"This is the worst pizza I've ever had," Nick chuckled with his mouth full.

"There is nothing wrong with spinach, onions and vegan cheese," Monica said matter-of-factly, pointing her finger at him as she happily took another bite.

"Actually I have to side with Nick on this one," I giggled, enjoying my double cheese and black olive pizza, which everyone thought I was crazy for liking so much.

Ten minutes into a heated make out with Nick in my Honda, Monica had called, interrupting us. She offered to order a pizza and have me stay the night watching movies, but since I was with Nick, I asked if the three of us could all go out and get pizza together. An hour later, here we were at Monty's on the north side of downtown.

Monty Finny was a strange, enthusiastic Italian man. Monica had dated him off and on when we'd first started working at the firm together. He was a nice guy but he sure could wear on your nerves quickly. Monica and I used to joke that he belonged in a circus with that personality of his. She told me she'd only dated him because he was really good in bed but I found that hard to believe.

The perk of Monica and Monty having been together was that we always got free pizza when we went to his parlor. He seemed to think free pizza was the key to winning Monica's heart back.

"You're just biased with your olives and lack of pizza versatility," Monica mumbled through bites of pizza, coughing slightly when she laughed.

"I don't know," Nick chuckled, pushing away his half eaten slice of Monica's pizza. "I'm pretty sure I'd pick olives over spinach any day, too. This ain't cutting it for me."

"See," I said, raising my eyebrows to Monica. "There are people who favor my lack of pizza versatility."

Monica scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Mine's still the best though," Nick claimed and puffed out his chest with a grin.

I pulled a piece of pepperoni off and stuck it to his cheek with a light slap. "Yours can kiss mine's ass."

"I'm offended," he gasped, flashing me his award-winning smile as he peeled it off his face and tossed it onto Monica's spinach, causing her to make a gagging noise.

I stared at Nick, admiring the way his hair flopped to the side in different lengths. It looked like he'd had his hair layered. It suited him well. Looking at him made me want to run my hands through his hair and tug at the ends softly while kissing him.

We continued to sit there, eating and laughing for another forty-five minutes until Monty came out from the kitchen and asked Monica if she wanted to go do something - which I knew meant they were going to go back to her place because his was the equivalent of a dumpster - and get it on all night. I loved Monica but her choice in men really worried me sometimes.

"Do you need to be anywhere?" Nick asked as we got up to leave.

"No. I'll probably just go home and watch a movie or something until I get tired."

"Or..." Nick smirked suggestively, opening the door for me.

I cocked an eyebrow, feeling a smile tug at the corners of my lips. "What are you getting at?"

He smiled, putting his arm around my waist as we walked down the sidewalk to our vehicles. Since we'd arrived at the firm separately, we drove to the parlor separately so one of us wouldn't have to take the other back to get our car.

"How about you take me back to your place," Nick suggested, retrieving his keys from his back pocket. "And we can just make a night of hanging out. You can tell me about all the pictures on your walls or something."

"Really?" I laughed at his choice of things to talk about. "I doubt you want me to tell you about every person in every picture in my house. I didn't think you were that boring, Granger."

Nick chuckled. "You must not know me that well then. I can be very boring." He said this as though he was proud of it.

"You know what," I giggled, pointing a finger at him. "I have to agree with that."

"Oh, the horror!" he joked dramatically with his hand over his heart. "I'm hurt!"

We took our seats behind our wheels and I pulled out of the parallel parking first with Nick following closely behind. It wasn't dark yet. The sun was still out but hanging low as it made its descent. I could see a faint outline of the moon off to the east over Lake Michigan. The traffic was heavier than usual and I squinted in annoyance at the glare of the headlights on my windshield.

Within seconds of pulling into my driveway, Nick was snaking his arm around my waist. He smiled down at me, kissing my forehead. Once inside the house, I sifted through my mail. Bills, a two-month-late happy birthday card from my cousin in Tennessee, and a bunch of restaurant and lawn care advertisements.

Nick fished through my fridge for something to drink. "Anything interesting?" he asked behind me.

"The water bill went up."

"Exciting," he joked, turning me to face him.

Nick pinned me against the counter, kissing me hard. His hands instantly found the hem of his sweatshirt that I was still wearing and pulled it up and over my head, only briefly breaking our kiss. I started quickly tugging at his shirt. He stepped back just long enough to yank it off, slinging the garment across the kitchen. I wanted to laugh at where it landed in the sink but I was too mesmerized by him. He looked amazing shirtless. No. Better than amazing. I couldn't think of the right word to describe the way he made my mouth water. He was so sexy it should have been illegal.

Nick kicked his shoes off as I unbuttoned his jeans. Now that his shirt was off, the black pistol that had been hidden beneath it was in full view. He didn't seem to care that I couldn't take my eyes off the object.

His hands went to my pants, dragging them down my legs and placing soft, warm kisses on my thighs. He slowly kissed his way back up my body, making sure to leave a lingering kiss between my legs. I shivered at the quick flick of his tongue on my skin. He turned us around, pushing me against the refrigerator as he removed the gun from its holder, setting it on the counter, and pulled his jeans off, kicking them to the side.

I moaned at the sight of his cock, hard and ready. He placed his hands behind my thighs, lifting me up. I felt a few of the magnets fall off the fridge as my back slid over them. My lips went to his neck as he positioned himself at my entrance, earning a needy moan from my mouth. Softly pushing himself inside me, he grunted, dragging his teeth over my shoulder. I draped my arms around his neck, throwing my head back in pleasure as he started thrusting inside me, quickly going harder and faster. I felt my face flush, seeing the ecstatic look in his eyes as he fucked me. I ran my fingers through the back of his hair, whimpering, groaning, and biting my lip. He pressed himself harder against me as his thrusts started to become uneven. I kissed him urgently, needing to feel more of him, needing to feel more passion. His hands squeezed the backs of my thighs. He softly bit my lip, dragging his tongue over it teasingly. In attempt to turn him on even more, I bit his lip back, earning a pleasurable groan from his throat.

Nick rested his forehead against mine, his bangs damp with sweat. He moaned my name three times, finally reaching his release in unison with mine. I breathed a happy sigh, softly smiling at him and his lips curved into a lazy smirk.

"I'll never get tired of this," he breathed, gently setting me back on the ground.

I felt wobbly, unable to walk straight while I came down from my epic high.

"If that's the case, I think you should do that more often," I said, gripping his arm to steady myself.

"Oh, I should, should I?" he smirked.

I nodded. "Actually, I know something else we could do."

Nick looked intrigued. "What's that?"

I grabbed his hand, dragging him up the stairs with me to the bathroom. I released his hand briefly to turn on the shower. Nick grinned, pulling me against him and kissing me while we waited for the water to heat up.

When a cloud of steam began wafting through the air, we stepped into the glassed in shower, continuing to make out furiously. I moaned against his soft lips, loving the hot water running down my body. Nick smiled into the kiss, sliding his hands down my naked body and squeezing my ass. His cock was pressed between us and I felt it already hard again. I started kissing his jawline, enjoying the shudder I caused him while I trailed my lips over his stubble.

"You're driving me crazy," Nick groaned.

I felt victorious as I pulled away from him, turning to grab the shampoo bottle.

"Oh, are we taking a real shower?" he asked in mock sadness, sticking out his lower lip. "I thought I was going to get shower sex."

"You just might," I teased, lathering my hair with coconut shampoo. "First you have to stop pouting."

Nick chuckled, grabbing the soap bar and washcloth from beside me. He ran the soap over it, creating a mass of bubbles. I sighed in pleasure as he placed the thin piece of fabric on my shoulder, slowly rubbing it against my body and sliding further down my back.

I stepped back under the water to rinse the shampoo from my hair, feeling Nick glide the washcloth over my hips and across my stomach. To my dismay, I heard the faint sound of a phone ringing downstairs. I dismissed it as something that could wait but since it was Nick's phone, it apparently couldn't.

"I'm sorry," he said regretfully, hurriedly stepping out of the shower.

I simply sighed and I continued my shower solo. While I tried to hurry up shaving my legs, I listened to Nick's voice talking on the phone. I couldn't make out what he was saying with the sound muffled by the distance and the water running. I quickly finished washing my body and hopped out of the shower, wrapping a fuzzy bath towel around my body. I could hear Nick better now that the water wasn't on.

I walked to my room, still trying to listen in while I gathered fresh clothes. Once I'd haphazardly thrown on a shirt and leggings, I jogged downstairs with my hair wrapped up in a towel.

Nick was just hanging up when I walked in the kitchen. He set his phone on the island with a groan, looking down at the floor.

"Everything okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his still-damp shoulder.

He'd put his jeans back on but nothing else. His hair was still wet and I admired the black anchor tattoo on his arm just below his shoulder.

"I don't know." He rubbed his eyes. "The detective I've been working with said they have some new leads."

I became instantly intrigued, raising my eyebrows in interest as I waited for him to continue.

"There's a good chance Derek's made partners out of one or more of his coworkers," Nick said, retrieving his shirt from the sink.

"Do they have any idea who?" I asked.

He pulled his shirt over his head. "It doesn't sound like they have any names yet."

"Are you supposed to go find out or are they-"

"That's the whole point of me being undercover. I'm just going to have to keep a closer watch on everyone Derek works with, I guess," he shrugged. "I really hate to do this to you but I'm going to have to leave and take care of some work."

I looked down at my bare feet, hating that he had to leave when I'd been excited for him to spend the night.

"Hey," Nick said softly, lifting my head to look at him with his finger under my chin. "I'm sorry. I don't want to go. Do you want to come spend the night at my house?"

As much as I loved that idea, I was getting tired of driving back and forth between our houses, and since I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet, I needed to do that the next morning before the crazy rush of shoppers began.

"I'm just going to stay here, I think," I said quietly, wishing he didn't have to leave.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll come by tomorrow, okay?" Nick offered with a smile.

I tucked my hair behind my ear. "I'm going do my grocery shopping in the morning," I told him.

"I'll come by around eight and pick you up then. We'll go grocery shopping together. I need some lettuce anyway. Or coffee. Or something like that," he chuckled.