Page 9 of Recklessly You
“Oh, and by the way, you’re partnering up with a rookie today, Ashley. She’s in her last weeks of training.”
“You got it, sir.” Stepping out of his office, I head to grab a cup of coffee before we head out on patrol. I can’t fucking believe I’ll be part of the task force.Fuck. I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life.
Ashley’s fingers brush their way up and down my back to my shoulders. “Hey, Liam, been a while. How have you been?”
I look over my shoulder as I stir cream and sugar into my coffee. “Hey, Ashley. Nice to see you. Ready for a long day?”
Her chocolate eyes twinkle as she scans my profile. She’s been gunning for me since I first met her.
“Ready to spend the day with you,” she purrs.
Taking a sip of my steaming coffee, I wave her out the door.
The conversation from this morning with the chief still lingers in my head. For years, my mom would call and check on progress in my father’s case. But the noise of the Serpents had silenced. After decades of searching for them, I’m honored the chief asked me to be a part of the mission. When I do find them, I will make them pay for how they took out my father and took, so much from our lives. My mother struggled day in and day out to provide for us. I’m going to chase Pablo down, just like he chased me down the night my life changed forever.
“Hey, so, what do you think?”
I haven’t heard a word Ashley’s said. I zoned out. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“Are you going to the gala?” She flutters her eyelashes. She has no clue I’m the one who organizes the gala. I started helping years ago in college with my classmates.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.” I turn left on a gravel road and park the car then point the radar at speeding vehicles.
“I was thinking we could go together.” Her brown eyes sparkle with hope.
Ashley is a beautiful woman, with her doe eyes and mocha-colored skin. She looks hot in her uniform. But I don’t mix business with pleasure. She appears to be the type who’s looking for a serious relationship.
“I’m not sure it would be a good idea. I never take a date to the gala,” I say, earnestly.
She nods and looks out the window. “I get it. Maybe some other time.”
After a couple of hours and a handful of speeding tickets, I’m hungry. For the second half of our shift, we have a drug bust planned, and I’m crossing my fingers a Serpent will be involved. I want to interrogate the fuckers until I get the whereabouts of Pablo. I park the SUV at Go Burger, and Ashley and I make our way in. The place is pretty busy. We sit close to a window that lets the beaming sun in.
My head jolts up when I hear the voice that makes my dick twitch. I scan the room, looking for the face that goes with the familiar New York-accented voice. When I meet her ocean blues, they’re already on me. Damn, she’s beautiful—a goddamned bombshell. She’s wearing a tight black skirt that hugs all her curves. Her blouse shows just enough of her breasts, and my mouth waters. When my eyes travel back to her red lips, all I can think about is how they would look wrapped around my cock. She licks her lips.
Fuck me.
When I met Sophie Summers at the studio three months ago, my heart hammered against my chest.It felt like a thousand grenades exploded, and I had no fucking idea what that was about. Her beauty held me hostage then and hasn’t let go since. I’ve come across plenty of beautiful women, and I’ve never reacted like this. I tried to shrug it off, but—fuck—shit had to go deeper when I saw her at Dante’s birthday party two weeks ago. When Santiago was fucking with me, leaning to kiss her…he knew how to strike a nerve, and he was testing to see how I’d react. Like a complete idiot, that’s how. She’s like a damn magnet, a fishing line pulling me in for some goddamned reason. I asked her out for a drink.
Fuck me.
I’ve never asked a woman out for a drink. She rejected me, so I shut it down real quick. The woman’s a damn grenade.
I notice the asshole sitting next to her. He’s staring at her like he wants to fuck her. Which has my blood boiling. It has no business boiling in the first place. It needs to simmer the fuck down. Why do I care? Dominic said she broke it off with Rake, or whatever his name was.
Ashley trails her fingernails along my forearm as I lean them on the table. “Who’s the girl?”
I look away from her. “Huh?”
She motions at Sophie.
Fuck, she’s nosy. “A friend of a friend.”
The waitress comes and takes our order just in time. Ashley was acting jealous, like we’re a thing.
“Why did you decide to become an officer?” Ashley asks, sucking on the straw of her iced tea. The question makes her jealousy noticeable, like she wants my attention solely on her and not on Sophie.
“Since I was a kid, I always wanted to become an officer,” I say flatly.
