Chapter Eight
Regan set the alarm and woke with excitement sizzling through her veins. And a vague sense of unease niggling at the back of her mind.
There was less than two weeks left of their month of unlimited sex.
Don’t think about it.
Last night, they’d all headed down to the pub after finishing the painting, and it had been a long evening. Summer had joined them, though she’d been quiet and wouldn’t talk about this new job. Regan worried about her—of the three of them, Summer was the one she fretted about the most—but her friend had insisted everything was okay.
Regan had managed to avoid talking about her new boyfriend with both her family and her friends, and with a little luck, Darcy and Summer would still be in bed after their late night and she could make a clean getaway. After dressing in jeans and a T-shirt with sneakers on her feet, she stuffed a sweater and a change of underwear in a small rucksack, and then added a strappy dress and flip-flops in case they went out for dinner.
She opened her bedroom door and stopped.
Crap.
Darcy and Summer sat at the kitchen counter, mugs of coffee in their hands, a third steaming mug on the table in front of them. Clearly, she wasn’t going to make the quick getaway she wanted. She glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes to seven. With a huge, exaggerated sigh, she gave in to the inevitable, dropped her rucksack on the floor, and sank onto the seat between them. She took a sip of coffee.
“You two are up early,” she said brightly.
“I have a class,” Darcy said.
“And I have to get to work.”
“Ah, this secret job.” Regan decided her best bet of getting out of there unscathed was to divert the attention from herself.
Summer put down her coffee, and a flush stained her cheeks. “It’s not a secret, just not very interesting.”
“Hah. So why did you take it then? What happened to freelancing? If this job is so boring, what’s the attraction?”
Summer sniffed. “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing. This is about you, not me.”
“It is?”
More crap.
“You didn’t think you were going to going to sneak out without telling us, did you?” Darcy fixed her with a steely stare. “Just what’s your business with the handsome detective? Is he causing trouble?”
She was so tempted to tell them that he’d been visiting on official business, but couldn’t bring herself to lie. “No.”
Darcy raised an eyebrow.
“We’re sort of seeing each other.” She tugged on her ponytail. “But not really seeing each other.”
“Which is it?”
She took a deep breath. “We decided to have sex for a month and see if we can’t get it out of our systems.”
Summer pursed her lips. “You’ve been having sex with the man who put you away? The man you hate?”
“But remember, this is the man she masturbated to for nearly three years,” Darcy argued.
They had shared way too much while shut in that cell together.
“There is that,” Summer conceded.
“So how’s it working? When did this month start?”
“The night I got out. He sort of followed me from Holloway, and I sort of picked him up in the bar. It was supposed to be a one-off.”
“And then…?”
“The next night I went back and we did it again. And we decided that we might as well keep doing it as often as we can so that eventually we’ll get bored and move on.”
“I knew you were getting some somewhere,” Darcy said. “Disappearing at all hours. Coming back all sleepy and sexy.”
“You’re just jealous ’cause you’re not getting any.”
Darcy sniffed. “That’s because I don’t want any. So are you bored with him yet?”
Bored? I wish.
She thought about it, because she hadn’t really. Was it working? She certainly didn’t want him any less. No, she wanted him more, if she was honest. But in some ways, it was working. They were keeping everything totally separate apart from the sex. Yesterday was the first time their lives had collided in two weeks of seeing each other every single day.
“Sort of.” That was the best answer she could come up with right now. “He doesn’t want this any more than I do. It wouldn’t do his career any good if his colleagues knew he was seeing me. So it’s in both our best interests to keep quiet.”
“And what’s it like? As good as you imagined?”
She heaved a sigh. “Better.”
“You are in so much trouble, girl.”
“Maybe. But I have everything under control.”
Darcy reached across and patted her arm. “Of course you do, sweetie.”
Darcy was beautiful. Her father had been half Chinese, and the heritage showed in the slight tilt to her almond eyes and the golden tint to her skin. Combined with her spiky platinum hair, she had an unique appearance. The red-and-black tattoos gave her an edgy look.
She appeared tough, and she was. A brilliant fighter, her body was lean and honed. That was one of the reasons she’d ended up doing time. The judge reckoned she should have known better. That and the fact that the guy whose arm she’d broken had been a police officer.
He’d also been an abusive bastard who’d regularly beaten up Darcy’s little sister, Emma. And eventually killed her. It had nearly broken Darcy, who’d been estranged from Emma at the time, since her sister had taken her husband’s side. Emma and her husband had died, leaving a three-month-old baby, Darcy’s niece, who was now in the custody of her paternal uncle. Darcy had never seen her, and Regan knew she wanted to change that but was hitting a wall.
“How’s it going with you?” she asked. “Any word on Lulu?”
Darcy shook her head. “Just a letter from a lawyer saying there was no way I could get access.”
“Bastard.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ll keep trying. If nothing else works, I’ll go see him.”
“Be careful,” Summer said. “You could violate your parole.”
“She’s my only family.”
Darcy’s parents had been killed in a plane crash when she was eighteen and her sister seventeen. She’d inherited some money, which had enabled her to buy and open the gym. Her sister had also inherited her share, which had subsequently been gambled away by her husband. “We’re your family now. We’ll come up with a plan.” She got to her feet and grabbed her bag from the floor. “I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Give Detective Nate a big kiss from us.”
…
Nate pulled the car up by the entrance to the alley leading to Regan’s place and switched off the engine. It was a no-parking zone, but he would probably get away with it for the time it would take to get to her door…for her to tell him she wasn’t coming after all.
Hell, was he actually considering breaking the law? There was a first time for everything.
She’d hustled him away so quickly yesterday. She’d clearly hated the possibility of him meeting her family. That hadn’t pleased him, and he had no idea why. Was she ashamed of him? Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? He was the one whose career would be on the line if their relationship was discovered. But he wasn’t ashamed of her. Hell, he didn’t care if anyone knew; screw his career. She wasn’t a suspect in any case he was working right now, so why the hell should it matter? He might be aware there was no future for them—they were too different and came from opposite worlds—but that didn’t mean he gave a shit who knew about them.
As he made to get out of the car, she appeared, overnight bag slung over her shoulder, and the tension coiled tight inside him relaxed. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, sneakers on her feet, hair in a ponytail and no makeup, she was the most unaffected woman he had ever met. He got out, took her bag, slung it in the backseat, and then cupped her face and kissed her.
“I wasn’t sure you would come,” he murmured when he came up for air.
She smiled. “And miss my surprise?”
“You didn’t seem too happy to see me yesterday.” He didn’t know why he was pushing it. What the hell did he want her to say? That she wasn’t ashamed of him? What was he, some insecure kid who needed constant reassurance?
When he opened the passenger door, she climbed in. Then he came around and got in beside her.
She shrugged. “It’s difficult with my family. They wouldn’t understand me seeing someone like you.”
He switched on the engine and pulled into the traffic before he answered. “Someone like me?”
“Come on, Nate. You’re the enemy. You always will be.”
He cast her a quick sideways glance. “Is that how you see me?”
She was silent for a minute, and he wished he hadn’t pushed it. He was looking forward to the day and didn’t want to spoil it. Her brows were drawn together as if she was seriously considering the question. “It’s how I was brought up to see you. All my childhood, all I remember about the police is them turning up, hassling us. Even when Dad hadn’t done anything, they’d be on the doorstep, threatening us. Taking him in on the slightest doubt.” She shrugged again. “But that’s your job. It’s who you are. And my dad…well, most of the time, he wasn’t innocent.”
“Still isn’t.” There were always rumors about the Malloys.
“Well, I’m hardly likely to comment on that, am I? But I don’t kid myself about us. If you had to, you’d arrest him in a moment, and it wouldn’t matter that he was my family—that it would hurt me. This…thing between us would not stop you from doing your job.”
“Maybe not.”
“And if I’m truthful, I wouldn’t expect it to. We’re the bad guys.”
She was being honest, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“But,” she continued, “I don’t plan on breaking the law ever again. I’ll never give you a reason to arrest me. And I like spending time with you, Detective Sergeant.” She rested a hand on his thigh and squeezed. “I like it a lot.”
“Me, too.”
“Good. So let’s stick to the original plan. The two of us are on a time-out from real life. It’s just the way it has to be. Now enough. Where are you taking me?”
“I told you—it’s a surprise.”
“Give me a hint.”
“I’m going to sweep you off your feet.”
“Really? I can’t wait. Where’s Trixie today?”
“With a neighbor.”
“And how’s your dad?”
“Pretty much the same.” When he’d seen him last night, his dad had been so high on morphine, he hadn’t even recognized his son. Nate doubted he would notice that he hadn’t come today. He’d needed this time away. Needed to recharge.
An hour later, he pulled into a small airfield south of London. He parked the car, and they both got out. It was a perfect flying day—the sky a deep clear blue, zero wind.
“Are we going flying?” Regan asked.
“We are.”
“Where to?”
“Just up and down.” He pointed to the small two-seater plane parked at the end of the runway. “In that.”
She turned to face him. “You can fly?”
He nodded. “Got my license five years ago.”
He loved flying. He had from the moment he climbed into the cockpit on his first lesson. It had been a birthday present from his wife, though he didn’t mention that to Regan. He’d loved the freedom, the sense of being alone in the vastness of the sky.
Now he had an urge to share that with Regan.
He led her to the small office. A man sat at the desk filling in paperwork; he glanced up as they entered. “Hi, Nate. She’s all ready for you.” He peered past him to where Regan hovered in the doorway. “You’ve got a passenger today.” He sounded surprised. But then it was a first.
“This is Regan. Regan…Sean.”
He signed in and collected the keys, and they headed out again.
“How come you can fly?”
“I was given a lesson as a present, and I loved it. One of the good things about moving in with my dad was that I could afford to come more often. I try to make it a couple of times a month. It…regenerates me. Makes the bad things go away for a while.”
She slipped her hand into his. “I’m sorry things are so hard for you right now.”
“That’s okay. The thing with my dad’s crappy, but it is what it is. We just need to get through it.” They arrived at the plane, and he went around doing the preflight checks while Regan watched.
When he glanced up, she was nibbling on her lower lip, her brows drawn together. “You scared we’re going to crash?” he asked.
“Maybe a little.”
“Trust me, sweetheart.” Maybe it was the wrong thing to say. But she gave a quick nod and took his hand as he helped her up into the cockpit and into the passenger seat. He fastened her harness, squeezing her breasts as he did so. “To take your mind off being scared.”
She giggled, and he leaned down and kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth, cupping her jaw to deepen the kiss. Finally, he drew back. “Time to fly.”
After settling into the pilot’s seat, he finished the checks, and they were taxiing along the runway, building up speed. He loved the moment when they left the earth behind. Beside him, Regan gasped, her knuckles white on the armrests, but her eyes were wide open. He rose into the sky until they were high above the land, and the fields below them were a patchwork of shades and colors.
They flew for an hour, and as always, the worries and stresses of life fell away until he felt lighter, could breathe easier. Then he reluctantly turned back toward the airstrip. He glanced at her face and knew this was something they could share. She was obviously entranced, her hands now relaxed on her lap. As if she sensed him watching, she turned and gave him a thumbs-up.
He brought the plane down smoothly on the grass of the runway, taxied toward the hangar, and came to a halt. He sat for a minute while his mind caught up with his body and came back to earth, then he climbed out and came around the front of the plane to open the door and help her out.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “That was wonderful—I can see why you do it. I’m glad you shared it with me. What next? I can’t see how you can top that.”
“Wait and see.”