Protective Custody

Excerpt

God, what a crappy day. Paisley McCoy closed the door to her Pacific Heights apartment and leaned back against it with an exhausted sigh. Not only had she overslept and been late for work, but when she finally got there, the place had been crawling with cops. It turned out that some idiot had broken into her office in the middle of the night and gone through everything in it. She had no clue why anyone would do that. She wrote nightclub reviews for The San Francisco Bay Beat, not Pulitzer-worthy exposes for the Chronicle for heaven’s sake. There was certainly nothing in her office worth ransacking it for.

Since the burglar hadn’t rifled through anyone’s desk but hers, Paisley’s editor had insisted she go through every single folder in her filing cabinet, then check all the files on her computer with the IT guy to make sure nothing had been tampered with or was missing. Though Paisley doubted the burglar had taken anything, she did as her boss asked. That had ended up taking the rest of the afternoon, and by the time she finally left the office, she was beat.

Paisley tossed her keys on the table in the apartment’s small entryway and walked into the living room. She hoped her evening would be better. She had been wanting to check out this hot new dance club in the warehouse section near the Bay Bridge for weeks and had finally managed to fit it on her calendar. God knew, after the day she’d had, she needed a night out.

Walking over to the couch, she tossed her purse on one of the cushions before sitting down on the arm to pull off her knee-high boots. She was just taking off the right one when she heard the sound of someone fiddling with the lock. Since she lived alone, she probably should have been alarmed by the noise, but she wasn’t. It just meant that her sweet, elderly neighbor Mrs. Burton had confused Paisley’s apartment for her own. Again.

“ Wrong apartment, Mrs. Burton!” Paisley called loudly.

She waited for her neighbor to reply with her usual embarrassed laugh and an apology, but instead the woman continued to fiddle with the lock. Paisley sighed. Forgetting about her boots, she got to her feet and started for the door.

“ Mrs. Burton, you’ve got the wrong…”

Her words came to an abrupt halt as something thumped hard against the door. Paisley frowned. Had the poor old woman fallen? Concerned, Paisley hurried toward the door, only to jerk to a stop when she heard the noise again, louder this time. Her eyes went wide as the door shook. Crap! It wasn’t her sweet, elderly neighbor at all. Someone was trying to break into her apartment.

For a moment, Paisley just stood in the entryway, too petrified to do anything else. But then adrenaline kicked in. Whirling around, she ran into the living room and grabbed her purse off the couch. Digging out her cell phone, she flipped it open and punched in 9-1-1.

Behind her, she could hear the door to her apartment vibrate on its hinges. Heart pounding, she spun around, half expecting to find some thug bearing down on her. To her relief, though, the door was still intact.

“ I’m calling the police, you asshole!” Paisley yelled at the door.

Silence met her words. Not that she had really expected a reply.

“ 9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” a woman’s voice said in her ear.

Paisley’s grip on the phone tightened. “Someone’s trying to break into my apartment.” Her voice trembled a little as she quickly rattled off her name and address.

“ A unit’s already on its way, ma’am,” the operator said a moment later. “Just try to stay calm.”

Easy for you to say. She knew the woman was only trying to help. And knowing the cops were on their way did have a calming effect of sorts. Then again, it could have something to do with the fact that whoever had been trying to break into her apartment had apparently given up. Maybe she had scared him off when she’d told him she was calling the police.

Paisley was standing there chewing on her lower lip and debating whether to go look through the peephole when a knock suddenly sounded on the door. Her heart jerked in her chest.

“ Police!” a man’s voice called.

Sagging with relief, Paisley told the 9-1-1 operator that the police had arrived, then hung up and hurried to the door. Caution stopped her from opening it without first checking through the peephole, though. That and having a cop for a father. Upon seeing the familiar blue uniform of the SFPD, she unlocked the door and pulled it open. Paisley felt the last remnants of fear fade away at seeing the tall, blond-haired officer standing there. Since her father was a police captain, she knew most of the cops, and she was never so glad to see a familiar face. Evan Moore didn’t wait for an invitation, but immediately walked in.

“ Dispatch said someone tried to break in. Are you all right?” He quickly glanced around the apartment before turning concerned hazel eyes on her.

Paisley sighed. “Yeah. The jerk took off when he heard I was calling the police.” She offered him a small smile. “You got here fast.”

He shrugged. “I was just around the corner at the deli.”

She nodded, but before she could say more, another uniformed officer appeared in the doorway. Dark-haired, he was taller than Evan and had a more muscular build than the other man. Like Evan, he’d been assigned to her father’s bureau for years.

“ Are you okay?” he asked Paisley, his voice anxious.

She couldn’t help but smile at the concern in his voice. As much as she hated to admit it, sometimes being the daughter of a police captain had its advantages. “I’m fine, Max. Thanks for getting here so fast.”

“ When I heard the address, I came right over, especially after what happened this morning.” His brow furrowed. “First your office, now your apartment. It seems more than a coincidence, Paisley.”

Max Kelley had been one of the officers who had investigated the break-in at her office that morning and she couldn’t help but frown at his words. “You don’t really think this is related to what happened at my office, do you?” she asked incredulously.

“ What happened at your office?” Evan asked.

She waved her hand dismissively. “Someone broke into my office at the magazine last night. But there’s no way it could be the same guy.”

“ Yeah, well we don’t know that,” Max said. “Look, Paisley, I was okay with not saying anything to your father this morning, figuring your dad would never even hear about it, but there’s no way we can keep this quiet. He’s going to find out about it and if he doesn’t hear about it from one of us, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Paisley let out a sigh. Sometimes being the daughter of a police captain had its disadvantages, too. In fact, sometimes it really sucked.

* * * *

Gray Beckham tipped back his head and swallowed the last of the coffee he’d bought at the deli down the street. He should have gotten the jumbo cup. And picked up a sandwich or something. A newspaper, too. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his dark hair. God, he really hated stakeouts. Particularly when he was pulling a double shift. But the burglary bureau was short-handed right now and since he was the lead on the case, that meant he had to take up all the slack.

Their suspect had hit more than a dozen homes in the past four weeks, all of which had been in the wealthiest neighborhoods. The bastard was good, Gray would grant him that. He could bypass any alarm like it wasn’t even there and he never took anything that would be hard to move or easy to trace. He even purposely left behind some really huge diamonds at one of the houses he’d hit a few nights ago for just that reason. Gray had never run across a jewel thief with that much discipline. What made it even worse was that they knew exactly who the guy was. It pissed Gray off to no end that they couldn’t prove it.

Deciding another run to the coffee shop was definitely called for, Gray was just about to ask his partner, Jeff Cartwright, if he wanted anything when his cell phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket, he flipped it open and held it to his ear.

“ Beckham.”

“ Inspector Beckham, this is Officer Parker,” the caller said. “The captain wants you back at the station ASAP.”

Gray frowned. Even after a year of working for the SFPD, he still couldn’t get used to being called inspector instead of detective. He kept expecting someone to say Clouseau after the title. “Doesn’t he know I’m on a stakeout?”

“ He knows. I just don’t think he cares. I kinda get the feeling it’s important.”

Gray sighed. “I’ll be right there.”

As he hung up, Jeff glanced at him. “What’s up?”

“ The captain wants me back at the station.”

The other man frowned. “Something to do with the case?”

“ I don’t know.” Gray reached for the door handle. “I’ll give you a call.”

As Gray made his way down the street to where he’d parked his SUV, he found himself wondering what the captain wanted to see him about. Whatever it was, it must be something pretty damn important for the man to drag him down to the station in the middle of a stakeout.

When Gray arrived at the station twenty minutes later, he went directly to the captain’s office. The door was closed and he knocked once before opening it to stick his head in.

“ You wanted to see me, Captain?” he asked the man seated behind the desk. Gray would have walked right in, but then he noticed that the head of the Burglary Detail, Captain Ted McCoy, wasn’t alone. There was a dark-haired woman seated in front of him, her back to Gray. “Oh, sorry,” he said to his boss. “I didn’t know you were with someone. I’ll come back later.”

But when Gray started to close the door, Captain McCoy motioned for him to enter.

“ That’s all right, Inspector. Come in.”

Nodding, Gray walked into the office. As he closed the door, he glanced casually at the woman and did a double-take. Damn. She was one hell of a knockout. Long, dark hair, cheekbones high enough to make the top models envious, and full lips that looked like they were just made for kissing. Not to mention the most impossibly blue eyes he’d ever seen. Then there was that amazing body. Even though she was sitting down, Gray could tell she was tall and slender with curves in all the right places. It didn’t hurt that she was wearing a fitted sweater and short plaid skirt, his gaze lingering on her shapely legs.

Down, big boy. His jeans started to tighten uncomfortably around his cock.

Gray was almost relieved when the captain spoke. “Inspector, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Paisley,” he said. “Paisley, this is Inspector Gray Beckham.”

Daughter? Gray’s eyes went to the beautiful bombshell again. Ah, hell. He should have known.

“ Have a seat, Gray,” McCoy continued, motioning to the chair beside Paisley’s.

As Gray sat down, he struggled to wrap his mind around the fact that Paisley was the captain’s daughter. Why the hell hadn’t he ever seen her around before? Then again, he didn’t hang around the station much. Even when he was there, he was usually buried in paperwork.

“ Last night, someone broke into my daughter’s office at the magazine where she works and went through her desk,” McCoy explained.

“ Dad,” Paisley interrupted. “You’re making it sound much worse than it really was. The guy didn’t even…”

The captain paid no attention to his daughter and continued as if she hadn’t spoken.

“ Then tonight, someone tried to break into her apartment while she was there. Though my daughter may think the two incidents are unrelated, I’m not as convinced, so just to be on the safe side, I’d like to have you keep an eye on her.”

While Gray wasn’t surprised by the request, he was a little taken aback that the captain had dragged him in from a stakeout to talk to him about it when he could just as easily have discussed it over the phone.

“ No problem, Captain,” he said. “I can check in on Paisley a couple times a day, do a few drive-bys of her apartment between stakeout shifts.”

McCoy frowned. “I don’t think you understand, Inspector. Until we find out who’s behind this, I want you watching my daughter twenty-four/seven.”

Gray didn’t know who was more shocked at that, him or Paisley. She was staring at her father as if the man had just announced his plan for an arranged marriage between them.

But her surprise was nothing compared to Gray’s. How the hell was he going to be able to run a surveillance operation if he was stuck babysitting the captain’s daughter? Before Gray could ask, however, Paisley spoke.

“ Dad, you can’t be serious!”

“ You’re damn right I’m serious. For whatever reason, someone’s targeted you, Paisley, and I want you protected.”

“ Dad, I have a life. A job to go to. I can’t have some cop following me around.” She glanced at Gray. “No offense.”

Her father scowled. “This isn’t up for debate, Paisley. Until we figure out who tried to break into your apartment and why, Inspector Beckham is going to be protecting you.”

Paisley returned her father’s glower, and for a moment, Gray thought she would continue to argue, but instead she let out a resigned sigh. “Fine. But I’m not changing my whole routine just because you’re paranoid.”

With that, she got to her feet and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her. So, not only was the captain’s daughter sexy as hell, but she was a spitfire as well. Damn, that was an intoxicating combination.

Behind his desk, Ted McCoy ran his hand through his graying hair with a sigh. Though Gray hadn’t worked under the man for that long, he’d never seen him look so rattled before.

“ You’ll have to forgive my daughter,” he said after a moment. “She’s too damn independent for her own good. Which means you’re going to have your hands full with her, I’m afraid.”

“ I can handle her,” Gray said.

The other man gave him an appraising look. “Which is one of the reasons I picked you for the job.”

Gray wondered what the other deciding factors had been, but didn’t ask. “What about the investigation? This is my case and we’re shorthanded as it is.”

Ted McCoy nodded. “I know, but it can’t be helped. Hopefully we’ll get the guy who tried to break into Paisley’s apartment within a day or two, then you can get back to your investigation. In the meantime, I’m sure your partner can handle it.” He sighed again. “Look, I know this whole thing is against departmental policy, but she’s my daughter. I hope you can understand.”

Gray clenched his jaw. He was pissed off, but he could see where the captain was coming from. “I understand.”

Even if he understood, it didn’t mean he was happy the captain had yanked him off the investigation. While he couldn’t fault Ted McCoy for being concerned about his daughter, Gray had to wonder if the man weren’t being just a little bit overprotective. He glanced at Paisley standing in the outer office, her arms crossed petulantly over her perfect breasts. He supposed it didn’t matter what he thought. He was going to be guarding the captain’s daughter whether he liked it or not. Well, he had said he hated stakeouts.

* * * *

Paisley was so annoyed that she was tempted to ignore her father and walk right out of the police station. The only reason she didn’t was because she knew that if she did, he would have every cop in San Francisco out looking for her. She loved her father, but sometimes he could be so damn controlling. Maybe she should talk to her mother about it. On second thought, maybe not. Her mom would be so freaked out at the thought that someone had tried to break into her apartment that she would insist Paisley move back home immediately. If she had to choose between moving back in with her parents and having a cop follow her around all day, she would take the cop.

“ Everything okay?”

Paisley turned to find Evan Moore standing behind her. She gave him a small smile.

“ Yeah. My father is just being his usual overprotective self, that’s all.”

Glancing in the direction of her father’s office, she saw Inspector Beckham making his way over to where she stood. Now that she had a chance to get a good look at him, she was starting to think maybe this arrangement wasn’t such a bad idea. He was kind of sexy, in a rugged sort of way. Actually, dressed in those tight jeans and leather jacket, he was hotter than any cop had a right to be.

“ Ready to go?” he asked when he reached her side.

“ Do I have a choice?” she said tartly. He might be hot, but that didn’t mean she had to go along with everything he said.

His mouth quirked. “Not particularly.”

“ What’s going on?” Evan asked, eyeing them curiously.

Paisley sighed. “My father thinks I need police protection, so he assigned Inspector Beckham here to look after me.”

That seemed to surprise the other police officer, but then he nodded. “I’m sure your father just wants to keep you safe.”

Did he have to go to such extremes to do it? Telling Evan to have a good night, she walked to the elevator with Inspector Beckham. On the way, she stopped off to give an update to Max Kelley and a few of the other cops who knew about the attempted break-in. Like Evan, they all agreed that her dad had done the right thing by giving her a full-time watchdog. Once in the elevator, however, she leveled her gaze at the inspector.

“ I gave in back there just to please my dad, but I meant what I said. I don’t need a babysitter.” Even one who is tall, dark and sinfully gorgeous. She took in his chiseled jaw and golden brown eyes. “So, when we get downstairs, you go your way and I’ll go mine. Agreed?”

He snorted. “And spend the rest of my career writing parking tickets? I don’t think so.”

Surely that was a bit of an exaggeration. “My father won’t even know.”

“ Until someone tries to break into your apartment again,” Gray pointed out. “Forget it. You’re stuck with me.”

Paisley gritted her teeth. God, he was as stubborn as her father. Maybe it came with the badge. She considered arguing some more, but then decided against it. Like he said, she was stuck with him. At least until she thought of some way to ditch him. She was still trying to figure out how she could give him the slip when the elevator came to a stop.

“ I’m going to need to stop by my place to pick up some clothes,” Gray said as they walked across the lobby. “Where are you parked?”

“ I drove over with Evan Moore,” she said, then explained, “He was one of the cops who came when I called 9-1-1 about the break-in at my apartment.”

Thirty minutes later, Paisley was standing in the middle of his living room while he threw some stuff in a bag. She looked around his place. No one would mistake his apartment for something out of a magazine, but at least it wasn’t a pigsty, like some of the bachelor pads she had been to. She wondered if he had a girlfriend who helped him keep it clean. As she watched Gray’s jeans pull tight over his great ass as he bent over to pick up something from the floor, she couldn’t help but think that whoever the woman was, she was a lucky girl.

“ So,” she called out as she wandered across the living room. “How’s your girlfriend going to feel about you spending the night with me?”

Gray didn’t answer and Paisley wondered if he’d heard her. Or whether he was ignoring her. She was just about to repeat the question when he came out of the bedroom, overnight bag in one hand.

“ I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said. “So it’s not an issue.”

Paisley blinked, not sure if she was more surprised to hear he didn’t have a girlfriend or at the little surge of pleasure she felt at the announcement. Feeling suddenly awkward, she reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Are you done?”

“ Yeah.”

They spoke little on the ride to her apartment. Once they got there, Gray told her to wait in the entryway while he took a look around. It seemed like overkill to her, but she didn’t argue. However, she didn’t stay where he’d told her to, either. Instead, she went into the kitchen to open her mail. That earned her a dark scowl from Gray when he came out of the bedroom several minutes later. Paisley pretended not to notice.

“ I’ve been on a stakeout for a couple of days,” he said after declaring the apartment clear. “Do you mind if I use your shower?”

She glanced up from the Victoria’s Secret catalog she had been flipping through. “No, go ahead.”

“ Thanks.” He picked up his overnight bag from the floor where he’d left it. “I won’t be long. Keep the door locked and don’t open it to anyone.”

Yeah, yeah. She went back to flipping through the catalog, only to pause when she heard the shower turn on a few minutes later. She had looked for a way to give Gray the slip ever since they’d walked out of the police station and she decided she wasn’t going to get a better opportunity than right then. While she had to admit she really didn’t mind having the hunky inspector around, she hated being told what to do, especially by her father. Time to exercise her independence.

Tossing the catalog on the counter, Paisley hurried out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. Knowing she wouldn’t have enough time to do more than pack a few things before Gray came out, she decided to forget about the basics and instead just grab a dress and a pair of high heels to wear that night. Everything else she could borrow from whichever friend she stayed with. At least until it was safe to come back to her place. By safe she meant when there wasn’t some cop hanging around it.

Shoving the dress into an evening purse, Paisley picked up her shoes in her free hand and darted from the room. She had barely made it past the bathroom when the door opened.

“ Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Gray demanded from behind her.

Paisley stopped in her tracks at the commanding tone in his voice. Crap. She had hoped to slip out before Gray finished taking his shower. It just wasn’t fair that guys could clean up so fast.

Squaring her shoulders, she whirled around to face him. And blinked. Though he had put on jeans, he hadn’t bothered with a shirt, and all she could do was stare at him in feminine appreciation. She had known he was built, but she hadn’t realized just how well.

Broad shoulders, a chiseled chest, and rock-hard abs. Daaaaammmn! He had a body that just wouldn’t quit.

Gray crossed his arms over his chest. “Well?” he prompted when she said nothing.

Paisley tore her gaze from his perfectly sculpted arms to look up at him. She hadn’t realized he was so tall. Even in heels, she was still almost a head shorter than he was. She lifted her chin. “Out.”

His golden brown eyes narrowed. “Not without me, you’re not.”

She let out a sigh. “Look. Like I told you before, this isn’t going to work. I’m going to stay with some friends until this whole thing blows over. You can just tell my dad that I gave you the slip. He won’t hold it against you.”

“ I don’t think so.”

She clenched her jaw. “I wasn’t asking for your permission, Inspector. I’m leaving and you can’t stop me.”

Paisley didn’t wait for an answer, just whirled around and started for the door. She didn’t even make it halfway there before Gray caught her arm and turned her back around.

“ You’re not going anywhere.”

She glared up at him. “Oh, really? And just how are you going to stop me? Handcuff me to the bed?”

Her words hung in the air between them for a long moment before his mouth finally quirked.

“ Though I’ll admit that’s tempting. I have something more effective in mind.”

Before she could ask what he meant by that, Gray led her over to the couch. What was he going to do, sit her down and lecture her?

To her surprise, Gray didn’t sit her down at all, but instead took a seat himself. Totally perplexed, she was just about to ask what he was doing when a tug on her arm sent her sprawling over his knee. She had no choice but to drop the purse and shoes so she could put her hands on the floor to keep herself balanced.

For a moment, Paisley was so stunned she just lay there. She recovered quickly enough, though, and when she did, she immediately tried to push herself upright. But a strong hand on her back held her firmly in place. Furious at being manhandled, she glared at him over her shoulder.

“ What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

He returned her glower with one of his own. “Teaching you a lesson.”

Paisley opened her mouth to retort, only to let out a startled little gasp when she felt him smack her upturned bottom. He did not just spank her!

His hand came down on her ass again, a little harder this time.

“ Owwww!” she yelped. “Damn you! Stop that and let me up right now!”

“ Not until we come to an understanding.” He gave her derriere another hard smack. “Your father wants me to protect you and that’s what I’m going to do, whether you like it or not. This spanking is just to let you know how serious I take my job.”

Paisley opened her mouth to protest, but all that came out were “owwwws,” and “ohs,” as Gray delivered a series of rapid-fire smacks to her bottom. Ouch, did they sting.

This could not be happening. She was a grown woman and yet the brute was spanking her as if she were a bratty child. The embarrassment of it was almost more painful than the actual spanking itself. Well, maybe not. She felt heat spread across her bottom. Thank God for her skirt. She couldn’t imagine what the spanking would feel like on her bare ass cheeks. The image of the handsome police inspector reddening her bare bottom brought a rush of color to her face, not to mention a tingle to her pussy.

Paisley gasped. She had heard of spanking as a form of foreplay, of course, but there was no way she could be getting aroused by what Gray was doing. Yet there was no denying the sudden dampness between her thighs. She squirmed, trying to get away from her own traitorous thoughts as much as from the spanks he was administering, when she felt something press against her hip. Her eyes went wide. Was that his cock? No way. He couldn’t be that well hung. But what else could it be? Oh God, he was getting turned on from her wiggling around all over his lap.

The thought that she was making him hard only seemed to arouse her even more and she squirmed again as her pussy spasmed. If he didn’t stop, she was going to start moaning soon.

Then, just as suddenly as the spanking had begun, it was over, and she was back on her feet. Gray towered over her, all six-foot-four gorgeous half-naked bit of him. They were standing so close Paisley could actually feel the masculinity pouring off him. It was all she could do not to jump him. To give herself something else to do, she reached back to cup her stinging ass cheeks in both hands.

“ Now, are you going to behave yourself and let me do my job, or do I need to spank you some more?”

Paisley didn’t usually respond well to domineering men, but for some bizarre reason, the authoritative tone in his voice had her pulse quickening with sexual excitement.

Caught off-guard by her reaction, her self-preservation instinct kicked in and she found herself going on the offensive.

“ How dare you spank me?” she demanded, her breath coming hard and fast as if she’d just run ten miles. “Just who the hell do you think you are?”

Gray didn’t reply. Instead, he stood there looking down at her, his gaze locked on her mouth as if transfixed by it. Unconsciously, Paisley wet her lips. Almost against her will, she swayed toward him.

Paisley wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but in the next moment, Gray’s mouth was on hers and she was kissing him.