He shakes his head. “Did I expect to be incarcerated with a beautiful woman today? Absolutely not. Am I mad about it?” He shrugs. “Also no.” He polishes off his sandwich with another bite. “But I’m always prepared.” He pauses before hurling an exaggerated wink my direction. “For snack time.”
Pretty sure tiny pieces of bread spray from my mouth as I snort out a laugh. “Does that line ever work?” He’s hitting on me, right? While I’m not in the market for another relationshipquite so soon after breaking up with Mark, I’m not averse to having a hot, one-night stand with my fellow prisoner.
Another head shake precedes him pulling two bottles of water from his bag and pointing one at me with a lazy grin. “Never tried it before today.” This guy is so laid back he should be horizontal. I’ve never met someone who smiles as much either.
I suppose if my face looked like that when I smiled, I would smile as often as he does too.
He gestures at the phone in my lap. “Not making any more calls to escape lock up?”
“I’m stuck here for the duration, I’m afraid. Forty-nine minutes and counting.” I wave my screen at him.
He chuckles. “I think you’ll find that’s one hundred and nine minutes and counting.”
My stomach drops. Two whole hours? Motherfucker. I thought it was an hour.
His chuckle deepens into a laugh, shaking the bench under our butts. “Don’t look so happy about it.”
Ugh. I don’t even have my books to do some studying. “You think your buddy Officer Sy would go grab my books from school?”
The open water bottle destined for his mouth pauses in mid-air as he gasps. “You mean you don’t want to spend the rest of the next two hours in my wonderful company?” He lowers the bottle with a sad shake of his head and clutches his chest with his free hand. “I’d be offended, but you don’t know how awesome I am yet.”
The way he says “yet” makes something tingle in my stomach.
“And he’s my buddy Tate’s brother. Sawyer. Actually hates being called Sy.”
“So naturally that’s what you call him.” I nod as though it makes perfect sense.
“Naturally.” He twists the cap on his bottle. “It’s a sign of affection. He’s probably too busy doing important cop things to run and get your books.”
At my sigh, he nudges my knee with his. “Don’t sweat it. I’m not so bad once you get to know me.”
“What about you?” I return his nudge. “Aren’t you calling your boy squad to be rescued? Surely a guy like you can raise a hundred bucks in no time.” I imagine he has droves of friends. Even if ten of them give ten bucks a piece into the pot, he could be out in fifteen minutes, twenty tops.
He watches me patiently until I turn so I’m staring straight into his captivating eyes. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be, Firecracker.”
CHAPTER 2
Raffi
Cheese is my favorite food.
But even I cringe at just how tacky the words are that come falling out of my mouth. I usually have more game than this. Better game. Jeez. I’d take any fucking game at all right now.
Dunno what it is about the enchanting, fiery-haired goddess next to me in this pseudo prison, but she’s got me tangled up in knots.
Her eye roll confirms two things. One, I’m most definitely lacking in game. And two, she has the most beautiful jade eyes I have ever had the pleasure of staring into.
A rap on the bars makes me jump.
“Bail’s paid.” Sawyer smirks at me.
Bolting across the cell, I shake my head before dropping my voice. “Got the wrong man, officer. I’m staying put.”
“You’ll have to match the bail to stay put for the duration. Them’s the rules of the fundraiser.” He shrugs like there’s nothing he can do about it despite the fact we both know there’s something he could do about it. That’s what I get for pissing him off with the Sy thing, I guess.
A quick glance over my shoulder at the redhead who’s pretending to assess her nails confirms it. The money I’ve been saving up to buy new Airpods is going to be spent on time with this woman. If I can’t woo her in the next ninety minutes, then I deserve to lose the hundred bucks anyway. And the girl.
Even if the American Society for Deaf Children wasn’t so near and dear to my heart, it’s a damn good cause. “Give me an hour.”
