Page 38 of No Second Chances

“Oh shit.” I clap my hand against my thigh. “I gotta go.”

“What? Hot date?” Dom bounces between me and Remy a few times. “Did you finally grow a set and ask Kennedy for a chance?”

“You know exactly how big his balls are, if I remember correctly.” Remy surprisingly comes to my defense. “I’d hate for that video Parker shot to be shared with anyone.”

“Parker didn’t take a video,” Dom practically shouts before looking around to make sure no one is eavesdropping. “She didn’t, did she?”

Remy crosses his arms over his chest and shrugs, looking about as innocent as he can manage. But I see the glimmer in his eye. Plus, I seem to remember her being too busy getting engaged to do anything else. Still, I’m not about to throw Remy to the wolves.

“I know she was taking videos that day,” I offer as a way to hedge the truth. “She told me she sent a video of us to Kennedy. Maybe it was that video.” I know for a fact it wasn’t, because I offered to babysit Nox as a way to get the truth out of her about the situation, so that I don’t have to worry about some random video of my balls floating around the internet with the chance of becoming viral. A cop on roller skates with his balls hanging out? Yeah. That would definitely be fodder for the masses. Not only that, but I know what I look like. Years of working out gave me the body I need to do my job.

“I’m going to go now,” I announce to the room as a whole before I start thinking more about shit that isn’t Kennedy and get distracted even further.

I pull my phone from my pocket again to make sure she knows not to leave the house, surprised to see that there is a message from Kennedy.

K: You’re gonna be late, I know. Heard Amie got a naked old man. Is his dick really that big?

L: My dick better be the only thing on your mind.

K: Maybe. But not if you don’t use it.

With that, I walk out of the office without looking back. There is a woman waiting for me at home who means the world to me, and I have plans. I almost make it to my car, too, before I remember what Chief Townsend said that night.

“Damn it,” I mutter and turn around to walk back into the building. Right past Teri, who is staring at me curiously without saying a word. Through the bullpen, where Amie and the guys are shooting nerf guns at each other. I walk into the chief’s office without knocking.

Chief Townsend, because there isn’t any possibility of me referring to him as Alex while we are at work, even in my head, stares at me like I’m nothing more than a nuisance. He hangs up the phone he’d been speaking into when I walked in and waits.

I glance behind me, to see that Remy and Amie are both watching like kids spying on Santa Claus. Without sparing them a thought, I turn back to the chief and blow a raspberry accidentally.

“Where’s Kennedy’s machete?” I finally force the question out, and then it is my turn to wait. Most likely for a reprimand, but I’m not standing there as one of his officers, so I don’t really give a shit if he writes me up.

“Are you here as a cop or as my daughter’s boyfriend?” The question catches me off guard, since it is exactly what I was just thinking about. “Because if you’re here as a cop, I’m gonna write your ass up and kick you out.”

“I’m here as her boyfriend,” I rush out. “But don’t tell her that, because if she finds out that we were talking about her like she was something to be had and not a person of her own, I’m pretty sure she’d find a way to kill us both and make it look like an accident.” I clasp my hands behind my back and rock back on my feet while he contemplates my words.

“Good point.” He runs a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, sticking his tongue under his lip so that he can watch me intently. “Are they still watching and waiting for me to yell?”

I glance over my shoulder before turning back. “Yep.”

“Her machete is behind my garage. Don’t let her do anything stupid with it.”

Before I can stop myself, I’m walking out the door and digging myself a hole I won’t ever be able to get out of. After all, I owe it to the interlopers to give them something for the chief to yell about.

“Don’t worry. I’m the only stupid thing your daughter’s gonna be doing.”

17

LINC

Walking into my house and seeing Kennedy barefoot in the kitchen with her back to me sends a jolt of electricity straight to my dick.

Her long auburn hair hangs loose down her back, and I can see the tattoo on her wrist when she reaches for another dish by the sink to wash.

Mine.

Thinking of her as mine isn’t anything new. She’s always been mine, and I’ve always been hers.

“I brought you a present.”

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