“Never?”
I hesitated.
“Stand up.” His whip-like tone startled me to my feet. He turned me around and bent me over.
Oh, not again.
Cole swatted me through my jeans, hard.
“Ow.” How he’d gotten it to hurt through the denim, I had no idea. Maybe my behind was bruised from my last beating.
“That’s the consequence of lying. Sit down again.”
“I don’t wanna,” I pouted, rubbing my butt. But I obeyed with a little wince. I’d started to learn disobedience wasn’t the way to go. He’d more than proved he was willing to spank me.
“Now you’re going to tell me the truth or you’ll regret it. How much of this stuff did you have with you?”
“Just that.” I didn’t protest that it was Benny’s again, guessing that Cole just wanted to know my involvement. He seemed pretty focused on me, and only me.
“This is your first time smoking pot?”
“Third or fourth,” I said. “The last times were all in college.”
A little of his anger ebbed away. “Were you planning to sell this?”
I started to answer then hesitated. He said no lying.
“I thought about selling it, yes,” I said with total honesty. “I need money.”
“If I find you’ve lied to me?—”
“Cole, I swear I only thought about it. Benny mentioned dealing it, I decided it wouldn’t be right. The only reason I got in the car with him was because I was tipsy at the bar. Believe me, it won’t ever happen again. And if this is some sort of sting, I’m happy to testify to Benny’s statement about selling, if you want.”
After my little outburst, Cole relaxed so much he looked like a different man. He sat down on the couch beside me, like I was a friend and not a suspect. Relief washed over me, so intense it made me wonder about the depth of my feelings for my sheriff. Maybe I hadn’t gotten over my schoolgirl crush.
“This isn’t a sting. We know Benny’s getting pot with intent to deal. I was afraid you were caught up in it. You shouldn’t be anywhere near Benny or the people he deals with.”
“Well, no worries about that. The man is disgusting.”
Cole nodded, looking pleased. I felt more confused than ever.
“What is this anyway? A new form of interrogation? Your own version of good cop/bad cop? Stern cop and…sadistic spanking cop?”
He almost smiled. Almost. Which was fine because I wasn’t trying to be funny. “I did get carried away with the spanking.”
“Yes, what was that? You freaked me out.” I shifted on my seat, pressing my legs together. I’d been more than freaked out. I’d been scared and aroused. It was the arousal, mainly, that freaked me out.
His quick glance at my legs told me he hadn’t missed the movement.
“You were belligerent, and I wanted to get your attention. I couldn’t have you repeating that behavior again.”
“Being a smart aleck?”
“Propositioning a cop.”
“I didn’t know that was such a serious crime.”
“It is, because some men on the force would take you up on it. And I can’t have that.”
