Page 37 of Cash

“I remember. We should just agree now that if we don’t find the perfect person for ourselves, we’ll marry each other. We can adopt kids, exotic pets and raise them together. What do you think?” I ask.

As expected, James starts laughing, hard. With him doing the driving, it causes a few honks from other drivers when he uses up two lanes instead of one. When he calms enough to keep us in the proper lane, I playfully slug him in the shoulder for laughing at my idea.

*~*~*~*

Standing to the side of our favorite taco truck, I’m attempting to eat without wearing half my lunch. It’s not an easy feat, but we’ve had a lot of practice doing this before. I sense James going on alert and my attention shifts to him. I follow the direction of his eyes to see a biker approaching us.

Curly brown hair, stocky build, the biker’s smiling as he stops in front of us. Both hands are full of tacos and I’m amazed at how skilled he is at handling that much food without dropping any. His demeanor screams friendly, but James isn’t returning the vibe.

“Best tacos in town. I should know because I’ve tried them all,” the biker announces as he takes a huge bite out of one in his hand.

“Something you need?” James asks in an unfriendly voice.

I carefully look the biker over and read the name “Chubs” on his cut. The Devil’s Angels patch explains James’s uncharacteristic attitude, and I hide a grin by taking a bite of my food.

“Yeah, Officer, there is. Sorry to interrupt your lunch, though,” Chubs answers.

“It’s fine. What can we help you with?” I ask politely.

“Can I have your phone number, Officer Moore? Cash Larson, a club—”

“No, you can’t and neither can he. He had his shot and blew it. Anything else you need?” James interrupts bluntly.

“I understand why you feel that way. Really, I do. But things happened out of his control and, he deserves the chance to explain. Can I give you his number instead? If you want to know why he didn’t show up, you can call him. If you’re not interested in giving a good guy a second chance, then that’s your choice to make,” Chubs says in a soft voice.

I hesitate. I’m angry with Cash but this guy in front of me seems very sincere. I always trust my gut, and it’s telling me Chubs wouldn’t be here if he didn’t believe in his friend. After a moment, I pull out my notebook and pen then hand them to Chubs. He smiles and jots something down before handing them back to me.

“I hope you’ll call him. You won’t regret it,” Chubs says with another smile before giving me a chin lift and walking off.

“I hate to say this, but maybe he’s right, Livi. At least find out why he didn’t show. Then, if he lets you down again, I’ll help you hide the body,” James says.

“I’ll think on it,” I answer while tucking away the notebook and pen.

Finishing our lunch, we walk back to the patrol car. James walks to the passenger side and I stop in surprise. Looking over the roof of the car at me, James smirks before explaining.

“Until we know why Cash did what he did, I’ll lay off headhunting his club brothers. They’re safe for now.”

*~*~*~*

I wait until I’m home, showered and lying on my couch before picking up my phone and notebook. Opening the notebook, I find Cash’s number and call it.

“Yeah?”

“Hi. It’s Livi. Chubs gave me your number and said I should call and ask why you stood me up. So, this is me, giving you a chance to explain because Chubs seems like a really nice guy,” I babble out in one breath.

“He is. About the other night, Livi. Shit went down and honestly, with what happened, I forgot about our date. My bad,” Cash rumbles out.

Just his voice causes a shiver down my spine and for some inane reason, I find myself smiling at my ceiling. I ignore the shiver and pull my thoughts to what he said.

“My bad? Not I’m sorry?”

“You need to hear it then I’m sorry. I am. This might be easier to explain if you came to my house,” Cash replies.

“I can stop by tomorrow during my shift.”

“Not submitting to a body cavity search,” Cash oddly says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Excuse me?” I ask in a shocked tone.

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