Page 2 of Protect and Serve

“Cade and Lisa are easygoing. It’ll be a simple affair.”

“Then why are you scrunching?”

“I’m not scrunching.” Damn it all. Why did she have to be so…Porsche right now?

“You’re speeding again.” Her friend pointed at the road ahead of them to illustrate her infraction, though Claire failed to see how it did so.

Porsche was like that, a font of non sequiturs.

Claire glared at her. “Do you want to drive?”

“I’m just—” Porsche broke off as a loud wail sounded behind them.

Claire’s heart thudded as she caught the multicolored lights in the rearview mirror. “Shit.”

“Toldja.”

“Thank you so much,” Claire muttered as she slowed and pulled over to the side of the road. The last thing she needed right now was another ticket. Her insurance agent would have a conniption.

She blew out a breath as she rolled down the window and waited for the officer to make his way to her car. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. It would have annoyed her, his meandering pace, except it gave her a chance to appreciate his broad chest and tight pants.

Claire had never had a thing for men in uniform—they tended to be cocky and domineering—but this trooper looked like he’d stepped out of a romance cover shoot. Or a gym. Or the Colosseum. He was large and looming and his muscles bulged. Like, everywhere.

She swallowed her drool and fixed a contrite expression on her face as he neared. He leaned his arm on the top of her car and bent to look at her through his government-issue shades. They had to be government-issue, because every trooper who pulled her over wore them.

But this guy wasn’t your typical trooper. In keeping with his most excellent physique, his features—the ones she could see—were those of a Greek god. A tanned Greek god. Chiseled from marble.

His nose was long and straight and his chin was hard and firm. But it was his lips that captured her attention. Though he attempted to look all mean and serious, those lips were lush and beautiful and turned up at the corners, ruining the effect of his ferocity.

“Afternoon, ma’am.”

She tried not to bristle. She hated when the officers who pulled her over called her ma’am. “Good afternoon, sir.” Yeah. Kissing up, for sure.

She wasn’t prepared for his reaction. He stilled. The tiny muscles around his mouth tightened. His nose twitched. “Are you…in a hurry?”

“Oh. No, sir.” Another twitch. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t paying attention to my speed.” She waved at Porsche. “We were talking.”

“Don’t involve me in this.” Porsche was such a friend.

“Do you know how fast you were going?”

A trick question. Claire opened her eyes real wide and tried to look scared and innocent and all that shit. “How fast, Officer?”

She had the distinct impression her response irritated him. “Fast.” A muscle pulsed in his cheek. “License and registration, please.”

With a sigh, she handed the information over. She kept it handy in the console for situations just like this. The trooper took her papers and scanned them. He stilled, and then glanced at her. “Claire Silver?”

She had no idea why he asked. That was what her papers said. No one in their right mind would pretend to be her. Her life sucked. “Yes.”

He nodded to her, a quick bob of his head, and then made his way back to his car to run her plates. Claire knew what he’d find.

She struggled with the urge to just peel out, but she knew better.

The county sheriff knew where she lived; they’d probably find her.

It took Hottie McHotterson a while to do whatever it was troopers did when they went back to their cars—maybe down a sandwich?—but when he made his way back to her car, his expression was like granite.

A shiver rippled through her at the sight. She had no idea why.