I pointed two spread fingers toward her eyes then back to mine, repeating it as I huffed. “You and I are going to need to work on our communication skills. Why wouldn’t you think something like that was important?”
“Because I knew you’d do exactly what you’re doing right now. Panic. My father has always been involved in politics from the time I was born. He’s opinionated, arrogant, and everything I hate. Trust me, you won’t like him and I knew if I told you the truth about who he was you wouldn’t come with me. And I hate like hell to admit it, but I can’t stand the thought of my father winning.”
“What do you mean winning?”
“If you think an arranged marriage is only for romance novels and crime syndicates, you’re dead wrong.”
“What?” I turned toward her, feeling the same level of anger that she was. I’d heard some shit, but that was ridiculous.
“Yeah. He’s even holding my trust fund over my head. Not that I care. I really don’t, but every time I’m forced into spending time with them, they’re already planning the wedding.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“Now you know why I didn’t tell you.” She leaned over again, a snarl planted on her lovely face. “What the hell is taking so long? For the first time in my life, I played what my father called the ‘get out of jail free’ card and this is the one officer who doesn’t care who my father is.”
When she leaned back, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Danny. I really am. If you don’t want to go, I’ll understand.”
She pressed her lips together and all I could do was to shake my head. “I’ll go. But I’m not happy about it.” Why did it feel as if I recognized the name of her father? Maybe I was mistaken since I hadn’t been in Florida for long, but something about the name Carrington stuck in my craw. If only I had time to call my father.
“I promise you that we’ll leave as soon as possible. My mother will try and insist we stay the night in their big house, but I can’t do that. I’ll pay for a hotel room if we don’t want to drive back.”
At this point, I was pretty certain we weren’t going to make it to her parents’ home. All the officer needed to do was open his mouth about my real identity and poof, I wouldn’t need to worry about dinner. Since he was running my name through the system, I’d have a star placed next to my name given I was a shifter, so who knew what could happen.
“You really can’t stand your parents.” Could I dare trust her? And if she was my mate? Oh, God.
She laughed so bitterly I tensed. “I love them because they’re my parents, but I can’t stand them as people or that they won’t just allow me to live my life. I’ve reached the limit of my patience.” She had already reached for the door handle, ready to jump out.
“Whoa. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Like hell, I’m not.” She flipped her head in my direction, narrowing her eyes. I felt the cop’s presence and sighed.
He had an entirely different look on his face. I’d almost call it a smile. “Your story checks out, Miss Carrington.” He handed her the license, but held onto mine, reading it and looking at me not once but three times. “And Mister…”
“Wright.”
“Yes, there’s a smudge on your license. Here you go. You’re both free to go, but I’m going to give you a piece of advice. This park closes at dusk for a very good reason.”
I took the license, now clearly able to see the amusement in his eyes. “What’s that?” I asked, although I wasn’t certain I wanted to hear what he had to say.
The police officer eyed me carefully as if daring me to challenge him. “There’ve been reports of shifters in the park, ruthless and bloodthirsty shifters.”
“You’re kidding me,” Christine asked. Whether or not she was buying the story I couldn’t tell, but I did know he was pushing my buttons on purpose.
“Unfortunately not, ma’am. Since they were allowed to roam free, which I’m totally against, we’ve had several horrible crimes committed. Heinous discoveries that would give you nightmares.”
He still had the flashlight pointed toward us and I could smell the hatred on him. He’d even unfastened the snap on his holster. Nope. I wasn’t going to take the bait, although I was in what my coach would call a bitchy mood. So I smiled, just like I’d seen my dinner companion do. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I’m a black belt in karate. Huh?” I lifted my arms, showing him my empty hands. “These are lethal weapons, so you don’t need to worry, Officer, but thank you for letting us know. We’ll get out of your hair now.”
He glanced in, smiling at me in a way of letting me know I owed him for keeping my identity a secret. “You young folks have a great night and tell your father I said hello. Officer Frank Matheson.”
“Thank you so much, Officer,” she said, the same sweet smile trumping his.
When he backed away, starting to laugh, I took a deep breath.
This was going to be a fucking long ass night.
* * *
Mate.
