Bri joined them by the side of the cruiser. “Was there anything lying in plain view on the front seat or the floor?”

Rica shook her head. “No. Nothing. I never leave anything of value visible.”

“I checked under the dash,” Bri said, “and I didn’t see any sign that the wiring had been tampered with. No one hotwired it in an attempt to steal it. The sound system connections are all intact. Looks like the broken window is the only damage.” Bri glanced at Carter and hooked one thumb over her gun belt before focusing on Rica again. “Have you had a run-in with anyone lately? An irritated customer, maybe?”

“No, no one,” Rica said quickly. “Why?”

Carter cleared her throat and Bri said immediately, “Just running the list of possibilities.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Rica said irritably. “Don’t you two pull that cop stuff on me. You think someone was trying to send me a message? A warning of some kind?”

“It’s possible,” Bri said. “And it’s just as possible this was a completely random act. Plenty of kids get drunk and show off for their friends. Someone may have just tossed a rock at the window to prove how bad they are.”

Carter took Rica’s hand. “Right now there’s no reason to think it’s anything more than what Bri just said. But be careful, okay? If you notice anything at any time that seems the least bit off, call me.”

• 71 •

RAdCLY fFe

“I will, baby,” Rica murmured. “Right now, I just want to go home.”

As they followed Rica’s Lexus down Bradford, Carter automatically checked for a tail. A single car followed at a distance but turned off before they reached their street. Rica would probably say Carter’s years undercover had made her paranoid, but being paranoid was what had kept her alive.

“You don’t think her car being hit was an accident?” Bri asked.

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t like the feel of it.”

“No,” Carter said. “Neither do I.”

v

He waited, watching, until the police cruiser followed the Lexus out of the parking lot. It was late, well after midnight, but he wasn’t tired. He felt invigorated. So many choices. He could follow her home.

She’d be alone for the rest of the night. He could watch her undressing through the windows, from the safety of the dunes. He could slip in through an unlocked window or an unattended patio door. He might be able to see her through the misty glass of the shower doors or watch her sleep with moonlight slanting across her face. Or he might visit one of the others. Which one would be first? Whistling, he made his way down the narrow twisting streets to Commercial Street and imagined all the possibilities. Finally he was in charge.

v

Allie moaned quietly, clutching Flynn’s shoulders as Flynn leaned over her, pressing her back into the soft sofa cushions. Allie had guessed from Flynn’s slightly cocky manner and to-die-for-body that she would be good at this, and she hadn’t been wrong. Flynn really, really knew her way around a woman. Right now, Flynn was doing an awesome job of kissing her. Flynn’s second-story, one-bedroom apartment faced the harbor in the far West End. The sofa, where they were currently entangled, sat in front of double sliding glass doors, which were open to the cool early-September breeze. The air outside could have been frigid for all the effect it had on her, because Flynn was stoking her

• 72 •

RetuRning tides

fires like no one had done in far too long. God, Flynn’s tongue felt good playing inside her mouth, making her tingle and tighten in so many places at once she couldn’t think of anything else. She couldn’t think.

She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t ache for what she didn’t have.

This was good. This was so good. This was good enough.

Allie grabbed the back of Flynn’s shirt and yanked it out of her jeans, then dipped a hand under the waistband. Her whole body tensed when she encountered nothing but bare skin, and she dug her fingers into the hard muscle. Flynn groaned and worked a thigh between Allie’s legs. Allie whimpered with the sudden pressure.

“You’re so hot,” Flynn muttered, massaging Allie’s breast through her top. “You’re making me crazy.”

“Good.” Allie arched beneath her and gripped her ass even harder. Flynn pushed her hand under Allie’s clothes and palmed her breast. Flynn’s fingers were dry and warm, and Allie’s breasts ached wonderfully as Flynn worked her way back and forth between them, fondling and massaging. “Yeah, really good.”

“Want you so bad,” Flynn groaned.

“Then kiss me.” Allie dragged Flynn back down and opened her mouth to pull her in. Flynn shifted fully on top of her, punctuating each thrust of her tongue with a hard hip pump. Allie opened her legs wider.

Dry humping had never gotten her off, but the way she felt right now, so desperate to let go of the last fragments of awareness, so frantic for just a few minutes of pleasure, of not hurting, she thought she might come. God, she would explode if Ash would just squeeze her nipple a little harder, the way she liked it. The way she always did when she wanted to make her come. She murmured breathlessly, “Please…” Ash, please… Ash.

Allie jerked back into the moment and felt every ounce of blood drain from her head. She pulled out of the kiss, turning her face away.

Gasping, she said, “Wait, please.”

Flynn went rigid. After a few seconds of silence, she eased some of her weight off Allie’s body, bracing herself on her arms with their lower bodies still touching. “Allie?”

“Oh my God, Flynn. I’m so sorry. I…I just…” Allie took a shuddering breath. What the hell was happening? She’d been about ten seconds away from an awesome orgasm. This had never happened before. Not that long ago she’d made love with Deo, more than once,

• 73 •

RAdCLY fFe

and she’d been fine. All systems go. She hadn’t had the slightest problem coming, and she hadn’t thought of Ash once. Not really. All right, maybe sometimes, but never when she’d been with Deo. Well, never when Deo had been making love to her at least. Flynn was an amazing lover. Flynn had been making her feel terrific. Flynn had been about to make her come. “I don’t know what happened.”

Liar. You do know what happened. God damn it. She doesn’t want you. Stop thinking of her!

“It’s okay.” Flynn, breathing hard, rolled off until they were half sitting up, side by side on the sofa. She stroked a few strands of hair off Allie’s cheek. Her eyes glittered in the moonlight, and her smile seemed a little rueful. “We might’ve been moving a little fast. I kinda lost it there.”

Allie threaded her fingers through Flynn’s and held their joined hands in her lap. “Believe me, I was right there with you.” She laughed and shook her head. “Actually, I was probably a little ahead of you.”

“I thought you were going to come,” Flynn murmured quietly.

Allie’s face flamed hot. “You’re pretty amazing. I was really worked up.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Oh God, I’m sorry. You must think I’m an enormous tease.” Allie thought of how many times Bri had accused her of being a tease. She was a tease, sometimes. Sometimes teasing girls was just a form of foreplay. But nothing about what had just happened was intentional.

“I’m sorry.”

Flynn straightened and turned so their eyes met. “Allie! Don’t be crazy. I meant it when I said maybe we were fast-forwarding a little too much. It’s our first date, and…” She shrugged. “I’d been thinking about you ever since we ran into each other earlier, so I was pretty revved up when you walked into the bar. And then you just looked so hot and you felt so good, and I stopped thinking about anything except… Well, you know. But I don’t usually have sex with a woman the first time we hook up.”

I do, Allie wanted to say, because it was true. Most of the last year at least, when she’d gone out at all, the only thing she’d wanted from a woman had been hard, hot sex and as much of it as she could get.

But she didn’t say it because she didn’t want Flynn to think that’s what tonight had been all about. Maybe it had been mostly about sex, right

• 74 •

RetuRning tides

up until a few minutes ago. But it wasn’t about that anymore. Flynn was nice. Too nice to just be a convenient mouth and pair of hands.

“I think this might be the most insane thing to ever come out of my mouth,” Allie said, “but would you mind if we just took things a little slower for a while?”

“So does that mean I get another date?”

A date. Allie thought about that. Flynn was gorgeous. Flynn was smart and funny. Flynn had amazing hands and an incredible mouth and a killer body. Well, duh. Allie kissed her, and Flynn’s tongue skating over hers was like a power surge electrifying every atom in her body.

She pulled back before she short-circuited completely. “Yes. Definitely, yes.”

Flynn grinned and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Allie wrapped her arm around Flynn’s waist. “Because believe me, restraint is not my strong suit.”

“You won’t hear me complaining.”

Allie laughed, strangely relieved to be going home, even though she still wasn’t sure why she was saying no. Maybe it was because as she and Flynn walked hand in hand down the dark quiet streets, she kept wondering where Ash was, and with whom.

v

“Oh baby,” the blonde panted as Ash worked her nipple roughly between her teeth, “you’re going to make me come. You’re going to make me come.”

Again. The woman didn’t quit, and Ash didn’t want her to, driving her with her mouth and her hands and her tongue and her teeth from one peak to the next. She wanted to make her come, needed to make her come, desperate for her cries of ecstasy to block out the sounds of another woman’s climax from her consciousness. Still, despite the pain of nails raking down her back and teeth sinking into the muscles at the base of her neck, she couldn’t obliterate the pictures, couldn’t erase the memories. She groaned and pushed her hand deeper, thrust harder and faster.