She couldn’t seem to make sense of the words. From everything she’d heard Olin was a great cop and a talented detective. What did being too close mean?
Olin must have read the questions on her face because he responded without her having to ask. “They don’t want police to work on cases where we have any connection to the suspect…or the victim.”
Victim meaning me?
“So you were taken off it because of me?” Yet more guilt poured onto Kat’s shoulders as she admitted she was messing up everyone else’s life.
A sting in her arm made her frown, and she looked over to find him pulling his hand back. “Did you just flick me?”
“I don’t care for that look on your face. Stop worrying so much. It was the right thing to do, and even if they hadn’t, I’d have stepped down. Being a cop means being able to look at something objectively, and well… I don’t think I can do that when you’re involved.” His words were soft, and Kat let them roll around in her head.
Did that mean…he liked her?
But Olin was always so careful to keep things superficial. “But, at Sanctuary, you turned me down…”
“Not exactly. I told you I wasn’t interested in anything there…”
Oh…“I thought that since you’d been there before, maybe you were into that. Are you a sub?” She didn’t think so, but she felt out of other options.
He shook his head. “No. It’s just, that’s from an old life. It isn’t something I have the luxury of enjoying anymore.”
Kat tried to make sense of his words, but she couldn’t. There were plenty of people in Sanctuary who had important jobs, who had things to lose. In fact, that was why Toya was so careful with members and privacy, to make sure there was a safe place for people to enjoy such things without worry.
However, the way Olin spoke told her he’d experienced the bad side of it, made her not want to push. “Okay,” she said softly, not sure what else to say when he made his boundaries clear.
He smiled, as if the conversation weren’t awkward at all. “Besides, I needed some time off. My boss has been complaining about me stacking up vacation pay, so I figured, what’s a couple weeks here?”
“Here?” The meaning hit her and her eyes went wide. “You’re going to stay here?”
“Already cleared it with Bradley. With everything going on, some extra eyes would be helpful. Besides, I don’t think I could focus at work anyway. Since I can’t work that case, I’d just be worried about you. At least like this there’s something I can do.” The words held a bit of sadness, as if he accepted that he couldn’t work the case but didn’t at all care for the idea of doing nothing.
Then there was the other part, that he’d be staying there with her, and Kat couldn’t help the way her blood sped at that. Olin had this confidence to him that made her bet he’d made a good Dom back when he’d done that.
And the man was a cop, so he knew his way around handcuffs…
Olin lifted an eyebrow. “What’s with that blush?”
“Nothing,” Kat rushed out, surprised by her own reaction. She wasn’t someone new to the lifestyle, so why was it that Olin could make her blush as if she were some virgin?
“Uh-huh,” he said, his lips quirking into a grin that made him impossibly more handsome. “Well, don’t stay out here too long—you’ll burn. I think Dean’s bringing dinner by in a few hours, too.”
“Dean?”
“You didn’t hear? Yeah, Dean’s going to be staying as well. The more the merrier, right? I don’t think Jerry’ll make a move—hell, it’d be a while before he could even figure out where you are—but I know I’ll feel a hell of a lot better knowing there’s more people here just in case.” With that, he rose and took off toward the house, leaving Kat there to watch him go.
Dealing with the three men one-on-one was hard enough, but to even consider allthreeof them being around constantly?
Kat wasn’t sure there was enough cold water in the world to keep herself under control in that case.