Page 21 of Man Cuffed
I die. This is not a complete exaggeration. My heart definitely develops a brief arrhythmia because Maguire islying on the bed. He’s here! I’ve just broken into the home of a napping cop.
Omigod, I’m in so much trouble. This is the kind of mistake I might not be able to bounce back from. Is breaking and entering a felony? Will I serve jail time?
At least I look good in orange.
I’m lightheaded suddenly. It’s the fear and also the not breathing. I’m literally afraid to breathe. I take a slow step backward. I can just ease out the way I came. No—not the way I came. I need to leave by the front door.
The escape route is just taking shape in my mind when The Doors start blaring “Light My Fire” from a nearby location. That organ riff shoots right through my consciousness at high volume.
And I scream.
Maguire knifes upward in bed with a warlike shout.
“LIGHT MY FIRE” scream The Doors.
I scream again. It’s a real ear-piercer, like the young Drew Barrymore inE.T.I drop the cufflink, too.
Maguire is off the bed and in front of me. “What the hell, hot neighbor? Is there a fire?”
“No!” I shriek. “Why?” Should I still run for it? I lean down and grab the cufflink. I can’t leave behind any evidence of my insanity.
But he catches my hand in his, the thick fingers making a vice-like grip around my wrist. “What the hell is this?”
“What?” I yell over the music. Playing dumb is my best strategy here. I’ll say that I walked into the wrong apartment by mistake. It’s ridiculous, since I don’t even have a key on me. But if he’s sleepy from his nap, I might be able to talk my way out of this.
Maguire lets go of my wrist and steps over to the bureau. The one with the hat on it. I should have known! If he was at work, he’d have his hat with him.
Good lord, this will not end well. I wonder how high my bail will be set? I can already picture the disappointment on my parents’ faces when I call them in Oregon for the cash to bail me out.
The blaring music stops suddenly.
There are a number of things I could do in this moment. I could make like a deer and freeze, in the hopes he won’t see me. The fact that I’m even considering this is evidence of my instability.
And I was already caught. Literally. He had me by the wrist. Which was strangely nice. I’ve dreamed of his touch. Although I didn’t picture it quite like this.
I basically have two choices: run for it, or flirt my way out of this. Yeah, that second thing. I’m going with that. “Maguire. You called me hot.”
And it almost works. He blinks at me, clearly flustered. Or I just scared the shit out of him by waking him up from a dead sleep. It just takes him a second to clear his head. “I did call you hot. That’s a truth. But what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Trick or treat?” I ask feebly and then hold out my hand to see if he’ll take it again. He doesn’t.
Instead, he glares at my hand. I can see something start to burn behind his eyes. And I bet it’s indignation. So I decide to come clean. “Look, Copper. Your girlfriend is boinking other men when you’re not here. Different men. One of them has a dog, and they let it bark while they boink. And you seem really nice, and you’re pretty hot yourself, and it just doesn’t seem fair that a nice, hot cop should be treated so poorly.”
He blinks. “A dog?”
“Yes!” I shriek. “But, seriously, that’s what you take away from all this?”
“I’m allergic.”
I throw up my hands in frustration. “Omigod, I’m trying to tell you something important.”
“But why break in?” he demands. “You could have knocked on my door like a sane person.”
“I. Like. You.” I grind out in a crazy voice. “I didn’t want to be the one who ruined your day!”
“Aw!” He actually cracks a smile. “So you decided to commit a crime to tell me this? That’s so special.”
“Ha! No!” I laugh. As if anyone would ever understand my convoluted brain. “I decided to plant evidence so that you would find it and figure out that she’s cheating on you. You weren’t supposed to know I was involved at all.”
