Page 45 of Hot Cops

“Listen, Bubbles. Why don’t you take a little while? Calm down. Aaron and I are going to the all-you-can-eat place next door to our hotel. Why don’t you come have a late lunch with us?”

“I can’t eat at a time like this. I’m too upset. I’ll get gas.”

“Well, I really think you should forget about the stripper job. If they don’t want you, then you need to just say fuck it. That manager clearly doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it. I’d be surprised if he didn’t run the club into the ground before the year’s out.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Louis is a fucking loser and an idiot to boot.”

“Exactly. Feel better?”

“No. I’m gonna go get my hair done. I need a new color. A new color always cheers me up.”

“Sounds like a good idea. Purple would look nice with your skin tone. Call me later if you want.”

“I will. Thanks, Riley.”

“Bye, Bubbles.”

“What was that about?” Aaron asked.

“Bella showed up at the club this morning asking for her job back. Louis gave it to her. And gave Bubbles the boot. Apparently there were a few small mishaps.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “Of course there were. Let me guess, she’s looking to kill Trev too?”

“Nope, she’s after Bella’s blood.”

Aaron seemed impressed. “Well, there’s a nice twist on a classic. I thought today was Trev’s day to die.”

Riley shrugged. “Apparently he’s not going down alone.” They stood outside the restaurant and paused for a minute. “We’re still going in, right?”

“There’s nothing we can do about the Trev and Bella situation right now. We still don’t know where they are. We can head back to the strip club tonight and maybe we’ll catch Trev there while Bella’s dancing. Warn him Jo’s in town and on the warpath. You realize the only reason Bella would want her job back is because Trevor lost all his winnings?”

“Jeez. You’re right. What a tool.”

Aaron nodded. “So, here’s the plan. After we do our good deed of warning Trev he’s in imminent danger, we’re locking ourselves in that hotel room, taking the phone off the hook and having wild monkey sex until the coming of the next Ice Age. And I don’t mean the movie.”

Riley laughed. “Awesome plan. Come on. Let’s go eat.”

As they entered the restaurant, the hostess led them to their table, took their drink orders and told them to help themselves to the bar.

“We’ll go monochromatic.”

“Jesus,” Aaron muttered. “Do you have to do this every time we hit one of these places?”

“It’s fun. I dibs anything that’s a shade of yellow. The Starch Special. Macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, creamed corn and a roll.”

“Riley. I’m not playing.”

“Why not?”

“Because you always try to stick me with green. I’m not walking down this food bar and passing up all the good stuff just so everything on my plate will match. I’m really hungry.”

Riley studied the food. “You could probably manage red. There’s spaghetti, barbeque ribs and pepperoni pizza.”

Aaron considered her suggestion. “That doesn’t sound bad, actually.”

She grinned and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?”

---