Join the Club Page 11

  Luckily, her employees loved me and told me that there was something going down, even though I’d still yet to figure out what.

  That was the first item on my agenda, to talk to her.

  The second was to cancel my meeting tomorrow with the governor.

  The third was…

  “Why are you following me?” I snapped, unhappy that he was standing there like a silent wraith.

  Angel’s lips twitched.

  “Bourne said you had claws,” he murmured.

  I twirled around and glared at him the moment that I reached the deli’s doors.

  “And?” I snapped.

  “And, I’m sorry for thinking differently.” He paused. “Why are you there?”

  There?

  “At the governor’s office?” I guessed.

  He nodded, jaw tightening.

  I shrugged. “I got a call from his secretary asking if I’d like to meet with the governor about my business. He said that he’d like to help promote me, that he’d heard great things about my dogs. And that he’d like to talk to me about a few things.” I paused, shrugging again. “I’m not actually sure what those things are and were, mostly because it’s like he’s having a meeting that doesn’t actually even concern me, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going home. Tomorrow’s meeting can go fuck itself.”

  Angel’s lips twitched.

  “I just don’t like the governor,” Angel said as if those few words explained why he’d instantly disliked me. “There’s something about him that doesn’t sit well with me.”

  I frowned. “That was you I saw when I came out of his office earlier?”

  Angel nodded.

  “Interesting,” I said. “But yeah, there’s nothing special about what I’m doing there. I just felt like this would be a good opportunity to get my name out there.”

  “Don’t trust him, Delanie,” Angel murmured as he gathered his keys. “He’s not a good man.”

  With that, Angel took his leave, leaving me standing there wondering if I should bother going to eat at all.

  Maybe I should just head back to the hotel.

  A sandwich didn’t really sound all that good anyway.

  What sounded good was tacos.

  Oh, and about half a loaf of bread, buttered up with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on it.

  But it wasn’t like I could just up and leave.

  I was here for a meeting.

  That would be rude to leave.

  What would be dumb, though, was not taking Angel’s words to heart when it came to Governor Bryan.

  It was on that thought that I decided ‘fuck it.’

  I was ready to go home.

  I wanted to know more about what was going on with my sister—because she was being suspiciously quiet about a lot of things that I didn’t like her being quiet on—and I missed my baby.

  Pulling my phone out, I called an Uber to take me back to the hotel.

  Then I sent Bourne a text telling him I was ready to go home when he was.

  He didn’t ask questions when he came to pick me up. Likely because he knew more answers than I did. He also didn’t protest when I said that dinner would have to be rescheduled. He didn’t talk when we drove home in silence, the entire four-hour drive.

  He also didn’t admit a single sound protest when I asked to be dropped off, alone, for the night.

  All he did was wait for me to walk inside until he sedately pulled away.

  Chapter 8

  There appears to have been a struggle.

  -My housekeeping style

  Bourne

  I walked up the length of Delanie’s front walk and was unsurprised to find her sitting outside on the porch, reading.

  When I walked up, she lowered the book and looked at me over the edge, just as I’d seen her do a thousand times before. She was the muse for the tattoo I’d gotten a few days ago, and she didn’t even know it.

  How many times had I wished that I could walk up to her and kiss her pouty lips?

  How many times had I thought about what she would do if I walked up to her and planted a wet one directly on her upturned mouth?

  Well, no more.

  Walking up to her, I didn’t stop a polite distance away.

  I bent down, using the sturdy edge of the glider to help lower myself down to her lips, then kissed her.

  She gasped but didn’t try to push me away.

  No, she leaned into the kiss, her hands going up to rest on my chest as she kissed me back.

  Long seconds later, after we were both breathless, I pulled back, grinning down into her face.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “I’d be better if my sister didn’t have some psycho after her, and my father responsible for it,” she admitted. “A father that left me a voicemail about an hour ago telling me he was coming to town, and he wanted to talk to me.”

  “When’s this?” I asked.

  “Tomorrow, apparently.” She shrugged. “I ignored that voicemail, too.”

  My brows went up. “And you’re not telling her that you’re meeting with your father.”

  “I never said I was meeting with him,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

  “No,” I agreed. “But you want to give him a piece of your mind, so I assume that it’s going to happen.”

  She didn’t contradict me.

  In fact, she smiled.

  “I’ll allow you in on the meeting if you’d like,” she said, acting like she was offering me a Golden Ticket to Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

  “You’re damn right I want in,” I said. “I don’t get off until nine in the morning.”

  She patted my uniformed chest. “I didn’t realize you’d already be back at work seeing as we were supposed to be in Austin one more night.”

  I shrugged and moved to the seat beside her, using my boot to slowly slide the glider back and forth.

  “Someone had the stomach bug. And since I was here, I volunteered.” I paused. “I wanted to try to give you the space that you seemed to need.”

  She was silent for a few seconds as she chewed on her lip, likely thinking about what she wanted to reveal.

  “I saw Angel at the governor’s office yesterday,” she said. “He said it was sketchy. That the governor was sketchy.”

  There was a long moment of silence before I said, “Well, he is.”

  She snorted. “And I’ve done a lot of thinking today. And it’s really fucking convenient that my father is running for office. And that his position of choice seems to be the chair that the current governor is occupying.”

  “So do you think it was your dad that was responsible or the governor?” he asked.

  “I have no idea,” she said. “I just know that it’s one or the other. The governor of Texas wouldn’t be calling me to talk without first having a reason. And, though he acted interested in my occupation, I don’t think he was at all. There were just too many inconsistencies.”

  “What time would you like me to meet you with your dad tomorrow?” he asked. “What time will he be in town?”

  “The voicemail said ‘zero-eight hundred.’” She finger quoted in the air. “I’m assuming that’s the exact time he wants to meet. But I’ll put him off for an hour or two. We can just meet here. I’ve been neglecting the dogs a little too much lately. I’ll work them while he’s here. You can do the questioning.”

  I smiled at that. “Gladly.”

  Her head turned and she stared at me for a long few seconds. “And you can sleep here and we can spend time together before you wake up and have to do it all over again.”

  I winked at her and offered her my hand.

  “What about Asa?” I asked. “He won’t wonder why I’m sleeping at your place?”

  She looked me squarely in the eye and said, “If we’re going to do this, Asa’s going to have to know.” She p
aused. “My sister and Booth, however? They can just cool their jets. If they find out, they find out. If they don’t, they don’t. But, honestly, I feel like keeping a secret from them for a change. At least mine doesn’t have to do with my almost dying.”

  I wasn’t sure if I liked keeping the secret from my brother, to be honest.

  It felt like something he needed to know. Especially since it was his child that was going to be spending a lot of time with me. I would think he would want to know.

  But seeing how determined Delanie was, I chose to give her what she wanted.

  For now.

  “I’m not going to lie to them,” I said. “So if they ask, I’ll be truthful.”

  She turned in her seat and looked at me squarely.

  “I don’t want you to lie,” she said. “I just… nothing’s ever been just mine before. I want you to be just mine for a while.”

  I understood, and I could give her that.

  For a while.

  But…

  “I won’t be your dirty little secret, babe,” I told her.

  Her eyes widened.

  Then she frowned, pulled out her phone, and furiously began to type.

  I glanced down at her screen and saw that it was a text message to Dillan.

  Before she could send it, I snatched it out of her hand.

  She followed the phone, climbing me like a tree, and causing me to laugh.

  I hooked my arms around her hips and pulled her down, cursing and screaming.

  “Give it to me! I’m going to tell her. I don’t want you to think that,” she ordered, still struggling.

  Though she was giving it all she had, I was overpowering her easily, which was turning me on.

  I growled and kissed her neck, loving the way she was squirming on my lap.

  The moment my mouth met her skin, she froze, only just then realizing what she was doing to me.

  “You’re weird,” she said, her hands going to my face and holding me in place.

  “I’m weird because I find you attractive?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she whispered, then yanked my head back and kissed me.

  Long moments later, after we were both panting from lack of oxygen, I pulled away and stared into her eyes.

  “I can’t do this,” I grumbled. “I have to get back to work.”

  She pouted. “I guess I can see why you would need to. Fighting crime and all.”

  I chuckled and stood with her in my arms.

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and stared deeply into my eyes.

  “I’ll give it a week,” she said. “When Booth comes to get Asa this weekend, we’ll tell them then.”

  I smoothed her hair back from her face, then pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

  “What about everyone else?” I asked. “Can they know?”

  That was when Priscilla’s light went on on her front porch and she came out, her mouth hanging open.

  “Holy shit!” Priscilla called out loudly. Even over the stretch of yards, I could hear every word. “Does Mom and Dad know that y’all are together?”

  We both looked over at her exclamation.

  “It won’t be a week,” I said. “Priscilla’s the biggest gossip in the family.”

  With that, I gave her one more kiss and took the steps three at a time.

  Waving to my sister, I got into my patrol car and drove away, grinning like a lunatic.

  I wasn’t grinning an hour later when I pulled over a speeder who instantly recognized me.

  “Are you Mr. June, or Mr. July?” she asked, eyes wide as if she’d just been pulled over by a celebrity, and not a cop.

  “My name is Officer Pena,” I said. “License and registration, please?”

  The girl immediately bent over the center console of her truck and reached for the glove compartment.

  She wasn’t wearing pants.

  My eyes went wide as I stared—I couldn’t help it, okay.

  Just as fast, she leaned over and handed me her paperwork, smiling huge.

  I chose not to call her on the no pants thing.

  I didn’t want to deal with the paperwork.

  Only, when she held out her hand with the registration in it, her hand unsteady, letting me know rather quickly that she was either drunk or on drugs.

  Son of a bitch.

  “Have you been drinking tonight?” I asked.

  She nodded. “At Pete’s. I had a couple of beers. Officer, will you sign something of mine?”

  I’d sign her ticket, that was for sure.

  “Do you have any pants in your car?” I asked.

  She reached down and pulled her skirt down to cover her ass.

  I hadn’t even realized that she was wearing one.

  “Sorry, this sucker doesn’t stay in place at all.” She didn’t even have the decency to blush. “Do you want me to get out?”

  I nodded.

  “We’re going to do a field sobriety test,” I said. “In front of my vehicle and behind yours.”

  She got out of the car and had to latch onto the door to stay upright.

  There was no doubt in my mind that she was on something now.

  I pulled my light from my belt and shined it on the road behind me. “Follow the outer white line. Try to walk it.”

  She did, bobbing and weaving the whole way.

  I gestured for her to sit on the bumper of her car and said, “I’ll be back. Gonna get my field sobriety kit.”

  Thirty long minutes later, where the lady tried to grope me twice, I had her in the back of my car and we were heading to the police station.

  Thirty minutes after that, I was doing much the same all over again, only this time with a couple of seventeen-year-old kids.

  In all, I’d taken eight people to the station that night for a trip at the Kilgore Bed and Breakfast, also known as the overnight cells where they would be waiting to see a judge in the morning for their crimes.

  “What is it, a full moon?” I asked come morning after I’d dropped off my eighth person.

  “You asking me?” the front desk sergeant asked. “I’ve had to deal with all your lock-ups today.”

  I snorted and grabbed for my keys just as Detective Sallow walked up with my brother two paces behind him.

  Both of them starting their shift at the same time that mine was ending.

  They were talking quietly as they walked in, and only when they got closer did I realize it was about their sons.

  Neal Sallow looked up as he got to me, gave me a chin tilt, and then left before any words could pass between us.

  Booth came to a stop next to me and looked at me with surprise.

  “What was that about?” he asked curiously.

  “That’s about me warning him off of Delanie,” I said. “At the school the other day before we left for Austin.”

  Booth nodded his head in understanding, his eyes focusing on me for a bit.

  “Long shift?” he asked.

  “Oh my God!” a woman said as she was led from the back part of the station to where she would be visiting a judge in about twenty minutes. “It’s Mr. June and Mr. July! Can y’all sign my pants?!”

  She wasn’t wearing pants. Though, I didn’t point that out to her very drunk ass.

  A mini-skirt covered her lower body. Unlike what it was doing earlier.

  Booth took one glance, dismissed her easily, then turned his gaze back to me.

  “It was one of those nights, eh?” he joked.

  I slapped him on the shoulder and said, “Gotta go. Have to be somewhere.”

  Booth watched me go, his eyes curious the entire time.

  I knew he could tell something was up, but he couldn’t quite figure out what.

  He’d know by the end of the week, though. If he didn’t hear it from Priscilla, he’d hear it from me.

  Neither one of us had ever been good at keeping secrets from each other.r />
  The drive back to Delanie’s place took less than two minutes.

  I was just arriving at the same time as Asa’s bus.

  He saw me and changed directions, running up to me to give me a hug.

  I laughed and picked him up, carrying him, backpack and all, to the front door of the bus.

  “See you in a bit, buddy. Have fun at school, okay?” I said, looking into Asa’s laughing eyes.

  Asa squeezed my neck and kissed my cheek. “Love you, Uncle Bourne.”

  “Love you, too,” I said as I put him on the stairs of the bus.

  The bus driver, the same woman who used to take Booth and me to school when we were kids, waved. “Hello, Mr. July.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not you, too, Mrs. Drew.”

  Mrs. Drew laughed. “Have a good day.”

  I backed away and watched as a puff of black smoke followed their departure, then grinned when I felt Delanie’s arms wrap around me.

  “How was work?” she asked.

  I sighed. “Work was awful. Eight arrests, all but one a drunk driving. I’m not sure what the deal was yesterday, but I’m ready to go to bed.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel better, my father’s flight was delayed,” she said. “He won’t be here until tomorrow night now.”

  I spun around and bent slightly at the knees, then hauled Delanie up against my chest.

  She wrapped her legs around my waist, right above my utility belt, and grinned down into my face as she held on.

  “That means that I can have you before bed,” I groaned.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “It sure does.”

  Chapter 9

  I like big mutts and I cannot lie.

  -Coffee Cup

  Delanie

  My back hit the bed, but before I could bounce once, Bourne was following me down.

  He pressed his big body to mine and kissed me for all he was worth.

  The cold pieces of equipment on his gun belt pressing against my overheated skin didn’t bother me in the slightest.

  At least, not until his nightstick started to jab places I really didn’t want it to jab.

  Like my vagina bone.

  “This is going to have to go,” I said, pushing at the belt.

  He leaned back and shucked it off, tossing it down onto the bed beside me.

  I slowly started to undo the buttons on his uniform top, grinning when I got to the Kevlar vest underneath.