Undercover Lover by Jamie K. Schmidt

Hollywood. But yeah, he drove the car right into a police blockade, and instead of busting through the cars, he wound up crashing it. He was eighteen.”
    “He got charged with possession of narcotics, an unregistered firearm and, of course, stolen property.”
    “I’m wondering why they didn’t charge him with resisting arrest too.”
    “He was knocked unconscious. Otherwise, they probably would have. You sound defensive. You think he was innocent?”
    Pam arched an eyebrow in his direction. “No. That would be my parents’ very blinder-enhanced opinion. ‘He was framed. He fell in with the wrong crowd.’ He was just driving the car. Bull. He knew what he was doing, and he did it anyway.”
    “So why didn’t you tell me?”
    “At what point? When we were standing at Nikolai’s gravesite, or when your tongue was in my mouth?”
    “He was the crook that was helping Dr. Mastandrea steal drugs from the hospital.”
    “There has to be some mistake.”
    “You and I both saw him. Now who has the blinders on?”
    “Are you going to arrest him?”
    “Oh, yes, you bet I am. Do you have a problem with that?”
    “No, of course not. It’s just been a really bad day, you know?”
    Drake pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. “I guess you have a point. It’s been a pretty bad day all around. How about I walk you up to your apartment, snag a kiss good night, and we can figure out where to go from here tomorrow?”
    Pam rubbed the throbbing pain between her eyes. “You don’t have to walk me up. I can manage.”
    “I insist. And I meant it about the kiss. Unless you’re mad at me about Ralphie?”
    “I’m not mad. I am still sorry for kicking you.”
    “Me too, but I think the Reiki helped.”
    “Are you just saying that to get into my pants?”
    “Would that work?” Drake grinned at her.
    “You’ve got amazing eyes,” she said. “No wonder you hid them behind glasses when you didn’t want me to recognize you as Ralphie.”
    “I’m no longer your patient. So there isn’t that area of conflict between us.”
    “There’s still the ‘I’m going to arrest your brother’ thing, but as he’s a felon and probably selling drugs, I’m going to cut you some slack on that,” she said.
    “I appreciate that.” He leaned in.
    She pushed him back. “That doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea to play tonsil hockey in the front seat of my car.”
    “We can go inside,” Drake said.
    “Why are you so keen to kiss me? Aren’t you upset that my family has mob connections?”
    “I want to kiss you, not your family. Think of it as doing community service.”
    “How is kissing you community service?”
    “I’ve got to spend the rest of the night with the FBI and questioning witnesses. I want something pleasant to think about.”
    “Pleasant?” Pam said. “That sounds a little bland.”
    Drake leaned in again, and she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. “I don’t have time for anything else.”
    She got out of the car before she did something reckless, like kiss him again. It would be just her luck to be caught by one of her neighbors necking in the car. They didn’t speak on the elevator ride up. She was mostly sure he was fooling around about wanting a kiss, playing some good cop mental games on her to make sure she’d cooperate in his investigation. But there was a part of her that was hoping he had been serious. It had been a while since she took some time for some intimacy. Kissing the handsome detective might even lead to something more serious.
    Pam was searching through her purse for a breath mint when the elevator doors opened. Drake’s sharp curse caused her to look up. The door to her apartment was open.

Chapter Nine
    D rake hauled her back into the elevator. “Stay here a minute.” He took out his cell phone. “Yeah, I got a possible break-in at Pam Krupin’s apartment. Send a car around.” After giving them the address, he slipped his phone back into his