Free Luminous by Corrina Lawson Page B

and I’ll be invisible.”
    “You’re coming as Noir, you mean. With the whole black-leather getup.”
    “Damn straight.”
    He shrugged. She’d do it anyway. He’d do the same if he were her. Best to at least pretend he had control over that.
    “So how long do we have to wait?”
    “Couple of hours.”
    “What do we do in the meantime?”
    He stood up. “I’m going to have a drink.” He went to the fridge, pulled out a Coke and drank it down, wishing again it was alcohol. It’d been too long.
    No, given what happened last time he drank, not long enough.
    “That and Pepsi is all you have to drink?”
    He grinned. “I’m not allowed to drink the hard stuff. It’s not safe.”
    “Not safe? What, do you turn into Mr. Hyde or something?”
    “Well, the last time I drank whiskey, I woke up with my car hanging off the edge of an old parking garage rooftop. Got out just before it tipped over the edge of the roof.” He frowned. “I still miss that car.” The department clunker was hardly a replacement.
    She walked into the kitchen, pushed past him and took out her own soda. As she swallowed, the shirt fell around her in all sorts of interesting ways. His imagination filled all that in nicely.
    Annoyed that he couldn’t stop thinking about how sexy she was, he grabbed the shirt and pulled the lapels together. “Button that up.”
    She laughed. “Why? You can’t see anything.”
    “I know what’s there. I carried you last night.”
    She leaned against the counter. “Oh, c’mon. You’re not saying you’re attracted to the freak.”
    He took the drink from her hand. “If you think you’re a freak, then you’ll always be a freak. I think of you as Noir with the angel light. My partner.” He paused. “My partner who should keep her shirt closed.”
    “I don’t believe you.” She slipped her arms slowly out of each sleeve, teasing him, and then tossed the shirt on the floor. “You can’t possibly want this, Al.”
    She was topless. He could feel a flush coming on, and he was too damn old to blush. His memory of that body pressed naked against his last night supplied a complete picture.
    And they say men always need a visual.
    “Yeah, well, believe me or not, that’s your choice.”
    “How could you possibly want me?” she asked. “You can’t see—”
    “I’ve seen all I need to see.” He reached out and touched her face, pleased that he’d guessed right about where it was. He cupped her cheek in his hand. It was warm, just like last night. And just like last night, he was on the verge of kissing her. His little finger rested on her neck. He felt her pulse racing. Idiot.He shouldn’t do this. He dropped his hand. “But you’re under my protection. I can’t.”
    “That’s bullshit,” she said. “Now you’re making excuses.”
    Al had a feeling that if he could see her face, her gaze would be fixed in a scowl. He bet she had a beautiful scowl too.
    “What you really are saying is that you don’t want to touch me because it would be—” Her voice broke. “Because it would be creepy.”
    He took her by the waist and pulled her against him. Her naked breasts pressed against his shirt. “I have no problem wanting you.”
    “But you can’t see me.”
    “You keep saying that.” Pulling her close had been a mistake, especially with her half-naked. His resolve was weakening fast, about at the same rate that his penis was hardening.
    “I see enough. I know that in just twenty-four hours, you’ve been a better partner than any I’ve had in my fifteen years on the force. You backed me up in the ER, and you didn’t make a big deal about it. Not to mention there’s the whole wanting-to-stop-Jack-from-hurting-people thing, even though you can’t remember what your life was like before.”
    She took a deep breath. She must have noticed his erection pressing against her. It seemed important to her that he did want her. Now she had indisputable evidence.
    “You…” She put her