Loose Id Titles by Talya Bosco
DANGEROUS DEPUTY
Talya Bosco
www.loose-id.com
Dangerous Deputy
Copyright © January 2014 by Talya Bosco
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Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
eISBN 9781623006792
Editor: Venessa Giunta
Cover Artist: Dar Albert
Published in the United States of America
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This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Chapter One
Julia looked in her rearview mirror. Red and blue lights flashed in the night sky behind her. “Fuck.” This was all she needed. How the hell was she going to explain to brother-in-law that she got a ticket on her way home after the party, in his wife’s car? He’d assume she was being stupid no matter what the circumstances really were.
She pulled to the side of the road and turned the interior light on before leaning over and opening the glove box. She searched for the registration and insurance information, muttering to herself all the while. What the hell was a cop doing in the middle of nowhere Missouri on a road to a bunch of sparsely placed farmhouses? She hadn’t been speeding. Well, at least not too much. She hadn’t lived here for long, but she’d learned wildlife presented one hell of a problem to a speeding vehicle.
Stupid
. If she’d only stayed at the party for a bit longer or left when she’d originally intended, she would have skipped this. Hell, if she hadn’t missed the turn to her sister’s house, she wouldn’t have been on this part of the road to get stopped.
Oh, shit. The beer
. She put her hand up to her mouth and breathed. Dammit, she was in trouble.
She sat up, the information in her hands, and waited for the cop to walk up to her window. She opened the window, hoping maybe some fresh air would help her calm down.
Jim was gonna be livid.
She watched in her side mirror as the cop got out of his car. She wondered who would have stopped her. Jim was a sheriff’s deputy, and everyone at the department knew one another’s vehicles. Not to mention the damn thing was covered with law enforcement stickers. She should have been safe from nuisance stops. Unless this guy behind her really was a state cop; then all bets were off.
Even with a full moon, the darkness of the night combined with the bright lights behind her kept her from identifying anything about the cop approaching her. She squinted, hoping to see something.
He wasn’t wearing a hat.
And it didn’t look like he had on a uniform either. No outline of gun belt with all its equipment. Just the menacing shadow of a large man approaching her.
She glanced in the rearview mirror and realized the lights weren’t typical bar lights, but ones in the grill of the car. She tried to remember if it was possible for a civilian to buy those but couldn’t come up with an answer.
Visions of news stories and incidents shared on Facebook about women stopped on the side of the road by men pretending to be police officers ran through her head. Quickly she locked the doors and rolled the windows back up as she reached for her phone. She’d never been so grateful than she was now for her brother-in-law’s paranoia and insistence that she plug in the sheriff’s office as speed dial 1. She’d be damned if she was going to go down without a fight. She was living with a freaking cop; this asshole was in for a heap of trouble if he thought he’d picked just any old girl.
The teenage fan of slasher flicks in her screamed to put the car in gear and take off now, but the flashing light in her rearview mirror made her wait. One long press of her thumb and the entire sheriff’s department would be out here within minutes. Thank God for cell phones and GPS.
Julia continued to watch in her side mirror as the man walked up to her door. He kept his hands away from his body and moved slowly. When he stopped, he was at least three feet away. He waited.
She rolled down the window a few inches, still unable to ascertain if she knew him. The silhouette of a large D-cell flashlight had her heart jumping into her throat. It would only take one or two strikes of that to shatter her window.
“Ma’am? Is everything okay?” His voice was beautiful. All smooth and chocolatey, making her want to melt in her seat. Shit, here she was scared out of her pants, and now she wanted out of her pants for an entirely different reason. He stepped forward and bent down slightly.
“I’m fine, officer. Why did you stop me?” Julia tried to keep the nervousness out of her voice. She had been right. He wasn’t wearing a uniform; he had on jeans and a button-down shirt.
“Ms. Sharp? Is that you?”
Julia jumped at hearing her name. She angled her head and peered more closely at the man. He shone his flashlight on his face.
“Officer Gordon?” The tension ran out of her body at the sight of the man’s face. Julia let her head fall forward onto the steering wheel. The horn blared into the night, and Julia jumped with a squeal.
The laughter that escaped her throat was shaky with nerves. She took a couple of deep breaths to help her relax.
“Julia? Are you okay?”
She looked at the cop. She didn’t know how she ever could have forgotten the sound of this tall and scrumptious man’s voice. Or the shape of his body.
He was nearly six feet tall with short brown hair. Just long enough for her to run her fingers through. His body was firm, his torso large and muscled. And his ass. Well, she’d had to keep herself from slapping it more than once the first time she’d met him.
Yup, definitely the man from Jim’s barbecue she had the hots for.
Jim and Carrie had coerced her to attend their annual Fourth of July cookout. They’d argued if she was going to be living here, she needed to learn how to be social with the locals. She hadn’t minded the socializing; she had minded being told what to do. She was an adult, not a child.
Jim, of course, had done his man-of-the-house thing, cooking on the grill and ignoring anything else that needed to get done. So she had helped Carrie with everything else.
Not that she’d minded. Despite how she felt about her brother-in-law, Julia loved her sister and her three nieces. Living with them was definitely an adventure.
She hoped she was more of a blessing than a curse to Carrie. She had a full-time job and was the primary caregiver for all three kids, so Julia tried to help wherever she could. Although if Julia was to give the guy credit, Jim did make sure the kids got to their sports events and attended their school activities. Julia just didn’t like him.
But it wasn’t her place to judge. Carrie was happy and so were the kids.
Realizing she’d let her mind get away from her again, Julia shook her head and lowered the window.
“I’m sorry, Officer Gordon. You startled me. I noticed after I’d stopped that you aren’t driving a standard-issue vehicle and don’t have your uniform on.”
“It’s Dennis, remember?” His smile sent her heart racing. God, she was a sad woman. “Actually I’m off duty, but I saw Carrie’s vehicle and knew she was out of town this weekend. How have you been? Any luck with the job hunt?”
“Yeah. In fact, I’ve been working for parks and recreation for the last month. They needed help at the main office. It’s only temporary, but there’s a chance it might become permanent.”
He leaned in the window. The scent of his cologne wafted into her car. A deep, manly scent that made her think of illicit—and probably illegal—acts. “That’s awesome. It sucks moving into a new town and having to look for a job and place to live, not to mention friends.” His voice was all soft and friendly sounding, sending tingles running between her legs.
He’s only offering friendship, Julia. Get a grip.
He continued, his smooth baritone calming her battered emotions like a flood of chocolate. “I can’t imagine it’s easy living with an entire family when you’re used to your own place. You need somewhere you can just unwind and be yourself.”
Julia laughed. “Isn’t that the truth? I love Carrie and the kids, but sometimes I would kill for a nice hot bath uninterrupted by a little one needing to go potty.”
The look on his face changed, his smile turning into a frown. He leaned back and his whole demeanor changed. “Have you been drinking, ma’am?”
“Yes.”
Shit
. She wasn’t about to lie. She had been. She knew she wasn’t drunk, but she also knew after the two beers she’d had earlier in the evening, the smell was still on her breath.
“Could you please step out of the vehicle?” He stood and backed up. His voice was no longer so friendly. Now, it was formal and professional. Cold, almost. Disappointment ran through her. She unlocked the door with a sigh. “I’m not drunk. I promise you.”
She knew he had to be suspicious after smelling her breath. Julia shut off the engine and opened the car door. She swung a leg to the ground. Between the low-riding car and her high heels, she should have known better than to move so fast. One minute she was pulling herself out of the car. The next, flying into his body.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. Breath flew out of her lungs in a rush. Immediately her body responded to the closeness of his, melting against him, boneless with desire.
“Shit! Sorry!” Julia pulled herself back, but when she put her weight on her right foot, she immediately stumbled into his arms again.
“Not drunk. I promise.” She groaned in frustration at her stupidity and clumsiness.
He laughed.
She looked at him in surprise.
“Damn, woman, you don’t do anything halfway, do you?”
Before she could respond, he picked her up at the waist and set her down on the trunk of her car. He stepped away, and immediately the cool evening air embraced her. She shivered.
“I’m not drunk. I swear.” She knew her voice sounded plaintive, but dammit, she had no idea what the hell was wrong with her.
“I hope these weren’t very expensive.” Warmth enveloped her ankle.
She looked at the foot he now had in his hand and saw one of her new heels in two pieces. Well, what did she expect? She’d paid two bucks for them at the local thrift store.
“Oh, dammit. They were the only slut-red heels I had.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Slut-red?”
“Yeah, well, they went perfectly with this dress.” She smiled, feeling way more comfortable with him than she should have, given the situation.