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"Razor isn't the boss of me," I sniff, rolling my eyes. "Colter's helping me with a story."
"Right." Dillon draws the word out, making it clear he thinks I'm just feeding him a line. "Do you make out in parking lots with everyone who helps you with a story?"
I gape at him. How could he possibly know that?
He points toward the TV.
"Crap," I whisper. It's a live feed showing different angles around the parking lot and inside the building. Every inch of space is covered…including the passenger side of Colter's truck.
"Your lipstick is smudged too."
I turn a dirty glare on Colter, who just shrugs.
"Don't look at me like that, Trouble. You're the one who started it," he reminds me.
"Revisionist history," I mutter, totally fine living in denial.
"You two been drinking the water around here?" Dillon asks, his gaze flickering between us.
"What else would we drink?" Colter eyes him oddly.
I just groan. I've heard the stories about the water in town. They're silly legends. I glance at Colter. Or maybe they aren't.
"Mmhmm." Dillon grins like the dang cat that ate the canary. "Thought so."
Ugh. We don't have time for this.
"We need to know what you know about Gavin Cochran," I say.
Dillon frowns. "Why?"
"I'm not sure yet," I admit. "It may be nothing. Or it could be the biggest scandal in sports history."
"Explain."
"We think he may be paying players to knock other players out of games in some sort of bounty system," I say.
"Why would he do that?"
"Imagine if you could not only bet on games but could bet that a player from X team would be injured, thrown out, or given a specific penalty, " Colter adds.
"Shit."
"Now, imagine if you could bet on which player that would be. That's a whole new revenue stream for bookies, especially if you're taking bets across every sports league."
"That's big money."
"Real big," Colter agrees.
Dillon worries his bottom lip with his teeth. "Do you have any proof?"
"Not yet, but I took photos of Gavin and Bruce Gordon exchanging money before the game on Wednesday," I say.
"And Gordon did everything he could to push me into getting myself thrown out of the game that night," Colter adds.
"I saw that."
"Seems odd that a player from Arizona would be meeting a bookie in Silver Spoon Falls right before the game he then got himself and another player ejected from, don't you think?" I ask Dillon.
"It's certainly fucking questionable," Dillon agrees, his tone grim.
"He's not the only one. Gavin also met with Jimmy Brinks when the Timberwolves were in town. And guess who tried to get Reid Lawless thrown out of the game?"
"Shit," Dillon growls. "I don't know much about Gavin. He used to work on Wall Street before he moved here. We've heard rumors that he's into gambling, but he tends to operate under the radar. If he's working with anyone, he's doing it quietly. I can look into him and see what I can shake loose, but we have nothing on him otherwise."
A dead-end. Great. My shoulders droop.
"Looks like my plan is the best plan we've got, goddess," Colter says.
I nod reluctantly. It certainly looks like it.
Chapter Six
Colter
"Where are we going?" Leia asks, leaning her head against the window to look at me. "You passed the street for my office."
"We're not going to your office. I'm taking you home with me." I hesitate for a minute. "Shit. I'm supposed to be a gentleman and give you a choice here, aren't I?"
"Do you want to give me a choice?"
"Fuck, no," I growl truthfully, my hands tight around the steering wheel as I head out of town. "I want to take you home, feed you, and then fuck you until you pass out. And if I'm lucky, when you wake up in the morning, I'll get to do it again."
"I like this plan," she whispers, her voice gritty.
I whip my head in her direction, shocked.
She smiles at me, a blush climbing up her cheeks. "Maybe this is the part where I'm supposed to pretend that I don't want to go home with you, but it'd be a lie too, Colter. You're growing on me."
"Me or my dick."
She rolls her eyes. "I was going to say you, but now that you mention it…"
"Don't make me stop this truck, Trouble."
She laughs quietly and then sobers. "I've never done any of this before. Don't break my heart, Colter."
"Break it? I'm going to wrap it up in bubble wrap and keep it in a vault so no one else can ever get close to it. I want it all to myself," I say, not even joking a little bit. The more time I spend with her, the less I want to let anyone else close to her. I didn't fall in love with her. She knocked me on my ass and stole my damn heart right out of my chest.
