Then on to the last room on this floor.Itwas beyond the kitchen and faced the side yard.Thedoor was closed, but asIopened it for her to enter,Iheard her small gasp next to me as she looked around the room.Shepaused there at the doorway for a moment, just staring and taking it all in.
“You have a library,”Acesaid, her words spoken in a shocked version of quiet.
“Someone once gave me the idea for a room that was just filled with books on endless bookshelves and a few different seating options…and it stuck with me,”Iresponded honestly.
She turned to face me, her eyes filled with unshed tears, andIwondered if it was a bad idea thatIhad taken her dream room.
8
ARCHER
FIVE YEARS AGO
I was stuck at this miserable trial, andIcouldn’t focus.Well, at least not on the thingsIshouldbe focused on.
AllIcould think about wasAce—the gorgeous redhead with mesmerizing hazel eyes who had taken over all the free time my brain had today.
Most of my thoughts were recapping last night’s torrid affair.Shewas not only gorgeous with her silky soft, wavy red hair and mesmerizing curves, but also the way her body responded to me last night.EverytimeItouched her, her body lit up for me.Ireally,reallyhadn’t want to leave her this morning, but this trial was too important.
Last night, when my roommateMannyMadeiraandIhad gone out to take our old police academy buddyNickJonesout for a night on the town,Ihadn’t planned to hook up with anyone.We’dplanned to showNicka good time while he was visiting—go out to eat, hit up a bar, and maybe play a few games or slots and head back, just the three of us.Thebars were expensive on theStrip, but it was a good place to go because it was mostly tourists.Thatmeant no one would recognize you or even remember you the next day.
Everything had changed, however, whenI’dseen the beautiful woman at the roulette table.Ihadn’t been able to take my eyes off her.Mybody had been drawn to her like a magnet, andI’dchosen not to fight it.
Manny andNickhad been ever the good friends, playing wingmen and helping entertain her friends soIcould talk with her and get to know her.
It had been a shit day leading up to that night out with my friends, so she’d definitely been a sight for sore eyes.
Manny andIhad been in the courtroom all day, giving testimony on a local mafia family member—JoeyPagano, to be exact.Joey’sfather,Enzo, and older brother,Matteo, were the heads of thePaganoFamilysyndicate.Joeyseemed to be the family fuckup who kept bringing attention and trouble to some of their business ventures they would rather keep hidden.Alas, he was family, so they just kept bailing him out or bribing people to let him out.Theproblem this time was thatMannyandIhad been on duty whenJoeyhad fucked up.We’dcaught him on our body cameras handing over an envelope with a large sum of money in it and then shooting the man point-blank afterward.Therewas no way he was getting out of it this time.
There were rumors that thePaganoFamilyhad someone on the payroll inside the police department.Knowingthis,Mannyhad slipped a copy to a news reporter in case the evidenceaccidentallydisappeared.
The problem was that the news reporter hadn’t waited untilMannygave the all clear.Instead, they chose to broadcast the video right away.ItlandedMannyand me in a little bit of hot water with the brass at work, but our boss was a good guy, and when we explained what we had originally planned, he hadn’t reprimanded us too hard.
Technically, any news outlet is allowed to view our body cam footage through what is known as anFOIA—FreedomofInformationAct—request, but often we can delay that request, send only a little and redact the rest, or come up with some other kind of passive-aggressive response if we need to buy ourselves more time to do an internal review.Inthis case,MannyandI—and our boss agreed—didn’t want to give the video a chance todisappear.
Manny was on the stand now, and then we would break for lunch.Whencourt was back in session, it would likely be my turn to take the stand.
But instead of focusing on howMannywas doing and the questions that were being asked—becauseIwould likely be asked the same—allIthought about was the gorgeous redhead.I’dgivenAnnathe nickname “Ace” to be funny, butIfound it suited her well.Eventhough she gave me her real name while we drank at the bar,IpreferredAcesince it was reminded me of how we met.Ididn’t know her well, but she had spunk, was very sharp, andIimagined that ifIlet her, she would get under my skin in the best way possible.
I wasn’t a stranger to one-night stands.Infact, in my line of work, sometimes that was easier.Divorcerates were exceptionally high in law enforcement, so serious relationships just did not appeal to me.
This one-night stand was different, though.MostlybecauseIwanted it to be more than one night.Itwas like once my body knew what she was like, it wanted her even more.
I wanted to text her, butIalso wanted to be careful thatIdidn’t come across as just wanting a booty call.Ialso didn’t want to come across as desperate on my end.
I knew there was a chance she might be leaving in a few weeks, but there was also a chance she could get a job here inVegas.Ifound myself secretly rooting for that idea.Iwasn’t usually this locked on to one woman, butAcewas something different.
I decided the pleasure of her company meant more to me than appearing desperate, soIshot her a text during our lunch break.
Archer:
I have no idea what time we will get out of this courtroom, butI’dlove to see you again if you’re free tonight.
Ace:
Who is this again? ;)
Archer:
