Nodding, I replied, "Understood. I'll have time to fine you for overserving, but you get where you need to be going."
He pivoted to shelve a glass, muttering under his breath. I didn't catch the entirety of the comment but it wasn't complimentary. Something about wishing my mother had swallowed me when she had the chance.
When he turned back, he said, "Best I can tell, Bartlett let her down easy and she didn't see it comin'."
"Um, no, I did not." Annette snorted out a laugh and reached for the martini glass in front of her. "Bring me the alcohols, JJ. All the alcohols."
I snatched the nearly empty martini away and handed it to JJ. "Let's get the lady some water."
JJ gave me a wan look while he shoveled ice from a bin under the bar top into a cup. "Yes, let's. There's nothin' I'd enjoy more than gettin'the ladyanother beverage."
"What's this about Captain Bartlett?" I asked, glancing between the bookseller and the barkeep.
Owen Bartlett lived on the far end of Talbott's Cove, made his living as a lobsterman, and was a powerful member of the town council. He'd asked hours of tough questions when I interviewed with the council for this job, and he was one of my biggest supporters now that I was sheriff. He led with his principles and believed in contributing to his community, and I admired those qualities.
But I couldn't square the idea of Bartlett and Annette. Not when I knew Bartlett was gay and living with internet billionaire Cole McClish. Mr. McClish seemed to be keeping a low profile this summer, and not splashing his fame or wealth around the Cove. I was thankful for that small gift. The last thing I needed was the media storming my beaches or news helicopters circling the harbor.
"He doesn't want me. No one ever wants me," Annette wailed. She tipped the glass of water back but grimaced when the liquid hit her tongue. "This isn't liquor and that is a problem."
"The sheriff is cuttin' you off," JJ announced. "Adios, honey."
With one hand low on Annette's back, I leaned across the bar toward JJ. "Kindly explain to me what the fuck is going on here."
He glanced at the wall clock and then back at me. "Are you payin' this girl's bar bill? If not, it's closing time."
I reached into my back pocket and thumbed out two twenties. "This should cover it for tonight."
"Barely," he muttered.
"Tomorrow we'll have an official visit to talk about overserving," I continued, tossing the cash on the bar, "and shaking down law enforcement. Good?"
JJ scooped up the bills and nodded. "Great," he said. "As far as I know, our girl here wasn't going with Bartlett but she wanted to be. They had words this evening. He told her it wasn't happening." He paced the length of the bar and switched off the overhead lights. "End of story, time to go, farewell and good night."
As the bar descended into near darkness, Annette wobbled on the stool and spilled the glass of water down my tan uniform trousers. "Oh, shit," she yelled.
I hissed as the icy cold seeped into my clothes and shocked my skin.
She lost her grip on the glass and it rolled down the bar, a wobbly, ominous echo in the dusk while she patted my crotch with a wad of cocktail napkins. Between the ice bath and the surprise fondling, my cock had no idea what to do. It was a true "Should I stay or should I go?" conundrum in my pants, and I was helpless to stop her. She had one hand braced on my thigh while the other worked me over, and the only reasonable response to this was sliding my palm up her spine to the back of her neck. Without conscious thought, my fingertips pressed into her soft skin, my thumb stroking the graceful column of her neck. A rush of newfound intimacy washed over me, hot and welcoming, and it was almost enough to forget everything else in the world save for Annette.
Almost.
In the distance, I registered a quick whistling sound. At the same time, I realized I couldn't hear the glass rolling down the bar anymore and—crash. It hit the floor and shattered, and JJ let out a string of curses laced with complaints about having better things to do with his night.
The crunch and clatter of glass shook me from my momentary paralysis. "Annette," I barked, reaching for her hands. The ones with enough knowledge of my anatomy to sculpt a perfect replica.Jesus Christ.This was wrong. I was in uniform and on the clock, and she was past the point of making informed decisions. So fucking wrong. Regret pulsed through me as I pulled her away from my crotch. Regret that I had to end this. Regret that I'd let it get this far. "It's good, it's fine. You can stop."
"You can both stop," JJ called. "Like I've said, it's closing time."
My fingers were still wrapped around her wrist and I wasn't inclined to change that. "Let's get you home," I said, peering down at her bright, wide eyes. "Are you steady enough to walk?"
She met my stare with a studious one of her own, dragging her gaze from head to toe and then up again. She paused on my face and I knew she was working to make sense of my features. It was a flicker, nothing more than a half second. Almost everyone did it, even people I'd known for years. My tanned skin and blond hair ran contrary to my most typically Chinese feature, my eyes. I didn't take offense. To the mind's eye, I was a curiosity.
And I didn't mind Annette's close study.
"Of course I can walk," she replied, hopping off the stool.
If I didn't have a hold on her wrist, she would've hit the floor when she swayed on unsteady feet. I yanked her closer to me and locked an arm around her waist. "Are you sure about that?" I asked.
"Right now," she started, her words punctuated by a hiccup, "I'm not sure about anything."
