Guilty Pleasure (Protect and Serve Book 3) Read online

  GUILTY PLEASURE

  PROTECT AND SERVE SERIES

  BOOK 3

  BY: NADINE HUDSON

  Copyright © 2020 Nadine Hudson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Description

  Veronica

  I have finally proven myself to everyone at the academy, but now there’s just one more person I needed to prove myself to. The chief of police...good old Dad. I came into this job with all the confidence in the world only to be weakened at the knees by my new partner.

  The outrageously sexy and secretive Finn Carter. That’s a BIG no no V. Not only is he your partner, but he’s also one of your dad’s best friends. Eyes on the prize. You still have to prove yourself, but I suppose some harmless flirting wouldn’t hurt, right?

  Finn

  Is she flirting with me? I knew this partnership was going to be a problem the moment I’d laid eyes on her. There’s not even a trace of the younger girl I remember-but before me stands a full grown woman with curves everywhere a man likes to see them.

  Snap out of it Finn!

  This is Henry’s daughter I’m fantasizing about. I have to get a grip on myself! I can do this. At least until I grow tired of that smart mouth of hers. Then I might have to see how she handles it when I stop ignoring her advances and return fire instead.

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  Table of Contents

  Description

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  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  What Happens Next?

  Follow Me!

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  Chapter One

  Finn

  It was still dark when I opened my eyes, and for a few moments, I was lost and on edge in unfamiliar surroundings. The tense feeling left me as soon as I recognized the beautiful woman in my arms, her warm back pressed against my chest.

  My uneasy feeling was instantly replaced with one of dread.

  Good god, what had I done? I’d let my damn hunger for Veronica, a feeling I’d managed to shove way down and ignore ever since she’d been assigned as my partner, rip its way to the surface the second she’d seemed vulnerable. I’d taken advantage of her last night, using her hurt and humiliation to get what I’d wanted for so long.

  No, that wasn’t exactly right. I knew she’d wanted me just as much as I wanted her. These last few weeks of tormenting ourselves had been agonizing, spending entire days pretending the other didn’t exist. We’d alternated between tearing at each other’s clothes in the locker room at work while kissing each other ferociously, and basically ignoring each other.

  Veronica stirred in my arms for a moment, and I froze. What was I going to say to her? “Thanks, that was fun, it was great pretending I wasn’t an old man and your partner, and oh yeah, don’t tell your dad since he’d kill me?”

  Hardly. But what I really wanted to say was, “Veronica, you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met, let’s never leave this room. Who cares that it’s a hotel and we have jobs, we can just stay here in each other’s arms forever.”

  But that wasn’t gonna work, either.

  I was screwed.

  I’d managed to keep myself in check for so long—after all, Veronica was a lot younger than me, and her dad was my boss and my best friend. Work romances were a bad idea in any job, but as police officers, letting our feelings for each other get in the way could get someone killed. At the very least, it could make us the talk of the precinct… and not in a good way. But seeing her on a date with that guy had done me in. There was no denying what I felt for Veronica after knowing that someone else might snatch her up and whisk her away… then discovering that the asshole had broken her heart was my breaking point. There was no turning back last night after seeing her hiding her tears where she’d thought no one could see.

  That was another lie. It wasn’t her vulnerable state or my stupid jealousy. It was all Veronica. She was perfect, the only woman I could imagine spending the rest of my life with. I didn’t need an excuse.

  If I was willing to be completely honest, last night had been bound to happen since the moment Veronica had walked into the precinct and been assigned to be my new partner. The torture we’d been putting ourselves through had finally ended, erupting into the most amazing night of my entire life.

  “What’s that?” Veronica mumbled and I waited again. “No, you can’t… I said so…”

  I held back a laugh as I realized she was still asleep, obviously bossing someone around even in her dreams. She was fierce and capable, two characteristics that I hadn’t noticed about her in all the years I’d known her as a kid. Sure, she’d been a feisty, mouthy teenager at times, but college and the police academy had turned that impulsive, no-nonsense kid into a fearsome force to be reckoned with.

  Suddenly, Veronica’s adorable mumbling took a different turn. She cried out softly and jolted in my arms. Still asleep, I could tell she was trapped in the throes of a nightmare of some kind. I tightened my hold on her, selfishly loving the way she fit perfectly in my arms, and kissed her neck softly, pulled in by her incredible scent.

  “Shhhh,” I whispered. “I’m right here.”

  I felt her relax in my arms, her gentle thrashing fading as she melted back into softness, the warmth of her running the length of my body. She pressed back against me in her sleep, and I instinctively grew hard for her again, crossing my arms in front of her and cupping her breast gently.

  She moaned quietly with approval and I kissed her bare shoulder, trying to avoid the place where a bullet had grazed her… god, had it been only a couple of weeks ago?

  Veronica turned over, mumbling something I didn’t catch as she faced me and slid her arm over my shoulder, finding my mouth in the dark. As our tongues met, her foot slid up my leg until she wrapped her thigh around my hip, pulling me closer. It would take nothing more than a shift of my weight to enter her, to feel her all around me, but I wouldn’t do something so underhanded if she wasn’t awake.

  “V?” I asked, our lips still pressed together.

  “Mh-hmm,” she answered, biting my lower lip gently and moving against me, obviously seeking something.

  “Tell me you want me,” I whispered, my voice raspy and thick with need.

  “I want you,” she answered back, pulling me even closer.

  That was all I needed to hear.

  Chapter Two

  Veronica

  I’d had the biggest crush on Finn for years. It had always been my dirty little secret, something I could never tell anyone about—well, except for my best friend and co-conspirator, Beth—because it was totally wrong. He was way too old for me and he was my dad’s best friend. He was the closest thing I had to an uncle, even.

  That’s why it had been so delicious to fantasize about him all this time. He was gorgeous and rugged and dangerous and completely off-limits.

  But after my dad assigned us to work as partners (thank you, Dad!), my little secret wasn’t so secret anymore. I’d tried to hide how I felt about him, but that had lasted all of one day. Then I’d tried p
laying it off with over-the-top behavior so he’d think it was all just a joke. That didn’t help, either.

  Then we kissed.

  It had been the briefest but most intense in the history of kissing. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But it had certainly been wild, mostly because it had been so unexpected. It was like a victory of some kind, this knowledge that Finn had been holding back as much as I had and that he’d reached his breaking point.

  Of course, it had only made things weird for a while, and I’d snatched up the first opportunity that came along to put Finn out of my mind. Brant had proven to be one asshole of a disappointment, though. But even if he’d been a perfectly nice guy, it was never gonna work.

  He simply wasn’t Finn.

  Finn, on the other hand, was everything I’d thought he’d be and more. He’d made me feel things I’d never felt before, lighting up my world like no one else ever had. He was somehow both wonderfully tender and amazingly aggressive in bed, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so safe… in someone’s arms or anywhere.

  But now it was time to wake up.

  It was time to face reality, that having Finn and having the career I’d worked so hard for—the career that had cost my brother his life and been my father’s life’s work—wouldn’t work out. And that was even if Finn actually wanted me.

  I had to face facts. There was a really good chance that a little bit of champagne and a whole lot of pity were the only reasons Finn had put aside his ever-annoying “always do the right thing” nature and ended up in this hotel room with me last night. Wasn’t he the one who’d always been saying that things couldn’t go further between us, that we had to keep things professional?

  Finding me crying in a hallway like an eighth grade girl who’d been dumped at the dance probably had a lot to do with the face-melting kiss we’d shared downstairs. Finn always had to be the hero, and last night was probably no different.

  He was my hero… even if it was only for one night.

  Now though, the hotel room was bathed in gray light peeking in through the gap in the curtains, a sure sign that the sun would be up soon. I could lay here watching Finn sleep—and oh my goodness, was he ever gorgeous—all day, but it was going to come to an end at some point.

  Probably a painfully awkward, soul-crushing, mortifyingly embarrassing end.

  For now though, I would do all I could to enjoy every moment of this. I studied Finn’s face, really seeing him up close. He had a breathtaking, swoon-worthy scar that ran through his eyebrow, the kind that most guys probably get from jumping off a swing in fourth grade but Finn certainly must have gotten while chasing down a dangerous perp. His nose was nearly perfect but just a tad off-centered, like he’d taken a punch once. His mouth was unbelievably kissable, with soft lips that were just meant to be pressed against my neck for hours.

  Thanks to a particularly violent arrest a few weeks ago in which he’d been slashed at with a broken bottle, I’d already seen Finn without his shirt. Back then, it had been enough to make my mouth go dry and my legs quiver. Now, having him stretched out alongside me in all his naked glory, I could take my time and appreciate the curve of his well-defined chest, every swollen ridge of his abs. There were guys out there half his age who would have sold a kidney just to look like Finn did.

  Finn’s arms were wrapped around me as I faced him, leaving one of my hands to cup the side of his neck. I wanted so badly to rake my fingers through the soft tendrils of his hair, just long enough to tease him with—or grip passionately last night—but still short enough to be regulation. What really struck me at the moment were his lashes, resting against his lower lids as he slept. They were long and thick enough to frame his piercing eyes with a rim of deep black, but not something I would have noticed about him right away.

  It was like seeing something secret about him that other people really never noticed, paying attention to them for the first time.

  As I watched him sleep, Finn’s eyes suddenly fluttered open. He caught me staring, and I felt a flash of embarrassment redden my cheeks. He watched my face for a few moments, his expression unchanged. I didn’t even realize I’d been holding my breath until he smiled at me and I sighed with relief.

  “Hey gorgeous,” he whispered in a husky voice.

  “Hey yourself,” I answered back, smiling.

  We didn’t say anything else for a while, both of us just enjoying waking up in each other’s arms. I think we were both thinking the same terrible thought—that no matter how incredible last night had been, this would be the last time it ever happened.

  ***

  Finn

  We both stalled as long as we could. We talked for a while about unimportant things, watched television under the pretense of checking on the news, ordered some room service because we were both starving… anything to keep from having to leave the sanctuary of that bed and face reality.

  Finally, Veronica announced she was going to grab a shower before checking out, and I took that as my cue that this little glorious land of make believe we’d managed to build in only about twelve hours was crumbling to an end. Should I get dressed and leave while she was in the shower, just to avoid a messy goodbye? No, that would be shitty. The least I could do is proudly walk her out of the hotel instead of sneaking off like a businessman who’d popped into town and scheduled a quick hookup with his mistress.

  Veronica threw back the covers and stood up, stretching her lean curves in a way that made my mouth water. She sauntered to the bathroom door and the view of her perfect, round ass was indelibly imprinted on my brain. I may not be able to have her, but I was sure that image wasn’t going to leave my memories for a long time.

  “You coming?” Veronica asked, leaning back out the door and looking at me with a seductive smile.

  I hesitated, immediately feeling like the world’s biggest ass. Who does that? Who spends the night with a gorgeous, sexy woman, then bows out of an invitation to take a shower together? “Uh no, I’m good, I’ll just wash up at home, I like my towels better?” No way.

  I slipped out of the bed and padded across the room, each step making me feel more and more like a selfish jerk. Sure I’d join her… and I’d do delicious things to her body as the warm water and steam made us forget where we were for a while. But I would just be prolonging the inevitable, selfishly taking what Veronica had to offer even though she and I both knew that nothing could come of this.

  No matter how much I wanted her to be mine.

  One long and incredibly satisfying shower later, there was nothing left to do but silently get dressed and leave the room. All the way down in the elevator, I snuck glances at Veronica’s face reflected in the steel metal doors, unable to get a read on what she was feeling.

  Before we reached the first floor, Veronica suddenly turned to me. “We’re good, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to decide what “good” meant in her book.

  “I mean, I’m not sixteen and still lusting after you like I did back then,” she continued. “Last night way… well, it was amazing. And I’d jump at the chance to do it again sometime. But I’m not a kid, I know… well, I know it doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Veronica, don’t…”

  “Finn, it’s fine. I’m fine, I promise. I was in a bad place last night and you felt sorry for me. Your act of kindness helped me way more than you know,” she said, smiling at me strangely.

  Before I could even stammer some kind of half-assed reply, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. A handful of people stood back a ways, waiting for us to exit so they could come in. Veronica strode past them, flinging her hair back confidently over her shoulder while I followed like a confused puppy.

  A rejected, confused puppy.

  How did she know I didn’t want this to “mean something?” It hurt that she seemed to assume this was all some kind of sympathy fuck just to get her to stop crying. That hadn’t even crossed my mind.

  So what had I been thinking? Hell if
I knew. But I knew I was tired of pretending that I wasn’t attracted to Veronica, that I didn’t lie awake sometimes thinking about her.

  Of course, I’d been the one to slam on the brakes in the past when things between us seemed to be careening out of control… or headed right where they’d ended up last night. I’d always been the one to tell her it wasn’t going to happen, to keep things professional. I couldn’t very well get mad at her for believing me.

  I just didn’t expect her to believe me that well.

  “Veronica, wait,” I called out quietly as people walked past us on either side. Dammit, why did she have to walk so fast? “Veronica?”

  She turned around so fast that I almost slammed into her, stumbling slightly as I looked at her eyes. The expression was almost unreadable, but I knew it wasn’t the look of someone who was “fine.”

  “Veronica, can we talk about this?” I asked in a low voice, already looking around the lobby for a quiet place for us to sit down. I didn’t know what more needed to be said, but I knew I couldn’t leave things up in the air between us.

  “Finn, there’s nothing to talk about. Last night was awesome, I don’t regret it for a second. But I’m not naïve, I know this doesn’t mean we’re going steady or anything,” she said, rolling her eyes and using air quotes. “It was a friends with benefits thing, I get it. And there’s no reason it has to interfere with our jobs.”

  “So that’s how you want it?” I demanded, my voice low and gravelly as I practically growled at her. “Just sleep together and walk away, then go back to pretending I’m just your partner—and your dad’s best friend—and that it didn’t mean anything?”

  “What do you want it to mean, Finn?” Veronica asked, but there was nothing malicious in her question. It seemed like a serious question, one that she really wanted me to answer.