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“That sounds like a legally binding agreement to me,” I said in a low voice. “Be careful what you wish for, Detective Potter.”
“I am,” he said, lips against my ear. “That’s why I’m not saying that out loud.”
I took a deep breath once more. “Then, it’s a deal. This is all business. No matter how either of us act when we’re working, it’s just that. An act. Done?”
“Done.” He hadn’t moved. “Now, find me a prostitute.”
***
Detective Samuel Allen handed me a glass of cranberry juice dressed up to look like a cocktail. “You’re on a roll tonight.”
“A desire to get home has an awful lot to do with that,” I replied dryly.
I knew very little about the man in front of me, except that Adrian had introduced him as his best friend. I was pretty sure that was a real introduction, one that probably served them well in this undercover work.
“So, Sam,” I said, sipping on the tart juice. “Are you the best friend who was apparently getting married when Adrian arrested me?”
He promptly choked on his Coke. “That’s direct.”
“Who ever beat around the bush and got a straight answer?”
“Good point. And he ever said, but I assume I must be.” He grinned, a boyish, playful grin that said he was the best best friend you could have. “For what it’s worth, if it were my bachelor party and he picked you up, he’d have my blessing.”
I bit the inside of my lip. “Good to know. He was all over the bartender at the last hotel.”
Sam waved his hand. “Did he get her number?”
“No, he told her I was on my period.”
“He did? Does he still have his dick in place?”
I laughed. “He does, but if you ask the valet there, it doesn’t matter because he can’t get it up, so…”
“I think I just fell in love with you.”
My hand covered my mouth to hide the extra laugh that wanted to escape. “Well, thank you.”
“Who left the two of you alone?” Adrian slinked up behind Sam and smacked his shoulder.
“Did you get her?” Sam asked, looking at him.
He nodded. “Jerome is taking her in right now.” He slid his bright eyes to me. “You did good.”
I swallowed, mimicking the head movement he just made. “Thanks.” Averting my eyes was all I could do. I didn’t want to look into that fucking blue-green ocean and feel like I’d done something good.
I hadn’t.
And here I was, standing with two cops, and I’d just been laughing with one of them.
I rubbed the back of my neck and ignored the next few minutes of their conversation. I had no place in it. I didn’t care for it and I didn’t want to hear it.
“Perrie?”
I peered up through my lashes when Adrian said my name.
“You good?” He met my gaze.
I nodded.
“You noticed more than one here, right?”
Now, the lump in my throat was thick. “The woman in black and pink by the door the poker room to the right. Brown hair to her shoulders and chunky, pink shoes.”
“Sam? You wanna get Lloyd to handle this one?”
Sam nodded once and, with a gentle touch to my arm, disappeared through the crowds in front of us.
Warmth spread across my skin. I appreciated the gesture more than he knew.
Adrian closed the distance between us. “Three in two. We should be able to go soon.”
I nodded, dropping my eyes once again.
“Still not okay with this, huh?”
“Never will be.” My answer was short and sharp. “Doesn’t matter how many times your best friend over there makes me laugh or how you try to dress it up. I will never be okay with what I’m doing.”
His fingertips were hot against my skin as he slowly moved his hand to push my hair behind my ear. They were rough yet comforting, and he stepped closer into me, something that meant his hand swept right through my hair until he was cupping the back of my neck.
“Perrie,” he said softly, my name smooth and easy on his tongue. “You’re doing a good thing. You have to know that.”
“It doesn’t feel like it, and you know that.”
He cupped my cheek with his other hand, forcing me to look up at him. His bright eyes were wide and honest. Wide and honest and guarded. Like he didn’t believe what he was saying to me.
“You could be—and are—changing lives with your help to us. We’d be floundering around with no direction without you.”
“I’m not questioning that. That question comes with whose lives I’m changing. I doubt any of it is for the better—except for all of you who get to keep your jobs.”
“So cynical.”
“So realistic.”
Adrian smiled, dropping his hand from my cheek. “Whatever you say, firecracker.”
“I hate that nickname, too.”
“I know.” His smile widened before momentarily dropping. “Perrie, you’re doing a good thing.” He brought his face close to mine, so close I could almost feel his lips touching mine, so close the stubble that lined his jaw threatened to scratch across my skin.
