Page 608 of One More Kiss

Son? I was old enough to be his brother, his twin brother for fuck’s sake. But he didn't know me and I didn't know him, though I'd heard the rumours. We all had. Archer hand picked the best investigators the Rangers have seen in years, with his photo in colour framed in portrait gallery wall at HQ, and while he was still alive, no less. That was a tribute in itself. If only there was a bar with his name on it and not belatedly after the fact, then he’d know he’d really made it.

The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving the scene in a field of purple haze that shadowed every face around me. Heat disappeared with the last of the sunlight, replaced by the sinking chill of a cold night to come.

“Unbelievable.” The director waved at me as I stared off into the distance. “And that's it for the day.”

I winced, coming back to myself. The crew had already started packing up their gear. Josie peered over her clipboard, offering a shy smile and a mini thumbs up near her cheeks. I grinned back. It was good to have an ally when I’d been thrown in a brand new arena and had no damn idea what I was doing, let alone possibly compete in.

The Director’s words filtered past my distraction and flirting. What? The movement around me clicked in. “But I didn't do anything.” My protest died as the Director moved off, waving his hand in dismissal while I was left addressing a guy still clutching his camera offering micro-expressions of desperation.

“Oh, we know Texas Rangers never do anything important. It's all pose here, and stare out there to keep those on the other side of the law in line, right?”

This is going to be a fucking long season.

At Archer’s behest, I signed up for at least eight episodes, maybe twelve. It looked like the first one had just wrapped up and I had barely said a word. Which meant there was a whole lot of space for Director D to fill with his happy little misconceptions.

If all the doco crew were going to do was use me to post a boy, I wouldn't be able to hold up the end of the bargain I’d shaken hands on with Archer, and I knew I wouldn't be invited back to his unit again. Apart from career death, the part that really bugged me was a decent dose of pride I took in being part of the Texas Rangers. D-bag’s attitude bothered me at a deep, personal level. The Rangers were the top of the food chain in law speak in Texas, and I wanted to make sure that we were created to harvest, rather than just at the musclebound warrior in white hat sparsity turn off into the distance.

The camera crew cleared up around me in complete silence, and I was left standing in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing, holding my metaphorical heart in my hands.

I tried not to fidget and had no idea what to do with myself. It was like being back in kindergarten all over again. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

Tomorrow would be a better day. I promised myself I wouldn't let a repeat performance of today's farce happen again.

“I thought you did well.’ A soft voice murmured behind me. “For a first timer.”

I have it on my heel to face the Harley Quinn girl. “Thanks, but I doubt I did my career justice.” Or the unit. I wasn’t sure which irked me more, but they both reeked of pride and ego, something I’d opted to avoid in my Ranger career.

Josie shrugged. "Nobody does with Rennie. He’s infamous for creating a scandal out of nothing and putting people down. Sorry.” She winced while I remained stoic, lest I trip on my tongue to add to the kerfuffle of the day. “You really are very new to this aren't you?”

“Film virgin in a whorehouse.” It was my turn to close my eyes. “I'm sorry. It's been a long day.” Starting just before sunrise to be primped puffed, I’d never felt more like a show dog in my life for the amount of makeup that had been plastered to my face. “I usually have better manners.”

“I know.” She continued to watch me beneath her lashes while managing to scribble something on her clipboard. I didn’t know she managed to utilize both skills at once. “I'm Josie.”

“Hi, Josie. You don't happen to have an hour for a Ranger to get dinner and a drink, do you?” I smiled, in what I hoped was a nice way, but her long, arched lashes widened a fraction, and I realized what I just said.

A snicker from the remaining crew taking their leave for the night backed that assumption up a hundredfold.

My hand rose to rub at the back of my neck on autopilot. I was well out of practice in either the dating pool or the social one, but I wanted to be in neither. This Ranger might have had to pose all day, but during any other week I barely had time to find my own bed, often sleeping at the office and getting up with the sun to do it all again.

Qualities I was certain were undesirable in a dating partner, even if I was out of touch.

I sucked in a short, hard breath and tried again. “That's…” I rephrased my words ten times in quick succession and stumbled in the middle of the mess. Awkward much, Cole? “Do you have time to educate a man who is so far out at his depth that he needs a pair of floaties and a bubble device to bring him back?”

“I do.” She smiled brightly at me. “And I hear there's a new little sushi place opened up. I mean, it's all new to me, because I'm new to this town and I know where nothing is but apparently it's good. I don't know if you’ve been there? I mean, you might have been.” She closed her mouth and bit both lips at once. Her eyes flared in alarm, pink stealing her cheeks.

Rather than annoying, I found her easy chatter endearing, could have listened to her and watched her cheeks turn red all evening.

I smiled. “I'd love that.”

After a shitty day on a coerced job I'd managed to have part of a decent conversation with a pretty girl. That had to count for something. Josie stopped biting her lips, letting them pump out all pink and puffy to match her cheeks. My heart thumped a little harder as the tip of her tongue flicked out to swipe at a drop of moisture left there.

I swallowed, and tried to turn away from her, but couldn't. So, distraction, achieved. I cleared my throat and tried not to let my mind slip to other part of her body that might flush pink or slick her skin with moisture.

The hell is wrong with me?

I ask a girl out of a platonic date, and here i was, standing in theC middle of a field, brutally eye fucking the poor gurl. I wouldn't have blinked if she’d run all the way to where our vehicles were parked.

But Josie didn’t run. She took a hesitant step toward me, one hand half-raised in my direction. “Cole?”

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