going to get invited to the resort in Arizona, and then we’re going to go home together and have keys made for your loft.”

That sounded good and normal. “Yeah.”

“All of this—” He kissed the side of my neck. “—is nothing. I hardly do this anymore, and now … with us … why would I?”

I was uncomfortable, and I got how the whole money thing could so easily become an issue. “You’re making a lot of changes for me so quickly.”

“I don’t think so,” he disagreed, sliding his arms around me, his chest pressed to my back, his lips doing sinful things to my earlobe. “We need time, just us, and then if you want me to take you gambling in Monaco, I will. I have a villa on the Amalfi Coast in Italy that I’d love to show you, and I’d like to walk you around the Left Bank in Paris and take you to Hong Kong and⁠—”

“And what about just being there when I get home on Monday nights when it’s raining?” I inquired, worried, holding on to his arms.

“You mean lying around on your couch after we eat dinner?”

“Yeah?”

“That sounds like the best part of being with you, Detective.”

I inhaled deeply.

“Don’t second-guess me, all right? The thrill of going to all those places is for you to see them with me. I’ve done all that, and while I love it all, what you don’t understand—what no one ever has—is that I want to share it and not have the other person thinking about anything else but how much fun it is.”

“You don’t want someone thinking either I wonder how much this costs and worrying about it or thinking I wonder what else I can get out of him.”

He tried to pull away.

“Stop.”

“I would never think that you⁠—”

“It was an example, dumbass.”

He immediately calmed and wrapped back around me.

“It would be impossible for you to be with another rich guy ’cause he’s probably already done all the stuff you have, and vice versa. To impress each other, you’d just have to keep upping the ante, and that would get crazy.”

“Yes, it would.”

“But a guy you keep, who basically lives off you and has no job, only hangs out, like Jaden, that can’t last long-term either.”

“No.”

I twisted in his arms and took his face in my hands. “Basically, all this adds up to only one thing.”

“Which is?”

“That you really are stuck with me, Sutter. Sorry, man.”

He took hold of the front of my dress shirt. “Yes, well, what am I going to do?”

I was smiling as I bent to kiss him, and he met me halfway, the clench tight and hot, and another piece of my heart left my chest to go live in his. I couldn’t stop the inexorable falling anymore. Aaron Sutter was the one, and no other would do.

After we changed, him into what appeared to be just another suit and me into something a bit outside my comfort zone—the dress pants way too tight, the silk shirt hugging my chest and abdomen—we left the room and walked the Strip to another hotel to show up at a rooftop nightclub that had more rooms than I could imagine they needed. We sat in the back of one of them; Aaron had reserved the space, complete with bottle service. I wasn’t surprised he had friends there or acquaintances. He knew people everywhere.

“I called and made sure we had a big crowd so it would look more natural,” he explained in my ear as we were joined by ten people.

“Good idea,” I replied, sipping on my bottled water. Technically, I was on duty, and no matter how much I wanted to loosen up and drink, it wasn’t a smart move.

“You need to have at least one,” Aaron cautioned before standing up to offer his hand to a guy coming around the table.