“Hey,” I answered cheerfully as I took the steps down to the garage. That was one way I stayed fit—by avoiding elevators. Unless I was with Harrison. He turned an elevator ride into an adventure.

I sucked in a breath when it was his voice and not Jade’s I heard. “Hey, gorgeous. You sound chirpy this morning. Must be because my cock kept you happy last night.”

I snorted. “Harrison, you’re obsessed with your damn cock.” I’d reached the ground floor and made my way to my car, clicking the remote to unlock the door. Images of the night before ran through my head, and I had to squeeze my thighs together to stop the tingle that settled there. How was it possible that he could undo me with a few cocky words alone?

“Yes, I am. But only because of you. My cock is obsessed with being inside you.” He chuckled, low and sexy. “I bet your panties are damp right now.”

Squeezing my thighs together wasn’t working, and he knew me well enough to know. “Listen, handsome, you’re a bad, bad cop. I’m on my way out to meet your sister for shopping and lunch. So stop talking dirty.”

“Mind if I join my two favorite women in the world for lunch?”

I hadn’t dressed for a date and besides, I wanted to hear Jade’s wedding plans, which I was sure would bore Harrison to death.

I feigned shock. “What? I thought you were married to your career. It’s a weekday; I thought you’d be crazy busy.” I was only half teasing.

“I am, but I can always make time to see you. And Jade, of course.” Silence fell between us. “I miss you, Eva. Let me treat my girls to lunch.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

He misses me even though he saw me last night? Hearing him say sweet things messed with my head. When he was being a typical alpha male, I could deal with him so much easier.

“Um,” I stalled, “we’re going to be talking wedding stuff and other girly things. And we’re doing vegetarian.” Surely that would scare him off.

“I’ve had my three eggs and bacon for breakfast. I can do vegetarian if you can.” Harrison knew I couldn’t resist a challenge.

Starting the car engine, the phone switched to Bluetooth. “You call Jade and see how she feels about it. If it’s okay with her, she’ll give you the address of where we’re going.” I reversed out of my parking spot and put my foot on the gas pedal, making the wheels squeal over the smooth concrete.

“You’re making me work for this. That’s what’s so fucking sexy about you, Eva.”

I couldn’t help the throaty laugh that escaped my lips.

“Ciao, baby. Surprise me,” I said, as I ended the call and wove into the traffic.

Chapter 4 — Eva

Jade and I walked into our fifth boutique store since we’d met in Beverly Hills two hours ago. The place smelled of jasmine and rose and fresh linen. Short sharp clicks of heels on marble tiles brought the smiling shop assistant closer to the entrance and she welcomed us with a warm smile.

Maybe it was my earlier conversation with Harrison that spurred me on, but I wanted a dress that was so damn sexy he’d have a heart attack when he saw me.

I wanted to push him to the edge and watch his reaction. Lately he’d shown a more possessive side, but still he never spoke about feelings for me other than those related to sex and how he felt on a physical level.

The more time I spent with Harrison, the more invested I became. But I knew better than to ask a man outright about his feelings. Men didn’t do emotion, and Harrison had locked his heart up and thrown away the key so long ago that I feared he’d never get to the point where he could admit that he had feelings for me. Lust and a desire to pump his cock into me—those were the kinds of feelings he preferred to talk about.

“My feet hurt,” Jade said as she eyed the couch by the dressing rooms, and drew me out of my thoughts and back to the present.

Guilt overtook me that I’d made her walk from one store to the other and still hadn’t purchased anything.

“How about I sit there and you parade for me?” She pointed to the seat and didn’t even wait for my answer. She crossed the room and sat down, kicking off her shoes and rubbing her baby bump in large circles.

“Sounds like a great idea,” I said, glimpsing at my watch and noting that it was close to lunchtime already. I gave her a warm smile. “We’ll do lunch after this, I promise.”

Jade grinned back at me when I mentioned food. She was so damn adorable; no wonder my brother had fallen so hard for this chick. I was glad that we could be friends, even though our brothers didn’t see eye to eye. I couldn’t help noticing how she’d changed. Her snobby attitude had completely disappeared and she was as down-to-earth as my brother.

Love changes people. My mother always said that, but I never understood what she meant until now. Jade was living proof that it was indeed possible. A sliver of hope that Harrison could change too filled my heart.

I flicked through the racks, nothing really catching my eye.

Jade looked up from her phone. “Are you going to be long?”

“No, why?”

“Two reasons. One, I’m freaking starving, and two, Harrison is on his way. He just messaged me.”

I sucked in a breath. So Harrison had persuaded Jade to let him come. I couldn’t deny that it made my heart beat a little faster and butterflies swarm my stomach. I’d purposely not asked Jade about it, and we’d been so busy talking about her pregnancy and the wedding in between shopping, that Harrison hadn’t come up until now. Besides, a small part of me would have been disappointed if he didn’t come, and I simply didn’t want to think about that.

Empty-handed, I smiled politely at the shop attendant. “I’ll be back later. Maybe after lunch.”

I could see she wanted to roll her eyes, because she’d probably heard that a few more times than she may have wanted to, especially since I’d seen the price tags on the dresses, but instead she just gave me a weak smile. “Of course, Miss Ryder.”

“Come. Let’s go feed that voracious bump of yours,” I said, smiling at my friend. “Luckily the restaurant is just around the corner.”

*****

Twenty minutes later, I was sipping a freshly blended fruit smoothie as I perused the menu. There was just something about the cool jazz music rising above the chatter that made me tap my foot to the rhythm. A group of hip young mothers and their babies, all dressed in the latest fashion, sat to our right and on our left we had three babes with banging bodies squeezed into the latest neon colored fitness gear drinking revolting looking green stuff.

I wasn’t a fan of tofu and couldn’t understand how people could eat that stuff. Running my finger down the list I found an interesting item with goat’s cheese and baby beets and candied walnuts that sounded yummy.

“I think I found something,” I said to Jade, after I’d complained about how damn healthy everything was. Shopping was hard work, and I needed something more than lettuce leaves.

“Great. I’m having the quinoa with pumpkin. I love that.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Harrison entering the room. The second I lifted my head to look directly at him, all of my senses honed in on the man as if he were the only person in the whole restaurant. Hell—the whole universe.

The noisy buzz filtered out and all I became aware of was how incredibly good looking, strong and masculine the man was. Harrison in a uniform was hot and sexy as hell.

His gaze fixed on mine. With a cocky grin spread across his face and a confident swagger he owned completely, he crossed the room to where we sat. He didn’t take his eyes off me, yet I was aware how the women at the tables around us had stopped talking and all focused their attention on the man.

Reaching Jade first, he leaned over to kiss her forehead. Still holding my gaze over her head, he winked at me. Playful Harrison had showed up today, and he could be naughty as sin given half a chance. My own grin grew wider the closer he got to me until my face was practically bursting.