When Darcy’s doorbell rang, he straightened and moved toward it, waving her back when she headed for it, too. “I’ve been perfectly safe for three years now,” she reminded dryly, but she backed off and let him get it. Finding Jim Ralston on her doorstep with a six-pack of beer in his hands made Jared immediately irritable. He’d never been the possessive type, certainly had never cared who his lovers had fucked before he’d come along. But the animalistic drive to claim Darcy as exclusively and irrevocably his extended beyond the bedroom. He fought it back with effort. “Inspector,” he greeted the man. “Deputy,” Ralston returned, his eyes lit with amusement. He was dressed casually in black jeans and a button-up shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves and open at the throat. His civilian clothes made him look younger and gave Jared his first inkling of what might’ve prompted Darcy to have a friends-with-benefits relationship with the man. Darcy rounded Jared with a welcoming smile.
