Authors: Dee Tenorio

10 Ways to Steal Your Lover (20 page)

BOOK: 10 Ways to Steal Your Lover

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He knew exactly how it felt to be that
bottle.

Or at least, he did. Once.

It hadn’t lasted long enough.

And it could never happen again.

He lifted the heavy-duty latches on the
case and flipped open the lid to reveal the supplies within. First things
first, gloves. Then he’d clean her up and get a better look at the field. “How
about you tell me what happened this time while I fix you up?”

“You say that like I’m always bleeding
around you.”

“You are a woman who likes attention.”

“I like your attention,” she groused.
“There’s a difference.”

His hands stilled, but when he looked at
her face, her eyes were closed, her brow furrowed into deep, shuddering
grooves. “Whose attention did you have today?”

“Everyone’s.” Trina’s thick lashes rose,
her mouth quirking as she brushed unwanted moisture from the corner of her eye.

Would she slap his hand away if he tried
to do it for her?

Without question.

Didn’t stop him from wanting to, though.

“Tel me something, Evigan,” she demanded,
clearing her throat and shifting restlessly against the couch. Moment of
weakness over, apparently. “You ever pull a train in a dirty bar?”

That raised his eyebrows. “Not that I
remember, no.”

“Well, I haven’t either and today wasn’t
going to be my first time.” Her body went taut beneath the swipes of the
towelette he used to clean the blood, before relaxing with decided effort.
Which sucked because that was the easy part. “Carter doesn’t kill people that
piss him off, not right away. He’s a big believer in making them pay three
times over first. His plans for me involved ambushing the shit out of me and
throwing me like a chew toy to his men.”

He daubed the wound with a gauze pad,
forcing himself to keep his hands steady. Strangely enough, being so angry he
could strangle someone went a long way toward derailing his usual reaction to
the smell of blood and antiseptic. “How’d you get out of it?”

“Well, it turns out that when two guys
are holding you in place by your arms, your legs are free to kick other people
in the face and balls.”

He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but
she managed to draw a grudging grin from him. Something about her always seemed
to pull the humor out of him, even when he’d thought it long gone. “I’m guessing
you’ve known that for a while.”

Her answering smile was tinged with
exhaustion. “It’s come in handy every now and then.”

“Doesn’t look like it did you much good
this time.”

“That’s what you think. If they’d managed
to get me down, at least Frank wasn’t gonna get any. Steel toe, baby. If he’s
not in the hospital right now, it’s a friggin’ miracle.” She hissed as he
irrigated the shallow—thank God—wound. “Shit, Cade, why don’t you just pour the
whiskey in? Might hurt less.”

“You wouldn’t have come here if you
didn’t want it done right, Tee.”

She made a face at the name. She usually
complained that it made her sound like a four-year-old. As if the moniker “KK”
sounded so much more mature.

“Maybe I came for the company.”

He grunted again. “We both know I’m not
fit for that.”

She sighed, the way she always did when
he said things that irritated her. “You’re about the only one in this town
worth spending time with and you know it.”

“That’s not true. There’s good people
here.”

“You always say that, but no one believes
you. They’re all cowards and drunkards who turn their backs rather than take a
stand.”

“I wouldn’t be here if there weren’t
people needing protection.” From her gang. Even if he didn’t say it, he knew
she heard the accusation. “Why’d he ambush you?”

Her face turned toward him, her usual
cocky grin nowhere to be seen. Instead a seriousness drew lines around her
mouth and shadows in her eyes. Didn’t seem right, really. He was the one who
did maudlin and brooding. She was the one who dragged him into using the side
of himself he’d almost forgotten about. Worse, if he didn’t know better, he’d
think the shade of those shadows was guilt.

“He found out I’m not who he thought I
was.”

Cade let his hands fall to this lap. This
couldn’t be good. “Who are you then?”

“Undercover DEA.”

For an entire three seconds, elation
filed him. Pure, excited relief that he hadn’t gone off the deep end for a
criminal who may or may not kill him in his sleep. But then he remembered who
he was dealing with. Suuuure she was undercover. He shook his head, going back
to his work, irritated. “You don’t need to lie for me to patch you up.”

It wasn’t like he had a hell of a lot of
restraint when it came to Trina. The only thing he’d been able to hold to was
not giving into the unholy need he had for her again. From the moment she first
strode up next to him outside the Sheriff’s Department, he’d been snared by
her. By that devilish grin and that spark of interest in her blue eyes. Her tall,
curving body that he’d known in an instant would wrap around his like she’d
been made just for him. But he wasn’t about to tie himself up with a convict
who refused to change her way of life. He hadn’t come home with much from the
war, but he did still have his ethics. They might make cold bedfellows, but
they kept his head up when damn little else could.

“I’m not lying, Cade. I’ve been
undercover in Carter’s crew for two years and it’s for fuck all now that he
knows the truth.”

He opened the packet of butterfly
bindings, his temper ramping up. “Why the hell should I believe you? After
everything else you’ve put me through, why should I even care, Tee? Because if
you’re telling the truth, that means you’ve been lying to me for a year. If
you’re not, you’re just trying to twist me around your finger again. I’m done
being your toy, goddamn it. Give me one good reason why any of what you’re
saying should matter to me now.”

She wouldn’t do that to him. Not the
woman who had charmed her way into his life, who had seemed as if she actually
cared about him. As if she might even lo—

He didn’t let his mind finish that
thought. It didn’t matter. If it were true that she were undercover, she would
have told him months ago. She knew him well enough by then to know she could
trust him. At the very least, she would have said something before they’d found
themselves denting the shit out of his car hood, knowing nothing else could
ever come of it. Before she’d ripped out what was left of his heart.

No, this had to be another game. He was
sure of it.

Absolutely sure, until she opened her
mouth again.

“Because someone in your department sold
me out.”

Curious what happens
next?

Find out in
"Convicted" by Dee Tenorio

Also available in a
special anthology, "Undercover Lovers"

with three
fan-favorite authors Dee Carney, Chloe Cole and Cari Quinn!

About The Author

Dee Tenorio has a few reality issues.
After much therapy for the problem—if one can call being awakened in the night
by visions of hot able-bodied men a problem —she has proved incurable. It turns
out she enjoys tormenting herself by writing sizzling, steamy romances of
various genres spanning paranormal mystery dramas, contemporaries and romantic
comedies. Preferably starring the sexy, somewhat grumpy heroes described above
and smart-mouthed heroines who have much better hair than she does.

The best part is, no more therapy bills!

Well, not for Dee, anyway. Her husband
and kids, on the other hand...

If you would like to learn more about Dee
and her work, please visit her website at www.deetenorio.com or her blog at
http://www.deetenorio.com/Blog/

Other titles by Dee Tenorio

Convicted

(Individual
Re-release of "Undercover Lovers" story)

Undercover Lovers

(Anthology with Dee
Carney, Chloe Cole & Cari Quinn)

Deceiving The
Protector

Shaken

Tempting The Enemy

All of You