Page 55 of I Can't Even

That left us alone to talk, and I couldn’t help but lift my hand and run it along a strand of hair that’d escaped from the loose bun on top of her head.

She was wearing a pair of short blue jean shorts, a loose t-shirt that said ‘Arkadelphia’ on it, and tennis shoes that looked like they’d seen better days.

I fucking loved that, despite coming up here to see me, she didn’t dress to impress. I adored the fact that she was so nonchalant about impressing me.

“Birth control, huh?” I asked.

She narrowed her eyes and said, “Someone has to keep us protected seeing as you can’t, Hot Cop.”

I hooked my finger in the neck of her t-shirt and tugged her toward me.

She came willingly, her body pressing to mine, and looked up at me, waiting to see what I was going to do.

I didn’t disappoint her.

I kissed the hell out of her in front of what was likely about twenty cops, including my mother.

“Child,” my mom called from the other side of the room. “I know she means something to you and all, but let’s not give the entire place a show. Find a room at least.”

I grinned against Ellodie’s lips and pulled away.

Ellodie’s face flushed fuchsia before saying, “I forgot she was in the room.”

I liked that I could make her forget.

“Get out of here, darlin’,” I ordered. “I have to get back to work.”

She reluctantly pulled away before saying, “Yes, sir.”

And why the hell did that make me half hard for the rest of the morning?

“Hey, how do y’all feel about going to that new rage room we saw on Pliler and Fredonia?” Auden asked out of the blue ten minutes before my shift was set to end.

Lunch never happened.

I’d been ready to head that way when one of our patrol officers had been hit by a drunk driver while performing a traffic stop.

He was all right, but it caused a hell of a lot of paperwork, and I’d been swamped up until about ten minutes ago.

I frowned and looked over at him. “I mean, I guess they’re cool. Why?”

Auden grinned and held out his phone.

I took it, and blinked when I saw Ellodie, dressed in a white jumpsuit that was so baggy it swallowed her, with thick science lab glasses covering her eyes, beating on a wall with a sledgehammer.

She was going to town on it, too.

“I guess I feel like we might need to run by there and see what it’s all about,” I murmured. “I need ten minutes to finish up here and then we can go.”

I hopped in the truck with Auden, and it took us ten minutes to get there.

Sadly, just as I got out of the truck to head inside, Tobin called.

“I have some news.” Tobin sounded tired. “Another girl went missing, we think.”

My stomach clenched. “Where and when?”

I walked into the building behind Auden, but stayed far enough back that the woman’s sledgehammering across the room didn’t carry into the phone call.

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