36. Knox

“Turn on the mower!”Liv yelled. “Yank that chain!”

I shook my head at her. It was one thing to stand in my brother’s front yard wearing nothing but cowboy boots, pink heart boxers, and a cowboy hat. It was another thing entirely to have my brother, sister-in-law, and the woman I’d fallen for as an audience. Thankfully, the kids were too busy swinging and playing in the backyard to be bothered by this fiasco.

Larkin’s face was pure joy as she wolf-whistled. “Get it, baby!”

Well, if Larkin wanted a show, I’d give her a show. I’d embarrass myself a thousand different ways to make her smile like that.

I pointed my ass their direction, bent over nice and slow, and made a show of pulling the lawn mower chain.

“Ow ow!” Liv yelled.

Fletcher guffawed.

And Larkin’s tinkling laugh hit my ears. God, anything to make her laugh.

I shook my ass and then theatrically pulled a second time, my arm muscles and abs flexing with each movement.

Larkin laughed even harder, gasping for air.

My smile had to be just as big as hers. With my back to them, I schooled my expression, then I finally pulled the cord so the mower roared to life. I slowly snapped back up, rolling my hips in a sexy dance move on the way.

Fletcher yelled, “You chose the wrong profession!”

“Cop, stripper, what’s the difference?” I tossed back. I turned up the throttle on the mower, then clamped the starting bar together. The self-propelled mower started moving, and I strutted along with it, moving my hips side to side, playfully adjusting my cowboy hat.

And then someone drove by. And slowed down.

And reversed.

Oh dear Lord. If one of the other cops happened to be out here...

But when I looked over, I didn’t see another cop. Rhett Griffen had pulled alongside the road and had his phone camera pointed right at me.

My jaw dropped, and I turned to Liv. “You put him up to this!”

Tears were streaming down her face she was so amused, and Larkin was bent over the fence like she couldn’t stand up straight with how hard she was laughing.

And then all hell broke loose when the door to the truck opened, and that damn pig he and Fletcher pranked me with the year before came running toward me.

I let go of the mower and said, “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

The sound of laughter blended with the squeals of the pig. Even Graham, Maya’s dog, was barking happily in the background.

“Better get the pig!” Rhett yelled. “Wouldn’t want him getting lost!”

“My flowers!” Liv shrieked as the pig darted straight toward her pretty landscaping. “Get him, Knox!”

“Oh, now it’s my job, not Rhett’s,” I muttered, tossing the cowboy hat on the ground. But I couldn’t let Liv’s flowers get destroyed either. This meant business.

I started slowly after the pig, trying not to scare it into the bed of petunias and trample it further while he rooted around with his flat pink nose.

The animal was so distracted by Liv’s flowers, it hardly noticed me creeping up. I lunged for it, wrapping my arms around its pot belly, but it squealed and slipped out of my arms, almost like it was covered in...

I turned back to Rhett. “YOU GREASED IT?!”

His face was red from laughing so hard as he pointed to my brother. “It was Fletch’s idea.” Liv and Larkin were holding each other up, in stitches.

“I hate you, all of you,” I said, turning to see where the pig had gone. He was prancing and snorting in the new natural stone fountain Liv and Fletch had installed up front. Figuring I had a little time, I jogged up to the fence where they were all hooting and hollering.

Larkin was breathless as I drew near. I leaned in, whispering in her ear, “I’m punishing you for this later.”

Her spine stiffened, and she met my eyes. I gave her a teasing grin before pulling my T-shirt off the fence and sneaking back toward the pig. He was happier than a... pig in mud, splashing around in the water.

So happy that he didn’t notice me launch forward with my shirt and wrap it around him. I picked it up by the pot belly, holding the snorting, squealing thing in my arms like a trophy. “Gotcha!”

The traitors watching me burst out in applause. If I had a free hand, I’d give them all the finger. Instead, I marched the pig to Rhett’s truck, muttering, “We have got to stop meeting this way, Porky.”

He stilled like he sensed defeat.

Then I put the pig and the shirt in Rhett’s arms. “Go on, get.”

“Worth the fifty bucks,” he muttered.

I smirked. “Worth the revenge that’s coming your way?”

Rhett tossed his head back and laughed.

Pretty sure at this rate we were going to make the teens who owned this potbellied pig filthy stinking rich.

As Rhett drove away, I turned to face the people watching at the fence, and I couldn’t help but feel triumphant as I put my cowboy hat back on and finished mowing the rest of the yard.

Because later, I’d get to punish Larkin for being a bad, bad girl.

I couldn’t fucking wait.