“Fine,” I snapped, fumbling with the key as I attempted to fit it into the lock at this weird angle. “I’ll do this but only because it’s already raining and is supposed to continue all day, so they won’t get far anyway.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, lawbreaker.”
“Are you sure you and Beck are related? He’s so welcoming.”
He snorted. “That’s the last word I’d use to describe Beck.”
“Fine, welcoming in a surly kind of way. At least he’s not a complete curmudgeon like you.”
Brady snapped his mouth shut as his face reddened. He looked even more pissed than usual, and that was saying something. “You’re awful mouthy for someone who’s about to be handcuffed in the back of my car.”
“Not my first time, Sheriff.” I winked as I freed myself from the chains and stood, stretching my limbs over my head and dipping side to side before sinking into a standing forward bend. I’d only been there for a couple hours, but it’d been long enough to get stiff. “Do you have a fork for all that deliciousness?”
He didn’t answer right away, so I stood upright and glanced at him over my shoulder, just in time to see his eyes dart away from wherever he’d been staring. My ass? No way…I had to be mistaken.
“In the car,” he finally said, grabbing the to-go cup from the ground and standing to his full height where he towered over me. He had to be 6’3” at least, and the man was seriously sex on a stick, especially in his uniform. Why was it always the hot ones who were assholes?
“Thought you were gonna cuff me.” I fell into step next to him, giving Mabel and the phone she directed our way a quick flutter of my fingers.
“Keep running your mouth, and I will.”
“I didn’t realize you could do things that were against the rules.”
He glared down at me as he opened the back door to his police car. “So youdounderstand the concept of rules.”
“Understand them?” I slipped into the now-familiar back seat and shrugged, holding out my hands for the deliciousness he held. “Sure. I just view them more as suggestions than guidelines.”
“I’m well aware.” He handed me the container of food and my drink before shutting the door and sliding into the front seat. Through the opened plexiglass panel, he passed back a fork. “Any chance your plans are taking you out of Starlight Cove today?”
I tucked into my breakfast, humming and closing my eyes as the first delicious bite hit my tongue. When I reopened my eyes, I met Brady’s gaze in the rearview mirror and shook my head. “With food like this? I don’t think so.” I wrapped my lips around the straw, taking a long pull of my morning cocktail. “You never answered me before. You sure you and Beck are brothers? Someone who makes something this delicious surely can’t be related to someone who looks like they suck on lemons for fun.”
Holding eye contact and without answering, Brady slid the plexiglass partition closed, effectively cutting off communication with me and leaving me back here to think about what I’d done.
While he probably thought it’d been too much, I knew it hadn’t been nearly enough, even two days in a row. My mom would’ve been so disappointed if she knew I’d folded because I’d slipped up and protested without coming prepared. That was, like, the first rule she’d taught me. I usually had a prepacked bag with all my essentials, but I’d forgotten to replace everything after yesterday’s protest.
Unfortunately, I might not be able to keep this from her. Not since my lawyer father was the one I called to help me out whenever trouble like this found me. And it’d been finding me a lot since I arrived in Starlight Cove. Or rather,Bradyhadbeen finding me a lot. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he actually enjoyed arresting me.
I glanced toward him, taking in the sharp line of his jaw, the stiff set of his shoulders. The way he gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. I’d never met a man more in control than he was. Never met one who followed the law to the letter as much as he did.
Never met one I loved to torment quite as much, either.
CHAPTERFOUR
BRADY
Why the helldid that woman get to me so damn much? She was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Or like a persistent fly that wouldn’t leave me the hell alone, buzzing around all day but just out of reach.
I glanced over at her in the holding cell, her head tipped back against the wall and exposing her long neck, eyes closed, a soft smile on those plush pink lips, and I had to force myself to look away.
But it didn’t matter.
Somewhere along the way during the time she’d been here—here, in Starlight Cove, yes, but also here, in the station—I’d looked at her enough that her features were seared into my brain. I could recall the exact twinkle in her eye when she said something she knew would piss me off. Knew the exact shade of copper streaked through her chestnut hair when the sun hit it. Knew the exact curve her lips tipped up into when she thought I wasn’t looking.
Knew how goddamn hard she made me by simply breathing—not to mention having her curves on display while being forced to witness her flexibility. Nothing like having her ass directly in my line of sight to make my cock thicken enough that I’d worried it’d actually escape my uniform pants.
Fuck me, this woman was trouble with a capital T.
My desk phone rang before I could make my way to Luna, and I sank into my chair with a sigh. “Sheriff McKenzie,” I answered.
