Page 9 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)
EIGHT
Ayla
I was usually pretty good at keeping my more extreme impulses in check. Example one: I hadn’t decked that asshole earlier who told me to show my tits .
But when I got pushed too far, I couldn’t help but react.
Something about Teller Landry just made me lose all common sense.
It didn’t help that his firm touch as he put me in handcuffs ignited every one of my nerve endings like sparklers on New Year’s. A flush spread over my skin.
“I hope this is worth whatever point you think you’re making,” he said.
“I did what I had to.”
“Stay here and behave. Can you do that?” Teller turned me around and nudged me up against the bathroom wall. I wasn’t sure when he’d switched from “Chief Landry” to “Teller” in my head. Maybe around the time that we shared a brief laugh about the gnome wallpaper.
“Yes, sir,” I replied sarcastically.
Even now, his eyes betrayed a hint of amusement, even though his mouth remained in a stern frown.
Those eyes were a pale green like cold sea glass, rimmed with thick light-brown lashes, and had no right to be so mesmerizing.
Same with the broad shoulders and thick biceps that strained his dark navy police uniform.
If I’d admired Bryan’s physique earlier, that was nothing to the chief’s effect on me. Especially after spending the last ten minutes trapped in this tiny bathroom with him.
When he’d first carried me in here, I hardly knew what was happening. Yes, he’d been trying to get me somewhere safe. But I wasn’t used to being manhandled. Teller had thrown me around like I was a doll.
I hadn’t realized before how big Teller was.
Not just his frame but the way he took up space, which was all about charisma.
Fine lines traced the skin beside his eyes, and the scar down his cheek made his glower even more commanding.
The touches of silver in his short dark-blond hair made him distinguished and somehow amplified his sex appeal.
I wasn’t usually drawn to older men, but Teller Landry was no ordinary specimen. He was larger than life.
No wedding ring, either.
Why was I even noticing that? So what if he was attractive. Or single.
“ Stay ,” he commanded. Then he unlocked the door and stepped out, leaving the spicy scent of aftershave in his wake. The bathroom suddenly felt huge and empty. And the gravity of what I’d done started to hit.
Oh, this was bad.
Every tabloid reporter would probably have a simultaneous orgasm when they heard about me getting arrested. My publicist was going to murder me.
Also, terrible example for me to set for Maisie. Except I did want her to learn to stand up for herself and for others. So there was that.
I’d just been so… frustrated . By the way my day got ruined. By how unfair it was that Bryan, one of the few men in my everyday life who I could trust, was going to jail because of me. And with Teller being all bossy and gruff and intimidating, I just couldn’t take any more.
I’d felt cornered. Like a rubber band pulled too far, I’d snapped. I chose violence.
Okay, I did regret that part. I shouldn’t have put hands on Teller to make a point. Even if he did put his hands on me when he picked me up and carried me into this bathroom in the first place.
But now I was the one in handcuffs.
Also, my finger hurt from jabbing it into Teller’s chest. Ow . He wasn’t wearing a bulletproof vest under there, was he? It had felt like a solid brick wall.
How much muscle was he packing beneath that uniform?
The door squeaked as he returned to the bathroom a couple of minutes later. “We’re going out the market’s back exit. My SUV will be waiting. Someone’s bringing it around. If we’re lucky, no one will get any photos of you in cuffs, but I can’t make any promises.”
“I know. I, um, I apologize. I shouldn’t have hit you.”
He cocked his hip. “You didn’t hit me. It was a poke.”
“But there’s no excuse for using violence. I’m sincerely sorry.”
A smirk appeared on his lips, then smoothed away. “I accept your apology. But you wanted me to arrest you, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“I’ll accept the consequences.”
He dipped his chin in a nod. “Alright, Troublemaker. Let’s go.”
“At least Troublemaker is better than Princess .”
His lips twitched again.
Teller led me through the market. Rosie waved at me, while a few other shoppers gawked as I passed. I smiled sheepishly. Thankfully, nobody was taking any photos.
Maybe we could all laugh about this someday. Right ? Because it was pretty ridiculous.
His Silver Ridge PD vehicle idled in the alley behind the market. It was getting dark out, which meant most people were at dinner by now. Or maybe still distracted by the police activity out front.
“I lost my purse somewhere,” I said. “And my shopping bags.”
“Already spoke to Officer Nichols. She’s got your belongings secured.”
Then I remembered that I was supposed to be meeting Ashford and Emma and everyone else at Hearthstone any minute now. Crap. I didn’t want to ruin the bachelor/bachelorette party.
Maybe I could get a message to them that something else came up, so they wouldn’t worry when I didn’t show.
“Could I use my phone?” I asked.
“We’ll see once we get to the station. It’s not far.” He opened the front passenger door of his SUV.
“I’m supposed to ride in back, aren’t I? I’m a prisoner.”
Teller sighed. “Suit yourself.” He closed that door, then opened the one to the backseat. “Get in. Justice awaits.”
I slid into the back with difficulty, considering my wrists were still cuffed. Teller reached in to stretch the seatbelt across me.
“You do that for all your prisoners?” I asked.
“Just the extra troublesome ones.” He smirked, but his large hands were gentle as they slid the seatbelt buckle into place with a click.
After getting in, he put the engine in gear and drove down the alley. “Might want to hide your face, unless you want someone to snap a photo.”
Good point. I bent over and laid on the seat.
When we parked a few minutes later, I sat up tentatively. We were at the back of a sprawling, one-story brick building. Nobody was around as Teller got me out of the backseat and led me inside.
A couple of curious faces glanced over from open doorways, eyes going wide as we passed. I heard voices and activity elsewhere in the station.
I’d always wondered what it was like to get arrested. I just hadn’t expected to experience it firsthand .
Would I get a mug shot for the media to splash all over the internet? Nausea churned in my stomach. If Teller wanted to make this painful for me, he could.
Yet when we’d been stuck in the bathroom, he’d actually seemed concerned about my welfare. I was pretty sure he’d even made a couple of jokes. He’d definitely made me smile, however quickly that moment had passed.
Teller led me down a hallway to an office with Chief Landry written on the door. He nudged me toward one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Sit there. Don’t touch anything.”
“Can I take my coat off?” My jacket was unbuttoned, but still too heavy for the temperature in here.
With another put-upon sigh, Teller fished a key from his pocket. “Alright. Turn around.” He unlocked the cuff from one of my wrists, then tugged my coat off my shoulders, careful not to yank my hair.
The slide of his palms down my arms sent tingles dancing through me.
“I could’ve taken it off myself.”
“I’m not trusting you to do much at the moment. Now sit down, Troublemaker.” He tossed my coat onto the far seat. I sat in the closer one.
Then he took the dangling open end of the handcuffs, which were still attached to my left wrist, and fastened it onto the arm of the chair.
“I need to go handle some things. I’ll be back.”
“Prisoners are supposed to get a phone call, aren’t they?”
“Just gonna have to wait. Try to be on good behavior.”
“What about Bryan? How is he?”
“ Wait .” Teller gave me a wry look before he left the office.
Welp, here I was. In a police station under arrest. Taking a hard look at my life choices.
The chief’s office was exactly what I would’ve expected of him. Everything nice and neat. He had a display case of challenge coins on one wall. Hardly any personal photos except for one with him, his sister Piper, and her son Ollie.
I was twenty-seven with a flush bank account, but I still barely felt like an adult. Teller gave off extremely grown-man vibes. Like he was too busy adulting to have much time to enjoy himself. Even in that family photo, he looked serious. As if he were contemplating the weight of the world.
Ashford had mentioned that Teller served as a Green Beret and had been wounded in action. He was the kind of guy my father would’ve pointed to and said, Now there’s a real man .
Real men, according to the colonel, ruled their families with an iron fist and didn’t put up with backtalk or independence from their women.
Who was Teller Landry underneath his scowl and his uniform?
My gaze continued to move around the room, taking in a bulletin board with photos tacked onto it. Some showed houses with broken windows. Another with red spray paint across a barn door. Next to the photos was a map with red pins on it, marking locations.
I wondered what that was about.
There was a knock, and the door opened. A uniformed officer in wire-rimmed glasses stepped into the office, balancing two coffee cups. “Uh, hello Miss Maxwell. I brought coffee. In case you’d like some. One black, one with cream and sugar, since I didn’t know how you take it.”
He held out both paper cups like an offering.
“That’s nice of you. I’ll take the sugary one. I could use a pick-me-up.” I lifted my free hand, and he gave me the coffee. “Thanks.”
“I’m Officer Duncan, but Seth is fine. I mean, if you want to call me that.” He blushed.
Seth had medium-brown hair. Boyish features, though I guessed he was in his late thirties. His glasses made him look studious, but he was tall and leanly muscled. That kind of build could hide a lot of strength.
I sipped the coffee. Yikes . Too much sugar, but I swallowed a gulp anyway and smiled. “I appreciate it.”
Seth glanced over his shoulder. “I can’t believe the chief arrested you. This has to be some kind of misunderstanding, right?”
“You don’t think I’m a hardened criminal?”
He sputtered a laugh. “I know exactly who you are. I mean, wow. You’re…you’re just, wow . Right here in real life.”
I didn’t remember him from my previous trips to Silver Ridge, so I figured he was new. Seth was all ah-shucks attitude. But then his gaze lingered a while on my dress, moving down my legs to my boots. I shifted, and the chain on the handcuffs jingled.
I’d known I was trapped here before, but now I truly felt it.
“Could I get your autograph?” he asked. “For my cousin in Denver?”
But before I could answer, a deep voice boomed from somewhere outside Teller’s office.
“ Where is she ?”