Dutifully, I followed her, offering a hand to get to her vehicle. Once I held the door open for her to climb into the driver’s seat, she smiled innocently up at me.
“By the way, Carter Nathan Malone.” I cringed at her use of my full name. “I never said it was Avery James that you needed my help with.”
She slammed the door, almost taking my fingers with her, and I watched her go, realizing that I’d just fucked myself. I’d given her exactly what she wanted, and she hadn’t even had to work at it. Normally I was a lot better at figuring shit out than that.
I’d blame it on Avery. At least then, maybe I’d have another reason to see her. Now that that was settled, I thought about what to do for revenge. Admittedly, I’d failed to think of something good to get back at her. Yet, I’d left her festering for a week, and that had to work in my favor. In fact, as I stared out at the fading sunset, I started to formulate an idea. One that she literally wouldn’t be able to run from. And the best part was? I didn’t even have to make up a reason to see her. After all, I had a job to do, just like she did.
With a smile on my face, I got the best night’s sleep I had in a month. The next morning, I was even floating on air as I pulled into the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru and ordered two large coffees. Then, to pay it forward, I paid for the car behind me, too. That was how good of a mood I found myself in.
In fact, my good mood carried me all the way to the Chief’s office, where I entered after knocking.
“Hey, Carter.” Chief Malone looked up from his phone, where he was typing out a message. “What can I do for you?”
“Well first, here’s a coffee, sir.” I handed him one of the two I’d just gotten. Yes, it most definitely was meant to bribe him to let me do what I wanted.
“You’re not quitting are you?” He eyed the coffee suspiciously. “Buttering me up with coffee to make me give you a good reference and all that malarkey?”
“No.” I shook my head. “This is where I want to be, trust me.”
“Good,” Chief said, putting his phone down to take the coffee. “That’s good. We need all the young blood we can get in the department. Especially since the Sheriff’s Department makes it so appealing to join them. You know, Jake Findlay being elected Sheriff might have been the best thing to happen for the county and the worst thing to happen for me.”
“I doubt that, sir.” I told him honestly. “When I moved back to Birch, I didn’t even think about applying over there. I knew where I wanted to be.”
Chief Townsend, Remy’s father, rubbed his hand down his weathered face and smiled broadly. “That’s exactly what I needed to hear today. Now, if you didn’t come in here to quit, why are you here?” He took a sip of his coffee, sighing at the taste I knew would be delicious.
“I want to get a little leeway with a project I’m working on,” I started, and then completely floundered for what I wanted to ask. I couldn’t outright lie to the Chief of Police. That would be a career-ending decision. I couldn’t risk making that enormous mistake, especially when I only wanted a bit of revenge on the woman who had left me high and dry.
“You know,” Chief leaned back in his chair and lifted his coffee to his lips. “I’m aware of your service record, Malone. You act like I didn’t know you growing up. Of course I’d give you leeway, son. I trust you, otherwise I wouldn’t have offered you a job here when you moved back from California.”
“Thank you, sir.” I practically inhaled the coffee I’d brought for myself while I waited for him to say anything else.
A few long seconds passed while I stood under his intense scrutiny. “You’ve got the leeway you wanted, what else are you looking for?”
His question caught me off guard. Clearly, the older man had more than just a finger to the pulse of Birch. The knowing look in his eyes spoke volumes, and I felt like I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
“Dunno what you’re talking about, Chief.” Shuffling from one foot to the other seemed like a great choice right then, but if I so much as moved an inch, he’d know that he had me.
Besides, I knew for a fact that my personal life would already be up for debate between him and my parents. A bunch of busy-bodies, that’s what they were.
“I’m gonna go.” I turned sharply, retreating to the sound of his laughter behind me.
With a wave to Remy and Linc, I left without entering the bullpen. They could wait. I had a date with the minx that drove me crazy.
The look on Avery’s face when I walked into her class twenty minutes later would stay with me until the day I died. Shock, delight, and then finally anger passed over those eyes I couldn’t get out of my head; I almost laughed right there.
Her brown curls were free today, hanging around her shoulders and swaying with every step she took. I’d never really paid attention to women’s clothes before, butI wanted to kiss whoever made the jeans she wore like a second skin,. They hugged every single curve, and I found myself wanting to peel them off her.
“What are you doing here?” Avery fidgeted under the intensity of my gaze, her hands trembling slightly before she placed them on the desk at her side to steady herself. All she managed to do, though, was push out her chest in an innocent way and have my mouth watering at the memory of what she had underneath her clothes.
Completely ignoring the crowd of students that had all gone suspiciously silent when I entered, I strode in like I belonged. “I thought you might spare a minute to discuss something. In the hall.”
Her eyes scanned my uniform, trying and failing miserably to keep a blank expression on her face. In the moments that passed, Avery floundered for control. I watched her grow increasingly thrown off by the fact that I stood in her class. When she looked down and then her eyes darted to the crowd of sixth graders who were giggling and whispering about us under their breath, she sighed and shook her head.
“Sorry, I can’t.” She nodded toward them. “Class, you understand. I’m sure we can talk another time.”
I hooked my thumbs in my belt, smiling for all the world like she hadn’t just tried to brush me off.
“I mean,” I lowered my voice and stepped a little closer, talking to her like she was on the inside of some huge joke. “I could go ahead and pull out my cuffs if you want.” My voice was barely a whisper now, and the way her face flamed with my words only made me smile wider. “I bet you’d love that.” My right arm twitched, slightly, and that had her moving.
“Class.” She cleared her throat and turned away, hiding her still-flushed cheeks. “I’m going to step into the hall to talk to Officer Malone.” Her teacher voice had my dick starting to get hard behind my wool uniform pants, and I mentally added that to the ever-growing number of her offenses.
I didn’t wait for her to lead the way. Instead, I turned away from the curious children who all watched to see how we interacted, and I walked right into the hall. Once I checked both directions to make sure there wouldn’t be any intruders, I quickly adjusted my pants. I’d never been more thankful for that thick fabric than when I had stood in front of Avery and she used that voice.
If I didn’t get a handle on myself, I’d ruin my plan for revenge.