“Thanks, Kat.” I flash a grin and drop a twenty in the tip jar by the register. She’s not for me, but she’s still single, a mom, and needs a decent tip every now and again just to keep up with Mac’s weed-like growing. “You tell the guys I said hey.”
“They can already hear you.” Cocking her hip and leaning against the counter, Katrina Blair grabs a plastic menu and fans her face. “You have a good day, Officer.”
I don’t stop to speak to Andi. I don’t even stop to watch her sway in a dizzy haze, because if I do, I might talk her into my truck. If lunch gets cold, Alex will shoot me, so I keep on walking and head back to the station with a raging hard on and a whistle under my breath.
Andi Conner’s back in town, and Oz is heading out with Lindsi – aka the gatekeeper.
Well, Ben might be worse than Lindsi. But I’ll work around him.
I climb out of the truck and load my arms with piping hot food, and moving along the front path, the automatic doors slide open to reveal the climate-controlled police station and a pretty, young receptionist that everyone assumed I’d be into as soon as she took the job.
Tiffany, with the strawberry blonde hair and sweet smile, is twenty-one years old and almost done with her college education. Andi’s not the only person around here that assumes I’m a boy scout just because I kinda look like one. Give a thirty-year-old man a youthful face and everyone assumes he goes to church and brunches with his mama. That’s why Bishop’s people called me; no one has any clue that I’m not who they think I am. Alex has no clue I know bad people. And Andi didn’t believe I could fuck her the way I did.
It’s both a blessing and a pain in the ass to look twenty-one when I’m a whole decade older than that.
“Hey, Riley.” Tiffany twirls hair around her finger and smiles. “That was fast.”
“You know the chief.” I move past her with a smile. “He gets cranky when he’s hungry.”
I walk toward the bullpen and think of Andi – offuckingAndi, of sucking on Andi’s clit, of tasting her flesh and biting her tits – but it’s all shattered when I walk into the office and find Alex and Oz staring at me while they wait on their food.
I drop the box of food on the edge of Oz’s desk without a word, then move toward the kitchen to get mine. Protein shake, boiled eggs, turkey on rye, soybeans, Greek yogurt, and a chocolate brownie treat I make with extra protein and zero sugar.
I swear, it still tastes like the real thing.
I take my lunch out of the fridge and grab a bottle of water on the way past the counter, then head back to my desk and find ketchup already on my colleague’s shirt. “Good burger, Oz?”
He flashes a grin and nods. “Yup. You nailed it, Rook. It’s still piping hot.”
“Mm.” I sit at my desk and push things back to make room for mine. Oz is my colleague – he’s also the one who stands in front of Andi and – apparently – has no clue I know what she tastes like. I sure as shit ain’t going to tell him, so I quietly unpack my lunch and pretend my turkey on rye tastes like a juicy burger and fries.
Fuck them for eating that while I eat this.
My cell dings in my pocket and vibrates against my leg, and though I know it can’t be Andi, since we never exchanged numbers, I still hold my sandwich with one hand and dig in my pocket with the other.
Jay:We need a meet tonight.
I choke on the dry ass bread and shake my head as though Jay and Kane Bishop can see me.
One handed, I reply:No. I’m busy.
Jay:Wanna know how much I give a fuck about you getting pussy? You gotta meet us tonight. We need to talk. It’s important.
Me:Tomorrow! I’m busy tonight.
Kane:Motherfucker, this isn’t up for negotiation. You’re in or you’re out, and if you’re out, then I gotta silence you somehow. You know too much.
Me:Get the fuck outta here. You can be your badass self at that club, Bishop, but we’ve hung out. I’ve had a beer with you, so stop with the threats already. I’m busy tonight, and unless it’s a matter of national fucking security, I’d really like to keep my plans.
Kane:She sure is pretty, huh? She reminds me of Snow White, what with the black hair and super white skin.
Me:Fuck you. Just call me, we can talk now.
My phone rings before I move away from the text screen.Fuck me. I shove the rest of my sandwich in my mouth and grab my water, and standing, I pocket my keys and step around my desk. “I’ll be back.”
There’s nowhere in this station I can take a call from undercover thugs without being overheard, so I jog past Tiffany and back outside, then I unlock my truck and slide in. “What?”
“The shipment date’s being moved,” Kane Bishop – man of so few words – cuts straight to the chase. “Hayes got cold feet, so he’s changing it up and moving things around.”