I still remember the morning I called him to tell him I had the sorry son of a bitch who called himself a police officer.
“Hello?” Slade’s voice sounds rough from sleep
“Slade. It’s Parker,” I whisper. “Were you up?” I look out my cop car window and see the sky is black as night. Of course, he wasn’t up.
“No. What time is it?” he asks softly, and I know it’s because Samantha is sleeping next to him in bed.
“It’s four ten.” I pause. “In the morning.”
“Why would I be up at four ten in the morning?” he growls. “What do you want, Parker?”
I take a deep breath. “I found him. I found Officer White,” I say proudly. The man who’d had Samantha kidnapped and drugged. He was helping her ex-boyfriend pay a debt, and she was the offering.
“Are you sure?” he asks as if I would play with him at this time of night. I can be a kidder, but I would never joke about something like this.
“I’m positive. He’s got himself holed up in a farmhouse about an hour out of town.”
“How do you know it’s him?”
“Because I’m staring right at him through my binoculars,” I growl. “I wouldn’t have called you unless I was a hundred percent sure, Slade,” I say quietly.
“What is your plan?”
I rustle around in my cop car to find the piece of paper I had written the address on. “Well, I haven’t called it in yet. I thought I would give you a few minutes with him.”
“You would do that for me?” he asks sounding shocked.
“Of course, I would. He deserves to know what pain feels like.”
“Send me the address. I’m on my way.” And that is exactly why I called him.
“Now just do one thing for me,” I ask as I eye him up and down as we stand by the side of an old farmhouse in the middle of fucking nowhere. It literally took him thirty minutes to get an hour out of town.
“What?” he asks impatiently.
I sigh. “Just don’t kill him. I can explain a lot of things but death—” I shake my head.
“I can’t promise you anything,” he says truthfully.
“That’s about what I figured you’d say. But I had to try.” I nod as he starts to walk away from my car.
I sit in my car with my guns ready. I have one in my hand and the other tucked into the back of my jeans. I can hear them yelling but can’t really make it out. I curse loudly when I look down to see Tate calling my cell phone. What in the hell is he doing up?
I hang up my phone when I hear a loud crashing noise and a cry of pain; I jump out of my car and run up to the door.
Once I kick it in, I find Slade holding White by his throat. “Slade, let him go,” I say calmly.
He shakes his head. “I can’t do that,” he grinds out. And White’s face starts to lose color. “The bastard deserves to die.”
“Believe me when I say jail will be much more brutal than you just choking him to death,” I respond. “Now, let him go,” I order.
For some crazy reason, he actually lets go, which is good for me. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I would have just killed him.
“You deserve to spend the rest of your life being someone’s bitch,” Slade spits out.
I walk over to them with my gun now drawn and pointed down at White. “Face down and hands behind you back,” I demand.
He shakes his head quickly with his hands on his knees still trying to breathe. “I won’t go to jail.” His voice sounds raw. “Cops don’t survive in jail.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that beforehand,” I shout as I continue to point the gun at him.
“You did hear about Jax, right?” White asks looking up at Slade taking a deep breath as he refers to Samantha’s ex-boyfriend. “I hear he had an accident while in his cell. It’s terrible, really.” He laughs and it turns into a cough. “But I did hear that he got to see Samantha one more time.” It’s true, Samantha had gone up to the jail to try to get information out of Jax. Wanting to know who and why someone would want to kill her. He didn’t tell her much, but he told her enough. The next day he was found dead in his cell. Slade still hasn’t told her.
He then looks over at me. His beady eyes and beer belly hang out from underneath his shirt. “You should listen to Tate more often.” His words send up a chill up my back. “There are dirty cops on the force, and I promise you, you’ll never find out which ones are the good ones.”
“You’re lying.” I shake my head. There’s not. I would know. “He’s just trying to fuck with us,” I tell Slade. “Now quit stalling and lie down and place your hands behind you back,” I say once again. I can’t kill him. I need to know what he knows.
“Fine.” He sighs raising his hands as I start to walk over to him. Just as I pull my cuffs out, White lunges right for me. Both my guns and cuffs go flying as we hit the ground.
I scramble to get to my gun, but Slade beats me to it. But White is up before me and goes running into Slade. They run into the front door and fall down the front steps. I pull myself up to stand and head over to the front door. I pull out my gun from my jeans and point it right at them, but I don’t have a clear shot of White.
They fight for a good thirty seconds before Slade gets away from him. As White pulls a knife out, I aim and fire.
I stand there, ready to take another shot if he moves, although I know he’s dead. I ask Slade, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he manages to say through gritted teeth as he holds his shoulder.
“Thought you wanted him alive?” he asks trying to stand.
“Yeah, well…” I walk down the stairs to help him up slowly. “I didn’t have
any other options.” I point to the pocketknife that lies next to White on the ground. “I wasn’t going to let him kill my best friend.”
“I had it handled.”
I give him an ‘are you crazy’ look. “Your wife would kill me if she knew I was the one who got you killed.” I frown. “So, I was saving both of our asses.”
“Thanks for the consideration,” he says inhaling sharply from the pain in his shoulder.
“Don’t mention it.” I laugh.
I hear the sirens in the distance, and he looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “I called Brad,” I say. Brad is my captain. My boss. “And your wife, along with Tate, are with him.”
“What? Why?” He sits down on the stairs and takes a few deep breaths.
“She woke and you were gone. She called Tate. Tate called me.” I shrug as if I don’t understand it. Women.
We sit on the steps as we hear the sirens get closer. I watch as my boss gets out of his car and looks down at White’s dead body and then narrows his eyes on me. “Parker,” he shouts.
I stand from the stairs and growl. “I’m coming.”
“Parker?”
“I’m coming,” I mumble.
“Parker.” I hear my name being shouted. And I sit straight up.
“Huh?” I ask looking around my office.
“Were you having naughty dreams?” Slade asks with a smirk as he sits down on the chair in front of my desk.
“Why would you ask that?” I wipe the drool off my face.
He smiles. “Because when I yelled your name your response was I’m coming.”
I shake my head. I’m not gonna tell him what I was dreaming about. Slade and the rest of us have come to forget all of that.
“Why are you so tired?” he asks, not going to question my words anymore.
“I worked last night.” We all know that I can’t quit the force. We don’t know how much of what White said was true, but just in case, I have to stay there. I’ve been trying ever since then to find someone who I think may be a part of all the drugs that are being sold around town but so far, no luck. Plus, I couldn’t imagine leaving my job as a cop.
“Well, that sucks.”
I smile. “Not really. Katherine got arrested again…”
“What?” he asks int
errupting me. “What are the odds that you arrest her twice in two weeks?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t arrest her. I just happened to be there when she was brought in.”
“What for?” he wonders, and I wave my hand in the air. That doesn’t matter.
“Fun fact-I kissed her.” I sigh as I sit back in my chair. I had fucking kissed her. And my balls survived. I consider that a win.
“You did what?” he asks wide-eyed. “Why would you do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? She’s hot as fuck.” I place my hands behind my head, trying to stretch my back. I need a massage.
He shakes his head quickly. “This is not good, Parker.”
“Why not? You were the one joking about us getting married at Tate and Missy’s wedding,” I inform him.
“I don’t recall that.”
“Jesus, how drunk were you?” How many glasses of wine had he drunk?
“Drunk enough to be bitched at all the next day by my wife,” he says, leaning back in his chair, getting comfortable.
“So, no sex like you had planned?” I ask with a smile. Ahh, the married life must suck.
He shakes his head. “Not unless you call hugging the toilet sex,” he adds.
And I laugh. “I tried to warn you that your dick wouldn’t work if you continued to drink, but you wouldn’t listen.”
He shrugs. “It is what it is. Let’s get back to you and Katherine.”
“It was just a kiss.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit,” he says with a smirk.
“Have you ever known me to want more than one night?” I ask, placing my hands in my lap.
He gives me a big smile. “Have you ever met a woman who would give you a run for your money?”
“Well, no, but…”
“She will.” And I have a feeling he’s right. He stands from his chair. “Angel has to work late tomorrow night since Missy is still away. My parents want to take Sadey to dinner to show her off to some of their friends,” he adds with a proud smile. “Wanna go out to dinner?”
“Sounds great,” I say before he walks out of my office.
*****
I dragged ass yesterday but felt much better today after getting a good night’s rest. Today was actually a great day. Work kept us busy up at the office. We had several calls and have some security jobs lined up. The day passed by quickly, and I went home, showered, and got ready for dinner with Slade. I pull up to the front of the restaurant and see Slade get out of his truck.
I open the front door and spot her the second I walk into the restaurant. She sits at the bar in a light blue dress. It looks like a babydoll dress. Tight around her ample chest and then has a high white belt on it. The bottom half of it is short but fans out a little bit.
“I’ll be right there.” I throw over my shoulder before I walk away from Slade and over to her. I hear him chuckle behind me.
“Is this seat taken?” I sit down knowing she’s not here alone. No woman comes to dinner dressed like that alone.
“Yes,” she replies not even looking over at me.
“First come, first serve.” I’d gladly serve her.
“Well, I’m not going to serve you,” she replies as she pulls her eyes away from her drink and looks over at me. She sighs heavily when she sees who has occupied the seat next to her. “You’re like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
I smile. “So, you dream about me?”
She snorts. “Not quite.” Reaching, she grabs her drink and takes a sip of it.
“Do you sleep naked?” I ask.
She chokes on her drink and grabs for a napkin to absorb the dribble that rolls down her chin. I have an urge to lick it off. “Excuse me?” she snaps.
“You said I was a nightmare.” I look down at her large breasts and I swear I can already taste them. “I can’t help but wonder if you’re naked when you think of me.”
Her eyes narrow at me, and she leans over to place her face right in front of mine. “I don’t know who in the hell you think you are….”
“I’m Parker O’Hare,” I say simply. “But you already know that.” I smile.
“Parker O’Hare.” My name rolls off her tongue with venom. “I’m on a date and you are in his seat. So, get your ass up and walk away.” With that, she looks away from me and straightens once again.
I allow my eyes to roam over her body. She’s beautiful. I don’t mean the ‘false beauty’—the ones who wear so much make-up they could pass for a clown. Her skin looks creamy and soft.
“Why are you still here?” she demands, and I peel my eyes away from her chest to look her in the eyes. Even those are beautiful. A soft pretty brown. If you were just to see her walking by, you would think she’d be the kind of shy type. Well, until she opens her mouth.
“Just admiring you.”
“I’m not here for your viewing pleasure,” she quips.
“Could have fooled me.”
She surprises me as a smirk spreads across her face. “I think you have the wrong impression of me. That kiss…”
“Was amazing,” I interrupt her. “But anyway. Continue. Please, inform me how that kiss made you dream of me last night.” I know she did because I dreamed about her.
“I’m a lady,” she says with a smile that tells me she’s more than that. I bet she’s a kinky little bitch.
“Could have fooled me with how much skin you have on display.” My eyes drop down to her exposed legs. I fist my hands to keep from reaching out and touching them.
“I can be a lady and wear a dress. I do know how to keep my legs closed.” It was a statement, but her eyebrow arches as if she’s challenging me to prove her otherwise.
This woman has no idea who she’s dealing with. “Not around me, you can’t.”
“Are you trying to get into my panties?” she asks as if that’s impossible.
“Absolutely,” I say in all honesty. Did that kiss not tell her what I want?
She licks her pink glossy lips. “What if I said I’m not wearing any panties?” she whispers.
A smirk spreads across my face, and my dick swells behind my zipper. She just loves to fuck with me. “Well, then my night just got a little easier, didn’t it?”
She throws her head back and lets out a laugh. A laugh that makes me think maybe she’s not as big of a bitch as she seems. Then it stops and she looks me in the eyes with her fuck-me eyes. And I have the urge to grab her face and kiss her again. “Mr. O’Hare, you’re not the reason I left my panties at home,” she says with a smile. Ouch. “But I’m sure you’ll find a pair to take off.” She looks around the restaurant. “I see plenty of options for you.”
I go to speak, but a man standing behind me clears his throat. I look over my shoulder and he speaks. “You’re in my seat.”
I look over at her and she hides her smile behind the rim of her drink. “I am,” I say as I stand. I reach over and take her free hand. I bring it to my lips as I stare into her eyes. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Katherine.”
“I’d rather not,” she says matter-of-factly.
I smile. “Where’s the fun in that?” I ask before I place a kiss on her hand and then walk off.
*****
KATHERINE
They finally seated us at our table. And guess what? They seated us right in Parker’s view. I haven’t looked up at him once, but I can feel his eyes on me. I just wanna lift my hand and flip him the bird. Or write fuck you on my menu and hold that up for him to stare at. Either one would be great. His cocky little attitude is wearing thin on my nerves. He pretty much flat-out said that he wants to fuck. Now, I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but I’m gonna say he wasn’t. I bet if I went over there, pulled up my dress, straddled him, and said ‘fuck me’ for all to see—he would be ready and willing to play ball. Why does that thought excite me?
My date is on his fifth drink, and he seems to be very uncomfortable. I didn’t think he drank often. Or it could be that he can feel Parker’s eyes
as well. He hasn’t asked how I know Parker, which is great because I’d hate to tell him that the guy arrested me after I broke his nose. The entire story would sound unbelievable. And make me sound like the total bitch that I am.
I try not to flinch when my date leans over and places his arm around my shoulders. I play it off with a laugh as I lean in his direction. He turns and places his face in front of mine. Fuck, this date officially sucks ass. Why didn’t I tell him no? I have no problem telling Parker or any other guy no. Of course, Parker had to ruin it.
“You’re so beautiful,” he says almost screaming in my face.
I close my eyes when the smell of Crown covers my face. “Thank you,” I say through gritted teeth.
He places his other hand roughly on my face and my eyes spring open as his fingers dig into my cheek. He leans in to kiss me, but I pull away.
“What?” he asks as he laughs. “No loving for me tonight?”
I grab the napkin from my lap and throw it down on the table. “Absolutely not.”
“Is there a problem here?”
I sigh when I look up to see Parker standing at our table with Slade. He looks to be sorry for me. Parker, on the other hand, looks pissed. His hard, brown eyes stare down at my date. I don’t want him getting involved. Guys who get involved think you owe them something. “Nothing I can’t handle,” I tell him. And it’s true. I have a Taser in my purse. A girl can never be too careful.
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