Page 12 of Riding the Sugar High

“Didn’t mean to interrupt.” Josie walks closer, her vigilant green eyes on Primrose. Her gaze flips to me, and with her lips pressed together, she hooks one finger on the loop of her belt next to her holster. “Hey, Logan.”

“Hi.”Fuck!What is she even doing here? I thought she was stationed in Roseberg now. “Hi, Jo—what...what’s going on?”

Primrose shifts between my hands, pulling at my shirt until she’s sitting on the table. Another officer comes into the light, and I exhale.

Connor Harper.

Good friend to one DerekgoddamnGracen.

“We got a call from the Gracen farm. Someone stole their animals again.” Josie’s brows arch, a patient smile fixed on her face as she tucks a strand of fiery red hair behind her ear. “And they set his garbage on fire as a distraction.”

I hum, turning to Primrose. No matter how much I try to picture it, I can’t imagine this tiny, pink-haired woman committing arson.

“You happen to know anything about it, Coleman?” Connor asks.

I look at the pair again and shrug. “Not really, no. As you can see, I’m pretty busy.” I drive the point home by squeezing Primrose’s thigh, and she squeals in surprise.

Josie’s circumstantial smile disappears, and she straightens the tie clipped onto her beige shirt with a sigh.

“Your rap sheet just gets more and more vivacious, doesn’t it?” Connor continues, rubbing his salt-and-pepper stubble. “Break-in, burglary, and now arson?”

“All you can arrest me for is a little public indecency,” I quip back. “Does that hold up if you’re at your own house?”

Connor nearly sneers, and Josie steps in front of him, giving him herQuit itlook. I know it far too well. “Okay, hm...What’s your name?” she asks, looking away from me.

“Primrose—Bellevue.”

“Primrose, did you spend all night with Logan?” Josie holds a hand up. “And please remember that lying to me could turn you into an accomplice to his crimes.”

Mycrimes? Sure.

Primrose tilts her head to study me, and I clench my jaw, focusing on her clouded blue eyes. I’m not worried she’ll rat me out, but she also doesn’t look like a super-confident liar. “Y-yeah. We went to the bar, then we thought we could—we like to keep things interesting, you know? Sexually.”

Josie’s eyes flick to mine, and I try to cringe inwardly as I slowly nod. “Uh, yep.”

“So you two are together?”

“Yeah,” Primrose says as her small hand taps my chest. “Inseparable. I’m obsessed—no, notobsessed—just, hmm, I love him so much.”

Oh, god. She’s panicking, isn’t she?

“Huh.” Josie’s eyes pierce mine. “And you didn’t think a woman loving you was worth mentioning to your family?”

Primrose grasps my hand on the table, her fingers squeezing until my blood flow is cut off.

“I was going to,” I say as I try to escape her death grip. “You know me. Privacy.”

“Solve your family drama in your free time, Officer Lawson,” Connor tells Josie as he walks past her, stopping in front of me and planting both hands on his hips. He jerks his chin forward, as if it can compensate for the half foot difference in our height. “Where are the pigs, Logan?”

“Pigs?”

“The animals that were stolen.”

I suck in a quick breath. “Ohh. You mean the pigs that were weaned from the sow earlier than it’s legal to do?” I click my tongue. “Yeah, I’ve heard about that. Horrible business, but I’m sure you guys are on top of it.” I smirk down at the nearly bald man. “Aren’t you,Conny?”

“Just because Derekallegedlydid something illegal, it doesn’t mean you can too, Logan,” Josie says before Connor can interject. She sighs in the same way she always does when we find ourselves in this sort of situation, which might be a little more often than I care for. “It’s up to the authorities to prove a crime has occurred, then take the correct measures against it.”

“I’m aware.” I turn to Primrose, then glance down at her plump lips. She’s chewing on the bottom one, and I fight the impulse to pull it free with my thumb. “Which is why I was here taking care of my girl.” I focus on Connor. “Several times. All night long. Right, cupcake?”

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