Page 9 of Protect and Serve

“Well, there’s a visual for you.”

Claire rolled her eyes as her brother Cade’s deep voice wafted through the kitchen. Crap. Why did he have to walk in just now?

Oh and it got worse. When Claire spun around on her stool to skewer him with some pithy barb…he wasn’t alone.

Charlie was with him.

“Hey, honey,” Lisa said, presenting her cheek for Cade’s kiss. “I missed you.”

“Mmm. I missed you.” Cade grabbed a handful of cookies and passed one to his companion. “Lisa, this is my old friend Charlie. Charlie, Lisa.”

Lisa took in the uniform and waggled her brows. “You’re the new cop in town. We were just talking about you.”

His glazed flicked to Claire and burned. “Were you?”

Damn it. His voice was low and sultry and made something annoying shimmy through her bowels.

She thrust a thumb at Lisa. “She was.”

“Were you telling them about your latest ticket?” Cade asked. The jerk.

She glowered at Charlie. “You told him?”

“It’s hardly a state secret.”

“Wait. You got another ticket?” Lisa gaped at her. “And why didn’t you tell me you’d met Charlie? You just let me keep babbling on about how much he looks like that cowboy on TV.”

“What cowboy on TV?” Charlie asked.

“The cute one,” Porsche said in something of a drooly coo. Claire nearly whacked her.

She hated the way Charlie turned to Porsche. The way his gaze narrowed on her. The way his smile ticked up. “And who are you? I don’t think we’ve met.”

Damn. That seductive thread in his tone made her restless, and pissed. Because it was meant for Porsche. Not that she had anything to worry about. First of all, Porsche was hopelessly in love with Cody. And secondly, Claire wanted nothing to do with Charlie. He’d already humiliated her enough for one day.

“I’m Porsche McCoy.” More batting.

“McCoy? Are you related to Ford?”

“Ford is my brother.”

“Oh yeah. You have his eyes.”

Yuck. If it got any sticky-sweeter in here, she was going to need some insulin.

“So anyway,” she said, even though she had no idea what was coming next. She just needed to turn the topic away from Porsche’s eyes. She burbled the first thing out of her mouth. “That reality show. Wouldn’t it be fun to do something like that here?” Oh gawd. Where had that come from?

“That’s a great idea,” Porsche said. “Invite some of the local single guys and single girls. Bring them together. Have competitions for dates. How fun would that be?” This, of course, was directed at Charlie. And honestly. If Claire didn’t know better, she would think Porsche was banging out Morse code with those lashes.

“Um, right.” Cade shook his head. “And how exactly will that bring in more money?”

“It’s not always about money,” Porsche said. “Sometimes it’s about serving the community.”

Cade cracked a laugh. “Not in our business.”

“I have a better idea,” Lisa said in that über-perky tone she reserved for times when she had one of her “brilliant” ideas. Claire shuddered in advance. “You should go on one of those shows. You know. The dating shows.”

Claire gaped at her. Heat rose on her cheeks. It topped out at her ears when Charlie chuckled behind her.