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The young cop takes in the fact I have a half-dressed blonde on my lap and sighs as he turns to his fellow officers. “Let ’em through.”
As the other cops move the barricades, I settle my cheek against Sophie’s. “We’re almost out of here.”
“Thank you.” Her voice shakes.
Her fear cools the boil from my blood. I feel like an asshole for aching to take Sophie to bed.
You can’t. Suck it up. Do your job. She’s a client.
Unfortunately, she feels like more than that.
It seems to take forever, but Dustin clicks at the horse and slaps the reins, finally hauling us from the scene. I keep Sophie curled against me until we’re past the cops and heading toward my truck.
The kid and I exchange a few more words, and I point toward the lot in question. It’s busy. Other people have managed to escape the parade route on foot and are rushing to their vehicles. There’s no way Dustin can maneuver the cart between all the drivers peeling out and skidding away.
He pulls onto an adjacent sidewalk instead and turns to face us. “Here you go.”
“You did great, Dustin. Can’t thank you enough.” I hand him a hundred bucks.
He pushes it back in my direction. “I don’t want any money, just…” Dustin looks at Sophie like he’s lovestruck. “Could I have your autograph?”
She smiles. “I owe you more than that. How about something better? Something for now…”
Sophie smiles and leans in, pressing a butterfly-soft kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for everything. Really.”
“Oh, my god.” He presses his fingers to his face.
“And I want to give you something for later. If you’ll write down your phone number, I’ll make sure you have the best backstage tickets to my concert the next time I’m in town. Bring a few friends. I’ll send a limo for you, ensure you have one of the best meals of your life, and we’ll sit down to talk when I’m less of a mess so I can tell you how truly grateful I am.”
“No shit?” Dustin’s eyes bug out.
“Absolutely.”
The kid scrambles to find a piece of paper and a pen, then jots his digits and thrusts them her way. “That would be amazing.”
She palms it. “My pleasure. You’ll hear from me soon, Dustin.”
“Wow. Amazing.” A loopy grin covers his face. “No one will believe me.”
I have an idea how to solve that problem. “Sophie, are you attached to your shoes?”
She scowls. “They’re actually worse than the dress.”
“Why don’t you let Dustin keep them?” I look his way. “Social media can verify she was wearing these shoes when the performance started. Just…wait a few days, huh? So the danger dies down.”
Sophie slips off her shoes and hands them to Dustin. He’s barely paying attention to me as he takes them from her. “Yeah. Sure. Oh, my sister is going to flip shit when she sees these.”
I jump to the sidewalk with a chuckle. Still in the buggy, Sophie frowns. “Um, Rand. The pavement is too hot for my feet.”
Does she think I haven’t realized that? “I got you. Come here.”
When I hold out my hand, she only hesitates a second before she takes it.
Sophie trusts me—mostly. I’ve gotten her this far. If I had more time with her, if she were mine, it would be heady to win her trust, nudge her comfort zone, then push her boundaries slowly, one seductive inch at a time.
But she’s not yours and she’s probably not that sort of woman. Get your brains out of your dick.
While she’s perched at the edge of the buggy, I settle an arm around her waist, then wedge the other under her knees and haul her against my chest.
