Heartbreaker: A Filthy Dirty Love Novel

Joss shook her head, watching Emilia lean in, practically salivating. “Yes, we banged. Yes, it was unbelievable. Yes, I’d do him again in a second, which before you say it, I know is a terrible idea considering the shitstorm that would rain down on us if the chief found out.” Especially considering that Chief Dalton was a close family friend and he’d have no qualms about laying into her. “But this…Maddox and me…it needs to stay far under the radar. We’re not dating. We screwed, that’s it. So you can’t say a word to anyone. Like, ever. Maddox could lose his job. My reputation is on the line.” And her job mattered. Her father was a cop. Her grandfather had been a cop, too. Hell, she’d grown up surrounded by cops. She wanted to make them all proud. A sex scandal wasn’t part of her career goals. “Did I cover it all?”

“Pfft.” Emilia barked a laugh. “Not even close, honey. How did this happen? The last time we talked, I thought you were only joking about wanting to sleep with him again. Like, I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but this could backfire—hugely—in your face.”

“Yes, I know.” Joss reached for Emilia’s arm, giving it a squeeze. “I know what I’m doing, Emilia, but…”—she paused choosing her words carefully—“for so long, I always thought about what Nick wanted and how I could make him happy. Then I met Maddox, and that first night at the bar, things exploded between us. With him, it’s all about me. I know the risks here. I’m well aware of them, but I’m sick of always doing the right thing or taking the careful route. We’ve talked, and I trust that he’s going to keep whatever we do between us.”

“So this is going to continue, then?” Emilia asked.

Joss gave a half-shrug. “Yeah, we’ve worked out a no-strings arrangement. It’s just sex.”

“Hmmm,” Emilia said, nibbling her lips. “He does seem rather trustworthy and close-lipped. Just be careful, okay? Remember what I told you about him?”

Joss couldn’t forget. That little reminder seemed ingrained in her mind. “He’s broken a heart or two because he doesn’t do relationships because of whatever fear or commitment issues he has.”

“That’s right, so you gotta remember that, ’kay?” Emilia moved to the sink and switched off the water. She turned back to Joss, softening her voice. “You’re not built like him. You’re a girl who loves love. You don’t jump in and out of random men’s beds.”

Joss nearly argued with Emilia on that point. Maybe she had once been the girl who badly wanted to be in love. Double dates. Family Christmas celebrations. Walks in the park. She’d been the girl who loved all those things. But where did that get her in the end? Heartbroken. At least with Maddox, she already knew he was a heartbreaker. He’d drawn the lines clearly for her. All she had to do was not cross them.

Easy.

She placed her hand on Emilia’s shoulder and smiled. “I love you for worrying about me, I really do. I know he’s not a relationship guy, and I’m not looking for that either. What he can give me…that’s what I want.”

“Just sex?”

Joss grinned. “Just kinky, dominating, off-the-charts-hot sex.”

Emilia laughed, her shoulders beginning to lower from their high position. “All right. Last bit of advice: Don’t do it.”

“Do what?”

She pointed. “Fall in love with him.”

Joss snorted and turned the bathroom’s door handle. “You don’t need to worry about that. I can promise with total certainty that will not happen.” Because as hot as Maddox was, as incredible a lover as he was, Joss knew better than to fall in love with the wrong type of guy, one with clear commitment issues.

When she swung the door open, she came face-to-face with Maddox.

“Oops,” she gasped, taking a step back.

Stance wide, arms folded, narrowed eyes directly on her, he asked curtly, “Ladies, do you mind explaining why you are both in the family bathroom?”

Joss thought up every scenario from using the bathroom together to fix her makeup to changing her clothes, even if logically that didn’t make sense since she wasn’t holding anything.

Her lips parted to comment, when Emilia blurted out, “Sorry, sir, I asked Joss to bring me a pair of underwear into work because I”—she gave a shy smile—“sir, it’s a ladies’ problem that I’m sure you don’t want to hear about.”

Maddox’s eyes narrowed on Emilia before he snorted, shaking his head. “Don’t let me find you both in there again.”