She grinned. “Date?”

He slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him. “Mac gets to spend most of the time with you. Maybe I’d like the pleasure of your company once in a while.”

She sensed something deeper in his grey gaze than simple friendship. Or maybe just wishful thinking on her part? “Okay. I’d like that.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m thinking all this is overkill on my part, but it would kill me if something happened to you because I didn’t teach you what you need to know to keep yourself safe and we weren’t there to protect you.”

She allowed herself to relax in his arms, rested her forehead against his chest, and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted back to the play party, to the way Mac surrendered to him, to the trust he had in him.

How could she ever admit to him that she wished she could have that, too?

“Thanks, Sully.”

“Let’s go eat.” He released her and slipped his sunglasses on before gathering their things. Moment over.

* * *

Sully thought back to Jason’s call. He didn’t have any proof. He instinctively knew Clarisse wouldn’t have had anything to do with her parents’ deaths, and she probably didn’t suspect Bryan Jackson did either. When they were seated at a table in the restaurant, he decided to test the waters. After chatting with her for a few minutes, he sprang the question.

“So how did your parents feel about Bryan Jackson?”

“They hated him. I actually broke up with him twice before we got back together for good.” She looked sad. “I should have listened to them.”

“Why did you get back together with him?”

Clarisse’s gaze fell to the table. He didn’t miss the tears that filled her eyes. “He personally came to break the news to me about their accident. He was at the station when it happened.” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes with her napkin as her voice dropped. “He insisted on being the one to tell me. I…I fell apart. He picked me up and kept me together, helped me plan the funeral and the arrangements.”

She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “It was like I saw a different side of him, right? That’s before he hit me the first time, obviously. He acted so sweet. He didn’t try to be romantic with me or anything, just…he was there.”

She met Sully’s gaze. “He would stop by to check on me, make sure I was okay. Then after a few weeks, I invited him over for dinner and we got back together. I thought I’d seen a changed man. I thought maybe he’d gotten a handle on his anger. He said he’d been working really hard to change. He acted different for a while. After six months or so, the old Bryan reappeared. Slowly, little things here and there.

By the time I realized he hadn’t really changed, I wasn’t strong enough to make him leave again. I put up with it.”

Sully nodded and traced his fingers through the condensation on his glass. “That’s understandable.” It also confirmed his suspicions that she had no involvement in her parents’ deaths.

“No, it’s not,” she angrily shot back. She glanced around and lowered her voice. “I acted fucking stupid. I let him take me for everything, and by the time I felt ready to go back to school and finish my degree, I couldn’t because I’d let him control me and take control of everything. He wouldn’t give me the money to go to school. Then when I told him I’d kick him out, that’s when he hit me and threatened me the first time.”

“You’re not stupid, Clarisse.”

“Stop it. I am stupid. I’m stupid and I was scared I couldn’t make it on my own, and then I was scared he’d fucking kill me. Who else would have wanted me anyway? Fucking fat chick, all I can attract is a psycho cop for a boyfriend—” Sully reached across the table and grabbed her chin. “Stop,” he whispered. “Don’t you dare let me hear you talk about yourself like that ever again. So help me, girl, I will spank that attitude out of your gorgeous hide.” He placed one finger over her lips. “I don’t give a shit what that asshole told you. Who are you going to believe? A lying psychopath or someone who’s willing to put a gun in your hand?” A playful smile teased his lips.

She finally smiled. When she did, he touched the end of her nose before settling in his chair again. His gaze bored into her. “Baby, I will tolerate a lot, believe me. But I mean it, if I hear you talk like that again, I will haul you over my lap.”

She looked shocked for a moment, then smiled. “Promise?”

He laughed and took a sip of water. “You’d better believe it.”

After their food arrived, she nervously studied him. “Mac told me about how you guys got together.”

”I told him it was okay. I want you to understand there’s a lot more to what we’ve got than it appears. I love him, he loves me.”

“I read Chances Taken.”

He smirked. “What did you think?”

“What came first? Your relationship with Mac or the writing?”

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve been writing since high school.”

“The erotica?”

“That came after I got together with Mac.”

“It’s good. Very emotional.”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“Sure.”

“How did you end up with a guy if you’re not gay?”

He shrugged. “Just happened. I can’t explain it. Sometimes you have to admit it when you love someone and not worry what the hell anyone else thinks.” He turned his pointed gaze on her. “It is what it is.”

* * *

When they returned from their afternoon together, Sully went upstairs to clean the guns and sent Clarisse to find Mac. She found him in the backyard doing yard work.

“Hey. Did you guys have fun?”

She watched his eyes. “Sully took me shooting.”

She didn’t miss the cloud that passed through his expression. “I figured, when I saw the gun case.”

“He suggested you and I go catch a movie or something tonight.

Together.”

The cloud lifted, his eyes shone. “He did, did he?”

“Yeah.”

“How about you help me cook dinner and we stay home and watch a movie? We can shout lines at the TV without pissing everyone off.”

Clarisse giggled. She’d discovered she had that in common with Mac one evening when they both started doing it, their snarky commentary cracking Sully up in the process. “Okay. That sounds good.”

She returned to the house and changed clothes to work out. The elliptical was both her favorite and her most hated machine. After twenty minutes, Sully appeared, also dressed in workout clothes.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Of course not.”

He set up the weight bench and started working on his legs. He didn’t wear a shirt, which allowed her to stare at the scar on his abdomen. She hadn’t noticed it during the party, her attention more on Mac than on Sully that night.

“Why do you want to work out?” he asked her.

She blushed, paused the timer on the elliptical, and used the break to get a drink of water. “Please don’t start. Mac already gave me the

‘don’t kill yourself to get thin’ lecture.”

Sully glanced over at her. “He’s right. You’re beautiful the way you are.”

Her face felt even hotter. “I’d be prettier if I was thinner.”

The weights clanked as he stopped and sat up. “Why do you say that?”

Clarisse shrugged and climbed back onto the elliptical. “Because it’s the truth.”

“Is that more of Bryan Jackson’s bullshit talking?”

“No,” she shot back. “It’s me knowing the truth. I’m fucking fat.”

She got off the machine and angrily stalked toward the door.

Sully intercepted her, caught her arm, and spun her around.

“Listen to me, what did I tell you about you talking like that?”

Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t!”

He swatted her ass, not hard enough to sting, but the shock of his action stunned her. His voice dropped to a low growl. “I never lie about what I’m going to do, honey. That was a warning shot.” He pulled her closer. “You are beautiful, and Bryan Jackson is a fucking moron. End of subject, got it?”

She still couldn’t believe that he’d swatted her on the ass. She nodded.

He smiled and enveloped her in a hug. “We think you’re beautiful, sweetie,” he murmured in her hair. “As Mac told you, we do appreciate a beautiful woman when we see one.” He kissed the top of her head before releasing her and returning to the weight bench. “You going to finish your work out?”

She took a moment to catch her breath before she returned to the elliptical machine, her mind whirling.

After dinner, Sully disappeared to his office to work. Mac left the choice of movie to Clarisse. She picked a thriller she hadn’t seen yet from their considerable DVD library.

An hour later, she cuddled on the couch next to Mac—who’d donned shorts—jumping at the scary parts and adding their own snarky comments to the dialogue.

As the credits rolled, Mac hugged her. “We should do this more often.”

“Maybe this could be our date-night thing?”

He smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Sounds good to me.”

Chapter Fifteen

Over a month after her arrival, Clarisse seemed to have settled in.

Sully knew she still had reservations about him, but she’d quit flinching around him and had even started spontaneously hugging him.

It gave him hope.

He didn’t look up when Mac quietly walked into their bedroom one evening and knelt beside his recliner by the window, where he’d been reading. He reached out and stroked Mac’s hair. “What’s up?”