Now it’s a party.
The man behind the wheel stepped out, grabbing his hat off the dash and setting it on top of his head as he made his way toward us.
He looked super clean-cut in brown uniform pants with creases going all the way down. His matching brown shirt was tucked in behind his belt almost perfectly, and his badge, attached to his shirt, gleamed in the sun like it had never seen a smudge of dirt.
He tipped his head back, assessing the crowd in front of him, giving me a better look at his face.
Liam Carson—my brother Jace’s best friend.
Best known for being an absolute stick-in-the-mud. Someone was getting arrested today for sure.
Growing up, Liam had made it his goal in life to remind everyone around him to do the right thing. No muss, no fuss. He took everything seriously—too seriously.
I still had a running theory that he was the one who ratted me out to my parents for skipping school to go to the mall in Great Falls back in high school. I got grounded for a month. He was the only person who saw me and Jessica leave school early that afternoon. There was no other reason my dad would’ve been by the American Eagle store in the mall that day. I was positive he ratted me out—I just couldn’t prove it.
As always, I decided my best course of action was to talk myself out of whatever was coming next. Igently pushed past everyone, straightening my shoulders and turning on the Molly McKinley charm.
“Why am I not surprised to see you here?” Liam asked, walking toward me, clearly over the conversation before it had even gotten started.
“Why are your panties always in a wad?” I crossed my arms.
“I’m here to tell you and all your little friends that y’all gotta go,” he said, eyeing the crowd. “This company owns this land, fair and square now, and they’re here to conduct business on it. So everyone has to go, or I’ll arrest them for trespassing on private property. Plain and simple.”
“Will you arrest me?” I smirked, stepping closer to him.
“Are you telling me you plan on disobeying my orders?”
“No, I just have a handcuff kink is all. It really gets me going if you know what I mean,” I deadpanned, holding out my wrists in front of me.
The muscles in his clean-shaven jaw twitched.
“A lady in the streets, but a freak in the sheets, some might say.” I gave him an exaggerated wink.
“Molly James McKinley,” he replied gruffly, running his hand over his face, clearly hating every moment of this. He was making this too easy.
I smiled wide, enjoying how much this moment was making him squirm. “You’re calling me by my fullname now? My dad used to call me that all the time when I was in trouble, you know,” I said, popping my hip out. “Am I in trouble right now…daddy?”
Liam’s cheeks turned red, and his left eye twitched. You could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.
“Put your hands behind your back, Ms. McKinley,” he said, rotating me until my back faced him.
“You’re into roleplaying too, huh?” I teased. And with that he snatched me by the arm and marched me toward his truck.
I was in time-out—again.
Chapter 2 – Liam
I was about to arrest my best friend’s little sister—what could possibly go wrong?
I had no choice. I had to get her out of here before she kept talking. Molly never took anything seriously. Not a single damn thing and it pissed me off more than I would ever admit.
“Oh, come on, Liam. You’re not seriously going to arrest me, are you?” she said, as I walked her to my truck. “Orange is not my color. You know that.”
“Should’ve thought about that before you decided to trespass on private property,” I mumbled, keeping my eyes straight ahead.
“I just showed up,” she said. “I literally just walked up to the crowd before you pulled up. How do you know I was even part of the protest? Maybe I was trying to break it up, huh? Ever think about that?”
“Protesting to save some tree is right up your alley. I remember last year when you protested the oil pipeline they were trying to run through Silver Creek. I know it was you who tagged their equipment with spray paint, you know?”
