The Ringer by Amber Malloy Read Free Book Online

deliciousness. He had a hard time following the simple plan she laid out.
    The past few days had been a whirlwind of incidents, which ended up with them naked in the shower. The ridiculously strong scent of flowers snapped him out of his lull before Lane took off her bra.
    She squirted half the bottle onto his pile of wet clothes and began to lather him up with more than enough feminine smells for a lifetime. Beads of water trickled down her skin and through the suds of her breasts. Various crime scenes flashed through his mind while he tried to keep down his raging hard on.
    With ten minutes before departure, the uniformed cops had to be close. They would need to check every occupied cabin. There was no way he could go to central booking covered in the smell of lilacs with a case of blue balls.
    A knock on their door broke his concentration, which helped him avoid glancing south of the border at her amazing body.
    Lane went into her Betty Boop routine, performing better than he could have ever imagined. He considered her charming talents of persuasion, and Basic Instinct came to mind.
    “All clear,” the cop said.
    He wanted to be sure they left before he turned off the shower and stepped over the sopping mess of his clothes. On his way out of the stall, he grabbed a towel to cover himself.
    Perched on the edge of the sleeper couch, she shook. He stood above her while she took several deep breaths, and he worried she was in the beginning stages of a full-blown panic attack.
    “Your picture is on the front page of the paper. They’re saying you’re wanted for questioning about the murder of my mark l-last n-night. Why would they say that?”
    Wet and probably vulnerable, the shakes were inevitable. A light tremble took hold of her jaw. Jax wanted to comfort her, but first he needed to lay everything on the table.
    “Is now a good time to talk?” he asked while he grabbed the seat next to her. Not sure where to start, memories from one of the worst days of his life tackled him from the past and pushed their way straight into the present.

 
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Four months ago ….
    Darkness threatened the city. Frustrated about the amount of work on his desk, Jax headed toward his car, taking the stairs outside of the precinct two at a time.
    “Partner, I need a ride.” Raff stood next to the passenger side door, waiting for him. “My car got towed to the shop this afternoon.”
    “Hop in,” he told her. “I need to make a quick stop.” Partnering with Raff had been seamless but didn’t start off that way. Jax glided through the downtown streets with ease. Nobody wanted to spend ten to fourteen hours with the rich boy and found the task of taking on the lesbian even less appealing.
    Raff had just transferred into the unit, and he was still the new guy. The rest of Homicide tried their best to freeze them out, which caused unnecessary tension between the pair. After some time, they established a groove and earned the highest arrest record within the department. They might have still been the black sheep, but at the very least, they commanded respect.
    “We need to kick this case,” Raff said, smacking on her nicotine gum with a vengeance. He appreciated the good quality of fresh air, but the constant gum chewing tickled his every nerve.
    “You want to give it a rest?” He grabbed a napkin and put his hand in front of her mouth to spit it out. The details of the last case ran rampant in his mind, and the distraction of her new habit made him want to flip her a cigarette.
    “This one’s got nothing. No motive, no forensics, which means no suspect.” Raff played with his stereo. “Plus, all this crap going on with you. How about we just take a break? I could use some time off.”
    “What, you and Trixie got a thing?” Tired of her fiddling with his dials, he tried to slap her hand away. With crazy fast reflexes, Raff moved in the nick of time.
    “Yeah, she wants to take a shot at in vitro