Shades of Gray - Maya Banks Page 0,1
wanted to be left alone.
She was still staring ahead when Derek stepped in front of her, blocking her vision. She slowly looked up, making sure her expression was cool and unruffled.
“So is this where you’re hanging out now, P.J.?” Derek drawled. “Didn’t figure you one for trolling this kind of place.”
The insulting tone grated on her nerves.
“Get out of my space, Derek.”
He lifted an eyebrow and quirked the corner of his mouth up in a sneer. “That’s not what you used to say. Of course that was before you decided to shit on your team. Where are you working these days, P.J.? Surely not here. You don’t quite have the body to pull this gig off.”
The old P.J. would already be in his face and would have knocked him on his ass. The new P.J. . . .
Fuck it. There was nothing wrong with the old P.J.
She rose from her chair, tipped back her hat and leveled a cold stare at the three. Back in the day they’d been tight. All four of them. She and Derek had been lovers for two years. They’d hooked up almost immediately after P.J. had joined the S.W.A.T. team and they’d managed to keep their relationship a secret, hiding behind friendship. Friendship they genuinely shared with Jimmy and Mike.
Derek smirked, almost as if he figured she’d turn and walk out. Because that’s what she was good at. Running.
Not this time.
She pulled her hand back and slugged him right in the nose.
His hand flew up as his head whipped back and he staggered backward several steps.
His fingers came away bloody and he charged forward. She held her ground, refusing to be intimidated by the asshole.
“What the fuck was that?” he roared.
“Something I should have done a hell of a long time ago,” she said calmly. “Listen up, pencil dick. I don’t have time for your bullshit. I don’t give a shit about you or your lame sidekicks, so do us both a favor and leave me the fuck alone.”
“Once a bitch always a bitch, huh, P.J.?” Mike said with curled lips.
“You think what you want, Mike,” she said in a calm, measured voice. “I walked away with a clear conscience. Can you say the same?”
He flushed red, and anger bristled visibly from him. He started toward her but Jimmy stuck out his arm.
“What the fuck, Mike? You going to start a fight in a public bar with a woman?”
“Feel free,” P.J. said sweetly. “I’m more than happy to kick his ass.”
“What happened to you?” Derek demanded. “You didn’t used to be so cold.”
“Forgive me for not rolling over and taking the ass fucking you gave me so well. I wasn’t the one who was dirty. That’s on you and your buddies. You expected me to look the other way, and when I didn’t, you hung me out to dry. Fuck that and fuck you. Now get the hell out of my space.”
She was so focused on her former teammates that she didn’t notice the newcomer until a strong arm wrapped around her waist and hauled her up against his side.
“Sorry I’m late, darlin’,” Cole drawled. “Who are your little friends?”
She stiffened in shock, her mouth falling open. Cole covered her lapse by pressing his lips to hers and giving her a long, lingering, toe-curling kiss.
She was so flustered and flabbergasted over his sudden appearance that she could do little more than stand there while he ravished her mouth.
What a silly word. She’d read the word a lot in her old-school romances, and when she was a teenager, she’d giggled over the idea of being ravished, but holy hell, there was no other word that came to mind as he thoroughly tasted every inch of her mouth.
He drew away, amusement sparkling in his blue eyes. His hair had gotten a little longer than his normal neat cut, so it was spiky on top, aided no doubt by what looked like hair gel. She’d have to give him shit over that later. Right after she found out what the hell he was doing here in her bar when he was supposed to be across the country in Tennessee.
When he pulled away, she got a better look at him and nearly laughed out loud. He was still dressed in fatigues, black shirt and his combat boots. He looked like he’d come here straight from the last mission, and, well, she supposed he had, since he was here and not in Tennessee.
She had to admit, he looked like a