Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
He might get suspended right after he got an “atta-boy.”
But yeah… He’d rather not get busted with his ass hanging out by his co-workers. He was forty now, not fourteen. “I guess the boys are home.”
“Yes, judging by their five thousand texts complaining that there’s nothing to eat. What about your place? Or is that still out?”
Shit. He would love to take her to his place, but he wasn’t risking it. No freaking way. Not only did he not want to deal with hearing bullshit from his brothers or the task force, he didn’t want Liyah harassed, either. “My place is not a good idea.”
“Damn,” she whispered, securing the lid on the container and handing the cake to him. “So, now what?”
Now he broke out his wallet and paid for a place. “Motel?”
“One of those by-the-hour joints?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“I might need more than an hour.”
Those same eyebrows stuck to the top of her forehead. “Oh, you think so, huh?”
Chapter Thirty
Valley View Motel was similar to the diner. In a location where the likelihood of anyone spotting them together was very minimal. Being about twenty-five minutes west of Shadow Valley, it was close but also not.
Apparently, the roadside motel rented mostly to long-term residents. People with crappy credit and unable to get a lease on an apartment. Or people needing a temporary place to stay until they could find something more permanent.
Or people, like them, trying to avoid being spotted at a motel.
The sprawling one-story building might be really outdated but the room appeared and smelled clean when they entered.
Unfortunately—or more like fortunately, depending on who you asked—they didn’t leave it the same way. The sheets were now in a damp, tangled mess, a discreetly wrapped, used condom sat at the bottom of the garbage can and the smell?
It damn sure wasn’t the scent of vanilla lingering in the air.
He definitely got his money’s worth, even though he paid for a whole night, and they only used it for a couple of hours.
Nox sat on the edge of the bed lacing up his boots while Liyah worked on getting her hair back in some semblance of order.
“Jeez,” she came out of the bathroom looking, for the most part, put together, “the furniture in here reminds me of my grandmother’s house.”
“I’m sure it’s from that same era.”
“I’d call it retro but it’s more like old and tired.” She released a long sigh. “Well, that was fun. We’ll have to do this again soon.”
“I assume my imperfect cock was satisfactory enough?”
She stepped between his spread knees and drew a long nail along his jawline. “The act itself was a ten.”
“I guess the action is more important than the perfection of the tool used.”
“No guessing required.” One side of her mouth pulled up. “But that wasn’t the only tool you used.”
When he rose from the bed, he grabbed her hips and pulled her into him, taking her mouth for a quick kiss. After they parted, he said, “I can meet you here every Wednesday night after you’re done with the grief group.”
She shook her head. “That’s not going to happen.”
His eyebrows rose. “You’re not interested?”
She poked him in the chest. “Oh, Officer Lennox, I am certainly interested, but I’ll only put out if you attend the meetings. You don’t get the reward if you don’t put in the work.”
“Damn. Blackmail.”
She shot him a cheesy grin. “No, Black female.”
He chuckled and shook his head.
“All right,” she continued. “I need to get home and see if my house is still standing since I’ve been gone longer than normal.”
“Don’t you trust them enough not to burn down the house while you’re gone?”
Her head jerked back. “Absolutely not. These are undeveloped male brains we’re talking about. They think of stupid shit like warming up pizza slices in a toaster. Not a toaster oven, mind you—an appliance that sits right on the counter and is easily accessible—an actual freaking toaster. I have an endless list of the dumb shit they do. I should hand that list over to their future wives as warning.”
“Or use it as blackmail.”
She mmm’d. “I’ll keep that idea in my back pocket. Are you going to walk me out?”
“Absolutely.” He planned on following her on his bike, too. At least until they were forced to split off in different directions.
The motel was located off the beaten path in an area not very populated. Twenty years ago, the two-lane road that ran past it used to be a main thoroughfare. Wider highways built to handle the increase in traffic now bypassed the area completely. The likely reason most of their occupants were long-term. Or hiding.
He tossed the room key onto the small, battered table in front of the window and made sure the door would lock behind them before following her out onto the narrow, cracked concrete sidewalk that ran in front of the rooms. About half of the rooms had at least one vehicle parked in front of them, unlike earlier when they arrived.