“You’re a man.”
A smile touched his lips. “Yes, and you’re a woman. A woman I happen to like.”
“That’s a start.”
“Yes, I think so, Joy. All relationships have to begin somewhere.”
He’d just said the one word she detested. Relationship. Mainly because she’d been there. Done that. Refused to go that way again.
“You’re frowning. Did I say something wrong?”
Joy met his gaze. She could tell him that no, he hadn’t said anything wrong and he was imagining things. Or she could tell him the truth. She chose the latter. “It’s that one word I try to stay away from, Stonewall.”
He lifted a brow. “And what word is that?”
“Relationship. The thought of it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
He didn’t say anything as he handed her another item to dry. “I imagine there’s a reason it does. Would you like to share it with me?”
She was about to tell him no, but he’d been honest with her, and about some pretty personal stuff. “His name was Omar Elwood, and we became involved my first year of making detective. He knew what I did for a living, but he began resenting all the hours I put in to work cases and felt he was competing for my time. So I tried to do both, to build a productive relationship with him as well as be a model employee at work.”
She drew in a deep breath. It was almost draining just thinking about that time. “That was the worst period of my life, trying to juggle both. But Omar still wasn’t satisfied. He worked in management for a shipping company with a nine-to-five job and couldn’t understand why my workday couldn’t end at a normal hour. Things got even worse after we got engaged and moved in together. His expectations of my time became even more demanding. I realized that he wanted me to be the one to do all the giving, make all the concessions. I tried and always felt under pressure, stressed out, overworked and, when it came to Omar, underloved.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment as she remembered that time and how she’d bent over backward to please Omar, but it had never been enough. “I found myself making mistakes at work because I wasn’t getting enough sleep at home. Definitely no support. I was nearly at my breaking point when I took a look at myself in the mirror one day. I had lost weight and was unhappy and it showed. I knew I had to get away for a while. To go somewhere alone to think about what I really wanted in life.”
She took the next item he handed her to dry. “I came here for a week. Just so happened a friend of mine from high school had inherited a house from an aunt here in Charlottesville and leased it out as a furnished rental property. She suggested I come here to get away since the house was temporarily vacant. I took her advice and fell in love with the area.”
A smile touched her lips. “It was the best week of my life. I found the people to be friendly, the area beautiful and the town much to my liking. Before returning home I applied for a job with the Charlottesville Police Department. I even got an interview before leaving. After returning to Baton Rouge, I ended my engagement to Omar and returned here within two weeks. Luckily we hadn’t set a date for our wedding.”
He dried his hands on a paper towel. “I’m sure your fiancé wasn’t happy with your decision, though.”
She shrugged. “No, he wasn’t. He thought I was making a mistake to choose a career in law enforcement over him. Inwardly, I disagreed and knew it was the best decision I could ever make. I had to do what made me happy for a change. Although it gets crazy at times, I love my work.”
There was no need to tell him that breaking her engagement with Omar was like getting her life back, finding a sense of the freedom she’d given up to Omar, who’d tried being her ruler. And now that she’d gotten used to her independence the past two years, there was no way she would ever give it up again for any man.
She leaned against the counter. “So, there you have it. I don’t want a relationship, steady or otherwise. I’m not ready to let a man back into my space. However, I’m a person with physical needs just like anyone else, and wouldn’t mind getting together with someone to take the edge off every now and then. It doesn’t always have to be about sex, mind you. I would also enjoy an occasional movie, dinner, walk in the park, mountain climbing...”
He lifted a brow. “Mountain climbing?”
She chuckled. “Yes. I’ve never done it before, but it seems like something that could give my body a good workout.” She would admit that making love to him had given her body a good workout, as well.
“You’ve engaged in take-the-edge-off kind of affairs before?” he asked her.
Was she imagining things or was his gaze drifting to her mouth more often than not? She could feel her lips tingling from him looking at them. “No. It will be my first time. Once I moved here and began working, my life was even more hectic than it had been in Baton Rouge. I worked the streets for six months to get used to the city. Then, when I became a detective I wanted to do a good job, which meant putting in long hours. No time for a man.”
There was no reason to tell him about some of the crap she took, being one of the few female detectives. She had to earn the other detectives’ respect, especially when they found out who her father was. She had to prove she hadn’t gotten the job due to any favors.
Deciding to continue to be honest, she said, “I never really thought about men, definitely hadn’t shown interest in one until that night I met you.” She chuckled. “You definitely caught my eye.”
“And you caught mine.”
And now here they were, standing in her kitchen after a night of hot, blazing sex. “I’m sure with your hectic schedule you aren’t interested in a serious relationship, either, right?” she asked him.
He nodded and then said, “Right. I’ve never dated anyone seriously. In high school I dated but didn’t have a steady girlfriend. And then, after I got out the slammer, I figured I needed to work on improving me and not take on the responsibility of anyone else. I preferred things that way. I guess I still do.”
She smiled. “Great! We want and don’t want the same thing.”
“What I really want is to see you again.”
“And I want to see you again, too. Let’s keep in touch. Hook up again when we can as a diversion.”
“As a diversion?”
“Yes, as a diversion and nothing more. So, what do you think?”
He reached out, wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her body to fit snug against his. “I think if a diversion is all you want, then that’s what you’ll get, Joy.”
And then he lowered his mouth to hers.
* * *
A SHORT WHILE LATER, as Stonewall drove away from Joy’s home, he still felt a trickle of intense pleasure flow down his spine. He felt that way each and every time he kissed her. And that last kiss, the one they’d shared in her kitchen before he’d left, still had his tongue tingling and his erection throbbing.
He’d
