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From her petite stature to her lithe body, Hailey simply exudes a bouncy energy. I imagine that if she did begin jumping up and down in excitement that her lovely little breasts would follow the motion with little hesitation. As would her curly brown hair that hangs just below her shoulder. I catch myself also imagining how her little nose would feel against my lips. And my hands dragging down her back to the top of her cute, little ass.
But Hailey’s not just cute. In her business attire, which consists of high-waisted pants and a blouse that really shows off just how tiny she is, she’s also sexy enough that mental images of her without anything on quickly takes over my imagination. After all, the whole reason I’m even in this mess is because I wanted to ask her out. And now that I’ve got her in the back of this cruiser with me, actually believing that this is anything more than a slight nuisance that will no doubt serve as a captivating anecdote once I return to the city, I can finally get back to my Plan A.
“You know,” I say with a nod at the note in her fist. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”
Her face twists in confusion, pulling a corner of my lips up. She’s just too genuine. Naive even. I wonder how long she would even last if I brought her back to Manhattan. A week? Would she make it a month before the city had rubbed away all her soft edges, leaving behind sore spots that would have her running back to the familiar plains of her sparsely populated state?
“You mean the note? You still want my number after all this?”
“What? You’ve never had a guy get arrested just to go on a date with you?” This finally earns me a smile. Still, there’s this tension scrunching her shoulders up, but after a deep breath, her body seems to relax. Even if it is just a microscopic amount. “I’m betting a little misunderstanding like this is more than worth it.”
Finally she slugs me in the shoulder but immediately apologizes. “I’m so sorry. I grew up with three brothers. But you really should know better than to slip a note to a bank teller! It’s like talking about having a bomb in an airport!”
“What can I say? Seeing you made me lose all my sanity.”
The front door opens, stopping our conversation dead. The pot-bellied officer that wrestled me to the ground pokes his sweaty, bulbous head in. He takes in the scene happening in his backseat.
“What on earth are you doing back there?”
“You arrested me, or are you too busy strutting around like an obese rooster to remember that little detail?”
The cop’s eyes bulge, and I’m sure he’s clenching his fist, wondering how my skull would reverberate under a few good knocks with his fat knuckles, but he calms himself under Hailey’s glare.
“Shane,” she says holding out her hands to stop him before he can start. “There’s been a mistake. He—”
“Hailey, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here with your bleeding heart act and all, but you gotta get out. He’s dangerous. Lord almighty, even you should be able to see that.”
“You gotta listen to me. He wasn’t trying to rob the bank. I read the note wrong. Here,” she says, holding out the deposit slip I scribbled on, which started this whole mess. But he doesn’t even try to read it. Instead the cop turns back around and starts up the car.
“The station’s just around the corner. I’ll take both your statements there.”
I knew guys like this Shane. I might have even walked in his shadow once or twice, but I never made a habit of bullying others. Not that I ever had the need. Not with my family money. But there’s something I learned growing up: guys like this think they are exactly what girls like Hailey want. So much so that they take a no for a yes.
So I don’t throw the fact in this cop’s face that as soon as I get my one phone call, he’s toast. Because I know it won’t do any good. Instead, I keep my mouth closed and look over
at Hailey with a knowing smile.
“You heard the man. He’ll take our statements at the station. But do me a favor.”
“I’m so sorry about all this,” she says, her expression pained. Her hand squeezes my knee.
“When all this is settled, you let me take you out somewhere nice.”
Hailey looks like she wants to say something, but she simply nods, looking as though she’s about to burst into tears at any minute.
As for me, I’m on the other side of the spectrum. Grinning like mad when I lock eyes with the cop in his rearview mirror. “Let’s get a move on then. The sooner we finish up, the sooner I can get started with this date.”
Chapter 5
Hailey
Robert expects this trouble can be fixed in an hour or two. I don’t want to be the one to break it to him that he’ll more than likely be spending the night in lock-up thanks to my stupidity. From his designer dress shoes that I would bet cost more than my weekly salary to his suit that doesn’t hang off him like a bag, but tapers and contours, showing off his naturally muscular physique, he radiates the sort of big city energy that expects everything to be done yesterday.
But this is the countryside. And nothing except rumors have any legs here.
So while I’m determined to plant myself in the police station like an environmentalist blocking the destruction of an ancient tree, there turns out to be no need. After half an hour, Robert emerges from the back, his smile wide and his hands free of the steel cuffs.
“What are you in the mood for?” He asks, completely nonchalant. “I usually keep my lunches light, but after the morning I’ve had, I think I deserve a cheat day, don’t you?”
