“I said I’ll take it from here.”
Stan knew better than to challenge a superior, even if he was right. I wasn’t about to let over-helpful Stan take this.
“I meant to call first to see if you were here, but I lost your card,” she said. “I googled the address of the station.”
I ushered Paige to my desk, walking one step behind her. Her hips swayed on every step, and I had the sudden urge to check if the skin on her thighs was as smooth as that on her upper arm. Every inch of this woman was lickable.
When we reached my desk, I brought a chair for her from one of the vacant desks, and we both sat down. I searched for the form we needed in the database. Paige crossed her legs, and I couldn’t help looking. They were toned and strong, like a runner’s or a swimmer’s. They’d look gorgeous wrapped around my waist as I held her against a wall, getting my fill of her. Well, hell. I’d thought my reaction to her the other night was because she’d looked so... rumpled in that short dress, with her hair piled on top of her head. But now she was dressed in business attire, and I was still itching to find out how those legs would feel wrapped around me.
I focused on the form as we filled it in together. After I pulled up Paige’s license number in the database, I scrolled to some of the archived information.
“Paige... you have a dozen speeding tickets.”
I turned to her. She was blushing, but not looking away.
“I got those before I left for Paris. I paid them all.”
“How exactly did you manage to rack up twelve speeding tickets in two weeks?”
She shrugged a shoulder, and the strap of her dress shifted an inch, revealing a string of freckles.
“I couldn’t take my car to Paris, and that baby runs so smooth that I wanted to say goodbye properly.”
I sat back in my chair, barking a laugh. I’d been in a shitty mood this morning. A case I was working on was proving to be difficult, which always ate at me. But Paige had changed my mood as if she’d flipped a switch.
“Most people don’t own up to that.”
“I tried to talk my way out of them, but my sweet-talking had no effect.”
Something about the way she said sweet-talking made me sit up straighter.
“You tried to flirt with an officer of the law?”
“Is that an offense?” Her tone turned challenging as she jutted her chin forward. I wanted to kiss that sassy mouth.
“No.”
If I’d been the one pulling Paige over and she’d flirted with me, I definitely would have turned a blind eye.
“Clearly it didn’t work anyway.”
“This day just got so much more interesting. You come in to file a complaint and I discover you’re a law breaker.”
Her eyes were snapping fire. And in that moment, I didn’t just want to kiss her. I wanted to pin her against the desk, holding those wrists captive above her head, and ravish her right here, right now, with half the station watching. Jesus, I didn’t even know the woman.
She uncrossed her legs, then crossed them again. I looked straight at her until she broke eye contact, licking her lower lip. I wanted to lick that lip too, even bite it a little.
“Don’t get any more tickets,” I said eventually.
Paige mimicked an army salute. “Yes, sir.”
“And you should upgrade the inn’s alarm system.”
“Why?”
“Renovation sites are a magnet for burglars.”
“I’ll look into it. The last thing I need is for someone to break into the inn.” There was affection in her voice.