Page 131 of Beyond the Badge: Crew

Crew ended up sitting in the bar for hours and nursing each beer dropped off in front of him for so long they ended up flat and warm.

Once the crowd thinned a little and the volume turned down a few notches, he actually left his stool a few times to either go to the restroom or play a couple games of pool.

From what she saw, he could hold his own with a cue stick.

He was even challenged to a dart game. A challenge he accepted and won.

Despite his neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper hair and beard—if anything, screamed law enforcement to her—he managed somehow to fit in. He had actually morphed into an ol’ man named Throttle with his attitude, the way he dressed and how he spoke.

The man was damn good. A pain in her ass, but impressive.

She had to give credit where credit was due. She only hoped he did the same for her.

“Isn’t it way past your bedtime, old man?” she asked him as she dropped off a fresh beer a little after midnight.

“That’sol’man to you.”

She stretched over the bar like she was about to kiss him and whispered, “I didn’t make you my ol’ man, you did. I also didn’t ask you to come in and babysit me tonight. What spurred this on, besides you not trusting me to do my job?”

Before she could pull away, he grabbed her and held her there. “Hey, you forgot to mention that you told the Demons you were getting the meth for me.”

How convenient that he was changing the subject and ignoring her question. “I did. You must not have been paying attention. Or you forgot. It was a cover story I came up with on the fly.”

“Yeah, well, I guess I look too damn good to be a meth addict.” One side of his mouth hiked up.

Holy shit, the man could be cocky.

“Sure you do.” She laid the sarcasm on thick.

“Weren’t you impressed with my body only recently?”

“Was I? Like you, I must have short-term memory loss.”

“You must. Anyway, yourbossdidn’t believe your story when he saw me in the flesh. I had to come up with another reason.”

“Maybe because he wasn’tsupposedto see Throttle in the flesh. What’s the new story and why didn’t you tell me it earlier?”

“Because there were too many ears around,” he answered. “This place is busier than I imagined. Come around the bar and give your ol’ man a squeeze.”

When she pulled her head back to look at him, he cocked an eyebrow in an unspoken message.

She sighed but came out from behind the bar. He turned on the stool once she got to him so he could pull her between his thighs and wrap his arms around her to hold her close.

“So, what’s the story?” she prodded. Despite him being an annoying jerk, him hugging her was kind of… nice.

She must be tired.

He nuzzled the hair near her ear, sending a shiver down her spine and making her nipples pop like two turkey timers. “The addict is my brother. He lives with us and to keep him on an even level we supply him with what he needs.”

“Lame.”

“The fucker believed it, so who cares how lame it is. Like you, I had to come up with a story on the fly.”

“Speaking of fly, I feel something pressing against yours. And your hands are groping my ass.”

“Yep.”

Yep?“Everyone else in this bar who tries that is getting a lesson they won’t soon forget.”

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