***

For the next couple of days, Lee’s number burned a hole in my pocket. Alexis had given it to me and I’d programmed it into my phone, but I was hesitant to call him. Depending on the person you were talking to, a phone call could be kind of intimate, and I knew for a fact it’d be that way with Lee. He had this way of making me feel strange and tingly, and I couldn’t deny he had a sexy voice. It was all deep and rough around the edges.

Anyhow, I was working the late shift, or the early morning one, depending on how you wanted to look at it. Keira and I were driving through town, keeping an eye on things. Sometimes it felt like I could wax lyrical about Camden at 2 a.m. on a Saturday. Litter covered the streets, blowing back and forth like waves in the ocean. People fell over drunk, scrambling for a connection they weren’t brave enough to seek sober.

Okay, so maybe not so lyrical.

The radio went off with a request from dispatch for us to go check out a violent disturbance outside a nightclub just a few minutes away. Keira hit the sirens, and within seconds we were on our way. When we got there, we found three men involved in a scuffle, two of whom were beating the crap out of the third. He lay on the ground, crouched in the foetal position as the other two laid into him. I didn’t hesitate to pull out my Taser, and the threat of incapacitation was enough to get them to back off. Before long, we had the attackers cuffed and sitting in the back seat of the patrol car, ready to take down to the station, while the bloke they’d beaten was being carted off in an ambulance.

I was exhausted beyond belief by the time I got home, dropping my keys on the coffee table and flopping down onto the couch. I could hear Alexis snoring lightly in her room as I closed my eyes and let out a weary sigh. I wanted to go to bed, but Lee’s number was still calling to me. I couldn’t sleep soundly until I’d let him know that his cousin might be in trouble.

Dialling his number, I waited tensely for him to pick up. It rang for so long that I began to wonder if he was going to answer. Then, just as I was about to hit “end,” his voice filled my ear, tired and sexy.

“Whoever this is, it better be important that you’re calling me at….” He paused, and I thought he must have been checking the time. “Five-ten on a Saturday morning.”

I cleared my throat. “Hi, uh, this is Karla. Alexis gave me your number.”

“Snap?” Lee asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes, I’m, eh, sorry for calling you so early. I wasn’t thinking. The late shift does weird things to my brain.”

There was a smile in his voice when he responded low, “You can call me whenever. Excuse the tone, thought you were Liam or Trevor looking for a lift home or something.”

“A lift home at five in the morning?”

“The young’uns like to party hard.”

I laughed involuntarily. “Oh, and what are you now, an old dog?”

“I’ve definitely got some city miles going on.”

I laughed, again. Man, he was charming even when he’d been woken up at an ungodly hour. “Pfft, you have zero city miles, and we both know it,” I blurted before I had a chance to think it through.

“Oh, yeah? You been checking out my miles?” he asked flirtatiously, and I heard the sound of sheets rustling. That reminded me he was more than likely in bed. I did not need to be visualising that.

I bet he sleeps naked, the dirty side of my mind mused, causing a tiny shiver to trickle down my spine.

“Anyway, I called you for a reason.”

He sounded amused. “My apologies. Go ahead.”

More rustling of sheets. God grief, what was he doing over there?

“Could you stop moving around for a second? The noise is distracting me.”

Lee let out a deep, raspy chuckle, and I swear it did me in. I found myself reaching for my shirt collar and undoing several buttons, feeling hotter by the second.

“Mm-hmm, easily distracted, are we?” His voice was pure sex, and I just knew that he was bare-arse nekkid. Nobody spoke like that when they were clothed.

I swallowed and tried to summon a steady tone. “Quit it with that voice.”

“What voice?”

“The distracting one,” I practically shouted and heard a gap in Alexis’ snore. It started up again a second later, and I exhaled heavily. For a second there, I thought I’d woken her up. Lee chuckled down the line, and the sound of it was so delicious that I felt it in my long-neglected lady parts.

“Again, I apologise. Now go on — tell me what’s on your mind, baby.”

I let the “baby” slide, because honestly, we’d be on the phone all night (or morning) if I didn’t get on with it. “Okay, so, the other day while I was working, I bumped into your cousin, Sophie. She had her little boy with her and his dad was there. They were arguing. I wouldn’t normally stick my nose in like this, but I think he’s been hitting her. When I asked if she wanted to report it, she brushed me off. I just thought you should know.”

Lee went deathly quiet on the other end of the line, and I could almost sense the anger radiating off him. A long moment passed before he spoke. “This was David, yeah? Tall skinny prick, hair like he dipped it in a deep fat fryer?”

“That’s the one.”

“They split up months ago. Sophie never mentioned he was back on the scene.”

“Well, from what I saw, he is.”

Lee let out a slow breath. “Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll make sure he stays away from her.”

“Good,” I said, and a silence fell. I should have hung up then, but something prevented me. I didn’t want to end the call, because as much as I hated to admit it, I was a tiny bit addicted to interacting with him.

“Is that all you wanted to say?” Lee asked, his voice quiet, almost a whisper. I could imagine him inside me, talking to me like that, like I was the centre of his world.

“Um, yes. I mean, no.” I paused for a second before continuing, “Do you remember Steve? The guy who came with me to your garage the other week?”

“Hard to forget a prick like that.”

“Mm-hmm, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about the black eye he’s been sporting?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, well, I just thought I’d ask.”

Lee moved again, like he was trying to get into a comfortable position.

“You sound tired,” he commented.

“I am. I told you I was working tonight. Well, last night and this morning.”

“So what’ll you do today, just sleep and hang out?”

“Pretty much. Maybe head to the gym later.”

“I could come over and cook for you. A working woman should have a man to take care of her needs.”

I could just imagine his cheeky grin. And honestly, that sounded good, too good. I had to laugh at his brazenness. “Never took you for a feminist.”

“Oh, but I am. In fact, I think they should bring in a new law that says all women should receive several orgasms a week. I’d be more than happy to support that,” he said, and against my own will, I chuckled.

“I’m sure you would be.”

“Yep. Hey, did you know they had these doctors back in the day who women visited to be treated for hysteria? The doctor literally jilled them off to relieve the tension, then sent them home happy as clams. Excuse the pun. Saw that shit on a documentary.”

I laughed loudly, unable to help it. “You’re crazy.”

“God’s honest truth. Google it if you don’t believe me. So, you gonna let me come over?” Lee purred.

“I don’t think so.”

“Aw, but I was going to bring my baked cheesecake. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried my baked cheesecake.”

I had to admit, I found it hilarious to imagine Lee baking, tattooed ne’er-do-well that he was. I shouldn’t have indulged him, but I couldn’t seem to help it. “What flavour cheesecake?”

His voice dipped low. “Whatever flavour gets you to say yes.”

“You’re such a flirt.”

He chuckled, and I got up from the couch, heading for my bedroom. “I’d better go. It’s been a long night.”