Grabbing my shades and tucking my gun in my boots, I was as ready as I was gonna get.
Heading out, Z was in a beautiful Camaro parked at the curb. “Like it?” He smirked.
I whistled. “Hell yeah. How’d you swing this?”
“Connections.” Sam did a bang up job on him, too. I wouldn’t have known it was him had I not been expecting him.
“Dumbass.”
Pulling up to Schooner’s, the place looked busy, which was good for what I needed to do. We were just getting a sample this time, pictures of the transaction, audio from the wire I had on, but no arrests. I didn’t understand the fucking wire; it would be loud as shit in there. They wouldn’t be able to pick anything up.
Scoping out the place, I couldn’t see him. “I’m gonna take a walk,” I called out to Z after grabbing my beer. I knew there were guys in here, and probably some women, too, watching my every move. I also knew they only stepped in if I needed it.
I scanned the place as I walked, but nothing. Intel said he’d be here tonight. Damn it. The dance floor was packed wall-to-wall with people. So many hot chicks, but I needed to get this shit done first. “Fuck,” I murmured to myself.
In the middle of the floor dancing were Sawyer, Kinsley, and Vann—bumping and grinding with each other and some fucking dudes. What the fuck was she doing here? Fury raged through me. I didn’t know if it was because she was here or because the asshole behind her was grinding his shit all over her.
I wanted to rip that fucker off her and shove his balls down his throat. I needed to find Z; he needed to keep an eye on them so I could get this shit done. Walking up to Z, he had a beautiful brunette hanging on his every word. “Give us a minute, sweetheart.” I smiled.
“Sure handsome, you wanna join us later,” she purred.
“We’ll see.” Her smile showed the teeth of a veteran smoker—not my type at all.
“I’ll be back,” Z told her and followed.
“We got a situation. Sawyer, Kinsley, and Vann are here. They shouldn’t recognize us, but we gotta keep an eye on them. You need to keep an eye on them.” After pointing out the girls and having another beer, I began my rounds of quiet questions to a few of glassy-eyed users trying to find this bastard.
A tap on my shoulder caught my attention. “You looking for me,” asked the scrawny ass I’d been waiting for.
“Yeah, you got some?” I said, eyeing him.
“Not here.” Fuck. I began to turn away.
“I meant not here. Back.” His head nodded, motioning for me to follow him. The back hall was a lovely fucking office. It was dark, but I could still see him. God, I just wanted to punch his fucking lights out.
“Cost?” I asked dismissively.
“Twenty.” I thought for sure he sold this shit for much more than that. Fucker kept scratching his arm—looking around—nervous as all shit. You’d think if he was so damn nervous, he would’ve made sure to know to whom he was selling.
I folded up a twenty and motioned to shake his hand. When his hand left mine, I was holding a baggie. No sooner did I look up, he was gone. Shoving the baggie in my pocket, I strolled back to the bar. We could get the hell out of here now.
The fact that I let the asshole just leave to sell more shit did not escape me. When Captain said there wouldn’t be rules for this new job, he lied. Not only were there a shit-ton of rules, I still had to follow the regulations of the police force and deal with all their bullshit. I just did it undercover now and below everyone’s radar. It also had me constantly rethinking this whole involvement I had with them in the first place.
Problem was, I did like it. Catching the fuckers that had ripped my life apart made it totally worth it. It was the one thing that I could be proud of, even though my father thought I was an even bigger disgrace for getting kicked off the force. Would I love to throw it in his face what I did? Hell yeah. Maybe then he’d shut the hell up, but I didn’t.
“Where the hell is Z?” I mumbled to myself. He’d better not have found a piece of ass and left me.
Ordering a Jack and Coke, I scanned the space. “Son of a bitch.” Downing the drink, I stalked out to the dance floor—to Z out on the floor between Kinsley and Vann. Touching, groping, moving, the girls ate this shit up with big smiles on their faces. Sawyer was next to them, dancing and laughing along.
Vann. Damn her. I could still feel her lips on mine. When she finally relaxed enough to let me in, I couldn’t help but take what I wanted. I’d wanted to kiss her for five long fucking years and the whole ‘Goodbye Vann’ thing just came to me. I needed closure; she never gave that to me.
Sure, she’d called, texted, and emailed, but there was no way in hell I was going to do that shit. If she’d wanted to talk to me, she could have brought her ass home and done so. But no, she stayed away.
And if she thought that I had no idea that she went away to college and could have come back then, she was sorely mistaken. People in this town talked and shit was easy to find out when you owned a bar and listened.
I’d even give her the first year since supposedly her mom made her leave, but what about the other four? She could have come here during that time, but no, she stayed away.
Well, fuck her.
And fuck me because her body was fucking hotter than hell and my dick was taking notice. That short ass skirt was killing me. It would be so easy to pull up …
Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I glared at Z as I walked up to them. The smirk, as he saw me, made me want to punch him in the jaw, but as he turned and gave his attention mostly to Sawyer, I figured what the hell.
With Vann’s back to me, I easily slid up behind her and began dancing. The instant her body froze and she twirled around, I also froze, figuring she was probably going to slap me for what I did last night.
With wide eyes, her shoulders immediately slumped and the long flow of air leaving her body deflated her. Her eyes once full of hope and excitement fell flat.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya, sweetheart.”
Vann’s smile was absolutely stunning, but it seemed a bit forced. “You didn’t.” She eyed me from head to toe, and I wasn’t sure why. She just saw me last night. “Your cologne reminded me of someone. Sorry.”
Taking a few seconds to process her words, it suddenly hit me. My disguise. Fuck. Of course she didn’t recognize me, but she knew my smell, and dammit if that didn’t completely turn me on. At least she was somewhat thinking of me.
“Sorry to disappoint ya.” I added a bit more drawl and twang to my voice to mask it.
“Not disappointed.” She smiled and pulled me to her. “Let’s dance.”
6
Vann
I swore Deke was standing right behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and my heart pulsated rapidly. The smell. His cologne was unmistakable, woodsy, and panty dropping.
Needless to say, when I turned around and didn’t see him, my heart fell. This man had the same build as Deke, but the long dark hair, green eyes, and goatee were totally wrong. Not to say this guy wasn’t hot, but he wasn’t Deke.
The girls brought me here to have fun, so I might as well have fun with this guy. If nothing else I could smell him. Pathetic, totally pathetic. Wrapping my arms around his neck, his hair was covering his skin. I leaned over to his ear. “What’s your name?”
“Gunner.” His voice was smooth as silk with a Southern drawl heard even through all the loud music.
“Vann!” I yelled back. He just smirked as I turned around in his arms, lining our bodies up back to front.