Temperature's Rising by Karen Kelley Read Free Book Online Page B

I’ll be, but if you don’t mind waiting, I should be back in less than an hour. Food’s on the stove.” He glanced her way. “Make sure Conor eats.” Before she knew what was happening, her father snatched her keys out of her hand and scurried out the door.
    “But . . . but . . .” That conniving old coot! He’d managed . . .
    The sound of her convertible purring to life caught her attention. Oh good lord! He was driving her car again.
    “Don’t touch anything!” She made a dash for the door and flung it open. Her father waved over his head and zoomed out of sight.
    She looked at Conor, who’d come up behind her. His eyes sparkled. Where was the all-business cop ? Now he 50
    Karen Kelley
    decided to show amusement? And at her expense? She wasn’t laughing.
    “I don’t think being ramrodded is at all funny. And the last time he took my car he thought he’d turned the radio on. Do you know how much a new top for a convertible costs?”
    He laughed, but quickly stifled his humor when she glared at him.
    “Sorry, my family is the same way about borrowing things.”
    “No family could compare to mine. Growing up around my relatives was total chaos. Aunts, uncles, and cousins flowing in and out of the house like a pipe that’d sprung a leak.”
    Knowing he had a family and hadn’t just magically hatched from a rotten egg made him more . . . human.
    He’s still a cop, a persistent little voice whispered in her ear. And one who seemed to doubt her knowledge about law enforcement. She still resented his pat-on-the-head attitude.
    She’d always thought she made a decent cop. It just wasn’t the profession she wanted for the rest of her life.
    Apparently, supercop had his doubts she’d ever worked the streets. In uniform, that is. A frown furrowed her brow.
    She wondered why he was apparently unable to visualize her taking down a perp.
    Conor could picture Jessica in the middle of a big family. What he couldn’t visualize was her in a uniform.
    Especially after what her cousin Mike had told him about her. Hell, the way he’d talked, she could walk through the door of a nunnery without a smidgen of guilt. She was so pure she almost had a halo around her head.
    And right now, he felt more at home than he had in a long time. He was afraid he’d stepped into dangerous territory where she was concerned, because his thoughts were anything but pure.

    TEMPERATURE’S RISING
    51
    It was all he could do to swallow past the bile that rose inside his throat. Jessica probably never even thought about sex. If she did, then not the down and dirty kind.
    She would be the type of woman who’d want the lights off to preserve her modesty.
    Damn, and he’d arrested her for soliciting. He’d misinterpreted everything that happened that day. And he was supposed to be such a good cop. Suddenly, he felt like a rookie.
    She hadn’t seemed pure and innocent, though, he ra-tionalized. But all the pieces were starting to fit. Why she was no longer a cop. Why she dated a wuss like Al.
    Hell, no wonder she’d turned in her badge. The harsh reality of a cop’s life had probably been too much for her.
    He had no explanation why she was dating Al, though.
    Maybe the guy hadn’t made a pass yet. He looked like the kind of man women considered safe. He probably still lived at home with his mother.
    Was he any better, though? Or maybe he’d done her more harm. Conor had no idea how he could screw everything up in such a short time. He was a real jerk.
    He’d stepped into Jessica’s little world and fucked it up royally. She’d been a babe in the woods. A fawn hesitantly moving from the safety of the trees. Then bam! The bru-tal hunter showed up and hauled her off to jail. He’d never felt so low in all his life as he did right now.
    “Have you eaten?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.
    He looked at her for a long moment. She seemed uncomfortable around him. She furiously twisted her top button around and around. Surely she