Page 22 of Stormswept Colorado

This diva insisted on testing my patience? I was about to show herexactlyhow much of an asshole I could be.

“Fine. You really want it to go down this way? You’ve got it, Princess.”

“Don’t call me princess!”

I spun her around and tugged her hands behind her back, reaching for my cuffs. The snick of metal was loud in the small room.

“Ayla Maxwell, you’re under arrest.”

EIGHT

Ayla

I was usually prettygood at keeping my more extreme impulses in check. Example one: I hadn’t decked that asshole earlier who told me toshow my tits.

But when I got pushed too far, I couldn’t help but react.

Something about Teller Landry just made me lose all common sense.

It didn’t help that his firm touch as he put me in handcuffs ignited every one of my nerve endings like sparklers on New Year’s. A flush spread over my skin.

“I hope this is worth whatever point you think you’re making,” he said.

“I did what I had to.”

“Stay here and behave. Can you do that?” Teller turned me around and nudged me up against the bathroom wall. I wasn’t sure when he’d switched from “Chief Landry” to “Teller” in my head. Maybe around the time that we shared a brief laugh about the gnome wallpaper.

“Yes, sir,” I replied sarcastically.

Even now, his eyes betrayed a hint of amusement, even though his mouth remained in a stern frown. Those eyes were a pale green like cold sea glass, rimmed with thick light-brownlashes, and had no right to be so mesmerizing. Same with the broad shoulders and thick biceps that strained his dark navy police uniform.

If I’d admired Bryan’s physique earlier, that was nothing to the chief’s effect on me. Especially after spending the last ten minutes trapped in this tiny bathroom with him.

When he’d first carried me in here, I hardly knew what was happening. Yes, he’d been trying to get me somewhere safe. But I wasn’t used to being manhandled. Teller had thrown me around like I was a doll.

I hadn’t realized before howbigTeller was. Not just his frame but the way he took up space, which was all about charisma. Fine lines traced the skin beside his eyes, and the scar down his cheek made his glower even more commanding. The touches of silver in his short dark-blond hair made him distinguished and somehow amplified his sex appeal.

I wasn’t usually drawn to older men, but Teller Landry was no ordinary specimen. He was larger than life.

No wedding ring, either.

Why was I even noticing that? So what if he was attractive. Or single.

“Stay,” he commanded. Then he unlocked the door and stepped out, leaving the spicy scent of aftershave in his wake. The bathroom suddenly felt huge and empty. And the gravity of what I’d done started to hit.

Oh, this was bad.

Every tabloid reporter would probably have a simultaneous orgasm when they heard about me getting arrested. My publicist was going to murder me.

Also, terrible example for me to set for Maisie. Except I did want her to learn to stand up for herself and for others. So there was that.

I’d just been so…frustrated. By the way my day got ruined. By how unfair it was that Bryan, one of the few men in my everyday life who I could trust, was going to jail because of me. And withTeller being all bossy and gruff and intimidating, I just couldn’t take any more.

I’d felt cornered. Like a rubber band pulled too far, I’d snapped. I chose violence.

Okay, Ididregret that part. I shouldn’t have put hands on Teller to make a point. Even if hedidput his hands on me when he picked me up and carried me into this bathroom in the first place.

But now I was the one in handcuffs.

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