by Ramona Gray
The Cop
Working Men Series
(Book Eight)
Ramona Gray
Copyright © 2019 Ramona Gray
Published by
EK Publishing Inc.
e-ISBN: 978-1-988826-76-9
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Adult Reading Material
Edited by
L. Nunn Editing
Cover Art by
The Final Wrap
The Cop
Working Men Series Book Eight
By Ramona Gray
Maggie
Listen, I might be the daughter of hippies, and maybe I’m a bit of a free spirit, but being on the run and giving up my home and my career and everything I love is a bit too much for even me. So, throw in a near-death experience and you can totally understand why I would have a moment of insanity and sleep with the ridiculously hot cop who’d pushed all of my buttons not two hours earlier.
One night of madness is understandable but now… now, I’m not only being welcomed into the small-town life, but my attraction to one arrogant and oh-so-delicious cop is threatening to override all of my common sense.
Officer Wyatt Reynolds might be the hottest cop I’ve ever met, and maybe being handcuffed to his bed wouldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen to me, but I’m playing a dangerous game. Staying here, allowing myself to fall for Wyatt, isn’t just a terrible idea. It’s a dangerous one.
Wyatt
There isn’t anything wrong with order and control. A well-organized sock drawer is the sign of a well-organized mind, right? Being a cop is all I’ve ever wanted and - believe me – I know trouble when I see it. Which is why I ignored my immediate attraction to the stranger I pulled over for a broken tail light.
Sure, Maggie Blossom might be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and her sexy-as-hell voice might have me fantasizing about having her in my bed in handcuffs, but she’s trouble with a capital T.
Still, it doesn’t stop me from making her mine for one hot tantalizing night. Only one night isn’t enough for me. Maggie and I might be oil and water, but she’s making herself at home in my small town and in my heart, and I couldn’t be happier. But will the secrets she’s keeping stop me from claiming her as mine?
* * *
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Table of Chapters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter One
Maggie
“Shit.” I looked in the rearview mirror as the flashing lights lit up the growing gloom and the siren broke the silence.
I glanced at my speed before slowing down, pulling over to the side of the road and stopping. I put the car in park and rubbed at my temples. I wasn’t speeding and I had zero idea why the cop was pulling me over.
I was about five miles from some small town I’d never heard of, a blip on the map, just another place to get through on my way to…. well, I had no idea where, but what I did know was that the last thing I needed was a damn ticket.
“All right, Maggie. You know what you need to do,” I said to my reflection in the rearview mirror.
I cringed but unbuttoned the first couple of buttons on my shirt, giving my small breasts a quick adjustment. I didn’t have much in the chest department, but maybe the cop was into chicks with tiny tits. I took a deep breath and blew it out.
“You can do this, Maggie. Flirt your way out of this ticket, girl. Flirt hard. You can’t afford a ticket, so smile pretty, let him have a look at your cleavage, and -”
The sharp rap on my window made me startle and I jerked, my seat belt cutting into my chest. I rolled the window down, the flirtatious smile dying before it really started as I stared at the magnificent god standing next to my car.
Holy shit, Mags, if this is how they grow ‘em in small towns, maybe you should reconsider your idea to find a big city.
The cop stared silently at me as my gaze roamed his face. Tanned skin, sharp cheekbones, a narrow nose and… oh God, total cliché – but piercing, and I mean, piercing, blue eyes that were staring straight into my damn soul. I wanted desperately to take a look at the tall, lean body attached to the most beautiful face in the universe, but I couldn’t seem to look away from his gaze.
Snap out of it, Mags. Start flirting, for God’s sake.
Right. Flirting. No problem.
“Good evening, Officer.” I pasted that flirtatious smile on my face and thrust my chest out. Shit, I should have undone my seat belt first.
The cop’s gaze never wavered from my face. “Ma’am. License and registration, please.”
Holy hell… what a voice. My pussy actually quivered in response to the deep, gravel-filled rasp.
“Of course.” My smile widened, and I unclicked my seat belt before leaning over and digging the registration out of the glovebox, then snagged my license from my wallet.
I cocked my head and bit my bottom lip, arching my back and working my tiny tits with everything I had as I handed over my information.
C’mon, tiny tits, don’t fail me now.
The cop took my license and registration, his gaze still firmly on my face.
Houston, we have a problem. It’s a tiny tits failure. We’re asking for permission to abort.
Abort? Not with my limited funds, dammit. I let my fingers trace the soft skin of my upper chest as I bit my bottom lip again. “What seems to be the problem… Officer?”
For the size of my body, I had a weirdly deep voice, but I had been pitching it higher, making it breathy and squeaky. It didn’t have the desired effect on the cop, but I kept trying. “I wasn’t speeding.”
He studied my license before lifting those stormy ocean eyes back to my face. “Ma’am, are you aware that it’s a crime to provide false ID to a police officer?”
I sighed, admitted failure, and aborted the mission. “It’s not a false ID, Officer.”
If he was surprised by the sound of my normal speaking voice, it didn’t show on his face. “Is that right?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Your name is,” his gaze dipped to my license again, “Magnolia Blossom?”
I rattled off my regular spiel whenever someone discovered my full name. “Yes. First name Magnolia. Last name Blossom. Like the flower. My parents were hippies.”
He didn’t reply, and I made a show of checking my watch before giving him a clearly irritated smile. “Can you tell me why I’ve been stopped, Officer? The speed limit is fifty and I was doing fifty.”
“Your tail light is out.”
“Oh. Okay, well, I’ll get that fixed. Thanks for letting me know.” I held my hand out for my license and registration.
“Where are you headed, Ms. Blossom?”
After a week on the road, rapidly dwindling funds, and no solid idea of where I was going or what I was doing, my already-frayed nerves took another hit. I was suddenly and irratio
nally angry at the stupidly handsome cop.
Or, maybe I was just pissed that my flirting hadn’t worked one single bit.
“How is that any of your business, Officer…” I squinted at his nametag in the rapidly growing dark, “Reynolds?”
Annoyance flickered across his face and he stepped back. “Wait here, please, Ms. Blossom.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I muttered as he took my license and registration back to his car.
My temper steadily rose as I waited nearly five minutes for Officer “How Could Such a Beautiful Man be Such a Dickhead” to return.
The cold air drifting through the open window was making me shiver, and I cranked the heat in my car and rolled up my window. I rubbed at my temples. It was getting late and dark, and snow was starting to fall. My plan to drive through the one-horse town I was on the outskirts of and hit the bigger town after it was rapidly changing. I hated driving to begin with, and driving in an unfamiliar area after dark and during a snowstorm? No, thank you. I’d just have to hope the rinky-dink town had at least one motel.
Officer Muscles rapped on my window again and I rolled it down. Snowflakes were starting to cling to his dark hair, and he was wearing just a t-shirt under his vest, but the cold and the weather didn’t seem to affect him at all. I looked away from the hard line of his biceps as he held my paperwork out.
Yeah, because he’s already stone-cold, Mags. He might be handsome, but his arrogance is a total turn-off.
Right, a total turn-off…. no lingering attraction here at all.
“What’s this?” I stared blankly at the piece of paper he handed to me with my license and registration.
“It’s a ticket for your broken tail light.”
My jaw dropped and I stared at him. “You’re kidding me.”
“I am not, Ms. Blossom. A broken tail light is a fineable offense.”
I stared at the amount of the ticket, my stomach churning. “Isn’t this a bit excessive? It’s a broken tail light. I’ll get it fixed.”
“When you do, bring the receipt to your court date, and the judge will dismiss the fine,” he said.
“The court date is a month from now. I’m just passing through.” I hitched my thumb at my backseat that was covered with three suitcases.
“Then I guess you’ll need to pay the fine.”
My temper flared and I glared at Officer Hot and Arrogant. “Look, can’t you just give me a warning and let me go? I promise I’ll fix the tail light first thing in the morning.”
“Rules are rules, Ms. Blossom. You can pay the fine or, in a month, you can bring your receipt to the court and have the fine dismissed.”
“I – seriously? It is a broken tail light.” I spoke slowly, as if that might knock some sense into him.
“I am aware.” He gave me a steely stare. “Drive safe, Ms. Blossom.”
He turned to walk away, and I muttered “arrogant asshole”, under my breath as I tossed the ticket and my license and registration onto my passenger seat.
Apparently, Officer Bulging Biceps also had the hearing of a hawk, because he immediately turned back. “What was that, Ms. Blossom?”
Jesus, why did his low voice saying my name make my nipples go hard?
It’s not his voice, it’s the cold air, idiot.
Right. The cold air.
“Nothing,” I said.
He studied me, those blue eyes making my insides feel weirdly hot. I had a sudden desire to confess my insult to him. What the hell was wrong with me?
I straightened my back and gave him my best ice-cold court stare. “Thank you, Officer Reynolds. It’s been a pleasure.”
His nostrils flared just the tiniest bit and the exasperation on his face was fleeting, but a wave of perverse pleasure washed over me. I had gotten under his skin, just a little. He turned to leave, and weird disappointment washed over me.
I had no idea what my odd compulsion to interact with him just a little longer was about, and it was more than a little alarming. Still, it didn’t stop me from saying, “Officer Reynolds?”
“Yes?”
“Uh,” I searched desperately for something to say. “Does your tiny little town even have a motel?”
“We have two. One is,” he paused, “a Best Western, and the other is a smaller locally-owned motel.”
“What’s the name of the motel?” I asked.
“Park Motel. It’s over on Park Street. You’ll want to stay at the Best Western,” he said. “It’s more expensive but cleaner and safer for a woman traveling on her own.”
“Thank you.” I gave him a frosty smile and he nodded before walking back to his car.
I stared at – goddammit, the most amazing ass I’d ever seen in a pair of jeans – in the side mirror before he climbed into his SUV and shut the door.
I googled the Park Motel and put the address into my GPS. The Best Western might have been safer, but with my limited cash, I needed the cheapest option. The questionable Park Motel it was.
I put the car into drive and with another quick glance at the cop car behind me, pulled back onto the road. He stayed where he was on the side of the road, and I blew my breath out again as I drove around a curve in the road and Officer Fine Ass disappeared from my rearview mirror.
* * *
“Ugh. Officer Hot Pants was right.” I stared in disgust at the motel room before closing the door behind me and dropping the key card on the desk. I studied the covers on the bed then gingerly pulled them back.
“Oh lord, oh god, no thank you… nope, not crawling in there.” I whipped the covers back over the bed and headed into the bathroom. It was… almost clean, and the stack of towels on the shelf below the sink were at least cleaner than the bedding.
I laid the towels across the bed and laid another one across the pillow before propping it up against the headboard. I grabbed the bottle of water and bag of chips I’d bought from the vending machine near the lobby, then sat down on the bed. I rearranged the pillow between my back and the headboard and leaned back. My stomach growled and I drank some water.
I probably should have stopped at that diner I passed on the way to the motel and had a proper meal, but I wasn’t sure I had enough money for gas. Buying an entire meal was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
I crammed some chips into my mouth, crunching them down and taking another drink of water. I cringed when the shouting started in the room next to mine. Shit. My plan to get a good night’s sleep was already shot, the walls were paper thin. Not surprising, considering how little I paid for the room, but still…
The two men’s voices grew louder, and I listened in on their argument without a lick of shame. If a person didn’t want someone eavesdropping, they should speak at normal decibels, right?
“God, Jerry,” I murmured as I snagged my phone from my purse, “just let him hold the remote. Then maybe we can all get some sleep tonight.”
The man named Jerry must have heard me because the shouting ended abruptly, and their TV blared as the volume was turned to maximum. I ignored it and tried to automatically open my Facebook app on my phone before reality set in. Right. I had turned my Facebook profile to inactive. Not that I thought she could track me through it if I didn’t post anything, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
Besides, it’s not like anyone would miss me on Facebook. I had less than fifty friends and most of them were from an online book club I belonged to. I’d always had trouble making friends, thanks to my parents’ gypsy like tendencies. Moving every six months to a year made it difficult, if not downright impossible to make friends. Even after I moved out and lived in university housing, I still didn’t make friends easily. The combination of my lack of social skills and the insanity of trying to earn my law degree didn’t leave much time or energy for friend making.
I dropped the empty chip bag on the nightstand and ignored my still-growling stomach. I rested my head on the wall behind me and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think about my past, but it kept creeping
in, refusing to let me go.
Images flickered through my head – walking across the stage to accept my degree, identifying my parents’ bodies at the morgue, sitting for the Bar exam, those first two insane years of being a lawyer. I had almost quit. The insane work hours, that feeling of being thrown in to the deep end without a life jacket was almost too much. But my parents would have been disappointed – they’d been so proud when I told them I was going to be a lawyer – and disappointing them, even if they were dead, wasn’t an option.
I’d stuck it out and in my third year started working for a small firm that specialized in family law. I’d finally felt like I belonged. Helping a woman divorce her abusive husband, getting child support from deadbeat dads – it was my calling and I was damn good at it.
Until I met her.
I crossed my arms over my torso and shook my head. “No. Don’t think about her, it’ll only upset you.”
That was true. But it was kind of hard not to think about her when she was the reason that I had to leave a job I loved and a city I thought of as home, and run away in the night like a coward.
You’re not a coward, Mags. She’s insane and dangerous. You did all the right things – you got a restraining order, you changed the locks and installed security cameras. And she still nearly killed you. Disappearing was your only choice.
Yeah, maybe. But thanks to student loans, a car payment and living expenses, I didn’t have a lot of cash on hand. Which meant I needed to find a new job and fast. I couldn’t work in a law firm again. They’d plaster my face on their website, announce my employment with them and if Ruby was watching for me, if she was trying to find me, I’d be an easy target to find.
My stomach churned and I wiped away the tears that were starting to leak down my face. All of that time, and effort, and money to become a lawyer and now I couldn’t even do it anymore.
