Page 24 of Strip Search

Annoyed by his demanding ways, I reluctantly follow him, slamming his door shut behind me for added emphasis that I’m not happy with him.

Cole raises his brow and crosses his arms over his chest, I’m officially calling it his trademark move. “Is there a problem, Molly?”

“Yes. A big one. About six-foot-five, standing right in front of me.”

He has the balls to snicker. “Like I didn’t see that one coming. Besides me, anyone else piss you off this morning?”

“Nope. Just you. You’ve got this really innate way of doing that, you know?”

“Mission accomplished.” He blows me a dramatic kiss and drops his hands, circles his desk, and takes a seat in his chair. “Sit down, we’ve got some shit to talk about.”

Inwardly I curse the way my heart squeezes at his playfulness with me. I hate that I miss this. That I hate the distanceI’veput between us.

“Cole,” I warn, annoyed with this entire dance.

“Relax, as much as I would like to give you another lecture about the situation withThe Landing Strip,that’s not what I want to talk about.”

“Okay,” I relent and take a seat. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Your car.”

“Not happy about that either, for the record,” I inform him.

“Jesus Christ, if you were mine I would spank your ass for that mouth.”

Oh, fuck no.Forget what I said about missing him.

“Let’s get one thing straight – you had your chance. It was a mistake, remember? But since you brought it up, if I was ever yours, you would never. I’m not a child who needs to be disciplined, spanking my ass is unacceptable. Got it?”

Forget the fact that the thought of his hands even touching my flesh has my pulse racing while I fight the urge to clench my thighs together and relieve the ache between my legs.

“Ignoring everything you just said.” He winks at me.

Picking up one of the paperclips on his desk I fling it at him, hitting him right between his eyebrows. The shocked look on his face has me fighting back a giggle.

“Cute. Can you focus for five minutes? Please?”

“Talk quicker. Time’s wasting,” I snap back.

“Your car was tampered with.” Finally, the man cuts to the chase. Too bad it’s to deliver a blow I didn’t see coming.

“Fucking lovely. What does this mean exactly?”

“That’s what I’m working to figure out. My guys were not able to lift prints off anything, so we have no leads there. Security footage from here tells us that it happened while we were all focused on Dallas, which tells us it’s probably related somehow. Unfortunately, they were one step ahead, making sure they stayed covered. Is there anyone who would have it out for you? Enemies at the club? A pissed off ex-boyfriend?”

I think for a minute, experience tells me, anyone can be a suspect at this point. One person sticks out more than others.

“Lola, the Head Mistress. What I know so far is that she and Dallas do not get along. And she seems to dislike me a lot. I’ve brushed it off until now. Figured she was nothing more than a washed-up ex-stripper who was jealous of a little fresh blood in the place. A few of the other ladies have told me to ignore her, she’s like that with everyone.”

Cole nods and quickly types some info into his computer. “Anyone else?”

“Cole, who doyouthink did this?” Something in his voice tells me he’s not telling me everything.

Blowing out a sigh, he runs his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know.” I give him a glare of his own, and he laughs. “Mol, I really don’t know. No more secrets, okay? I want you eyes wide open on all of this. If I knew, I would tell you.”

His confession hits me hard. I’m probably reading to much into this, but I feel like we’re taking a step in the right direction and that maybe, just maybe, he’s starting to see my worth as part of this team.

“Well. Until you figure it out, can I get back to work? The McCallister’s want us out in the next few days to install their security system, I was looking at the schedule to figure that out when you so rudely interrupted me.”

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