Watch Me (Dangerously Intertwined Book 2) Read online

  When I was done with my homework, I realized I was starving. With everything going on, I’d only had one cup of coffee since before class. It was after one o’clock, and my stomach wasn’t happy.

  “I’m going to make a sandwich. Would you like one?” I asked Braeden after walking into the living room.

  He looked up at me from where he sat on the couch. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. You’re doing Ethan and me a favor.”

  “It’s more than a favor. It’s your life.”

  I smiled tightly and sighed. “I know.”

  “You have nothing to worry about.” He stood and patted my upper arm briefly in a kind gesture. “Everyone at the precinct will help keep you safe when we’re your detail.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” We were silent for a moment, and I stepped back. “Turkey okay?”

  “Turkey is fine.” He smiled.

  I went into the kitchen and grabbed everything I needed to make us the sandwiches. Braeden followed. “Are you married?” I asked as I got out four slices of bread. Of course, I already knew he was, but I needed to fill the awkward silence and wanted to make a good impression. I also knew his wife would ask about me and relay the information back to Jessica.

  He sat at the kitchen island as I made our sandwiches. “I am.”

  “Kids?”

  “A daughter and another on the way.”

  “Aw, congrats.”

  “Thank you. Do you have children?”

  I smiled, thinking of Maddie. “I do, a daughter. She’s a freshman at the University of Michigan.”

  His mouth hung open slightly. “You have a daughter in college?”

  “I do.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t look old enough,” he teased.

  I chuckled. “I am. Had her a year after college.”

  “Wow. I would have never guessed.”

  I nodded and put the top slice of bread on each sandwich.

  “How long have you and Ethan been together?”

  “This time around?” I wasn’t sure if Jessica knew that I was Ethan’s first—well, first everything—but since Braeden asked, I made sure to tell him. I handed him a plate with his sandwich on it and a small pack of plain potato chips.

  “This time?” He took the plate and chips from me.

  I grinned—a full-on Cheshire Cat grin—and grabbed Coke Zeros from the fridge. “We were high school sweethearts.”

  “Really?”

  I slid onto the barstool next to him and handed him his soda. “Yep.” There was a slight pause as we both opened our chips and sodas, and took a few bites of our sandwiches.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” Officer Belt inquired.

  Not at all. Please tell your wife. “I went off to college in California, and he stayed here. Long distance didn’t work out.” Of course, I didn’t want to tell him the exact truth, but what I’d said was partially true. If Ethan and I had been in the same town, I probably would have never gone to that stupid party, or at least not without him.

  “California? When did you move back?”

  “You ask a lot of questions,” I teased, hoping to pretend I wasn’t loving being grilled about my relationship.

  He chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich. “Hazard of the job. Sorry.”

  “I’m kidding.” I grinned and took a bite of my own sandwich. “I moved back a couple of months ago, and things rekindled after he came into the bar I work at.”

  “Which bar?”

  “Judy’s, just down the street.”

  “Oh yeah. I know it. Cool place.” He took another bite.

  “It is. Ethan’s sister met her husband there, and now Ethan and I are back together. It’s magical or something.”

  “Ah, yes, I knew about his sister and Rhys Cole.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “My wife is …” He rubbed the back of his neck. “My wife is friends with Ethan’s ex-wife, so I hear all the gossip.”

  No shit? “Really?” I smiled.

  “Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m sorry for asking all the questions. My wife texted me to find out the dirt so she can tell Jessica.”

  “Dirt?” I slipped a few chips into my mouth.

  “They want to know what you’re like.”

  I took a sip of my drink. “And what am I like?”

  “Well”—he grinned—“between you and me, you seem much nicer than Jessica.”

  I chuckled slightly. “Oh yeah? How so?”

  “Jessica is one of those women who thrive on drama. She’s always up to something at the school the kids go to, and she reminds me of Christina Applegate’s character in Bad Moms.”

  I laughed. “Totally know what you mean.”

  I did know what he meant, and that made me sad because not only did Jessica want dirt on me, but I also knew it was because of Ethan’s sons. I just hoped it wasn’t going to come down to them or me.

  There was a knock on the front door, and my gaze locked with Braeden. He slid off the barstool, reaching for his gun. “Get in the hall,” he ordered.

  I didn’t think killers knocked before entering, but I obeyed Braeden just in case. I couldn’t see the door from the hall, but I could hear everything.

  “Sheriff?” Braeden questioned in greeting.

  Sheriff?

  “Sergeant Valor told me Reagan McCormick is here.”

  “She is. What do you need with Reagan?” Braeden asked. The sheriff didn’t reply, or at least I didn’t hear anything. “You can come out, Reagan.”

  I did, moving around the corner and coming into view.

  The sheriff stepped over to me. “Reagan McCormick, you’ve been served with an emergency protective order. You’re to stay at least five hundred feet away from the parties listed until the hearing.”

  “An emergency protective order?” I questioned as I took the papers. I glanced at them to see that Jessica was the petitioner. “Of course.”

  “Make sure you show up to the hearing,” the sheriff stated. “And you’ll need to surrender all of your firearms.”

  I snorted and gave a tight smile. “I don’t have any guns, but I understand. Thank you, sheriff.”

  He turned and left. Braeden closed the door behind him.

  “Seems Jessica didn’t want to wait for the dirt you were going to tell her,” I stated, waving the papers in front of me.

  He grunted. “I guess not.”

  After Braeden left at three, April, another officer I’d met after class, arrived to take over the task of keeping me safe. We watched a few episodes of a true crime documentary on Netflix, and before I knew it, Ethan was walking in through the front door.

  “Hey,” I greeted with a smile.

  He looked tired, with dark circles under bloodshot eyes, and I was certain it wasn’t only because he didn’t sleep the night before. Even though we were both worried about a killer, I couldn’t imagine the added stress Ethan was under because of me: keeping me safe, fighting with Jessica because a killer was after me, and working to solve the case before another murder happened.

  Possibly my murder.

  “Hey.” He threw his keys and cell phone onto the table near the door. He loosened his tie as he walked toward where I sat on the couch. “Thank you, April.”

  “Not a problem.” She stood. “Now, I need to go home and find out what happens in the next episode. See ya tomorrow, Reagan.”

  “Bye. Have a good night.”

  “You too.”

  Ethan gave me a quick kiss on the lips before he walked April to the door. “See you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

  “Night,” she called back and left. Ethan shut the door and locked all of the locks.

  “What do you want for dinner?” I asked as I stood to go to the kitchen.

  He grabbed my waist, bringing me onto his lap as he fell back onto the couch. “Whatever you want. I just want to shower and hold you all night. It’s been a long day.”

  “Tell me about i
t. I assume you know I got served with a restraining order?” I wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Well, I read it, and I agree with what she wrote. I don’t want anything to happen to your boys because of me.”

  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly. “It’s not just you, Buttercup. I was served with one too.”

  I furrowed my brows. “What does that mean? You can’t see your kids?”

  “Nope.”

  “What?” I shrieked and tried to stand. “She’s seriously trying to make it so you can’t see your own children?”

  He tightened his arms around me. “It won’t fucking happen, but unfortunately, because it’s an emergency protection order, there’s nothing I can do until the hearing.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “Trust me, I’m pissed. I called my attorney, but he confirmed there’s nothing I can do except stay away until the hearing.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “I know. I fucking know.”

  “This is all my fault.”

  “What? Of course, it isn’t.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly. “It is.”

  “Because a serial killer is after you?”

  My eyes sprang open. “Um, yeah.”

  Ethan didn’t say anything as we stared at each other for several moments. “Look, I don’t want to argue about this with you. We’ve had a shitty couple of days, and I feel like everything is one step back instead of forward.”

  “You know I’m here to help, right?”

  He kissed me softly. “I know you are, but I can’t tell you anything about the case.”

  “Because I’ll be in even more danger,” I said, repeating what he’d told me earlier.

  “Yes, but also, I don’t want to get thrown off the case because if anyone is going to solve this quickly, it’s me.”

  I smiled warmly at him. “I know you will, but if a killer hadn’t entered my condo, you’d still have your boys.”

  “I still have my boys.”

  “But the court order—”

  “A piece of paper isn’t going to keep me from my kids, Reagan.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He sighed. “Honestly, nothing right now. I hate to say it, but having a few days to focus on the case will be good for all of us. I’m going to spend every waking hour working this.”

  “I understand.”

  “Now”—he picked me up—“we’re going to shower, eat, fuck, and get some sleep. Maybe not in that order.” He grinned.

  My legs wrapped around his waist, and I laughed. “I’m finished with all my homework, so we have all night.” We were both tired, but sex would be a good way to forget what was happening for the time being and hopefully help Ethan get some much-needed sleep.

  He walked us into the bathroom that was connected to the master bedroom. “Or until we pass out.” We were on the same page.

  “We should order pizza. Then it will be here when we get out of the shower.”

  “That will put a timeframe on how long I can fuck you, Buttercup.”

  I grinned. “I’ll get naked while you call it in. That’s multitasking.”

  He set me down, pressed his lips to mine. “That’s why I love you.”

  “Love you too.” I bit my lip.

  “Get undressed and in the shower. I’ll be back.”

  By the time he got back—which was less than four minutes later—I was as he’d ordered: naked and wet. The spray of the shower beat down on my chest as I stood under the warm water. I’d heard Ethan come in, and I was waiting for him. The shower door opened. When I turned, I noticed he was already hard and had put on a condom. We did have a timeline—maybe thirty minutes—before the pizza would arrive and had to hurry some.

  Without any words, he swept my hair back with both hands, brought my lips to his and pushed us back against the cold tile, pinning me against the wall and grinding against me. He pulled his lips from mine to make his way down my neck with his mouth and back up again, applying little nibbles to my jaw along the way. I reached down and wrapped my hand around his rock hard cock. He let out a groan and brought his mouth to my ear.

  “Turn around, baby. Hands on the wall.”

  I did, putting both palms against the tile, and then rested the back of my head on his shoulder, giving him open access to my neck. He alternated between nipping and sucking, and I pushed my hips back, rubbing my ass against him. His hand made its way up to one of my boobs, massaging the globe as he plucked my nipples, causing them to stiffen. His other hand moved between my legs.

  At the first stroke of his fingers against my clit, I let out a satisfied moan. He pushed his fingers inside of me, going deep, gliding in and out effortlessly. Being with Ethan always made me feel as though we were made for each other, and he knew exactly how to work me to make me a puddle of water. I was able to open myself to him in every way and enjoy the way he worked my body.

  Ethan bent his knees, lifting me slightly to slide his shaft inside of me in one thrust. My hands went up and down the wall with each drive. The steam from the shower stuck to my skin and made each push up with his hips glide fluidly.

  “Fuck,” he groaned. “After the day—”

  “Shh,” I said and turned my mouth to his, tasting and sucking his tongue as he worked me higher and higher. I didn’t want him to think about anything except for the present.

  Drive after drive, thrust after trust, and push after push, he worked us both until we both tipped over the edge. I went first, clenching his dick as I spasmed.

  “That’s it, baby,” he gritted out as he increased his pace until he followed, stilling and coming too.

  Ethan stayed inside of me as our mouths came together, savoring the moment. After some time, we moved apart, and he pulled out of me and set me down. He removed the condom and threw it into the bin next to the toilet just outside of the shower.

  “Do you think our sex life would be this good if we had stayed together and gotten married?” He started to lather his body with body wash that smelled like paradise. “I mean, you have to admit we work well together.”

  I tilted my head slightly as I moved under the spray of the water to clean off. “We do, and I’d like to think that twenty-three years from now it will be the same.”

  He grinned, switching places with me to rinse off and shampoo his hair. “I hope I can still get it up in twenty-three years.”

  “I’m sure there will still be a pill for that by then.”

  “True,” he replied, and we heard the door buzzer in the other room. “Pizza’s probably here.” Ethan rinsed his hair quickly, kissed me one last time, and then left to grab the phone.

  After we ate most of the pizza, we crawled into bed and slept well for the first time since we’d discovered the plaque in my apartment.

  “Have fun in class, Buttercup.” It wasn’t the first time I’d uttered those words, but it was the first time I’d watched Reagan walk away with an undercover cop next to her.

  “Ready?” Shawn asked.

  I nodded.

  Will had obtained a warrant, and we were going to the IT department with him. There was nothing Shawn and I could do, but we wanted to go. Or, more specifically, I wanted to go. Since this fucker had violated my girlfriend’s space, I wanted to know everything on the tech side. I didn’t know what I could do, but if Will traced this asshole, I wanted to be the first to know.

  Shawn and I were still waiting for Daisy’s phone records. The day before, we’d gone back to Amy’s apartment to discover that Heather, the roommate, had moved out. We went to the boyfriend’s apartment, but no one answered. So, to kill two birds with one stone, Shawn and I were with Will so we could stop by the admissions office and get Heather’s schedule to track her down.

  We needed that fucking wood plaque.

  The three of us found the admissions building. Shawn stayed on the main floor to get Heather’s schedule,
and I went with Will down to the basement where the IT department was located. When we first entered, I counted eight doors—some opened, some closed—along a long, wide hall behind a reception desk.

  Will stood ahead of me as we approached the reception desk. A woman looked up from her computer. “Can I … Can I help you?” she stammered as though they never got visitors.

  Will handed her the warrant. “We’re here to scan your servers.”

  She balked. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Let me … Let me get my boss.” She stood.

  “Sure.”

  A few moments later, a man came up. “Jack Clark.” He stuck out his hand. He looked familiar, but in the short exchange, I couldn’t place him. “I’m the Director of the IT department.”

  I took his hand. “Sergeant Valor, and this is Officer Nichols. He’s the head of the cybercrime unit at our precinct. We have a warrant to scan your servers and computers.”

  “Why?” Jack furrowed his brows in confusion.

  “There have been two murders associated with Lakeshore University—”

  “Yes, I’ve heard. And you think it’s connected to our computers?”

  “Unfortunately, we can’t disclose that information at this time.”

  When Shawn walked in, Jack’s gaze moved to him and then back to me. “Right this way.”

  “Actually,” I stopped them with my words, “Officer Nichols will take it from here.”

  Jack nodded, and he and Will turned and headed to the other end of the hall. They turned a corner, and were out of sight. The woman went back to her desk, but I caught her gaze a few times and made a mental note to speak with her.

  I turned to Shawn. “Did you get it?”

  “Yeah.”

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and realized Reagan had fifteen more minutes left of class. “Do you want to go see if she has what we need? I want to walk Reagan to the car.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  I gave a quick nod in agreement and turned to face the assistant. “If they get done before I’m back, can you tell Officer Nichols that I’ll be back?”