Beneath the Badge (First Responders) Read Online Free PDF Page B

partly annoyed and partly relieved.
    “You certainly took something out on the bag today,” she replied. “If it’s about yesterday…the animals are all fine, you know. Or they will be.”
    “That’s good.” He toyed with his chicken. “It was a harder call than I expected, that’s all. I hate to see any creature abused and defenseless. Seeing those conditions, knowing that guy didn’t care…”
    Her heart expanded. There was a depth of compassion to Matt she hadn’t expected beneath the charm he showed the world. If that was what this was about…it was a good thing. Everyone had their way of dealing with bad days. Taking it out on a punching bag sounded pretty healthy and well-adjusted to her.
    Then there was the gentle way he’d handled the puppies, the patience he’d shown.
    As she took a sip of cool water, he lifted a wad of noodles with his chopsticks. They were nearly to his mouth when a clump fell off and landed on his shirt.
    He put down the sticks and looked down at his lap. “Well. That was classy.”
    She chuckled as he picked up the offending noodles and threw them on a spare napkin. The sauce left a greasy brown mark down the middle of his white T-shirt.
    He got up off the stool. “Looks like I’m going to have to change again.”
    She nodded, looking up at him and catching his gaze. Something forbidden swirled through her down low, a longing so strong that it nearly took her breath. She rarely dated. She could count the sum total of her partners on one hand and she was past thirty. But Matt Parker made her feel carnal. He was a potent combination of masculinity and confidence, and it had been a long time since she’d let herself be close to someone.
    She slid off the stool so she was facing him. Her heart beat faster, jumping against her ribs as she swallowed and held his gaze. She remembered his assessment of her that first night at Jake’s. “Neat and tidy,” he’d said. “Order and control.”
    And that was generally true, but sometimes a girl got an itch she felt like scratching. And while she also remembered commenting that he was more complicated than he let on, she knew Matt Parker wasn’t looking for anything deep or long term. And that suited her just fine.
    She reached out and put her palm against the soft cotton of his shirt. “You’d better get this off, then. That’s likely to stain.”
    A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Lindsay,” he warned, but she slid her fingers down the center of his chest to where the hem of the T-shirt touched the button of his jeans.
    “This is only our second date,” he said, his voice husky and intimate.
    “Technically, we haven’t been on any dates. So who’s counting?” She smiled saucily. “You don’t strike me as the kind to have rules about that sort of thing.”
    “You do.”
    She shrugged. “You might be surprised.” She did have a rebellious streak that reared its head now and again. This seemed as good a time as any. It had been a heck of a dry spell.
    She slid her hand up his arm and over his shoulder and gripped the fabric in her fingers. She gave it a tug and he leaned forward a little and somehow the tee seemed to slide right off his skin. She held it in her fingertips for a few moments, once again admiring the taut, lean figure of his torso and shoulders. God, but the man was stacked.
    The shirt fell to the floor.
    “I thought you said the stain would set,” he said, but there was a note of anticipation in his voice, riding over her nerve endings like satin.
    “What stain?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. She reached out and touched a fingertip to the top ridge of his abs. “How long’d it take you to get these?” she asked.
    Apparently he wasn’t about to let her stall. “Shut up, Dr. Swan,” he instructed, and put his hands on her hips, pulling her closer until her tummy was pressed against the hard zipper of his jeans.
    “Shutting up, Officer,” she whispered, running her hand over his smooth, warm skin.