Ah, anger.
He grinned, knowing that would throw her off-kilter.
“Is that any way to greet an old friend?”
“Does an old friend try to have sex with me while I’m blindfolded?”
“No, apparently only a stranger can do that.”
The sight of her with her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing, especially while she wore that sexy black leather bit of nothing, sent hormones blasting through him. God, he wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss the life out of her.
Next, she would scream at him, and fly into a rage. That would be a sight to see.
But to his surprise, she sucked in a deep breath, calming herself. Her hands dropped to her sides and she drew her shoulders back, standing straight and composed. One would think she wore a tailored business suit and faced someone a rung or two down the corporate ladder rather than wearing a skimpy bit of cloth and facing a man in full police uniform.
“That’s the problem with you, Granger. You always find something to criticize.”
“I don’t criticize. I just want you to be safe.” His jaw clenched at her rolling eyes. “For God’s sake, Janine. Having sex with a stranger? I could have murdered you.”
“Yeah? I don’t think Derek would have let you.”
She glanced toward Derek, who stood in the background, leaning casually against the wall, his arms crossed and an amused grin on his face.
“Okay, this time, but for all I know, if it hadn’t been for Derek, you would have picked up a strange guy in a bar.”
Her eyes blazed to life again. “Who the hell do you think you are? Don’t judge me.”
He held his hands at his sides, palms toward her. “Janine, I’m not judging you. I just worry about you. I want you to be safe.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “You sound like Ben.”
“Your brother loved you very much. He just wanted you to be careful.”
Janine had always been a free spirit. Ben had worried that she was too naïve and that men would take advantage of her. He’d been protective and watchful. A typical older brother.
“Yeah. And ain’t it ironic that despite all his urging to be careful and stay safe, that he’s the one who’s dead now.”
The bitterness in her voice showed the depth of pain she still carried at her brother’s death.
“He was a cop,” he said gently. “It happens.”
He saw the pain flash across her blue eyes, but she quickly quelled it.
“Yeah, so I’m told. The point is, life is a crapshoot and I could live my life closed up in a shell, never experience anything, and still get killed crossing the road one day. Or I can simply choose to live my life to the fullest every day.” She stepped toward him and poked his chest with her finger. “I choose the latter. And not you or anybody else has anything to say about it.”
With that, she turned around and walked away, her sweet ass swaying in a way that made his groin fill with heat. Oh, God, this woman drove him insane.
* * *
Janine strode to Derek’s bedroom and closed the door, barely blinking back the tears springing to her eyes. She leaned against the door and sucked in a deep breath. She caught her reflection in the mirror. Black studded leather encasing her breasts, the swell of soft flesh pushing over the top, a skimpy black triangle covering her pussy and nothing covering her ass.
Damn, she must have looked like an absolute fool. He thought of her as a bimbo who didn’t know what was best for her, and standing there spouting at him, looking like this, would only have accentuated that opinion.
She’d like to think she didn’t care, but she did. She’d always respected Sloan, ever since they were kids. Ben and Sloan had been best friends in school, and Janine had always had a bit of a crush on him. Actually, more like a tempestuous, wanting-to-throw-herself-at-his-feet-and-give-him-her-virginity kind of crush. He’d been her first kiss. A kiss that had totally blown her mind and set the bar against which she’d measured every kiss that had come since.
Knowing they were playing with fire, however, they had both backed off. Ben was Sloan’s best friend. She was Ben’s little sister. If they had continued beyond that kiss, they would never have been able to keep their hands off each other, and there was no way Sloan could have lived with himself if he had defiled his best friend’s little sister.
Janine clasped her hands together and her finger automatically found her ring and stroked the blue stone.