any luck, this guy’ll turn out to be nothing more than a chickenshit piece of crap, and once he realizes she’s involved with you, he’ll either piss off or do something to get himself forced out. The fastest way to get him to believe you two are a couple is if everyone else believes it, so we’re going to need some Oscar-worthy performances out of both of you.”
“Yes, Sarge.”
“You’re a good cop, Hale. You’re sharp, and I’ve never had cause to doubt your judgment, so for the love of God, don’t go and do something stupid.”
“Like what?”
Sergeant Schilling’s jaw twitched. “Like getting too close to her, if you catch my drift. She’s a good-looking woman and you’re both single, so you can see where things might go sideways in a hurry. The problem is, that sort of shit only ever works in Hollywood movies. In real life, it’ll just fuck up the case and your career. Instead of transferring back home, you’ll find yourself posted up in Tuktoyaktuk, and good fuckin’ luck getting out of there anytime soon.”
“Yes, Sarge.” Dazed, Brett left Sarge’s office, and before he could overthink it, he got back in his truck and drove straight to Pandora’s.
Ellie and a middle-aged woman were unpacking a stack of boxes when he arrived. Even a little pale, Ellie still looked amazing, in jeans that hugged her in all the right places and those green heels….Wow. At least four inches high, he had no idea how she managed to even stand in them, but, man, he was glad she did.
The other woman looked like she’d jumped straight through the sixties and came crashing out this side without bothering to consult a mirror: a crazy long rainbow skirt, flat leather sandals tied up with leather straps, and a long poncho that might have been made out of an old blanket. He couldn’t even begin to guess if her hair was naturally that white and ratty or if she had to work at it to make it look that…bad.
“Once we get the capris hung up,” Ellie way saying, “we can move the—”
She stopped short when she realized it was him who’d come in. The other woman followed Ellie’s gaze, then whistled.
“Well, holy Mary, Mother of God, please don’t tell us you’re here to shop for your wife.”
Laughing, Ellie gathered some of the packing material off the floor and stuffed it back in the box.
“Easy, Angie,” she said. “We don’t want to scare off the customers before they’re in the door.”
Giving the store a quick once-over, he bumped into a mannequin wearing nothing but a red bustier with matching garters and stockings. With a slow shake of his head, he steadied the figure, then backed away.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not the demographic you cater to anyway.”
“You’d be surprised,” Ellie said, smirking toward the mannequin. “Nick and Carter shop here all the time.”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “I imagine they do.”
What he wouldn’t imagine was how good Ellie would look in that bustier. Nope. That would just lead to trouble, and he couldn’t afford trouble.
“Anyway. I, uh, we need to talk.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
“Go.” Angie was already shoving Ellie’s bag into her arms and pushing her toward the door. “It’s just about closing time anyway, so go—I’ll cash out.”
“I’m the boss around here,” Ellie protested. “Remember?”
“Bah—you do enough bossing. Go! Have fun.”
Brett nodded his thanks to the crazy-haired woman, even though Ellie continued to protest the entire way out of the store.
“Where are we going?”
“Driving.” He tossed her the keys to his truck and waved her toward the driver’s side.
“But I can’t—I have all those boxes to unpack, and Angie…”
“Seems more than capable. Let’s go.”
And that’s all she needed to know. She didn’t need to know that when Brett pulled up, he’d spied Kurt sitting in the café across the street, and she didn’t need to know that while this would absolutely count as driving time for her mandated hours, they were on a mission, too.
He expected her to adjust the seat and the mirrors—hell, it wouldn’t even have surprised him if she changed the radio station. What he didn’t expect was for her to pull off her shoes and tuck them down by his feet.
“Ruins the back of the heels when you drive in them. So where to?”
It took him a couple of seconds to blink away from the sight of her pink polished toenails wiggling over the brake pedal.
“Um, yeah. Let’s see how you do in town first. Go down Victoria and take a right