Free Uncovering Officer Smith (The Discovering Trilogy #2) by Sheena Hutchinson Page A

is disappointed.
    A sigh escapes my lips before I finally collapse onto the pillows. “I don’t like you of sound mind.”
    That fantastic giggle comes again. “I don’t like you sober, either.” I turn slightly just to shoot her a look, but she turns, facing the ceiling as well. “You’re a lot more fun when you’re drunk.”
    I hide a smile before my eyes grow heavy and I give in to my drunken stupor.

The sun makes me turn away from the window and rub my eyes. Damn, what time is it? I peek my eyes open to see a pile of blonde hair next to me. I’m immediately awake. What happened last night? Did I really just sleep with a girl and not screw her? What the hell is going on with me? I’m about to get up and sneak out when Becca sighs in her sleep. Her blonde eyelashes are soft against her pale cheeks. Her lips are still pouty but not red from all the kissing we did last night. I can’t believe she made me feel passion without even having sex. Connection: isn’t that what she was talking about? Is that what this is? Blonde hair cascades down her neck and swirls all around her breasts. She’s still in the hoodie from last night, long, smooth legs tucked under her as she sleeps. Something inside me aches for her. I need her like I’ve never needed anything in my life. I want to find the idiots that planned to hurt her and kill them with my bare hands, and yet I want to hold her and kiss her pain away. I find myself wanting to know what kind of joke she’ll tell me when she wakes up, or how deep she’ll smile if I bring her coffee just the way she likes it.
    Oh, fuck. I’m in trouble . This is April all over again. I fling my arm over my eyes. This can’t happen. I have to distance myself from her. I need to focus on the case at hand. Once I solve this case, I’m done with her. Done.
    “Morning, Sleeping Beauty!” Bedford prances into his spare bedroom before locking eyes with me. “Smith?”
    I’m immediately on my feet. “It’s not what it looks like.”
    “My… my sister, dude?”
    “No… I…” I sigh. “Nothing happened.”
    “Yeah, like I believe that!”
    “Relax, Beddy. He kept it in his pants,” Becca mutters from the bed behind me.
    “Really?”
    “Yes, but I appreciate you trying to protect my virtue.”
    Bedford looks back and forth from me to his sister a few times before giving me a look that tells me he doesn’t exactly believe us. But then he mutters, “There are bagels downstairs,” before stomping out of the room.
    “Well, that was embarrassing.” I turn to see Becca throwing her hair into a ponytail on the edge of the bed before yawning so unattractively wide.
    “It was the truth.”
    “Was it now?” She shoots me a sexy smirk, grabbing her white shorts off the couch and slipping back into them. “Well,”—She slips her flip flops back on and slaps her hands on her knees—“Let's go downstairs, playboy, before we start even more rumors.”
    I watch her leave in awe. I’ve had my awkward share of morning-after encounters, but none that left me speechless—None like this. The way she is so confident and casual, leaves me feeling… incomplete.
    I take a deep breath, shoving down the thought that, if she can do this without even having sex with me, what will sex with her be like?
    The house is an utter mess. My entire descent downstairs is echoed by the crunch of potato chips and directed around a maze of red cups. The voices from the kitchen echo loudly before I even make it down the hall.
    “—Laid a hand on you, I swear to God!”
    “Oh please.” I can practically hear her eyes roll. “What would you do? Beat him up?” She starts to laugh and a few other people snicker. There’s some rustling, a ding of a timer, and then, “What if it was me that couldn’t keep my hands off him?”
    “Becca—”
    I walk into the room just in time to save her from the verbal assault that’s coming. “Did you guys save me any bagels?”
    All eyes move to me: Ford,