by Kira Archer
Gina sucked in a shocked breath. “It was not. I got those fines for the phone thing but…”
“But you never paid them—sixty days,” Rick said. “So you were placed on the suspended list.”
“But I never got any notification!”
“That’s what everyone says,” Joe said.
Gina glared at him. “I didn’t know my license was suspended. I might be a little reckless sometimes, but I’m not stupid.”
Rick sighed. “Well, this apparently isn’t your first time driving with a suspended license.”
Gina frowned. What the hell was he talking about? And then she remembered. Shit. “Okay, this so isn’t fair. The first time was the same thing. I was late paying some fines. I didn’t know it was suspended and I got pulled over for a broken taillight. But it was a total technicality because I had paid the fines but the court hadn’t processed the info yet. They took me off the list as soon as I called.”
“Yes, but technically you were caught driving on a suspended license which makes this your second offense which means…”
Gina clenched her jaw for a second, biting off the words that really wanted to come out. “You’re seriously going to arrest me? On a freaking technicality from years ago?”
Nat gasped. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re going to put her in jail?”
Rick shook his head. “Probably not. She could serve a few days in County, but I doubt that will happen.”
“Well, forgive me if I don’t take comfort from that thought,” Gina said, her blood running cold. Who would have thought ignoring a few pieces of mail would turn into such a shitstorm.
He took a deep breath and looked at her. “I’m sure we can get some of this cleared up. But I’ll have to take you to the courthouse.” They stared at each other for a moment, neither yielding, neither betraying what was going on in their heads. Gina sincerely hoped her face was as set in stone as his.
“You know I don’t want to do this,” he said.
She shrugged. “Then don’t.”
He sighed and came toward her, stopping a foot away. “You know that’s not an option.”
“You’re assuming I know a lot. All I know is that my license is suspended for not paying a ticket and now I’m being punished for doing something I didn’t know I was doing.”
Joe looked her over and then glanced back at Rick, who for the first time looked more uncomfortable than amused.
“We gotta frisk her,” he said.
Rick’s frown deepened. “I don’t think that’s necessary. She’s not armed.”
Joe looked at him in surprise. Rick shrugged. “I know she’s not armed and she wouldn’t hurt us if she was. She’s not a criminal.”
Gina’s eyes narrowed. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
That sexy half smile touched his lips again, and Gina clenched her stomach muscles in an attempt to keep that little electric jolt from spreading through her. No such luck.
“Look, I may not be as much of a stickler for the rules as you,” Joe said. “But if she’s going to be in the car uncuffed, she needs to be frisked. I’ll do it if you’re not comfortable.”
Rick shot his partner a surprised and unhappy look. “No. I’ll do it.”
“Really, boys. Fighting over who gets to feel me up is so grade school. One of you just do it, already.” She leaned against the truck, arching her back a little as she looked over her shoulder. If she had to do this she was going to enjoy it. And make it as hard for Officer Boyd as she could. Pun totally intended. Nothing like a little payback torture to perk a girl up.
Her eyes met his and held, their gazes transmitting a scorching heat that sent a shiver running down Gina’s spine. She knew she was in trouble. She knew people were watching. She didn’t care. The thought of Rick’s hands on her made her heart jackhammer in her chest. Not that she thought he’d dare. He’d chicken out for sure.
Joe took a step toward her and Rick blocked him, his hand slapping against the other man’s chest. His eyes didn’t leave Gina’s until he was standing inches from her. Then he let his gaze roam over her, from head to foot and back again. He leaned over her and grabbed her hands, moving her around the side of the truck so the vehicle shielded her from the gawking occupants of the bakery.
He slapped her hands back down and kicked her feet farther apart. Her breath caught in her throat. His hands trailed across her shoulders, up under her hair and then down her back. His huge hands spanned the whole surface of her back, with his fingers trailing down her sides. Then they moved up the front. She held her breath, her teeth biting her bottom lip as his hands came within a hairbreadth of her breasts. Then they moved away.
She released her breath with a near sob. Her nipples tightened painfully, as if in protest that they’d been ignored. It had been far too long since she’d gotten laid. It was the only explanation for why she was leaning against a truck on the verge of an orgasm just from being not-very-thoroughly frisked by an anal cop.
His hands skimmed up her legs to her thighs, and a small moan that she couldn’t catch fast enough escaped her lips. Rick immediately stepped back.
“I think that’ll suffice,” he said, his voice gruff.
Gina straightened and looked back at him. “Not nearly. But it was a good start.”
Instead of being surprised or shocked, as she’d intended, Rick smiled that sexy bedroom smile of his. “That was me doing my job,” he murmured. “If I had any intent other than arresting you, that wouldn’t have even counted as preliminary foreplay.”
Gina swallowed and forced herself to drag in a lungful of air. He was toying with her. And heaven help her, she was loving every second of it.
Aside from the minor detail of her arrest. That part sucked.
Chapter Six
Rick led Gina to his squad car, keeping her in front of him. And not just so he could make sure she wouldn’t make a run for it. Though he knew she wouldn’t. That wasn’t her style. She was a fighter, not a runner. But keeping her in front of him gave him time for his body to calm down enough that he wouldn’t disgrace his uniform. That pat-down had damn near had him hauling her inside the truck for a little sweet lovin’. His reaction to her had been so inappropriate he should be crawling in shame. But the memory of her moan as his hands had skimmed over her had him revved up to the point of pain.
He quickly thought of the most disgusting images he could, praying the tent in his pants would deflate. He helped her into the back of the car and got in the front passenger side. Joe raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything. Thankfully. Because having to walk around the front of the car would have given everyone an eyeful of what he was packing.
The drive to the station was quiet. Rick didn’t trust quiet. Not from Gina, anyway. He kept his eyes on her in the rearview mirror, but she kept her gaze firmly out the window. Probably plotting her revenge. He didn’t blame her. It really was kind of a dick move for him to ticket her and then haul her down to the station. With her license already suspended, there was a good possibility it’d be revoked. Which would completely screw her. But what choice did he have?
When they got to the station, Rick had made up his mind. Bending the rules didn’t sit well with him. But neither did putting her in a cell for a few unpaid fines and misunderstandings. He had no doubt she was telling the truth about not knowing her license was suspended. That happened a lot. And while what had happened with her today had been her fault to a large degree, he didn’t think she should lose business or spend time behind bars for a few-second phone call.
“Joe, just…sit with her a minute, okay?”
Joe opened his mouth to fire off a bunch of questions, but Rick held up his hand. “Don’t let her run off. I’ll be right back.”
Joe gave him a look that promised all kinds of ribbing. He’d deal with him later.
Twenty minutes later, Rick made his way back to the squad car, feeling somehow better and worse at the same time.
Gina was s
itting on the hood of the cruiser, and whatever she’d been saying had Joe in stitches. When Rick came up, Joe clapped him on the back. “You’ve got a great girl there. Don’t piss her off.” He winked at her and then headed off. “I’ll be back.”
And then he took off into the station, leaving Rick and Gina alone.
“So. I thought you were going to haul me in and make me pay for all my heinous crimes,” Gina said, swinging her legs.
Rick put his hands in his pockets, more to keep himself from touching her than because they were cold, and moved close enough that she had to quit swinging her feet or risk kicking him. Surprisingly, she opted to stop swinging rather than letting him have it.
“I called in a few favors,” he said.
Gina’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “What kind of favors?”
“The kind that got most of your fines absolved. And that will keep you out of jail and driving your truck.”
Her mouth dropped open and for the first time since he met her, she seemed well and truly shocked. “You did what?”
He shrugged. “I guess a few exceptions can be made. Sometimes. In the right circumstances.”
“Well, holy shit. I’m pretty sure hell just froze over.”
“It’s a good possibility. Take a coat on your next trip down.”
Her laugh rang out, and Rick grinned.
“Wow.” She shook her head. “I…don’t know what to say.”
He leaned in and she blinked up at him with those big brown eyes that made him want to throw the world at her feet. “I believe ‘thank you’ is customary.”
Her eyes searched his for a moment. “Thank you. Now what do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
“No one does something for nothing. You did me a favor. What do you want in return?”
He frowned slightly. “Nothing.”
“Ah, come on. You put red in my ledger. You’ve got to give me some way of clearing it out.”
“Been watching a few Avengers movies?”
She shrugged. “There was a marathon on the other day. The quote seemed appropriate. So…what’s it going to cost me?”
“How about you keep your promise and save your stalking hobby for when I’m with you, and we’ll call it good.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not stalking. But deal. Can I go now?”
“It is stalking. And yes. But keep your phone in your pocket and try not to break any more laws for at least one day, will you?”
“If you insist,” she said with a groan.
“I insist. I don’t feel like doing the paperwork that another run-in will cost me. And you aren’t free and clear, remember. I took care of most of your fines. You’ll still need to deal with the one from today.”
“Really? You didn’t throw out today’s?”
He shrugged. “I figured I’d keep that one in there, just for the principle of it all.”
“Richard Boyd, you are the perfect blend of sexy as hell and total pain-in-the-ass. I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
“I could think of a few things,” he said, his mind full of tantalizing images.
“Oh, so could I. But there’s this anal cop that won’t leave me alone who’d probably arrest me before I could do half of them.”
He chuckled. “He might surprise you.”
She looked him up and down. “Stranger things have happened, I suppose.” She jumped down from the car. “I take it I can walk the streets without worrying about being arrested again?”
“I suppose.”
She turned and walked a few feet before looking back over her shoulder. “That’s too bad. I was kind of looking forward to getting frisked again.”
That startled a laugh out of Rick. He watched her walk away until he couldn’t see her anymore. He knew he’d be in a world of trouble if he kept messing with her. But part of him really hoped she’d commit another misdemeanor. He wouldn’t mind another round of frisking, either.
…
On Friday night, Rick showed up at ten minutes to nine. He didn’t want to give Gina any excuse to take off without him. And it was a good thing he did. She was already a hundred yards away and putting more distance between them by the second. He shook his head and sprinted after her. He’d been the county champ in high school track; he would have caught up, even if she’d had a greater head start.
Aside from a slight straightening of her spine and a quiet sigh he might not have really heard, she didn’t acknowledge his presence. Far cry from her spider monkey impression from before, but he hadn’t expected anything different. She looked on the tired side, with slight shadows under her eyes and pale cheeks. He’d slept like shit, too, but mostly because his body had been too restless remembering the feel of her to get any rest. He wondered if she’d had the same problem. And kind of hoped she had. Not that they could do anything about it. Their hooking up would be an epic mistake.
“Trying to head off without me?” he asked.
She gave him an exasperated sigh. “No, daddy dearest, I would never do such a thing.”
Hello, Miss Sarcasm. Nice to see you again.
“You sure about that? Because I wasn’t supposed to meet you for another ten minutes. And you’re headed in the opposite direction of the bakery and your truck.”
She shrugged. “We aren’t going to stalk the truck tonight. And I wanted some snacks.”
She darted into a store before he could say anything. He had a bad feeling about this.
He caught up with her in the snack aisle, where she was perusing a selection of jerky.
“What do you mean, we aren’t watching the truck tonight?”
“Not sure how I can say that any clearer than I did. Maybe if you tell me which part you didn’t understand, I can clarify for you.”
She smiled that deceptively sweet smile of hers and batted her eyes. Rick tried not to grin at her, and failed.
He rubbed a finger across his lips. “If we aren’t watching the truck, what are we watching?”
Gina grabbed a handful of Slim Jims and tucked all of them under her arm but one. “I want to watch Tony’s apartment.”
Rick folded his arms. “You know I can’t allow that.”
“Why not?” She grabbed a pack of Oreos and kept perusing.
“Because that crosses the line from watching your own property into crazy-stalker-chick territory.”
She stopped and looked at him. “I’m not crazy, nor am I stalking him. I figure this way I can keep an eye on him without having to battle Alejandro and his rat cartel on the roof.”
“Alejandro?”
She shrugged. “He looked like an Alejandro.”
“He might have been a she with a whole parcel of babies somewhere.”
Gina glared at him. “Great. You’ve succeeded in making me feel guilty about hoping the rabid little fur ball was dead.”
“Sorry,” he said, his wide smile obviously saying otherwise.
“Uh-huh.”
“Anyhow, I promise I won’t let the mouse mafia get you.”
“Rat cartel. That thing was definitely a rat.”
“Mouse. Nowhere near big enough to be a rat.”
She shook her head. “That pointy-eared bastard was huge.”
Rick laughed. “He wasn’t that big. If he comes back, I promise I’ll protect you. But we aren’t stalking your ex-boyfriend’s house.”
“You make that sound so immoral.”
“That’s because it is immoral. Or illegal, at least.”
She shrugged. “Eh, I see it as more of a gray area.”
“Ha! I think you see most things as a gray area.”
“Gray is so much more interesting than non-gray.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.”
Another two minutes of that logic and Rick would have a pounding headache. “There’s nothing to agree or disagree with. There are laws. Things you do and don’t do. Consequences if you break those laws. No gray.”
&n
bsp; She leaned in like she was going to tell him a secret and whispered, “I like gray,” before turning to head up another aisle.
He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips, and followed her to the next rack of snack food.
“I was trying to find a more comfortable spot,” she said. “Nothing immoral, illegal, or otherwise ill-advised, I swear. There’s a nice little park across from Tony’s place. Comfy benches. No rats.”
“That you know of.”
Gina’s eyes narrowed, and Rick didn’t bother hiding his amusement. “No,” he said. “No park. No apartment. The roof across from your truck or nothing.”
She watched him for a second, like she was waiting for him to change his mind, and then finally shrugged. “Fine. But if I get jumped by anything with more than two legs, it’s your fault.”
“Noted.”
She split the wrapper of the Slim Jim and took a big bite of it.
“I think you’re supposed to pay for those before you eat them,” Rick said.
Gina kept chewing and wandered a little farther up the aisle, snagging a bag of chips to add to her stash.
“Really,” he insisted. “It’s bad enough you stole from me, but you can’t steal from someone else, especially right in front of me.”
“You’re off duty.” She took another bite and stopped in front of the shelf that held various flavors of frosting. There was only one can of chocolate left. She grabbed it, frowning.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m off duty. I can’t let you…”
“Hey, Harry!” Gina leaned over so she could see the counter. “Where’s all the chocolate frosting?”
“You know the owner?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I used to work here in high school. It kept me busy and out of trouble, and the money came in handy.”
Rick chuckled. “Hell, if it kept you out of trouble, the man deserves a medal.”
Gina scowled and turned her back on him, hauling her armload of goodies up to the counter.
“So, where’re you hiding all the chocolate? I can’t eat my graham crackers without chocolate frosting.”
