Book 'Em Bridget

by Danielle Norman

  “Oh, no. This isn’t so that I can woo him; it’s for an altar. I’m going to sacrifice him. I better let you go, Har.” I grabbed the knife from the dishwasher and set it on the counter.

  “You are one scary bitch. God, I love you,” Harley said before disconnecting.

  How was it that I’d been able to hide my feelings for Eli since I was eighteen, and in a week, my well-kept secret was spreading like wildfire through my friends? I was just starting my new career, so the last thing I needed was to start tripping over emotions.

  But the gift. The dinner invite. Exactly how long could I keep pretending that he wasn’t serious and playing it off before I would be forced to give him an answer? We’d never really been alone before, and him coming here when I was angry and my temper was short, was not a good plan. Infuriating man. Infuriatingly sexy man. Infuriatingly sexy man and…as long as I didn’t say yes, then this dream of a date wouldn’t be over. He’d never come to the conclusion that I’m not what he wanted. And I could go on still pretending that someday he and I, we would make…

  I yanked the door open. “What?”

  “About time.” He stepped in and forced me to the side before he paused and swiped his thumb across my cheek. “What are you eating?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Something because you have a little on your face.” I tucked my cheek to my shoulder and rubbed, trying to remove any trace elements of sandwich. “Is there enough for me?” He moved to my kitchen and stared at the mess. “Vegetables, half-eaten sub, several candles, and a knife . . . hmmm, I’ll take a guess. I say, Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with the knife.” He held up my bottle of mustard and set it by the knife.

  I had told myself that I wasn’t going to cave, but I did and ended up laughing. “What do you want?”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “I’m fine, Eli, you’re just doing your job.”

  “You don’t get it, Bridge, I want you to be my concern.” I glanced up at him, wondering if he’d been out drinking before he came to my house. “I’m done pretending that I don’t notice you. God, Bridget, don’t tell me that you had no clue.”

  I was going to say that was indeed the case, I had no clue, but he lowered his mouth to mine. His lips were soft as he swept them against mine before sliding his tongue in and tasting me. I opened my eyes and watched him, holy shit, Eli was kissing me. My Eli, all the years, all the women I’ve seen him date and I’d hated because I knew that they weren’t good enough for him. And all of those women who looked nothing like me, each one a reminder that I wasn’t his type. Eli was a brunette man, he liked the Minka Kellys, and the Mila Kunises of the world. Not the Bridget McGuires, who most days resembled Anne Shirley, plain ole Anne with an E Shirley.

  He moved even closer, snaking one hand around my waist as he pulled my body against his. I inhaled deeply; he smelled like a mixture of vanilla and leather, it was a sweet yet extremely manly scent. It was so…so…so…Eli. Just like his masculine, defined body. A myriad of emotions overwhelmed me. I pulled back to look at him. He smiled, and his damn sweet dimples appeared. He brought his mouth back to me, pressing his tongue against my lips asking to be let in and I acquiesced, his tongue tangled with mine as he slowed the kiss.

  He opened his eyes and locked on mine, I’d been watching him the entire time, taking all of this in, enjoying the fact that he was kissing me. He smirked, our lips were still touching and he friggin’ smirked, well, tried to. The gesture caused me to grin, and then he laughed and stepped back. “I’m starving, got a sandwich for me?”

  Chapter 11

  Bridget

  If I were a crime scene investigator and saw my apartment, I’d come to one conclusion: whoever lived here had absolutely no life whatsoever. After Eli left last night, my brain went into overdrive, replaying every word spoken, every body movement, and every facial expression. Of course, while I did this, I cleaned the grout in my kitchen floor with a toothbrush.

  I loved how his lips felt. They were soft and slightly plump, lips that any collagen-seeking woman would die for. He tasted sweet, like the Coca Cola he must have drank before coming to see me. I fought the urge to trace my lips and hold on to the memory of the feeling he gave me, especially since my hands were covered in cleanser. When my floors were clean and shiny, I moved into my bathroom. When it was finished, it was sparkling, which made my shower walls look less appealing, so I had to scrub them as well. The bristles on the toothbrush I was using were flattened, so I ran up to the 7-11 and grabbed two more and a bottle of Comet cleanser. That shit was so abrasive it could skin a rhinoceros.

  I had worked and gotten ahead of all the chores until it was time to jump in the shower and get ready to head up to Sixes. I would have thought that all the time I spent today doing tedious work would have allowed me time to think about my dilemma with Eli, but it hadn’t. Maybe I could have come up with some idea, some solution on my next move with him, but nope, none.

  After getting ready, I stood in front of the mirror buckling my belt with my favorite rose and skull buckle. I slipped into my boots, then headed for the door. I was early, which wasn’t that shocking, since I had nothing to do, but if I stayed, I would end up cleaning my fridge.

  I slid into my car and headed for Sixes, a bar where we all liked to hang out. Sure, the food was great, and on the weekends there were some awesome bands that performed, but the owner was the reason we all supported Sixes. She was the widow of Sergeant Haines, who was shot execution-style several years back by a fugitive named Sello. Sergeant Haines was one of three officers killed along with Sello’s girlfriend and young daughter. After he died, we all made a vow to help Vivian keep the place going. She and her husband had named it Sixes, the LEO term for we’ve got your back, so we promised to have her back.

  When I was inside, I headed to the corner where our group normally sat, but there was someone already sitting there.

  “Hey,” I said as I passed Mikki, our favorite server.

  “Have a seat at the bar. They just paid their bill and should be leaving in a few minutes then I’ll get your table cleaned.”

  Grabbing an empty stool, I turned to Danny. “Whatever you have on tap.” As I waited for my beer, I scanned the room to see if I recognized anyone.

  My blood turned to ice as I caught sight of Justin sitting with a woman. She was beautiful, had gorgeous red hair, but I’d never seen her before. Needless to say, my spidey-senses were on high alert, I snagged my phone from my back pocket.

  “Where are you?” I asked as soon as Piper picked up my call.

  “I’m still getting ready. We aren’t meeting for almost an hour, right?”

  “Right, gotta go.” I disconnected and dialed Eli. His phone rang and rang, then rolled over to voicemail. “Sixes. Justin. Call me immediately.” I pressed end as my brain slowly slipped into gear and I watched them without looking as if I was watching them.

  “Bridget, did you want to start a tab?” Danny asked as he set down my beer.

  “No, I’m waiting for a table.” I dropped a five on the counter, waved away my change, and smiled. I picked it up and then turned back around to watch the couple. Justin clocked her every movement while the woman looked over at the people dancing. It was the redhead not paying close attention to Justin that made me uneasy. And that was probably why I saw it: he placed his hand on top of her glass then picked it up and swirled it.

  Motherfucker just dropped something into it.

  Shit.

  Fuck.

  Setting down my beer, I strode over to his table, deciding that I had balls of steel, mine were just on my chest…chesticles.

  I had no fucking clue what I was going to do until I was standing at their table, but then the words just started. “Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in years. You look so great! You always were able to keep your hair a prettier red than I could. How have you been?” I paused for a second and then looked at Justin. “Hey, Justin, mind if I borrow your date for a second?” I
grabbed her hand. “Let’s dance, we can catch up.” As I tugged her hand, I moved my arm toward her glass and swung my elbow out, tipping it over and feigning shock. “I’m so sorry. Let me help.” I tried to make my apology sound sincere as her tainted drink ran across the table and into her lap.

  “You’ve done enough, Bridget, just go,” Justin barked, his face tight with anger.

  “I’ll go to the restroom, if you’ll excuse me.” The woman stood and headed off.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll go check on her.” I raced after her. Once inside, I checked each stall and when I saw no one there but her, I locked the door.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her wide green eyes darting between me and the door at my back.

  “My name is Deputy Bridget McGuire, and I saw your date drop something into your drink.”

  “But he’s a detective, he showed me his badge.”

  “I understand that, and I can’t explain what is going on, but you have to trust me, woman to woman, you need to get away from him. He is dangerous. Does he know where you live?”

  “No. We just met earlier today. I was out shopping. He tried to convince me to go out with him, but I wouldn’t. So, he asked if I would meet him for drinks. This doesn’t make sense, why would he do that?”

  “It is a long story.”

  “Go arrest him, you’re a cop.”

  “It’s not that easy. I have to prove it was him. I didn’t get a picture of him doing it. It will come down to my word against his. We’re both law enforcement. It will be he said, she said. The bottom line is, you have to get out of here.”

  “How? I can’t just walk through the door. He’ll freaking see me.”

  “Where’s your purse?”

  “I didn’t bring one. My keys and ID are in my pocket.”

  I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Vivian.

  * * *

  Me: I’m in the bathroom, come immediately without drawing attention.

  * * *

  I slipped my phone back into my pocket and waited. “What’s your name?”

  “Michelle Connelly.”

  A soft knock sounded at the bathroom door. “Bridget, it’s me, let me in.” I twisted the lock and opened the door just enough for Vivian to enter before relocking it. “What’s wrong?”

  “Vivian, this is Michelle and she needs to get out of here safely without her date seeing her.”

  Bless her heart, she didn’t miss a beat.

  “Let me get Danny. She can go out the back door.”

  “But the alarm—”

  “I’ve got the key, I can turn it off.”

  Vivian slipped back through the door, and Michelle turned to me. “Who’s Danny?”

  “He’s the bartender and sometimes bouncer. Will you write your number down for me?” I pulled out my small pad of paper and pen from my purse.

  She wrote down her information while we waited for Vivian to return. When the bathroom door opened, I stepped in front of Michelle out of habit. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten to re-lock the door after Vivian left.

  “Michelle, go with Vivian, I’ll try to distract Justin and make sure he doesn’t head for the front door and catch you.”

  “Justin?” Vivian raised one eyebrow.

  “Don’t ask.”

  “Okay,” Vivian said as she let out a long whistle.

  I moved from the bathroom and turned to my right toward the bar area to make sure that the coast was clear before waving for Vivian, Danny, and Michelle to move. Once they were out the back, I walked deeper into the bar so that I could see Justin in my periphery. I glanced toward the door and then over to our usual table, which was empty.

  “What kind of game are you playing?”

  Why, Bridget, why did you take your eyes off him? “Excuse me?”

  “I didn’t stutter.”

  “Neither did I. I have no clue what you’re talking about. I’m just waiting for friends—you know Piper, Harley, Sadie, and Kat? We are supposed to meet here.”

  “Where is Michelle?”

  “She’s in the bathroom, she was drying her clothes with the hand dryer so I stepped out here just in case they came in so I could tell them why I wasn’t holding our table.”

  “You can go to the table. I’ll check on her.”

  “Really, Justin? She is undressed, holding her clothes up against the dryer. That isn’t exactly how she would want you to see her. I mean . . . this isn’t even your first date yet.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I told you, I know Michelle.” Loud chatter came from my left, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Hey, my gang is here, will you excuse me?”

  “Yeah, you go on. But if you see me on a date again, stay the fuck away, I don’t care how well you know her.”

  “Bite me.”

  Fingers tightened around my bicep and stopped me. “If I find out that you’re playing some sort of Barbie-with-a-badge game, you’ll find out that you have no clue what the rules really are.”

  “Don’t threaten me.” Using my other hand, I lifted his finger from my arm before I strode toward Vivian, who had come in with Piper and Sadie.

  “Calm down, he’s still watching you,” Piper said under her breath without so much as having her smile falter.

  “What the fuck happened? I got here as fast as I could,” Piper said as we all claimed our seats. She was noticeably shaken. “I sent a text to everyone telling them to get here ASAP.”

  “What’s going on?” Harley asked as she and Kat joined us.

  Before I could say anything, Kat interrupted, “Hey, Justin, do you want to join us?”

  “No.” He moved around to face me. “Where is she?”

  “Michelle?” I asked.

  “You know damn well who I’m talking about.”

  “How should I know? She was in the bathroom when I left, then you and I were talking. I came over here since you were hell-bent on playing watchdog.”

  “Where the fuck is she?”

  Oh, he was pissed.

  “Calm down, Justin, I’m assuming that whoever you’re talking about is a grown adult?” Piper asked, attempting to be the voice of reason. He tilted his head and glared. “I take that as a yes. Then we can assume that she is her own boss and not Bridget’s ward. So, why don’t you go back to your table and wait for her? Or, better yet, call her and ask where she is.”

  “I don’t have her number.”

  “Then look her up and call her, you’re a detective, after all.”

  “What’s her last name?” he asked as he glared at me.

  “Word to the wise, you probably should have led with that question. Because now you’ve proven that you’re a total dick, and I highly doubt that our Bridget here is going to help you.” Harley folded her arms and moved to stand behind my chair.

  “God, you all are a bunch of fucking useless whores.” He strode off.

  “I can’t believe he just spoke to us like that.” Sadie’s mouth was agape.

  “Really?” Harley asked, stunned that Sadie would even be shocked by Justin at this point. “He’s a dick.”

  “But to call us whores, and in public?” Sadie clarified.

  “Do you think it is worth reporting?” Kat asked, her words were low, like she was fighting to hold on to her temper.

  “Probably not, what would we write? We suspect him of illegal activities but aren’t allowing the FBI to handle it, even though we were warned?” Why did Piper have to be so rational?

  “Vivian, can you go see if the glass that I knocked over is still on his table?”

  “Sure, why?”

  “He put something in it, I want to see if there is enough trace liquid left for Eli to have it tested.”

  “Odds are it’s already been cleared away,” Vivian said as she headed off.

  “Bridget, you have to—” Kat’s attention froze on whoever just walked in, and we all turned to stare.

  Eli was in the doorway with his hands on his hips, and even fr
om across the bar, I could see that the veins along his forearms were defined, and that his breathing was heavy. I pushed back my chair and stood. He spotted me and took long strides over to the table, his jaw tense.

  “Hey.”

  “No.”

  “Don’t you—”

  “Bridget, not now. I’m barely holding on to my restraint.”

  “Fine.” I turned and went to make my way back to my table, but then a band of steel snaked around my waist. Eli’s arm was around me and he was pulling me back, then bending down, he grabbed me by my thighs and tossed me onto his shoulders. “Put me down.”

  “If you ladies will excuse us. Vivian, I’ll be back later to settle her bill.”

  “She owes nothing, Eli, you’re good.”

  “Will one of you help me?” I looked to my friends.

  Sadie reached into her purse and pulled out a few condoms. “Here, you might need these.”

  Kat held out her tube of lip gloss. “It’s strawberry flavored.”

  “Really? No one is going to help?”

  “Did you remember to shave your —” Harley wiggled her finger as she pointed toward my whoha. “Guys want to eat it not floss with it.”

  “What the fuck?” I knew that Eli had heard what she’d said, because there was a subtle shake to his shoulders, but he was busy talking with Piper. “I asked for help.”

  “That was help, as in helpful advice.” Harley flipped her hands in the air as if she were totally exasperated with me.

  “Ugh.” I didn’t get to say anything else because he was striding out of the bar.

  Chapter 12

  Eli

  “I need to get my car,” Bridget snapped as I opened the door to my Shelby.

  “Fine, you can get it tomorrow. But you are not leaving my sight right now, get in.” I waited for her to fasten her seat belt before running around and getting in on the driver’s side. Ever since I got her fucking cryptic message, my head has felt as if it were going to explode.