Page 105 of Worth the Chase

“It will as long as I’m around. I don’t let patrons fuck with the female bartenders,” Ben responded gruffly before putting the glass in its place.

Matthew’s smile grew. “Love to hear that.”

“Sorry about what happened.” Ben grimaced.

Matthew’s smile instantly dropped. “Yeah. Me too.”

“Hello.” I waved my hand in front of both of their faces. “I’m standing right here.”

Matthew looked behind me, his eyebrows pulling together so that he got those two lines between his eyes. “What’s with all the pies?”

“Whole damn town came out to see this one today,” Ben answered for me.

I made an annoyed sound. “Am I not allowed to talk?” I grumped.

“People came to see you?” Matthew suddenly looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

I blew out a soft breath and tucked my hand towel into the back of my pants. “Yeah. It was really nice actually. I’ll tell you about it later.”

The sound of Matthew’s cell phone buzzing distracted us both. He stared at the screen before turning it toward me so I could see who was calling.

He turned the phone and placed it against his ear. “Hey, Chief.” There was a pause as I stared at Matthew’s mouth and waited for him to speak again. “Yeah. We can come there. Hold on a sec,” he said before pulling the phone away and placing his hand over the speaker.

“How long until you’re off?” he asked.

I looked right at Ben, who was pretending not to pay attention, but definitely was. That was bartending 101—look like you aren’t listening, but listen to every. Damn. Word.

“I can leave whenever,” I said because I knew that Ben could handle closing up if I needed him to.

Matthew nodded, pulled his hand away, and put the phone back up to his ear. “We’ll be there in twenty. Okay. See you soon.”

He hung up, and I braced myself.

“What’s going on?”

“He has an update for us. He’d like us to meet him at the station.”

My throat felt dry, and I reached for a glass, poured a shot of water, and downed it in one gulp. Then, I took another.

Ben waved me off. “Go. You know I can handle this, and if I fuck up, you can let me know what I did wrong tomorrow.”

That actually made me laugh. “Sounds good. Thank you.”

Matthew was already standing when I walked out from behind the bar and into his arms.

“I need to go grab my things and tell Addi what’s going on, okay?”

“Of course. I’ll be right here,” he said, but when I noticed him spot our security guard, Miles, I knew exactly where he’d be waiting for me.

It took us all of three minutes to arrive at the station in Matthew’s truck. He cut the engine, hopped out, and helped me down from his monstrosity. Then, he tucked me against his side and walked us toward the entrance before pulling the glass door open and ushering me inside.

“We’re here to see the chief,” Matthew announced at the beaming young redhead behind the glass window, whose cheeks turned a bright red almost instantly.

“He’s, um, expecting you. I’ll, um, well, I’ll buzz you both back.” She stumbled on her words, and I knew that Matthew’s presence had her all flummoxed.

As I took him in, I couldn’t even blame her. My man was a sight to behold.

The buzzer sounded, and Matthew pulled the door open, holding it for me once more. Chief Marin was making his way in our direction, and once he spotted us, he stopped walking and gave us a wave.

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