on the window had Jared swearing again. He grabbed his jacket from between us and tossed it at me, nailing me square in the head. “Hide.”
Hide?
Then he turned on the Jeep and opened the window. Naturally, it was Christian. Because why not?
Saying nothing, he peered at Jared with a look of dismay even the darkness couldn’t conceal.
“What?” Jared demanded, as if he didn’t know exactly what.
I didn’t blame him for wanting to cling to denial, but I was still trying to process hiding in plain sight while recovering from almost back to back orgasms.
Did he not want Christian to know about us? Granted, this was not the ideal way to announce it, but I didn’t want to duck my head under his jacket either.
So, I didn’t.
Christian cleared his throat. “Sheriff, I wasn’t sure it was you.”
“Come off it.”
“No, I wasn’t certain, I swear.” Christian even sounded as if he was flushing. To his credit, he made no attempt to look into the vehicle—well, beyond a quizzical glance into the backseat where Samantha was now making woeful noises. At least her screaming had stopped. “I thought this resembled your Jeep, but considering the, ah, location of said vehicle, I assumed my assumption must be false. Did you have car trouble?”
Jared stared ahead. Already every bit of the tension he’d begun to lose—minus the orgasm he hadn’t had yet, whoops—had filtered back into him. His shoulders were stiff, his posture ramrod straight. “You know I didn’t.”
Of course he wouldn’t lie. He’d done a lot of things in the past year I hadn’t expected, including tonight, but he wouldn’t abandon his code of ethics.
He was far too upstanding for that.
“It’s a really dark night. And it’s the holiday and all. Defenses are, uh, lower. Could be you made a wrong turn.” Christian took off his hat, flipped it between his hands, and put it back on. “Maybe you got…turned around.”
“I didn’t. I came here for a very specific reason.”
I slunk a little lower in the passenger seat. But I still wasn’t hiding, more like using his jacket as a shield. And possibly sniffing it discreetly now and then.
It smelled like the lake and the woods around his cabin. Like Jared. I couldn’t help it. When a guy gives you two amazing Os on the first go-round without even attempting to get some for himself, it was hard not to be starstruck.
Then again, he’d asked me to cover my head afterward. So, yeah, it was definitely still Brooks.
When Christian coughed into his fist, Jared blew out a breath. “Christian, let’s not take all night. Are you going to write me a citation? If so, get it over with.”
“Jared,” I murmured, shocked he’d ask for one.
Being honorable was nice and all, especially in his position, but why would you want to be spanked, legally speaking?
His gaze whipped to mine, his jaw locked. He didn’t speak, but it was obvious he hadn’t wanted me to either. I wasn’t supposed to be seen—or heard.
Message received.
I let his jacket drop to the console between us and wrapped my arms around myself as I faced forward. I could be really, really quiet.
Samantha, however, could not, as the decibel on her wailing was ever so slowly being cranked. She either had a messy diaper or she was hungry or both.
Officially not your problem. Not when he wants to deny your presence.
“Not necessary, Sheriff. I didn’t even see anything except you and a companion. A baby too. Maybe a relative?”
The way Christian said it was a clear invitation for Jared to explain who the kid was, but he declined. Surprise.
Christian stepped back as the silence extended. “We can just forget about this.”
“I don’t want special favors,” Jared said gruffly. “I’ve written many citations up here myself.”
“Noted, sir, but as I said, I didn’t see anything untoward.” He cleared his throat yet again. “Other than pulling over in a no parking zone. Although it’s a nice clear night for it. For the view, I mean.”
Jared grunted.
“I’m just going to go. You all have a good evening. Elsewhere,” he tacked on, puffing out his chest before swiftly heading back to his car.
A moment later, he did a U-turn and hightailed it out of there, spitting up gravel in his wake.
“I’ll take you back to get your vehicle,” Jared said after a long moment, lifting his voice above the crying baby.
He had a remarkable ability to just talk over her. Meanwhile, I had to fight every impulse to go back there and make sure