Sworn to Be His (The Archer Family Book 3) (4 page)

Suddenly, he wasn't sure how much his paperwork being done really meant to him. But then, if he went back on his word, Jade wouldn't have her chance with Zac.

Good. She deserves better than a guy like that.

"Dare?" she said, and he focused on her again. Her square face, the lock of blond hair hanging lazily in front of her eye. And most of all on her eyes—clear sky blue, pleading and hopeful all at once. She'd be heartbroken if this didn't work out.

"Sorry, I was just wondering if you'd be able to handle kissing me. Frankly I'm not sure you're woman enough." He turned his smile on her and she shoved him playfully.

"I've seen the kind of girls you've been with. If they could handle you, I'm sure I can."

"So how do you want to go for this? Just...kiss?"

She surveyed him for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that's our best option, right? We just...go for it."

"Right. Go for it." Derrick leaned in and, just as he’d imagined, the smell of her overwhelmed his senses the closer he got. Then there was the ginger on her breath, fresh and crisp, and then the heat of her mouth on his. The softness of her lips.

He took her bottom lip between his and she responded, slowly opening her mouth to him and deepening the kiss. With one hand, he wound a strand of her hair between his fingers and with the other, he gripped her waist, steadying her as his tongue dipped out to find hers.

It was as though his body knew what to do without his command or consent. He didn't even take the time to wonder if he'd done something wrong or gone too far. Instead, he was focused on her, the silky strands of her hair, the way her kiss sent another electric jolt straight to his core.

Suddenly, he was aware of a growing ache between his legs and he stiffened as he felt his cock harden.

No, that was all wrong. This was Jade. Jade, his friend.

He pulled back to find a blush trailing from the apples of her cheeks down her neck and down to the collar of her shirt. He imagined it went lower, too, probably painting her breasts the most delicate shade of rose.

No. This was Jade for Christ's sakes. He had no business thinking about her breasts. Or how she seemed to respond to his touch. Or just how pliant and soft her mouth was...

"Okay, mission accomplished. Do you think you can manage to do that without flinching?" he asked, though he knew the tension in his voice was loud and clear.

Jade nodded. "I'll have to psych myself up, but I can probably manage."

"Great. We're good then. We'll just, uh, tell everyone at the staff meeting tomorrow and that will be that."

"Yep," Jade nodded. "That will be that."

"And before long Zac will be all yours," Derrick finished, but the words left a bitter taste in his mouth and he had to take another drink to wash them away.

T
he next morning
, Derrick ran a brush through his hair, tugged on a shirt, and sighed. It was one of those days where all he wanted to do was climb back into bed and go back to sleep, if only because he still felt like sleep had never really come last night.

But then again, when did it ever?

He shook his head, desperate not to think about the dreams that came back to him every now and then. Memories of his time in Afghanistan, played back in slow motion. Just slow enough for him to see wrong move he'd made. Slow enough for him to feel every razor edge on the sting of bitterness his tour had left behind.

He'd wake up, sweating and aching with regret, only to roll over and find himself thinking of Jade. The rest of his evening with her had gone well enough. They'd laughed and finished their drinks, talking over the latest news in the unit and making plans for their undercover operation.

Still, as she spoke he kept finding himself staring at her lips, wondering at the effect she'd had on him. He'd had plenty of kisses—and more—from women before, but that moment she'd been in his arms? It was like a magnet had drawn him to her, pulling him closer and closer until they were wound together.

Frankly, he wasn't sure whether his waking thoughts or his dreaming ones bothered him more.

And now he had a new day ahead of him. The first day of their deal. He'd have to hold her hand again, kiss her again, flirt with her. Then there was the morning meeting where they were going to break the news to the entire unit that they'd decided to get together.

Silently, he pictured what the supervisor's face would look like when they broke the news. In his mind, it wasn't all that dissimilar from the expression the old man had worn during their discussion about the new badge. Shock and horror. Just the slightest dash of disgust.

He wondered what Zac Flynn's face would look like, too. If he'd suddenly start lurking around Jade's desk now that she belonged to Derrick. If he'd think that he could get in on Derrick's territory and—

No. No more wondering. No more what ifs. If there was one thing he'd learned in the service, it was not to build on expectations or anticipations. No matter how well-planned something was, fate would have more of a hand in everything than anyone could account for. The best thing was to go with the flow.

To lay in wait.

And if Zac Flynn did come sniffing around...

That was ideal, wasn't it?

Derrick fastened his belt and holster, and then made for the door, determined to make quick work of his trip to the station and get this damned meeting over with. After that was over, this whole thing with Jade would be short-lived and he could finally have some peace. Who knew? Maybe he'd even be able to sleep through the night.

When he walked into the Criminal Investigation Unit's corridor, it was to find most everyone still at their desk, sipping their morning coffee before they went in to the meeting. Everyone, that was, except for Jade. And Zac.

Quickly, Derrick entered the meeting room, and caught the two of them laughing at something.

"Oh hey," Jade said. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Here I am." Derrick made his way to the coffee machine as he nodded to Flynn who was sitting on the edge of the table nearest to Jade. Any closer and the guy would practically be in her lap.

"Morning," Flynn said, nodding back while Derrick took his first sip of coffee.

"We were just talking about the Scaglietti case. Detective Flynn is almost done reviewing the files."

"Please, call me Zac." Zac smiled down at her, and Derrick couldn't help but to pipe in.

"Actually, we call almost everyone by their last name."

"Right. Except you call her Jade. And she calls you Derrick." Flynn narrowed his eyes, though the gesture wasn't as menacing as the other man seemed to hope it would be.

"That's different." Derrick took a seat at the opposite end of the table. "So what's the word on Scaglietti?"

"Not much of anything," Zac said. "Just surprised at how involved you two seem to have been on the case. Nearly three quarters of the documents were filed by one of you."

"We're devoted." Jade said, breathier than he'd ever heard her before. The knot in his stomach turned over, and he was about to open his mouth to change the subject when the supervisor walked in and greeted each of them.

"Flynn, Archer, Lockhart. Glad you're already here."

Behind the older man, the rest of the unit started filing into the room, everyone holding some version of a coffee mug and pastry. Feddricks noshed on a bear claw before taking his seat beside Derrick, and Derrick watched as Flynn slid into the seat beside Jade and started scrawling a note.

Fucking unprofessional.

The supervisor launched into his speech for the day, reviewing the progress the unit had made since yesterday's check in and then notifying them that the new badges had been commissioned for a redesign. Here, he paused to nod toward Derrick.

Derrick offered a half-smile in return, waiting for him to mention the paperwork they'd filed with HR, but the other plowed on to ask where everyone stood on their projects for the day.

Jade cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me, but wasn't there another important community update to go over?"

The supervisor's brow furrowed. "I don't—"

"From Human Resources, maybe?"

The old man's mouth thinned into an impatient line. "Lockhart, you clearly have something to add. Add it."

"Fine, okay, well, um, Dare—I mean
Derrick
and I are officially seeing each other. So, you know, don't treat us any differently, we just thought everyone should know." Derrick followed her gaze as it swept over the table.

Nobody moved. They barely even reacted. It was the reactionary equivalent to announcing that they were breathing oxygen—like everyone already knew.

Jade's gaze darted to Flynn and Derrick frowned, noticing that he was the only one in the room who frowned at the news. Not in disappointment, he didn't think. No, there was something else behind the man's expression. Like he was thinking hard about something.

"That's it?" Jade said. "Nobody has anything to say?"

"I believe I speak for all of us when I say we thought you were just too lazy to fill out the paperwork." The supervisor looked down at her, then at Derrick. "Congratulations."

"Yeah, uh, best wishes guys." Freddrick chimed in.

"Thanks." Jade frowned, then glanced at Flynn's thoughtful expression again, apparently waiting for him to get down on his knees right then and there and beg for her to change her mind. Derrick's fists clenched at his sides, but he let them go and did his best to focus on the rest of the updates before the supervisor finally dismissed them to their projects.

As people filed past him on their way out, a few detectives clapped him on the shoulder and said things like "about time, Archer," or "Good luck with that one. She's a hellcat," before leaving him be. Across from him, he saw a few of the women do the same thing to Jade.

But Flynn?

He was the first one out the door.

After a moment or two had passed, it was only Jade and Derrick in the room again, and she frowned at him, expectant.

"What?" he said.

"What the hell was all that?" she asked.

"I don't know—"

"Oh come on. Didn't you expect a little more reaction than that?"

"I guess we were better at seeming like a couple than we thought."

"Maybe." Jade turned thoughtful, and try as he might, Derrick couldn't bring himself to hold his tongue.

"Flynn looked unhappy enough. Isn't that the main goal?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. It's just weird. A bunch of people said things like 'what took so long?' while they were walking by." Her brows knit together.

"Because if they were you, they would have tried to bag me a long time ago. Now come on. We've got a case to focus on. The big night is coming and you've got plenty of paperwork to do." He tried to smile, but then he thought of the look on Flynn's face again, and the grin died on his lips.

"Yeah, right," Jade said, then got up and strolled out of the room.

J
ade tapped
her pencil against her desk and stared blankly at Freddrick's collection of troll dolls. Not because their blank, unsettling expressions fascinated her, but because if she focused hard enough she could just spot whether or not Zac was coming or going from his desk.

He'd been there all morning, resolutely pouring over the files on Scaglietti and his friends. And when he wasn't busy doing that, he was off in the debriefing room, studying the case board she and Derrick had revised earlier that morning.

Jeez, Derrick.

Pursing her lips thoughtfully, she glanced past Freddrick's desk over to place where her friend sat, tapping away mindlessly on his computer. He'd hardly said a word to her today, even when they were working the case together. She'd messed up while she was coming into the room and hit herself in the face with the door.

He hadn't even laughed.

Weird. It was all weird. Just like their stilted, awkward conversations after their kiss yesterday. She'd had half a mind to call him up when she got home and tell him to forget about the whole thing, that she'd figure something else out. But then she wondered if he'd think she was a bad kisser.

And, deep down, she lamented not being able to kiss him again.

Which was a crazy, wild thought. She didn't even know where it had come from. If anything, the way she felt was just some weird reaction to not having anyone in her life for so long. The human contact had felt good—better than good—but that had nothing to do with Derrick.

That had to do with her. Her and her womanly needs. And if she'd taken care of those womanly needs as a result of the kiss later that night? Well, that was natural.

When Zac finally moved from his desk, Jade got up and followed him until the two of the them were alone in the debriefing room. When the door closed behind them, he turned to face her, apparently unaware of her until now.

"Jade, just the girl I wanted to see." He turned his thousand watt grin on her.

"Is that so?" She smiled back.

"Yeah, I've been reviewing this case all day and I think I'm missing a few pieces of information."

"Oh," her heart plummeted into her stomach. "Right."

"There are some sources in the files that are blacked out—can you help me sort out who they are?"

"Well, not really. All that stuff is classified. You know that."

"Right, right." Zac glanced at the giant cork board behind them, then fingered a piece of red yarn on the table. "I'm just thinking...a few of the notes are sketchy. I wonder if we have false information, and it's hard to go back and check that kind of thing when you don't know who to talk to."

"Right, I get that." She gazed out the window to where Derrick was sitting and for a moment she thought she'd caught him glancing back at her, but just as quickly he was facing his computer, typing away again.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just so distracted because of this new thing with Dare."

"Right, totally." Zac nodded, though he didn't bother to look at her while he spoke. In fact, even his voice sounded far away. Like he was only half paying attention to her.

"He's just so great, you know?" She tried again, a little edge to her voice, but he traced a photo on the board and nodded.

"He seems like a great guy. I'm a little surprised. He doesn't seem your type, but," he shrugged. "I haven't seen you in years so what do I know?"

"Not my type?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've always been the girl who goes after the brains, right? An army guy like that doesn't seem like someone you’d be into."

She blinked, not sure what to say and oddly stung by the remark. "Are you saying Derrick is stupid?"

"No, no, I'm just saying...Look, maybe I'm off track here, I've been wrong before."

"He's a detective. One of the best."

"Not according to my files. Half his paperwork is misfiled and the other half is missing swaths of information. Are you sure he's doing everything he's telling you he is?"

Jade chewed on the inside of her cheek, biting back her next response, when suddenly it hit her. The plan was working. It was so obvious now.

Zac was trying to turn her against Derrick so that she'd be his. He was jealous.

Now the only question was whether or not to call him on it.

"If I didn't know better—" She started, but he cut her off, tapping the photo of Scaglietti on the board.

"How sure are we that this guy is actually the head of the operation?"

She reeled back, caught off guard by the question. "Um, about a thousand and one percent sure."

"No margin of error?"

"No. Not that I can—"

"I wouldn't be so sure. This paperwork has been garbage, so I'm thinking..." He trailed off. "Look, I'm sorry if I insulted your boyfriend. I just really want to crack this case and see the right guys go to jail. Sometimes I guess I get a little intense about it. Forgive me?" He looked up at her through thick, dark lashes that matched his mocha eyes and she shook her head.

"Yeah, totally, I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Great. Great." He dropped his hand from the board, placing it on his chin instead. "Now, have you filed your reports about yesterday's interviews? What else can you tell me about those?"

"Oh, um, well, they didn't give us much of anything. They only really help to inculcate the perp behind the robbery, not Scaglietti. We just need him in order to get him to turn and give us some intel."

"Right, I figured as much." Zac nodded, his full lips drawn together as he thought over what she'd said. "You know, you're a good detective. Someone should make sure you hear that."

Heat rushed to her face, but that fluttering feeling she always used to get when he spoke to her was gone. Instead, it was like every butterfly had turned to stone and one by one they were sinking in her stomach, making it twist and turn while she considered him.

Sort of like...guilt.