Page 3 of After Party

It was so typical for Peyton’s mom and dad tonotbe there for her. And Hope, her half-sister, would have gladly come but she was pregnant and it was the middle of the night. Scott knew that Hope and her husband, TJ, wouldn’t actually mind the phone call, but he understood Peyton’s reluctance.

“I’ve got you,” he told her. He nodded toward his car. “Get in.”

It wouldn’t be the first time she’d gotten into the backseat of his squad car, but it was the first time she wasn’t in trouble.

Scott took in the skimpy costume, the wild tumble of her dark hair, and the tipsy smile she gave him and thought thathewas very likely the one in trouble tonight.

“You sure you don’t want to go with us?” Matt asked, stopping her as she stepped toward the back door of the car.

“Nope,” she said. “I’m done for tonight.”

“But it’s early.” Matt put a hand on the top of the car, blocking her way.

Scott worked to stay cool. There was no reason for him to intervene. Peyton could take care of herself. But damn, that possessiveness was never far below the surface.

“I’m done,” she said again, more firmly this time. “I’ll see you later.”

“We were just going to go down to the river,” Matt said. “Some people are talking about midnight skinny dipping.”

Peyton shrugged. “Not interested.”

“Or Jake’s having a party at his place too,” Nate said. “Let’s go over there for a little bit.”

Peyton shook her head again. “No, thanks.”

“But it’s past midnight now. That’s when the good stuff happens,” Matt told her with a big grin.

She lifted an eyebrow, then reached out and took Matt’s hand off the car. She bent his wrist and thumb back, making him swear and twist away from her sharply. She dropped her hold on him, opened the back door, and got into the car.

Scott fought his grin. “’Night guys. Be good. Make good choices.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Matt said, shaking his hand and scowling at the back window of Scott’s patrol car.

The dad thing made Scott’s smile fade as he headed for the driver’s side. He wasn’t old enough to be Matt’s dad. Or Peyton’s. They were twenty-four and he was thirty-one. Still, it was a big age difference and there was no question that Peyton had some issues that stemmed from her relationship with her dad. Dan Wells was inattentive and absent, emotionally if not physically. Peyton had, essentially, been in competition with her mother for her father’s attention all her life.

Was that what she saw in Scott? Was he just an authority figure she could depend on? Of course that was it. How could it not be? He was older. He took control. She needed someone she could count on to have her best interests in mind and that was Scott.

He climbed behind the wheel and watched as the guys headed for the red truck down the block. Once he saw Matt get behind the wheel and pull out, Scott shifted into drive.

“Hey, Scott?”

He tensed at Peyton’s use of his first name. When they were alone, she’d call him Scott, but around other people it was always Officer Hansen. Even when she said it sarcastically, he thought he preferred it to how intimate it felt when she used his first name.

But one of the reasons he checked up on her all the time was because he really loved it when she needed a ride home. Because she’d let down on the good-time-party-girl vibe a bit and, especially when she was tipsy, she liked to talk. And she often needed a ride home. He preferred to think it was because she liked these drives as much as he did. But it could have also been because she had no one else in her life who could be consistently counted on.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly and coughed. “Yeah?”

“Can you…take the long way to my house?”

He tipped the rearview mirror down to find her lying on her back on the seat, her shoes off, her feet propped in the corner of the back window, ankles crossed. The position gave him a great view of the expanse of her legs, silky white stockings and all, right up to the hem of her dress. Which rode very high on her thighs. Her brunette hair spilled over the seat and she was popping something into her mouth and staring up at the ceiling.

She lived only ten blocks from here. “Yeah, I can drive the long way.” Hell, he was off duty and he had a gorgeous woman in the backseat of his car. Why would he make that trip short?

“I need to make another pass around town anyway,” he said. He didn’t actually have to do that. He was off duty and Ed would make the final town pass tonight. “You okay with that?”

“Very okay.” Her voice sounded soft and a little sleepy and…contented.

He smiled. Contented was not a common state for Peyton. He liked being a part of making her feel that way.

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