Page 56 of Hot Cops

WILD KISSES

Kiss me once, shame on you. Kiss me twice, shame on me…

The first kiss with Landon, nurse Sunnie blames on tequila. The second on adrenaline. He did save her and her Louis Vuitton from a mugger, after all. But then the kiss goes viral and sexy cop Landon is being flooded with female attention. Now it’s Sunnie’s turn to save Landon—by pretending to be his girlfriend.

It’s all fake fun and games and a few orgasms…until Landon’s ex comes back to town. Then Sunnie has to decide if this is still just a game or if this sexy nurse is ready to claim her hot cop…forever.

PROLOGUE

“Well,now, lass. Those cookies look just fine.” Patrick Collins smiled at his young granddaughter, amused by her impatient expression.

Sunday “Sunnie” Young was no one’s fool. She recognized his cookie-baking ploy for exactly what it was. “Can I go play with the boys now?” she pleaded for the eighteenth time in the last hour.

Patrick was hoping the lure of cookies would distract her. “They’re playing their video game, sweetheart, and there are only two controllers.”

“We can take turns.”

Riley had warned him about this. Apparently, Sunnie had become the quintessential annoying little sister in the past few months, constantly begging to play with her older brother, Finn, whenever his best friend, Landon, was around. Riley said they’d been attempting to please both Sunnie, who was desperate to be included, and Finn, who deserved some alone guy time, as much as possible.

Today fell into the “guy time” category.

Riley and Aaron typically managed their schedules so that one of them was available to babysit. And when they couldn’t, Aunt Bubbles was usually able to step in. However, this afternoon, the stars had not aligned. Which meant he was on duty, taking care of the two boys—the Landon sleepover had been planned before Aaron had been called unexpectedly to work at the precinct—as well as Sunnie and baby Darcy.

So far, Darcy had proved to be the easiest of his charges, arriving and remaining asleep throughout the past hour.

He’d been pleased when Aaron had brought Finn’s video game console from home and hooked it up before leaving. Aaron had assured Patrick that the game would ensure a relatively easy go of it. And that might have held true if Sunnie hadn’t insisted that she wanted to play as well.

They’d already tried the “taking turns” route, and it had ended in a physical struggle as Finn and Sunnie fought over the controller. In order to make peace, he’d suggested the cookie-baking venture. What he hadn’t considered was that, of course, the kids would want to eat said cookies. Finn and Landon had already polished off three each with half a gallon of milk.

As the sugar began to kick in, so did the noise level from the living room.

Even that would have been fine.

But that still left him with Sunnie, his precocious, adorable five-year-old granddaughter. Keira had mused only yesterday that perhaps too many members of the family had whammied Riley with that old “I hope you have a daughter just like you someday,” and the result had been Sunnie.

She was a whirling dervish of constant motion and chatter and questions and demands. Patrick suspected if there were a way to channel her limitless energy, she could provide enough power in Baltimore for a century.

When she wanted something, she dug in her heels. And right now, she wanted to play with the boys.

Patrick had offered to read her a book, but Sunnie responded to that as if he’d suggested they drown some newborn kitten. Neither sitting still nor listening were her strong suits.

Sunnie gazed longingly toward the boys, her eyes going wide with delight. A glance over the island to the living room proved the increased volume had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the wrestling match that had started. One Sunnie clearly had every intention of joining.

He raised his hand and said “no” when she started to dart toward the melee.

She stopped, but pouted.

“Boys,” Patrick said loudly, in a stern voice. He’d raised four rambunctious boys of his own. Wrestling matches were nothing new to him.

He was pleased when Finn and Landon both looked alarmed, then settled down, quickly apologizing, taking one last swing at each other’s arms before starting the video game again.

He turned back to Sunnie, who had somehow snuck out of the kitchen when he’d looked away.

Walking down the hall, he discovered her in his bedroom, jumping on the bed.

“Sit down, Sunnie,” he said. “I have an idea.” He reached for a photo album he kept on his bookshelf. Opening up the book, he sat on the bed and flipped through a few pages before finding the photo he was looking for.

“That’s my mommy,” she said, pointing to Riley.

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