Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

L uckily, his home was between Mandy’s house and the office, so John made good time getting to work and was only a few minutes late. Walking inside, he put his things down and started his computer.

“Hey,” Mac said as he walked in. “The boss wants us on a conference call in ten minutes. I was a little worried I was going to have to cover for you.”

“Sorry ‘bout that. Things moved forward with Mandy a bit quicker than I thought.”

“So, that’s why you look tired but in such a good mood.”

“That would be it.” John grinned. “Jesus, Mac, it wasn’t like anything I’ve ever done with anybody. It was just so perfect and felt so right. And we both felt it.”

“All of my training says I should be telling you to be careful and slow down.”

“But you’re my friend and have already run a background check on her,” John said with a laugh.

“Guilty as charged. You start talking about getting a ring for her finger, I’m going to make sure she’s not some escaped desperado.”

“Anything of interest?”

“Some minor arrests here and there for environmental protests. She punched one of those deputies from Maricopa County. They didn’t press charges. It seems like she’s got a redhead’s temper and a lead foot.”

“She kicked me in the shins last night,” John said, smiling.

“I get punching those deputy putzes but kicking a federal officer?”

“In all fairness, I had swatted her backside.”

Mac laughed. “Did you then explain to her the legal ramifications of that kind of behavior?”

“No, but she did come to understand there are worse consequences than being arrested.”

“Did she now?” Mac teased. “I think you may have met your match and found your girl.”

John sobered.

“I know I did. I know it’s fast, but Mac, she’s amazing. I got after her, and it was settled, then when we made love, it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. My wildest dreams and fantasies all rolled into one sweet, curvy, passionate, responsive package.”

“I’m happy for you, John, truly.” Mac stood and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Let’s go get this conference call done, then go ring shopping. It sounds like you’d better make this legal sooner rather than later.”

M andy heard her phone and was disappointed to see that it was only Willa. Only Willa? John Hampton had certainly made an impression in her life, and she wasn’t really sure how she felt about that.

“Hey, boss lady,” she said brightly.

“Are you okay?” asked Willa.

“Absolutely. Why?”

“Well, usually, you’re here when we’re taking a large party out.”

“Sorry. I had everything arranged and was just going to work from home, but no worries, I can be there pretty damn quick,” Mandy said, already pulling on clothes.

“I hate to ask, but it’s a new group, and it’s the largest one we’ve had.”

“Say no more. I’m out the door in less than ten minutes.”

Mandy rushed to get ready and as promised, was out the door and on her way in record time. She was making fairly good time on the highway when she spied flashing lights in her rearview mirror. Glancing down at her speedometer, she muttered, “Shit!” under her breath. She was doing close to ninety mph in a seventy-five-mph zone. Turning on her directional signal, she slowed down and pulled onto the wide shoulder of the road. Looking in the rearview mirror, she realized it wasn’t a state patrolman but a sheriff’s deputy who had pulled her over. She sighed. She and that particular branch of law enforcement did not have a good history. She rolled down her window.

“Good morning. Well, if it isn’t Mandy Adams. Do you know why I pulled you over?” the deputy said.

Mandy knew the proper way to answer was something polite, but she and the deputies in Maricopa County had gone a few rounds. She’d punched one of them at an environmental protest, and their department had it out for her ever since. For a while, they had pulled her over for absolutely anything.

Instead of being respectful, she heard herself saying, “Because you have nothing better to do and a quota to make?”

“Ma’am, we don’t have any kind of quota.”

“Yeah, right,” she snorted. “Move it along, will you, and just write the damn ticket? I’m in a hurry.”

“That’s obvious since you were going quite a bit over the speed limit.”

“Yep, I was. Listen, deputy, if you’re going to write me up, could you just do it? I don’t fancy sitting here, listening to you lecture me. So, either write me a ticket or run your mouth, but don’t waste my time doing both.”

“Ma’am, you can’t speak to me that way. It’s illegal.”

Mandy laughed. She really hated these jackasses.

“No, it’s not. You may not like it, but the First Amendment guarantees me the right to speak to you any way I damn well please. So, if my language offends you, then shut up, write the ticket, and I’ll be on my merry way. But if I have to listen to you spout off, I’m going to feel free to do the same. Make a choice, deputy, times a-wastin'.”

“Have you had anything to drink, ma’am?”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? That’s what you’re going with?”

“Answer my question, Ms. Adams. Have you been drinking?”

“No, deputy dimwit, I haven’t. Well, that’s not true. I had coffee… does that count? Now, either write me up or let me go.”

The deputy backed away from her door. “Ma’am, you need to step out of the car.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. You and I both know I was going too fast, and we both know I’m sober. You’re just being an asshole.”

“Ma’am, I asked you to step out of the car. I’m afraid I have to insist,” he said, placing his hand on the butt of his gun.

Mandy sighed and did as requested.

Keeping his eye on her, the deputy went back to his vehicle and returned with his breathalyzer. He prepared it, then handed it to Mandy.

“I’m going to ask you to take the breathalyzer test.”

“This is bullshit, and you know it.”

He waved the portable device in her face, and Mandy swatted it away.

“I’m going to have to insist, ma’am.”

“You do whatever you want, but I have a legal right to refuse—which I’m doing.”

“And I have the right to arrest you for it,” he threatened.

“You weasel. Go ahead. I’ll sue your sorry ass for false arrest.”

“Ma’am, I’m going to ask you to face your car and put your hands on the hood.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I’ll ask you to refrain from using that kind of language and comply with my instructions.”

“I’ll comply with your request to put my hands on the hood of my vehicle, but I’ll also express my constitutional right to call you a mother fucker while I do it.” Mandy sighed and did what he asked.

The deputy made short work of putting her in handcuffs and in the back of his patrol car. He secured her vehicle after searching it and took her purse and cell phone into custody. He returned to his vehicle and headed back to his office. Once inside, she asked his desk sergeant if she could use her phone to make a call. She called Willa.

“You’re what?” Willa exclaimed, then started to laugh. “Let me guess, your redheaded temper got the better of you, and you were a pain.”

“If all he’d wanted to do was give me a ticket, I’d have taken it and been on my merry way. But oh, no. The little prick wanted to give me a lecture. These assholes have had it in for me. Honestly, Willa, if he’d just given me the ticket and not been such a dick about it, I’d have paid the fine and not even contested it. But he was a complete asshole, which I told him, so then he wanted to lecture me on my language, and when I told him to buzz off, he accused me of drunk driving.”

“I know you didn’t fail the breathalyzer.”

“I’d have to have taken it to fail it.”

“Jesus, Mandy.”

“He had no right to make me take it.”

“As soon as we’re out of here, I’ll send Gus to get you.”

“Thanks, Willa. I’m sorry, but these macho assholes just rub me the wrong way.”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll see John tonight, and he’ll rub you the right way.”

Mandy giggled.

“He did that numerous times last night and this morning. I’m not sure he knows how to rub me the wrong way.”

“Well, well, well. You’ll have to catch me up when I get back. Sit tight, and Gus will be there as soon as possible.”

“Thanks, Willa, and again, I’m sorry to have messed you up.” She handed her phone back to the sergeant. “Thanks. I appreciate you letting me do that.”

“No problem. I’m afraid you have to go in a holding cell until someone can come in to bail you out.”

“I know the drill.”

Mandy was led back by a deputy and put in a cell by herself. Several deputies stopped by to taunt her, but she just flipped them off. She hadn’t been there very long when another deputy came to get her. She was a bit surprised, knowing there was no way Gus, Willa’s head wrangler and all-around hand, would have been able to get there so quickly. She rounded the corner to see John standing with his arms folded across his broad chest, talking to the sheriff. She was escorted to his side.

“Hi, babe,” she said sweetly.

John glowered at her, then turned back to the sheriff and extended his hand.

“I appreciate the professional courtesy, Sheriff.”

“Not a problem, Marshal. In all honesty, I think my deputy may have been a bit overzealous. Your girl has a history with some of my men. I’m fairly certain both parties were at fault. I’m willing to even overlook the speeding ticket that started this whole thing if you can assure me this will be the end of it. She threatened my deputy with false arrest charges…”

“You have my word that won’t happen. Thanks again.”

Turning back to Mandy, John took her by the arm. It might have appeared to have been an affectionate gesture, but she could feel the steel in his grip and the waves of anger rolling off him.

“The guy was?—”

“Enough, Mandy,” he said through clenched teeth as he led her back outside, stopping to let her retrieve her purse and phone. Opening the car door, he helped her in before getting in on the driver’s side.

“John, the guy was completely out of line. That arrest was pure bullshit, and I’m going to sue his silly ass.”

“You’re going to do no such thing. I just assured the sheriff this was the end of it in exchange for all charges being dropped. Ninety? Are you kidding me? Where was the fire?”

“I was going out to do my job,” she retorted.

“This morning, you told me you could do whatever you needed from home. You need to give Willa a call and let her know I came and got you, so you don’t waste her time.”

“I wasn’t planning to go to the departure point, but it’s a new, big account, and Willa asked if I could come out, so I was rushing to get there.”

“Call Willa,” he interrupted.

After reassuring her friend everything was fine, she ended the call.

“If he’d just given me the damn ticket!”

“Or if you’d just blown into the damn breathalyzer. And I come back to ninety miles per hour. Do you have any idea what happens if anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong at that rate of speed?”

“I’m an excellent driver,” she spat.

“Don’t you take that tone with me.”

“Fuck you. Why don’t you just let me out, and I’ll get a ride back to my car?”

“You want to apologize for that?” he said in a tone that replaced the edge of his anger with the determination she had heard the night before.

“Not particularly.”

John stopped for a light, and Mandy unbuckled her seatbelt, unlocked the door, and reached for the handle. John re-engaged the lock and took hold of her arm.

“Put your seatbelt back on.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I thought we settled that last night. At least that’s what you told me. Should I add lying to the list of things you and I need to discuss when we get home?”

Mandy was unsure why she was becoming aroused. Granted, John had delivered on every fantasy she’d ever had about a man, plus a couple she hadn’t realized she had. So, there was that. But contributing to her arousal was the deep, authoritative voice and the memory of his spanking her the night before. She was glad he had explained it wasn’t the pain involved that had turned her on, but the show of dominance—a trait he was displaying in abundance at the moment.

“My guess is the proper answer to that is, no, Sir,” she said in a far less heated and far more respectful tone.

“That would be the one. Get that seatbelt buckled, Mandy. Right now.”

Mandy wasn’t sure what it was about John that kept her from telling him off and getting out of his truck. She wasn’t the least bit frightened, but she was pretty damn sure he meant to get after her about this whole incident. Normally, her inclination would be to go on the offensive and confront him, but she remembered all too vividly, doing so last night had resulted in being put over his knee and getting spanked, so she decided to switch tactics.

“Yes, John. I’m sorry.”

He glanced at her. “Sorry for what? Driving like a bat out of hell? Being disrespectful to a law officer? Using incredibly inappropriate language? Shall I go on?”

“No, I think you about covered it. I’m sorry for whatever it is that will make you a little less angry.”

John snorted. “At least you’re honest about it. Won’t do much to mitigate the spanking you’re going to get, but at least it lets me know part of what I said got through to you last night.”

“Hey! You can’t just waltz into my life and decide you’re going to spank me whenever the hell you want.”

“I can, and I have. Moreover, while I don’t think you enjoy getting spanked, it sure as hell got you aroused, and I’ll take care of that as well.”

“Now, you’re talking,” she purred. The idea of getting naked with John had a lot of appeal, and she could feel her nipples beading up under her bra.

John shook his head and chuckled.

“In the interest of being fair and not misleading you, that comes after I blister your butt for your behavior.”

Mandy sat back in silence. She’d have to figure out a way to get him to skip spanking her and go right to the fucking her portion of what was to come. John turned on his blinker and took an exit that wasn’t hers.

“I don’t want to be a passenger seat driver, but?—”

“Good,” he said, interrupting her.

“That’s not my exit,” she finished her thought.

“You are correct, it’s mine. We’re headed to my house. I’d planned to go by there to get some things to take you up on your invitation to leave some of them at your place, but I think being in a stand-alone house versus one with common walls might be better.”

“How so?” she asked with a bit of trepidation.

“No worries about disturbing anyone. My place is on a couple acres, so we’ll have plenty of privacy. Besides, I have a king-size bed and a much bigger shower.”

“I’m not sure whether to be intrigued, excited, or concerned.”

“I think a combination of all three is probably fairly appropriate.”

“So, I should be concerned?” she asked, trying to sound light-hearted.

“Absolutely. If you were still feeling the effects of the spanking you got last night, I’d be very concerned about the one you’re going to get when we get home. Last night was the first time, and we hadn’t really talked about it, but that’s not the case today. Your behavior was completely out of line.”

“That prick started it. I mean, I’d have taken the damn ticket and paid it without a fuss if he hadn’t accused me of being drunk.”

“So, you admit you were driving unsafely.”

“No,” she said, trying to moderate her tone. “I admit I was driving fast, but I wasn’t unsafe.”

John pulled off the exit.

“At that rate of speed, sweetheart, it isn’t safe. Period. And you don’t speak that way to a law officer.”

“I do if he’s an asshole.”

“Mandy, I’ve told you about your language. Asshole and prick are not what I consider appropriate. Had you been respectful, it would only have been a speeding ticket, and I wouldn’t have received a phone call.”

“How did they know to call you? And what gave them the right to do so?”

“It was professional courtesy, one officer to another. The sheriff knows his guy was out of line and will deal with him, but he saw my card when they were cataloging the things in your purse and gave me a call. At some point, you’re going to call and thank him for that courtesy.”

“You thank him. He wasn’t courteous to me. He was doing it for you.”

“He was doing it,” John said evenly, “as a favor to a fellow officer and for that officer’s girl.”

“Who said I’m your girl?” she challenged.

“Keep it up, Mandy.” He shook his head. “You just keep digging that hole deeper and deeper.”