Page 31 of Shephard

I grabbed my whiskey. Being around her either meant drinking or fucking. I doubted we were on the road to another filthy tryst.

“Yeah, don’t get your hopes up.”

“A bad dude, huh?” She took a sip of her wine, once again turning her head in my direction. I was surprised when she picked at one of my fries, slowly putting it in her mouth. I seriously doubted she was bothering to flirt with me. She was simply acting out on her rebellious personality. Maybe that’s why I liked her.

The action was provocative as hell, which did nothing to ease the ache in my groin. Soon, my cock would be on fire.

“Yeah, real bad. Now that you know my name, what’s yours or are you too afraid of the big, bad canine?”

She burst into laughter, forced to take another sip of her wine to keep from choking. “You have no idea. After what I’ve had to see the past day and the shit from this morning, you could be a Bengal tiger and I could best you in five seconds.”

I wanted to bet her that wouldn’t happen, but I had to weigh what sparring with a local would mean. No longer was she just some fling at a seedy motel.

“I’d like to see that.” I took a quick glance around the joint to see if anyone was paying any attention. Fortunately, they weren’t, which was good for their health. “Name.”

“Fine. It’s Denise.”

“A shitty day, huh?” Why in the hell was I continuing a conversation with her? We weren’t going to be friends.

“Yeah, real shitty. Try being handed a twenty-four-hour suspension for breaking your associate’s nose.”

I hadn’t expected that and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I was able to grin. “Well, looks like we’re two rowdy assholes. Normal behavior?”

“Normal behavior.” Denise even lifted her glass, locking eyes with mine. “I had my reasons. You?”

“The reporter had it coming.”

“Mmm… Tough guy. You don’t like your picture taken. You don’t like to be bothered. You certainly don’t like to chitchat. My guess is you don’t like people very much.”

“Now, why would you think that?”

“Maybe because I’m a mind reader.”

She had a way of getting under a man’s skin and attaching a leash to his libido. I gave her a respectful nod. Why not? “You’re a control freak who doesn’t like authority figures. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re in security somewhere. You’re a loner yourself, preferring the company of Pepper to anyone else. You take your job seriously, which means you won’t take shit and have no time for friends. How am I doing, sweetheart?”

She lifted her glass again, also providing me with a nod. “Not bad for a grumpy asshole. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

After taking another swig of her wine and placing her glass carefully on the bar, she slithered around me, not looking back for one second as she headed to the restroom. She was a tough girl, even harder to read. I had a feeling she didn’t like that I’d seen through some of her façade, but I was damn good at observing people. She was still hiding something just like I was.

“Careful with her,” the bartender warned. “She’s a park ranger and knows her shit. Some big-time ex-detective with a stellar record. But she has a chip on her shoulder.”

“Yeah? Don’t we all. No one sits here until we return. No one.”

“You got it.”

I powered back my whiskey before heading to the ladies’ room. I wasn’t into protocol or rules myself, so why bother worrying about breaking them here? She was one feisty woman with a nasty attitude and it suited my purposes.

And tempted my hunger.

There was no sense of beating around the bush. I entered the bathroom, surprising a woman who was washing her hands. But she quickly hurried from the room, barely managing to dump the paper towel into the trash.

Denise walked out, adjusting her top. It took her all of three seconds to notice my presence. Her expression was unreadable, but I did notice her nipples were fully aroused. Plus, her scent was intoxicating.

She said nothing.

I said nothing.

The quiet was fascinating as she washed her hands, both of us glaring at a woman when she tried to walk in but decided to back out. When she was finished, she chose to force herself to cross partially in front of me to grab a towel instead of using the other dispenser.

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