by Maren Lee
“I had sex with Kari once. Like six months ago. And it was terrible. I haven’t been able to get back in the game since. She ruined me. And not in a good way.” Justin said, incredulously. “And how would they even know who Chloe is?”
“Jolene was at my party -- I did not invite that bitch, but apparently your man-whore BFF Jake did -- pretty sure she saw you and Chloe going at it on the front porch.”
“Fucking Jake. That motherfucker.” Justin exhaled heavily.
“You get your hooks in deep, dontcha?” Sierra laughed.
Justin scoffed. “Jesus Christ.”
"Go fix my cousin. Talk to you later, hero." Sierra hung up. Jake’s shoulder’s slumped. But at least he didn’t feel completely hopeless anymore.
Justin knew he was facing an uphill battle. There was a lot of explaining to do on his part and some apologizing that would take a lot more than words to say. Justin headed to the kitchen and pulled out the bags of groceries. Time to man up and make some breakfast.
➰
An hour had passed since their argument, but it felt like an eternity. Chloe laid on the bed staring at the ceiling, her eyes puffy from the little bout of crying she had done. She knew that he was right. She should have told him where she was going and what she was doing. But she had sex brain combined with hunger brain. All logic was gone. So what? It still doesn't excuse his condescending tone and hurtful comments.
His communication skills weren’t complete shit, so his blow up a few minutes ago was a bit surprising to her. She didn’t realize he was such a hot head. The texts and phone conversations last year were great. From what she could tell, he was sweet and funny. By the time they met for the first time and kissed -- that kiss -- she knew she was falling for him. She probably could have convinced herself that she had already fallen. Hard. And then she opened her stupid mouth and said it out loud and he shut down and walked away. It was like watching a steel barricade drop in between them. Had she been an inch closer, she would have been pummeled by it. She was completely flummoxed. Had no idea what happened. She thought they had been building something. And then just like that, he was done. She was confused. Then hurt. Then fucking angry. Finally, she just decided to move on. At least, that was the plan.
Clearly his communication skills weren’t all she thought they were. She shouldn't have expected their “problem” to magically fix itself. But she had hoped a year was long enough for him to improve. Obviously it wasn’t long enough, because he didn't tell you about his girlfriend, Chloe. He does not have a girlfriend, Chloe. Are you sure? No, I’m not sure. Shut up and stop arguing with yourself!
He was making her crazy. Like, literally crazy! Good lord, the man was an asshole. A tall, sexy, well-toned, well-hung asshole. The thought of this situation turning into something more had quickly faded. What was she going to do until they figured out who the hell had threatened her? She really only had one option: suck it up.
Her time here was going to be hell if she let herself feel bad about Justin. She sure as hell wasn’t going to be heartbroken and love sick again, no matter how explosive things were between them in the sack. Chloe decided to keep her options open while she was here, until she figured out her next steps. The news that Justin had a girlfriend wasn’t sitting well with her, but maybe he had an explanation for that. He did look at her like she was crazy when she mentioned it. But if that jackass thought she was going to just forget about it and keep sleeping in his bed, he had another thing coming and it sure as shit wouldn’t be his massive cock.
Three knocks on the door brought her out of her daze. “Chlo’?”
“Don’t you Chlo’ me!” she snapped.
He opened the door and stuck his head around the door jamb, “Do you have to be so damn aggressive with your tone?”
“Do you have to be such an asshole?” she glared at him.
Justin took a deep breath. “Can we please talk for a few minutes? I’ve calmed down. Maybe you have? A little? Can we try and be civil with each other?”
“I can be civilized. Can you can refrain from making asinine remarks to me?”
It was hard for him to hold back and not say something loaded with sarcasm. He bit the inside of his cheek and then took a deep breath, “I will put forth my best effort, lovely.”
“I can work with that.” She sat back on the bed and crossed her legs, arms folded in front of her chest.
“I’m sorry, Chloe. This situation isn’t easy for either of us. I’m set in my ways. You’re set in yours. I don’t want to spend our time together at each other’s throats. We need to come to some sort of compromise.”
“What is it that you would like to compromise on, Corporal Hunt?”
Her sass was undeniable. It made him want to bend her over his knee and paddle her ass. He knew he couldn’t take the bait if he wanted to be able to finish this conversation.
“Look, I’m sorry that I yelled at you. When I woke up and you weren’t anywhere to be found it freaked me out. There was no note, text, voicemail, nothing. Because of my job and what I see on a fairly regular basis, my mind immediately went to the worst case scenario. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I went into full on cop mode and started getting a search party put together. I’ve seen a lot of bad shit in my career. I was worried about you. I thought you’d been taken from me.”
Based on the look Chloe was giving him, her cute nose scrunched up, he knew that she hadn’t considered that. “Given your situation with Sullivan, and the threats that were made yesterday, I need to know where you are at all times. It’s my job, Chloe. If something happens to you, it’s on me. Nobody else.” He knew that taking on a protection order wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but he made the choice to do it. He couldn’t abandon the assignment and be able to save face with anyone in the department.
She took a minute to respond. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you I was going to the store. I was starving, you were exhausted. I thought I would let you get some rest and surprise you with breakfast when you woke up so that I could thank you for your…hospitality.” She smirked and looked down at the rumpled comforter on the bed. “I didn’t see it from your perspective, Justin. I’m just so used to doing everything on my own that it didn’t even occur to me that I should have let you know where I was going.”
“Chloe, I don’t know who you talked to at the store, but I swear to you, I do not have a girlfriend. Sierra seems to think they were talking about Kari. But I swear to God, she is not my girlfriend. We fucked once. Six months ago. It was terrible. I did not go back for seconds.”
“Wait, six months ago? Was she the last person you were with?”
Justin shuddered. “I’m trying to forget it. Yes. It was a moment of weakness. She ruined sex for me. Thanks for coming along and fixing it.”
“You’re welcome.” They both sat in silence for a moment before Chloe spoke up again. Awkward. Chloe decided to take the bull by the horns. “Look, there is no commitment between us and we both know that this is not permanent. Our ‘relationship’ will come to an end when this whole thing is over. So how about we just keep it casual. Whatever happens, happens. Okay?”
Justin immediately relaxed. He’d wanted to broach this subject with her and wasn’t sure quite how. She did the heavy lifting for him. Given the recent circumstances, he knew that this was the best choice for the both of them right now.
“Sounds like a plan. But I still want you in my bed at night.”
Chloe sent him a sexy smile, “That’s good, because I like to cuddle.”
He chuckled. “That’s not the reason I want you in my bed, Chlo’.”
“No? What’s the reason?”
“Damn woman, you know I love to see you all hot and sweaty.” His eyes were intently on hers, he could see the desire in her eyes. “I’d love to take you...” He paused. Chloe bit her lip. Justin continued, “...to the gym.” Chloe rolled her eyes at him.
“Come on, baby. Let’s get to it before we ride tonight.”
“Ug
h. Fine!” He smacked her ass. She laughed and ran out the bedroom door.
Chapter 7
After a short workout at the gym, Chloe showered quickly in the locker room. She let her hair air dry, so it was very curly. Her sun kissed skin and her pink lip gloss looked great with her floral pleated mini skirt and coral halter top. She walked out of the locker room and walked right up to him.
“Jesus, woman.” he leaned down and nipped her ear with his mouth, whispering, “you look good enough to eat. Wish I had the time to taste you before we hit the road.”
Chloe sighed and shivered; her skin covered in goosebumps. “No problem for me. I handled my business in the shower.”
Justin straightened up and groaned. “Oh for fuck’s sake. You make me crazy.” Chloe smiled and laughed.
When they returned to the house, Justin went straight to his patrol vehicle and started it up. Chloe headed to his front door with her gym bag. As she reached for the door handle, she noticed something hot pink wrapped around it. As she pulled the piece of material off of the handle she shrieked, “What the fuck!?” A pair of lacy panties fell to the ground.
“What is it?” Justin yelled from the driveway.
"Get your ass up here and disinfect your door handle!" Chloe yelled back.
Justin marched to the front door, "Jesus, Chloe do you have to yell loud enough for the neighbors to hear? What's wrong?"
"These slutty panties are what's wrong. Oh, but wait, you don't have a girlfriend, so I must be imagining this."
He scowled at her. "Chloe, I told you. I don't have a girlfriend. I don't know what the fuck this is about either. Just go around the house and head in through the back door, okay? We need to get on the road shortly. I need to make a call."
She looked at him with skepticism in her eyes, turned on her heels and headed to the back door. She mumbled under her breath, thinking he couldn't hear her, "Yeah, better call that girlfriend of yours."
"What was that?" he said with a small hint of smart-ass in his voice.
"I said I'll be right out!" she said through gritted teeth.
Her attitude made him want to bend her over his knee and spank her ass. Hell yes. Spank her ass all nice and pink. Watch her lose her mind while the combination of pleasure and pain made her pussy drip. Cut that shit out, Justin! Focus. You need to get back into cop mode.
He made a quick call to Brenden, letting him know about the panty bandit. He asked if he'd mind doing a couple drivebys tonight while he was out on patrol. Brenden agreed, so Justin hung up and headed inside. Chloe was sitting on the kitchen table rubbing lotion all over her long legs. Damn. Not only was she wearing a fucking skirt on the ride tonight, but she was softening up her skin. How was he supposed to refrain from getting a boner while driving this vixen around? It would be hard, that's for damn sure.
"Chlo', let's hit it."
She looked up at him and as soon as she made eye contact he could see the heat in her eyes, she bit her lower lip, "mmmm, that sounds like a plan, I'm excited to come...with you."
Yep. It would be hard as fuck. Literally.
➰
Chloe climbed into the passenger seat of the patrol vehicle, "So what's on the agenda for tonight?"
Justin shook his head, "There's really no agenda, I need to swing through the Forest Service campgrounds tonight at some point and do a vehicle count and headcount, but we can go anywhere we want to patrol after that."
Justin was clearly in cop mode now. Even with his gear on and his huge glasses (he referred to them as “tactical,” but they were the size of the ones her grandma used to wear every day), the only word in her brain was, “hot.” He was seriously sex on a stick. She wasn't sure how in the hell she was going to keep her hands off of him all night. She wasn’t sure she wanted to try. If this was temporary and casual, she was going to take advantage of it.
"Bounty County, 45." His deep voice got her attention again.
A female’s voice returned, "45, Bounty County go ahead." This woman did not seem so affected by Justin’s voice. Her voice reminded Chloe of Annie Potts in Ghostbusters and she quietly chuckled to herself.
"10-8, begin mileage log for CP, 31637, copy?"
"45, Bounty County, copy."
Chloe was so confused by that interaction, but totally turned on by Justin’s radio voice. You are such a freak, Chloe.
"So, what the hell did that even mean?" she asked.
"It meant, I'm on shift and headed to do the CP for the night."
"CP…. means campground patrol?"
"You got it, darlin’."
The way he said “darlin’” made her stomach flip. She hated that she loved it so much. Who even says “darlin’” anymore?
"Will you interpret for me when you do that tonight?" Chloe asked.
"I'll do my best, but if radio traffic gets busy, I might not be able to relay as quickly."
"I can deal with that. Where to first, Thelma?"
"Thelma?" He looked at her over the top of his glasses.
"Yeah, you know, Thelma and Louise?"
"Oh I get it. But Thelma and Louise were two broads, and they were thieves."
"Okay, so maybe not the best reference."
"What the hell makes you think I'm Thelma? I would be Louise, she's the one who has the balls to drive them off the cliff."
"Don't be so sensitive, Louise." She started take a sip of her water bottle and he hit the brakes causing the water to tidal wave in the bottle and spill out all over her face. She couldn't help but laugh at his jackassery. "Nice trick, Louise."
"Trick? I don't have any idea what you are talking about. There was a chipmunk in the middle of the road. I was attempting to save its life!" Justin exclaimed. There was a lightness in his voice that Chloe loved.
"Bullshit. I'll remember that one. Payback is a bitch." Chloe grabbed to bottom of her halter top and pulled it up to her face giving him a sneak peek of the bottom half of her torso, she made sure that the side of the bottom half of her breasts and nipples were exposed as she nonchalantly wiped off her face and slowly pulled her shirt back into place. She heard his sharp intake of breath.
"You are a fucking temptress, Miss Tisdale." His voice sounded slightly pained, slightly amused.
Chloe looked over at him with a sly smile, "What would make you say that Mr. Hunt? I was merely wiping the wet, dripping...water off my face." She batted her eyelashes at him.
Justin let out a deep throated groan.
Chloe smiled. She was even impressing herself with her ability to get him worked up and frustrated. Maybe it would make the end of the ride worthwhile too. Too bad she had all night to wait.
➰
They turned northbound on Highway 27, one of three major highways that ran through Bounty County. All three highways were connected in a triangular pattern, spread out by mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, and creeks. There were washboard-ridden dirt roads that created a web of shortcuts over the mountain passes. Driving on those dirt roads put Justin in a time warp, taking him back to a simpler time. Small towns, no wifi, no cell service, and definitely no Starbucks. His favorite small town was Mooresville. He could stop at Doug's Place to grab a quart of milk and a hot cup of coffee, but that was about as fancy as things got. The rural ambiance of the town would blow anyone’s mind. He'd have to take Chloe up there sometime. Justin shook his head. She’s leaving as soon as her situation is handled, dickhead. This is not a long term relationship. This is how you want things. It’s safer. Easier.
The scenery on the ride was beautiful. Raging creeks collided together to form the main channel of the mighty Sioux River. Forested mountains, jagged rock cliffs, wild flowers, and all different types of wildlife were along Justin’s patrol route. He loved it. He loved his job. Chloe seemed entranced by her surroundings. At peace. He wanted to give her that. With the sun glowing off her shimmering brown hair and her legs for days propped up on his dash, in this moment everything was right. Too bad they were about to pull into Pine Valley
Campground and inundate themselves with campers.
He pulled his truck into the campground and put it in park. "Our first stop!” Chloe shouted, startling Justin. “What can I help with?" Chloe looked excited. Her smile was infectious, he wanted to kiss her more than ever right now. Focus, she asked you a question dipshit.
"Sure. You want to hold the clipboard and write stuff down for me while I count?"
"I'm on it, Hooch!" She hopped out of the vehicle and rounded the hood.
"Hooch?" Justin jumped out the driver’s side and busted out laughing.
"Yeah, you know. Turner and Hooch? Cop movie?"
"Yeah, I’ve seen it. Hooch is the dog. Avery would be Hooch. Not me."
"I don’t know. From what I’ve heard, you’re quite the dawg,” Chloe drawled out and laughed.
