Sea of Suspicion by Toni Anderson Page A

but all of a sudden he jerked away and stuck his hand in his pocket.
    “Bloody hell.” He pulled out a cell phone, adjusting it to read the display in the poor light. Swearing, he looked at her with an apology in his eyes. And regret. Because she was a sure thing. “I’ve got to go.”
    “You’re on call?” Susie couldn’t believe the disappointment in her voice. Go! Please go.
    His smile was a slash of white. “Criminals always know when I have a night off.” His eyes slid to her car. “Can I borrow your Mini?” He gripped the back of his neck, looking up at her from under heavy brows. “I’ll get it back to you before morning.”
    “Take it.” Susie wouldn’t be accused of getting in the way of law and order, plus it would get him away from her faster. Next time she saw him she’d be sober and prepared. “I’m not planning on going anywhere tomorrow so there’s no rush to drop it off.”
    She opened the front door, pulled the keys out of the lock and twisted off the ignition key from her octopus key fob.
    “Here.” She threw it to him, not surprised when he snatched it out of the air without even moving his gaze. His intensity was unsettling.
    “Susie…I’m sorry.”
    She dashed inside and closed the door. Locked it. He could have her car, no problem. But he couldn’t have her. She wanted a relationship, a future, a family. Nick Archer was a lousy bet for anything except orgasms and heartbreak, and not even the orgasms were guaranteed.
     
    Tracy shrugged into her fleece and hitched her canvas bag over one shoulder, pulling her hair free of the strap. The lab was empty tonight. The night-watchman had done his first set of rounds and gone on to the next building with a terse reminder to turn off the lights when she left. She pulled a face. He gave her the creeps with his beady little eyes and smelly flat-cap.
    Her footsteps echoed as she walked the quiet corridors. After turning off the lights, it was dark and eerie, totally different to daytime, when the bright Scottish sunshine poured through the skylights and windows. A tremor shivered along her spine and she stopped and glanced around. There was no one there except deep, abiding emptiness.
    Tracy crossed the foyer and stared into the darkness outside. She wasn’t scared. She could look after herself. Being raised in foster homes for cash taught you self preservation faster than most kids learned their ABCs. She flicked her hair out of her face and raised her chin. She was used to being alone, but tonight the isolation welled with an overwhelming sense of sorrow. Another Saturday night going back to a sterile apartment in Albany Park shared with five other girls, none of whom she particularly liked. Going home alone. Again.
    For some reason her feelings about sexual freedom had disintegrated into self-disgust. Everyone else had someone to share their lives with. Her they just screwed. Maybe the dissatisfaction was because of what she’d done after she’d left the Gatty last night?
    She’d bumped into him on her way out of the building and he’d invited her back to his place. To begin with it had been exciting, but afterward she’d felt dirty. Very dirty.
    She slammed the lock-release button on the wall, pushed through the glass doors and ran outside, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Maybe she wasn’t as sexually liberated as she’d imagined. She huddled deeper into her jacket. The haar, that ghostly east coast mist that plagued the region, had rolled in off the bay enshrouding the buildings, muting the landscape.
    She’d never role-played before.
    He’d told her next time she could choose the roles, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be that defenseless again and she wasn’t sure she believed him. He wasn’t the submissive type.
    She rubbed her wrists.
    He’d been rough. And then he’d made her beg. And it had hurt and she’d begged anyway until he’d done everything he’d wanted and she’d come so hard she’d nearly had a