Page 51 of Ridin' Solo
23
Oakley
“People are going to know.”
Wyatt swatted my ass and helped me up into his truck. “No, they won’t.”
I didn’t swivel my feet into the truck just yet. “Yes, they will! Look at these cheeks.” I pointed to my face, where my cheeks would not stop looking like bright red roses that had gotten good and laid the night before.
Wyatt paused, scanning my face. “Yep. They’re gonna know.”
“Argh!” I yelped, spinning on the seat and dumping my duty belt on the floor of the truck. Wyatt closed the door on his laughter.
He came around to the driver’s side and climbed in, starting the truck and getting the heater going. It was still cold out at oh-dark-thirty in Auburn Hill.
“Wait. I’m sorry. I have to do this.” Wyatt took his hands off the steering wheel.
I opened my mouth to ask what, but he pounced, his tongue in my mouth and his hands trying to feel me up through the bulletproof vest. I kissed him back, protesting in my head. Him frenching me right before we drove to work wouldn’t help matters. Everyone was going to know we were together. I just knew it.
My brain finally wrestled the control away from my libido, and I pushed Wyatt off me. “We’re going to be late, Lieutenant.”
He ground his molars, his eyes heating further. “I fuckin’ love it when you call me Lieutenant.”
I put my hand on his handsome face and pushed, swallowing the laugh that wanted to break free. “We can’t be late! We have to talk to the sheriff.”
Wyatt groaned, but sat back, putting the truck in gear and driving off. “Fine. If that makes it so I can kiss you whenever I want without fear of us losing our jobs, then I’m all over it.” He glanced over at me. “But I have plans for you tonight.”
My eyebrow lifted. “Oh, yeah?”
Wyatt adjusted himself. “Yep. You and my handcuffs, baby.”
I snorted, thinking he was being a total cliche including the handcuffs. Even though secretly, that sounded like a ton of fun.
By the time we got to work, my cheeks had mostly calmed down, but I couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off my face. Wyatt and I were finally in a good place, and if the meeting with Sheriff Locke went well, we’d have a plan in place to officially date without having to sneak around.
I released my seat belt. “Remember. No funny business while at work. Okay?”
Wyatt shot me a look. “I know. I take my job seriously too, Oakley.”
I smiled softly at him, understanding so much more now that I knew a little about his father. “I know you do. I’ll tell my inner control freak to calm down.”
He grinned, clearly agreeing with my assessment of my need to control everything, and we both got out of the truck. I took the lead like normal, heading into the office building to see if we could chat with the sheriff before our official patrol start time. The place was bustling with activity.
“Hi, Betty,” I said to his secretary. “Is Sheriff available?”
The woman gave a long-suffering sigh. “Unfortunately, no. He’s stuck in a meeting with Mayor Rip, going over budgets. Seems all our equipment is breaking at the same time, so Sheriff is trying to get emergency funding, which is like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip.”
I bit my lip. Well, that certainly put a damper on our plans. “Hmm. Well, okay. I’ll see if I can catch him after shift.”
“Sounds good, honey.” Betty started clicking around on her computer, unaware of the looks Wyatt and I were shooting each other.
By the time we made it to the cruiser where we could speak freely, my cheeks were bright red again. I started up the car and headed out of the parking lot, looking forward to a day with just Wyatt and me. As soon as we told Sheriff Locke about us, Wyatt would be transferred and I’d be riding solo again. I wanted to soak in as much time with him as I could before they separated us.
“You know your cheeks do the same thing when I’m inside you,” he said out of the blue.
“Wyatt!” I gasped.
“What?” He grinned impishly. “That’s the kind of detail a guy notices when he’s crazy for a girl.”
