One Bad Day (One Day) (5 page)

She gasped and arched off the bed.

Tugging her underwear to the side, he lightly stroked her damp folds with his fingertip. He blew softly on her until her hips bucked. With a wispy touch, he swirled the tip of his tongue around her entrance. Her hips pressed upward against his mouth and her hands fisted the blankets at her sides.

Her head thrashed and she rocked against his face when he increased the pressure with his tongue. He sucked her moist bud and felt her come apart beneath him.

Gray pulled out the drawer of the table next to the bed and grabbed a condom. He was nothing if not prepared. Tessa yanked off her underwear then reached for Gray’s boxers and dragged them off him.

He rolled the condom on and stared down at her in the soft light of the moon. Her skin was damp and flushed from her release, her hair tangled around her shoulders. She looked so vulnerable it made his heart ache.

“Tessa—”

“Shut up, Gray.” She pulled him down, wrapped her legs around him, and thrust upward until he was seated firmly in her warmth.

He groaned. Fully embedded in her, he stayed still, running a thumb lightly across the freckles that dusted her cheek. He wanted to savor the moment and make it last for her. She felt so fucking fantastic, he didn’t want to lose control and have it be over too soon. He wanted to take pleasure in every soft curve and smooth recess of her body, relishing their time together.

She fisted her hands in his hair and dragged his mouth down for a scorching kiss. When he didn’t move, she wiggled beneath him.

He chuckled and then moaned when she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her breasts against his chest and arching against him. She was going to be the death of him.

Gray gazed into Tessa’s eyes, watching the emotions flicker across her face as he thrust into her with slow, steady strokes. He wanted to experience her every emotion. He wanted to see the pleasure wash over her and catch a glimpse of paradise when she finally found her release.

She dug her nails into his ass and pulled while undulating beneath him. Gray increased his pace to accommodate her unspoken demand. Sweat beaded across his forehead and back as he reined in the desire to plunge into her with mindless abandon.

Watching her eyes glaze over, he reached between their bodies with one hand and rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger. Then he moved lower and stroked his thumb over her core. She went over the edge for a second time, with him following close behind.

Chapter Fourteen

Tessa woke late the next day with her legs wrapped around Gray, her hair a chaotic heap of curls about her head. Remembering how they had made love until the early morning hours, she sighed with satisfaction. She had never responded with total abandon like that before during sex. She had been demanding and wanton. Embarrassed in the light of day, she wanted to throw the covers over her head and stay there.

She glanced over at Gray, whose facial features were softened while he slept. She thought about how cherished she had felt with him and couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have that all the time.

Despite Gray’s large size and rough exterior, he’d been gentle and caring. He was one of those rare men that felt responsible for things that he wasn’t even responsible for. She knew that now that they’d had sex, he would feel even more responsible for her than he already did.

Shit.

She had promised herself that she wouldn’t rush into another relationship. That she would think things through before taking giant steps—like sleeping with a man she’d met the day before. She hadn’t given Gray a choice; she’d practically forced him. Her face burned at the memory.

She sighed. She wasn’t doing this again. She didn’t want Gray to feel trapped into feeling responsible for her. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

Taking care not to wake him, she untangled herself from his hold, threw on one of his T-shirts, and went into the kitchen in search of coffee.

From the depths of the pocket of her coat, which was draped across the back of a kitchen chair, her phone pinged. She pulled it out to look at it. It was a text from Claudia.

Meet me at your place. You bring my stuff and I’ll bring yours.

Thank goodness! Claudia had her things. At least now she didn’t have to stress about cancelling her credit cards and replacing her license.

Tessa typed back.
I’ll be there in about an hour.

She heard the shower turn on. While Gray was in the bathroom, she called a cab, dressed, and got her stuff from the bedroom together, shoving them in the bag from the night before.

She stood with her bag hooked over one shoulder, looking out at the beach when Gray came into the kitchen.

She turned to see him leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed, silently watching her with those melted-chocolate eyes. He wore low-slung jeans and an unbuttoned shirt, his hair still wet from his shower.

He made her mouth water and her heart pound with lust and something else she couldn’t name. Something warm and fuzzy and too terrifying to even think about.

Before she lost her nerve she said, “It was just sex, you know.”

“What?”

“It was sex. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Okaaaay.”

“You’re not responsible for me.” She ignored the hurt look on his face. “I don’t need you to be.”

“What the hell, Tessa...”

A knock at the door interrupted him.

“We need to talk about this,” he said as he ran his hand through his hair.

There was another loud rapping and, after seeing Gray make no moves to answer it, Tessa walked over to the door and opened it to a tall, stacked blonde. The blonde looked as surprised to see Tessa as Tessa was to see her.

“Who are you?” The blonde demanded. “Where’s Gray?” she asked, pushing the door open further.

Tessa looked at him, brows raised.

“Gray, honey, I know we had a fight, but...” The blonde looked from Gray to Tessa “Oh. Is this the new cleaning girl?”

Tessa saw her cab pull up out front. Thank goodness. She had to get the hell out of there.

“Hi, I’m Monique, Gray’s fiancée.” The blonde held out a hand.

“Monique—” Gray shook his head.

“
Fiancée?
” Pain and betrayal tore through Tessa. She elbowed the blonde out of the way, bolted down the driveway, and hopped into the cab, clutching her bag to her chest.

She gave the driver her address, told him to hurry, and they pulled away as Gray stepped out the front door.

***

“Fuck!” Gray watched the cab drive off with Tessa then turned to glare at Monique.

“Gray, we’ve talked about your language.” Monique breezed past him into the house. “You know how I hate when you curse. It makes you seem so...crude.”

He blew out a breath and silently counted to ten. “Monique, we broke up three months ago. What do you want?”

“I’ve missed you.” She pouted.

“Last I heard you were dating someone else.” He stood in the doorway, wishing he knew what the hell had happened with Tessa between last night and today. He had no idea what was up with Monique. Shit, at this point he wondered if he should go back to bed and start the day completely over.

“Yes, well, that hasn’t been working.” Monique walked over to him, brushed his hair off his forehead, and picked an imaginary speck of lint off his shirt. She smoothed her hands up and down his chest and looked at him with a sultry smile.

Gray grasped her hands and held her away from him. “You need to go now.” He guided her out the door. “We’re done.” Looking down, he shook his head and let out a breath. “We’ve
been
done.” He looked her in the eyes and let go of her hands while keeping distance between them. “Go home.”

Monique shrugged. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She ran a hand through her shiny hair. “I guess I’ll see you around.” She turned and began walking down the driveway, hips swaying. “Good luck with the cleaning girl,” she called over her shoulder with a throaty laugh.

Gray rolled his eyes and closed the door.

Aw, hell.

He turned around and noticed Tessa’s cell flashing on his counter. He touched the screen and her text messages popped up.

Claudia: Meet me at your place. You bring my stuff and I’ll bring yours.

Tessa: I’ll be there in about an hour

Claudia: Bring the card. It’s very important.

Why would Claudia want her lady light bulb costume back so badly? That didn’t make sense. And what was the card she was referring to? Then he remembered the SD card from the night before that he’d stuck in his pocket. He grabbed his suit coat out of the hall closet and pulled it out.

Between Tessa being chased in the parking lot, someone breaking into her place, the guy who’d chased her then showing up at her apartment, and Claudia demanding the card, he knew something wasn’t right. His cop instincts were screaming at him. The urgent need to protect her before something bad happened churned in his gut.

Chapter Fifteen

When Tessa reached her apartment, she couldn’t get the front door open.
Great, just what I need right now
. She rammed it with her shoulder one more time before it finally popped open, then left it ajar for Claudia so she wouldn’t have to wrestle with it later. She walked in and looked around her place at all the destruction, suddenly feeling exhausted.

She couldn’t believe how naive she’d been with Gray. It was no wonder why he’d been hesitant about having sex with her the night before—he was engaged. She was an idiot. And a home-wrecker! She should’ve known she wasn’t his type. He was into tall blondes. Now she was The Other Woman. She burned with shame and scrubbed hot tears away with the back of her hand.

She took a deep breath.
Get your shit together, Tessa.
Shattered pieces of glass lay scattered throughout the kitchen and sparkled on the carpet in the living room. Pictures, damaged decorations, and tufts of furniture stuffing were strewn about. She had a lot of work ahead of her and Claudia would be showing up soon. Just as she picked up a broom and was about to start sweeping, she heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Claudia standing in the doorway.

Claudia had Tessa’s bag over her shoulder and was wearing the same wrinkled clothes from the day before. It looked as though she had slept in them. Looking at Claudia’s face, Tessa wondered if she had even slept at all.

“Hey,” Tessa said, setting down the broom. “Sorry about the mess. Here’s your mascot costume.” She came around the kitchen counter and handed Claudia the hot pants, nylons, gloves and tank top she had borrowed the day before. “I’m sorry I didn’t have time to wash them. I’m so glad you—”

“Where’s the rest of my stuff?” Claudia asked, frantically shaking out each item of clothing.

“It’s all there.” Tessa gestured to the outfit.

“I want the SD card you took.” Claudia’s gaze darted around the room. “Where is it?”

“Um...” She remembered giving the card to Gray the night before.

“I need the card, Tessa.” Claudia ran her fingers through her hair.

“I can get you another one.”

“Oh, God.” Claudia’s voiced quivered. “I need
that
card. He’s going to kill me.” She paced the entryway. “All I wanted was for him to love
me
. To want to be with
me
.” She stopped mid-stride and looked over at Tessa. “Do you know what it’s like to love someone, I mean really love them? He would tell me that he was going to leave her and I believed him.” She continued walking back and forth while flinging her arms around. “I waited and waited,” she choked out, tears starting to stream down her face. “I recorded us. I thought that if I threatened him with the video, he would finally leave her.” She stood in front of Tessa, a crazed, desperate look in her eyes. “You can understand that, right?”

Stunned, Tessa nodded. Claudia was clearly off her rocker.

“I didn’t know that he would send people after me.” She walked over to a nearby chair and plopped down, cotton puffs blowing up around her. “I thought he
loved
me.” She took a shuddering breath before continuing. “They knew I would be working. They knew I would be the mascot.” She looked at Tessa, tears shimmering in her eyes. “That’s why we had to switch. It wasn’t personal. You understand, don’t you?”

Tessa nodded again. Claudia had it bad for the guy. She thought about her feelings for Gray. Yes, love made people do some crazy things.

She heard a noise at the front door and glanced over to see Scary Guy standing in the doorway. He had a purple bump on his head and a black gun in his hand, aimed in her direction.

As soon as Claudia looked up and saw him in the doorway, she placed her head in her hands and sobbed.

Well, that couldn’t be a good sign.

***

Gray hung up with Davidson and blew out a deep breath. Damn it. Now he understood why Tessa was being targeted.

The SD card contained naked photos and video of Senator Stone with a blonde. He knew for a fact that Mrs. Senator Stone was a brunette.

He could only assume that Tessa had somehow inadvertently gotten herself in the middle of something big. And, after yesterday’s events, something deadly.

On his way to Tessa’s apartment, he called Burg and filled him in on what he knew.

“I’d heard whispers that the Senator was having an affair,” Burg said.

“Any idea who?” Gray sped through a yellow light.

“Rumor is that she’s an aspiring actress. Tall, blonde. Late 20s. Hang on a sec.” There was muffled conversation on the other end of the line. “I just pulled up info in the system on a woman named Claudia. One of our officers spotted them getting chummy a couple weeks back at a local fundraiser. It was a jewelry auction where she was working as one of the models for the more exclusive pieces. Claudia could be our girl. She matches the description, but without seeing the pictures on the card, I don’t know for certain.”

“What about the wife?”

“Arlene Stone has been in and out of rehab. There were whispers of a divorce and then she tried to off herself. Apparently after that he changed his mind. That’s all I know.” Burg sighed through the line. “Most of our guys are covering a multiple vehicle accident with injuries on I-90. Mueller and Davidson are processing a belligerent DUI. I’m the only available backup. Try to stay put until I get there to help you out. Okay,
Stanley
?”