Page 9 of Cop-Off

She was out of there. Door flung open, she power-walked her dumb arse out of the bar and didn’t look back.

What the hell were you thinking, Cat?

***

Cat couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Cody. But that wasn’t the worst of it. She felt him too. His lips, his hands, his thigh. Her whole body was on high alert. And her brain, well, her brain was freaking the hell out.

What had she been thinking? Cody McBride, of all people. Talk about a frigging cliché. From fighting to that other ‘F’ word that she definitely wasn’t going to think about. No way. She would not give him the satisfaction. Besides, her hormones didn’t control her. She could resist the demon.Wouldresist him.

Releasing her phone from its charger, she turned to her side and began the inevitable doom scrolling. It only took a few minutes and headlines had been checked and social media scanned. Now it was time for her dreaded inbox to be opened.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Scrambling in her cotton sheets, she clumsily pulled herself up and reread the email from Amy. Her friend. The friend who’d volunteered to find out who’d shut her dating profile down.

I don’t have a name yet, but I can see on their system they received a request to close the account. According to their policy, the only time they’d actually close an account downwithout any investigation is if they receive a request from the police or through a court order. Have you pissed off any cops or judges lately?

She replayed what Cody had said to her tonight. The pure anger coming off him in waves as he declared she wasn’t to go near any cowboys. The bastard was jealous.

He did it. He shut my account down.She knew it. She could feel it.

How dare he!

There was no way she was going to sleep now. Her heart was racing way too fast, and she was literally shaking with rage.

Hauling herself out of bed, she grabbed her fluffy grey dressing gown and wrapped it around her. Making her way to the next room, she switched on the orange lamp and grabbed her laptop. Once she’d settled into the sofa, she placed a cushion under her computer and started it up. If she couldn’t sleep then there was plenty of work for her to do.

There were two books she’d been working on. Editing the romance novel when she was this frustrated probably wasn’t a good idea, so she clicked open the other book. A thriller.

“That’s more like it,” she muttered to herself as she began reading.

If it was going to be a long night, then at least it would be action-packed.

CHAPTER FOUR

Cody’s feet were up, his hat was down, and he was confident he could get a good twenty-minute nap in before he was back on patrol. Today was really kicking his ass. Not only was he pulling a double shift, but he was doing it on hardly any sleep. Last night had been a lot. And not what he was expecting at all.

But he wasn’t trying to think about it right now. He’d done enough of that. It was the very reason he was dangerously sleep deprived in the first place. No, he needed some goddamn peace, if only for twenty minutes.

Just as his eyes closed, a violent bang startled him into action, hat flopping to the floor, feet hitting the ground and his hand poised over his gun.

“What the ever-loving fuck?” he snarled.

Cat stood in his doorway, bright blue eyes glared back at him depicting enough rage that if possible, would have shot daggers square into his chest. “Have you lost your mind, McBride?”

“Have you?” he countered, unable to keep his voice from rising.

She looked just as tired as him. The kinks she’d put in her hair last night were still there but seemed a lot more unkempt. But even with no makeup on and what looked like some sort of oversized t-shirt dress, she still managed to take his breath away. And that was really damn annoying.

“You reported my dating profile and had my fricking account suspended! Why? Why would you do that?”

Shit. How did she find out?

Cody scrubbed his face. There wasn’t anything he could say to justify what he did. He knew that. So did she. So, in the spirit of their kiss and not pretending anymore, he decided to lay it all out.

“Because, Cat, like I told you last night, I don’t want you anywhere near any goddamn cowboy. That’s why. And what the hell were you thinking with all those damn riding jokes? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you know how many psychopaths there are out there?”

Her hands darted to her hips, cocked for full dramatic effect. “That’s not your decision to make, Cody. And my jokes were funny as hell and you know it.”

Is she being serious right now?

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