Chapter 10

"Did he kiss you goodnight when he walked you to the porch?" Kailee asks, wiping her hair back and taking a sip of her topped-off margarita, her third of the night.

Thank fuck for Saturday night margaritas at The Vault, a quaint bar in town that specializes in good drinks without the loud music or bad acoustics. You can hear yourself talk in here, and the booths and bar stools are usually full of other Saturday workers coming off of shifts and hanging out with coworkers. The Vault is hot with retail workers, musicians done with a set, and even the odd policeman or fireman coming off their shift. Kailee and I are at our usual spots at the bar. The bartender, Joey, saves our seats for us every Saturday after we close up the truck at whatever concert we've been working.

I half expected Liam to show up to the hairband concert tonight and flip his tape measure out at me. The problem is, I was actually looking for him. I wanted to see him, even if it was to harass me, and there's been a disappointment lodged in my stomach that I haven't seen him all night.

"He walked me to the door and made sure I was inside before we did this awkward stare down through the screen door."

Kailee looks up and licks a spot of salt from her top lip. "Like when we were teens and guys would be unsure if they should kiss us before we went inside?"

A sigh escapes my chest before I can stop it, and it sounds like a swoon. "That's exactly what it felt like. It was like that nervous flutter you feel in your chest, but you know they're nervous, too. He wouldn't meet my eyes, seemed more interested in my dog, and acted like he didn't know what to do with his hands," I chuckle, remembering how Liam stuck his hands in his pockets, ruffled his hair, and then moved his hands back to his pockets. "Maybe I'm wrong, though. He may have just been making sure I was safe."

"Did you want to kiss him?" Kailee asks. She has the uncanny ability to see right through me, and I know she already knows the answer. No use lying to her.

"I did." I blow out a breath and slouch onto the bar, resting my head on the mahogany. "I can't get him out of my head. I was disappointed I didn't get to spar with him tonight or even see him. He didn't come by, and I really wanted him to, Kailee. Why him, though? What makes him so special? All he's done is give me shit and make my first mugshots possible."

"You read romance. You know women like it when shit isn't easy. He's not easy."

I pick my head up and focus my eyes on her. "Oh, I think he's easy."

"Really?" she drawls. "You think you could get him into bed?"

"Oh, I know I could."

Kailee reaches into the bowl of pretzels on the table and grabs a bite, chews, and swallows while watching me through squinted eyes. "Let's put a wager on it."

"Excuse me? Are you betting if I can fuck the hot, mean cop?"

"Is he really mean?"

I slouch and bang my forehead on the bar, grinding it into the wood a little with a groan. Maybe I should slow down on the margaritas. "That's the thing. I don't feel like he is. Sure, he doesn't like drugs, even legal ones, but I think he's nice. He loves his mom. To be honest, his mom is really lovable, though. He likes Bogey, and Bogey likes him. Bogey doesn't like everyone, so that tells me that he's a good guy."

"Dogs are never wrong."

We drink in silence for a moment, Kailee sipping her margarita and me drinking the dregs of mine and waving for Joey to bring me another. "Fifty bucks," Kailee mumbles.

"That's an expensive margarita."

"No, fifty bucks you can't lay the good officer. Hell, I got twenty you can't work up the balls to even kiss him."

I place my margarita glass on the bar and shove it so Joey can pick it up and wash it. "I'll take the twenty-dollar bet. I can't do the fifty."

"Why not?"

"If I fuck him, I don't want it to be for money. I want it to be because we're arguing and he captures my mouth in a warm kiss as his hands roam up to my breasts," I say, trailing my hands over my body and causing Kailee to almost spit out her drink in laughter. "You know, like in my books I read. His mom reads those, by the way. Maybe Liam's read one or two and knows how to bend a good woman over and take her like a true alpha male."

Kailee stops laughing and straightens up suddenly, the picture of sobriety. Her eyes flit behind me for a second, and a smile lights up her face as she focuses her eyes on my face again. "Wouldn't that be funny if you did take the bet? The upstanding, angelic drug task force officer helping you seal a fifty-dollar bet with sex is downright tawdry. It would also be ironic."

"Why would it be ironic?"

Kailee smiles and covers her hand with mine. "Focus on my face and laugh in another ten seconds."

"What's going on?"

"Just do it."

I do as she asks and then chuckle loudly in a fake laugh that gives away that I've had a couple of margaritas tonight. In fact, we sound like immature high school girls. Kailee ends the laugh with a snort and signals for Joey to get her yet another drink.

"What the fuck was that about?" I ask.

Kailee holds up a finger. "Let me get another drink first so I can fully enjoy the irony and shenanigans."

"What?"

"Officer Half Inch just walked in with a sex god I wouldn't mind collecting fifty bucks for and is about twenty feet behind you."

I start to turn around, and Kailee grabs my arm. "Don't look. He'll see you!"

"You just wanted to bet me to kiss him, and now you don't want me to even look at him. Christ, make up your mind."

"I was joking about the bet."

I wasn't, but that's not the point here.

"Is he with a girl?" I ask, a horrible thought coming into my mind. I don't think I could stand it if he was on a double date or something.

Familiar butterflies take flight in my stomach, and the back of my neck feels hot. I take deep breaths. There's no way I can even sneak out of the bar because he's between us and the door. My eyes flick to the back of the bar near the restrooms and wonder if there's a back door to this place. There has to be another door in case of a fire or something, right?

But why leave? I was upset I didn't get to see him tonight, so why am I nervous? Hell, he doesn't know I'm here unless he installed a tracking device on my car and is stalking me. He's just here for a drink. A normal guy on the town with one of his friends or something.

"Does he look hot?" I ask, and I immediately grimace. I sound like I wasn't at school today and am asking my friend what my crush wore.

Kailee has the same impression. "Want me to pass him a note in the shape of a football?"

"May as well since you won't even let me turn around and look at him, much less go over and talk to him."

She squares her shoulders back and turns to face the bar. "Fine. Go talk to him. Maybe you can harass him while you're over there."

"Don't threaten me with a good time," I say, placing my drink on the bar a little harder than necessary and straightening my posture. "Do I look good enough to go over there? There's no lipstick on my teeth, right?"

"You look fierce," Kailee says, eyeing my tight jeans, blue sequin tank top, and gold butterfly necklace that hangs down to my cleavage. I'm in full makeup, and grab my gloss out of my purse, swiping it on my lips before I stand up with purpose.

"I'm going to go over there. Wish me luck."

I don't give her a chance to speak. I turn and stop short as I take in what Liam looks like out of his officer work outfit.

Fuck me.

He leisurely leans against the bar in dark jeans and a black golf shirt with a button undone at the top. It's enough for me to see a speck of dark chest hair, but I'm too busy drooling at how well the shirt fits over his pecs and torso. This is no dress shirt he wears for work, and it shows every line of his muscles. His skin is tan like he played a round of golf today, hence the shirt, or he was out on a leisurely boat ride.

The son of a bitch is actually smiling a full smile, and he looks like a different person. At ease. Happy. There's no woman in sight, thank fuck, and he's talking to his blond guy friend that I saw at the station. That must be his partner, but I don't have time to care right now because I'm too busy thinking about Liam's hands and the way he holds his beer. I can't help but wish his fingers were wrapped around my thighs like that. I've never been so jealous of a beer stein in my life as he brings the rim to his lips and slurps foam off the top. I'd love for my nipples to be that foam.

I take two steps, and the mood in the room changes. His eyes roam over my face, and he does a double take. I swear the chatter in the bar stops, or I just go temporarily deaf as he blinks twice at me and tilts his head like he's not sure if I'm real.

I can do this. I paste a smile on my face, toss my hair, and stride right over to Liam. "Fancy seeing you here, Officer Half Inch."

Liam's partner spits out a mouthful of beer and starts cackling, but Liam ignores him. "Thanks for that. I'll never get rid of that nickname now," Liam says, throwing the pretzel that was in his fist down on the bar.

"You deserve that in life."

"What are you doing here?" he asks, looking behind me and jerking his chin at Kailee.

"I could ask the same question since it's almost like you're stalking me."

"I'm not stalking you. I came here for a drink."

"Legal drugs, huh?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You're enjoying legal drugs. Alcohol is a drug, technically, and it's legal. Just like my goodies."

He laughs a little and shifts his posture so that he's taller. Damn near intimidating. "Your goodies?"

"You've seen my goodies. Last night."

Liam's face reddens right as his partner inhales beside me. "Just out of curiosity, what kind of goodies did my stick-in-the-butt partner see last night after he dropped you off?" his partner asks. "I'm Chase, by the way."

I shake Chase's outstretched hand but don't look away from Liam who fidgets like he's uncomfortable, but he meets my eyes. I'll give him that.

"Oh, he saw all my goodies in my greenhouse. Didn't you, Liam? You wanted to burn those goodies down. Touch them. Put your dirty fingers on them."

"What do you want, Lorelei?" he mumbles.

I reach into my purse and pull out the white package I got at a pot shop earlier in the week. Thankfully, it's still in the original packaging with the sticker attached so I can have it sealed in public, and I wave the small box under Liam's nose. "Oh, I was just on my way home to enjoy some of the pre-rolled herbal remedies I got the other day. See," I say, waving it back in front of him and pointing to the sticker on the white box. "Marijuana. Here's me wafting marijuana under a drug task force agent's nose in a proper container, and you can't do anything about it. Weeeeed." I cackle like I'm a witch and wave it like I'm hypnotizing Liam. "Look at the evil weed in front of your face."

He catches my hand and pushes my wrist down. "Are you drunk, Lorelei?"

"I've only had a couple of margaritas." I don't think I'm drunk. Holy shit, am I drunk? Now that I think about it, I have to be sloshed to come over to him, talk to him, and wave pre-rolled joints in front of his face. Maybe the third margarita was a bad idea.

I put the joints back in my purse, suddenly wanting nothing but to slink back over to Kailee and ignore him. "Um, okie dokie. It's good to see you." I turn to Chase. "Nice to meet you. You seem nice. More fun than your partner. But I'm going to go back to my friend now."

I turn to go back to Kailee, but a hand reaches out and grabs my wrist. "Where are you going? I thought you were going home to smoke the death sticks?"

I whirl back around, a sneer on my face. "Don't like me walking away, huh? I've actually changed my mind. I'm leaving. That way, we don't have to see each other."

I wave to Kailee over my shoulder and duck under Liam's arm, stalking toward the door. He turns and follows me, hot on my heels. I reach to open the door to the bar, and Liam puts his hand over it. "You're not driving like this."

I spin around to face him again and find his nose an inch from mine. He doesn't back up, and I can smell the one drink of beer he probably got to have before I interrupted his night. I could stand on my tip toes and kiss him, but I don't. I just stare at his lips as they slightly part like he wants to say something, but I beat him to it.

"Why do you always try to babysit me? I don't need a life boss."

"You obviously do. You need a babysitter. Actually, what you need is a good spanking, but that would be an inappropriate use of my position."

Heat moves from my chest all the way down to my toes, and a mental picture of bending over Liam's lap as those masculine hands come down on my tender skin flashes through my mind. I gasp a little, which is a terrible choice because I breathe in every bit of his Liam scent.

"You wouldn't," I mumble.

"Oh, I would, drug dealer. But what you need now is a ride home, so I'm going to drive your troublesome ass home for the second night in a row."

"I refuse."

"I can drive you home, or you can leave and I can call in a report of a drunk driver. You can go to the station for a second night. Which do you want?"

I look over my shoulder and find Kailee, still sitting at the bar, making a humping motion with her arms and licking her lips. I shake my head a little at her and she brings her hands to her mouth, making a blow job action as she pushes her tongue against her cheek. I give her the finger, and that just makes her turn her back to me, cross her arms around her back, and bob her head like she's making out with someone.

With friends like her, who needs enemies?

Liam turns to Chase, gives him a finger that isn't the middle one I just flashed at Kailee, and Chase nods, probably understanding that Liam will drop me off and be right back. "Come on," he says. "I'll run you home."

I let him turn my shoulders, open the door for me, and put that damn hand at my lower back to walk me to his car. This time, he escorts me to the front seat like I'm a model citizen, tenderly buckles my seatbelt for me, and gently shuts the door like he's taking me to dinner.