glanced at the newspaper once more. If those men had been the thieves then she’d been lucky to escape with her life. And she was potentially a witness in an important investigation. I can’t deal with that.
She said her good-byes and left the office for the day. As she drove along with the usual rush-hour traffic, Stephanie knew she couldn’t go straight home. Being alone with her thoughts was something she needed to avoid for a while.
Brrrup, brrrup, brrrup.
When she checked out her rearview mirror, there was a police car glued to her bumper. She was going along with the traffic at a slow crawl, so she knew she wasn’t speeding. Did the chief find out she was a witness in the auto theft? After trying to play it off, hoping they were just trying to get through the traffic, she pulled onto the next side street. The police car followed, parking right behind her.
This time she wasn’t in the mood to play around. She’d had a long day at work and had too much on her mind. Stephanie stepped out of her car without being told and waited with her arms crossed. She tapped her low heel, resting her hip against the driver’s side door.
When she saw him, her bravado quickly diminished. She stood up straight, dropping her arms to her sides. As he strode toward her, she fiddled with the hem of her jacket. She was surprised that he didn’t remind her of the Saturday night drama. All she saw was the uniform and his dark eyes completely trained on her. She felt a delicious violation, as if he undressed her with just a look.
“Ms. Vasquez, we meet again.”
“Have I done something wrong, Officer Myers?” She was surprised how easily the flirting came back to her. One minute she’d been pissed off with the world. Now everything was sunshine and daisies.
“It’s a one-way street.”
She looked up and sure enough there was another arrow pointing in the opposite direction. He’d set her up.
“You signaled for me to pull over.”
He shook his head, pulling out his ticket pad and pen. He flipped over the cover and tapped the pen to his thick lips. “You chose to turn here. I gave you a break last time. This is a second offense.”
His face was so void of emotion, she wasn’t sure if he was playing or serious. Then she noticed Dom exiting the passenger side of the cop car. Maybe he’d be more reasonable, like last time.
“What do you have against me?” she asked. “I really can’t afford a ticket for this. Just because you saw me at that high-priced gala doesn’t mean I’m rolling in money. I was just covering it for the paper.”
“I know.” He wrote on the ticket, not looking at her.
“How do you know? Does it say where I work on my police record?”
“You don’t have a record.”
The late-afternoon sun highlighted the strands of gold in Dom’s dirty-blond hair as he neared. She couldn’t help but stare at his broad shoulders, the way the navy material clung to his hard muscles. “Problem here?”
“Yes. Why am I getting a ticket?”
“You must have committed a crime.” They stood side by side, a massive wall of authority. She felt weak in the knees as a wave of want and need slammed into her. “Turn around and face the car.”
She frowned, wondering what he was doing, but complied.
“Hands on the car.” They were treating her like a common criminal. When Dom’s hands locked around her wrists from behind, her breath caught. “Now, don’t move.” She couldn’t even speak, never mind move. Stephanie should be furious, venting steam for the treatment, but she only wanted more. Her fantasies were playing out and she expected to wake up to the alarm clock buzzer any second.
He squeezed her arms from wrist to shoulder in slow, measured increments. It felt like a sensual massage more than a frisking.
“Aren’t female officers supposed to search women?”
“I’m just patting you down, sweetheart. Don’t get excited.” He skimmed the backs of his hands down both her sides at once. Her
Marian Grey, African American Club