While she’d been busy checking him out, she took note that he’d been doing the same. She started to ask if she passed muster, but one look into those jaded eyes and she only had one thought—cop. Figures he’d be a pig.
“So you’re Tameka’s sister. She doesn’t talk about you.” NeeCee shrugged. “Any reason why she should? You’ve known her, what? All of five days? I’m sure you know her entire life history by now,” she finished snidely.
He almost smiled, but seemed to catch himself. “Eight days, and you’re definitely related. Same smart mouth and lack of fear.”
She allowed herself to smirk. Found out Meka wasn’t as soft as she looked, had he? “Now that we know who I am, who, or shall I say what, are you?”
Any hint of warming in his manner towards her disappeared in an instant as his eyes narrowed to slits. “Deputy Sheriff Chad Wilson, and your sister’s mate.”
NeeCee planted her hands on her waist, leaned forward aggressively and narrowed her eyes in return. “My sister hasn’t been here long enough to have a mate, whatever the hell that is.
And she doesn’t jump into strange men’s beds, especially white men. What did you do to her?”
For a brief second, she thought she saw a look of extreme guilt cross his features before vanishing. He opened his mouth, and from the expression on his face, was ready to blast her good when Tameka stirred. It was like someone threw a switch. All of that hostility, gone in an instant as a look of…she had a hard time deciphering it. It looked like love, lust, and tenderness all rolled into one. Whatever it was, he had it bad. Now she needed to see if Meka felt the same.
Meka rubbed her face against the man’s chest and whispered, “Chad.”
“Right here, baby. I told you I wasn’t leaving.” His voice was a husky murmur.
“Mmm, you feel good,” she drawled in the sexiest tone NeeCee had ever heard come from her lips. She hadn’t even known Meka could sound like that.
She made a movement with her hips and NeeCee suddenly knew, just absolutely knew what she’d see if the covers weren’t in the way. Blech! She didn’t know whether to be grossed out at the visual she just received or to be ecstatic that her sister was finally getting some.
Chad’s massive hands clamped down on Meka’s butt, stilling her movements. “Your sister’s here,” he warned.
“Who…NeeCee? Last I heard she was in Spain or one of those European countries.”
“Yeah, about that. I guess I really should do a better job of keeping in touch. I’ve been back in the States for awhile now.” Meka jerked towards her. Any doubts NeeCee might have had about Meka’s lack of clothing vanished as she caught a glimpse of breasts before Chad hastily covered them.
“What are you doing here?”
Inwardly, she winced. It wasn’t as though she expected to be welcomed with open arms, but still. She bit back a sigh.
“Mom called. Said something about life support, critical conditions and if I wanted to see you before you croaked, now might be a good time to do so. So I came.” Dropped everything and come running as fast as she could, but Meka didn’t need to know all of that.
“Life support? Critical condition? What?” The confusion on her face would have been comical under other circumstances.
Chad touched her sister’s face, capturing her attention.
“Babe, what’s the last thing you remember?” Tameka blushed. “Us…”
“Before that.” Chad quickly cut her off as he nodded in NeeCee’s direction, reminding Meka of her presence.
“Oh, right. Umm,” she thought for a while, then continued slowly. “I remember getting really sick at the shop. It gets a little fuzzy after that, but I know you were with me. I remember you talking to me.”
So Mom hadn’t lied. Meka had gone back to hairdressing.
Weird.
In the gentlest motion NeeCee had ever seen, Chad brushed Meka’s hair back from her face, and stared deeply into her eyes.
“You collapsed into seizures. One right after the other. Alex put you into a coma to keep brain damage from occurring. That was five days ago. You just came out of it a few hours ago. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
And he’d already nailed her? That must be some serious juju he was packing. Before she could remind them that she was still in the room, and to not start doing anything she definitely did not want to be party to, the cop returned.
As he handed her the license, he told Chad, “She’s clean.
No priors. Not anything that I can find.” Background check. She should have known. Cops everywhere were the same.
“My sister’s no criminal,” Meka said sharply. “I’ll admit she doesn’t have the best judgment in the world, and can be a major pain in the ass, but she’s no felon.”
“Love you, too, sis.”
Chapter Eight
Tameka sighed heavily. “NeeCee, you know what I mean.
And why are you guys checking out my sister anyway?” Chad tensed beneath her. He and the deputy she didn’t know exchanged meaningful looks. She could feel the tension in the air. Something was going on besides her getting sick.
“We…” Chad began.
“They’re just being extremely cautious,” NeeCee interrupted. “You know how cops are. Oooo, new person in town, and look, she’s black. Better make sure she’s on the up and up.”
“NeeCee!” Not that she hadn’t thought the same exact thing that day when Chad pulled her over, but some things you don’t voice aloud.
“What? It’s not like you’ve never thought it,” her baby sister said defensively.
Tameka could feel Chad staring at her and fidgeted, avoiding his gaze.
“So how long are you supposed to be in here anyway, since you’re not dying and all?”
She was grateful when both men’s eyes swung NeeCee’s way. “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken with a doctor, or seen one for that matter. I have no idea what’s going on beyond what Chad just told me.” She frowned at the realization.
“The clinic’s head nurse, Carol, said you seemed to be recovering nicely but that Alex would probably keep you another day or two to be sure. In the meantime, expect to be groggy and sleep a lot as the medicine works its way out of your system,” Chad informed her.
“If you’re going to be stuck here for another day or so, can I bunk at your house? From the looks of things, the nearest motel is over an hour away.”
Since Tameka never thought she would stay anywhere else, she responded a bit absently. “Yeah, sure.” She turned back to Chad. “Do you have my keys? I don’t know where anything is,” she explained to her sister.
“I gave them to Bull. He’s been keeping an eye on the place for me. Bull, will you escort Ms. Jones…”
“You can call me NeeCee. Ms. Jones was my grandmother,” her sister interrupted.
“NeeCee to Tameka’s house and make sure she’s settled?”
“Sure thing. Right this way, miss.” The twinkle in Bull’s eye said he’d like to do more than help her get settle.
NeeCee opened her mouth to comment, but held back at the last minute. Unusual for her. Finally she said, “We’ll talk later, when things aren’t so…” She waved her hand, taking in the contents and the inhabitants in one sweep.
“Yeah, that will be good.” And it would be. She hadn’t seen NeeCee in a long, long time. Frankly she was amazed that her sister had come running when she found out she was sick.
“Here, Bull. Take this with you, and close the door on your way out, if you don’t mind.” Chad handed the deputy a large gold envelope with her name on it.