2
Hot Jerk
T he grumpy giant glanced up at her from his clipboard, disapproval was written all over his too-handsome face. Those stormy blue eyes penetrated her with their intensity.
The shiver she felt dance down her spine had nothing to do with the cool mountain air. Quinn shifted uncomfortable with her body’s sudden unexpected reaction to him. Now that she stood before him, his height and breadth were so distinctly masculine it made her feel petite and…feminine. Like he was some kind of alpha god, and she was the woman his intentions were set upon. Quinn slowly crunched the piece of candy cane in her mouth as she openly stared at him, but this time, his glowering blue eyes gave way to something akin to male satisfaction. Her breath hitched at the not-so-subtle change in his countenance, and a bit of candy cane nearly choked her.
He held her gaze for only a split second, but it was long enough to leave her certain that he knew all too well the heady effect he was having on her. When he turned away from her to talk into his two-way radio, she wondered if she’d imagined that look in his eyes. The moment passed so quickly. Was it just her overzealous imagination?
Quinn had taken her coat off in the car for the drive, and the crisp mountain air that now snaked its way through her thin sweater was more than enough to cool any fires. She crossed her arms over her chest trying to keep warm.
“It’s freezing,” she muttered, subtly trying to indicate that he should hurry up with whatever it was he was doing.
With his broad back turned to her, he paid her no attention. He was still talking back and forth on his radio. She didn’t hear what he was saying. She didn’t care really. What she did care about was why the heck he had her get out of her warm car if he was just going to yak away to someone else. She just wanted to get back in her toasty car, crank her Christmas tunes, and get on her way to see her friends and start their girl’s weekend.
Was the sadistic man deliberately taking his sweet time as she stood there shivering? Frustrated, her impatience got the best of her.
“Excuse me, officer, I hate to interrupt, but could we speed things up here? I have plans, and this is putting a dent into them.” She hadn’t meant to come across as snarky, but even she heard the sarcasm in her voice.
The cop turned back to her and looked down at her with a dark arched brow. She wasn’t sure what was more annoying, his intimidating manner or the fact he was decidedly hot. He currently towered over her. He had to be well over six feet and built like a bull, but she refused to be intimidated. Standing her ground, she gave him a challenging look back.
“Have ye been drinking?” he asked, leaning in closer to her, his sheer size made her step back. A hint of cologne wafted in the crisp mountain air tickling her senses. She suddenly had an urge to reach up and pull him to her so she could breathe him in. How could someone with his demeanour smell that amazing? Such a contradiction. God, what was with her? He just asked her if she’d been drinking, and all she could focus on was his cologne. Quinn stood a little taller, despite herself.
“Not yet, but thanks for asking,” she quipped matter-of-factly with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She thought she saw a slight twitch in his lips. If he was going to crack a smile, he reigned it in quickly. Pity.
“Where are ye headed, Ms. West?” He was looking back down at his clipboard and started to scribble something.
Ooh, so formal , she thought. But she was cold and just wanted to go already. “Calen.”
“Visiting?” he asked not looking up.
“Yes,” she said, her teeth beginning to chatter. “Well, sort of.” The sun hung low in the sky and would likely set within the hour. Out of nowhere, big, fluffy snowflakes began to float around them, and Quinn was instantly distracted, as if there wasn't a giant cop glowering at her. “Look, it’s snowing,” she said breathlessly, as she lifted her palms to the air like those snowy puffs held some kind of Christmas magic.
Feeling his glare, Quinn looked back and caught the cop’s gaze on her. He had that mystified scowl look again, but less scowly this time. Realizing she’d gotten distracted, she carried on with what she’d been saying, “I’m going to Calen to meet up with my girlfriends. We haven’t seen each other in ages.” She sighed and then grinned, adding, “It’s going to be an epic girl’s weekend, but I’m planning…”
“Come,” he cut her off, not the least bit interested in what she was saying, and the irritated scowl made a reappearance.
So rude , she thought, but she reluctantly followed the brute as he led her to the back of her car. He pointed to her broken tail light, and she cringed. She planned to get that fixed, but it wasn’t in the budget this month. Damn. She was kicking herself now. She supposed she could have pulled some money from this weekend’s party with the girl’s budget.
“Ye have a broken tail light,” he said more calmly than she’d expected.
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded in quiet agreement. She couldn’t very well lie and pretend she knew nothing about it. She’d come out to it about two weeks ago after picking up some groceries. No one was in sight, and she stood there looking around the parking lot wondering what in the heck happened. Frustrated, she’d gotten in her vehicle and put it out of her mind.
Quinn could feel his cool gaze penetrating her as she stared blankly at the back of her vehicle at a rare loss for words.
“Ye knowingly drove on the highway with a broken tail light?” It was more of a scolding statement than a question, and she felt well and put into her place. She didn’t say anything.
“When exactly do ye plan on getting it fixed Ms. West?”
She looked up at him. Why did he have to be such a jerk about everything? Clearing her throat, she tried to keep the snark from her voice as she said as calmly as she could, “I’ll find a shop in Calen, Officer.”
“Sergeant,” he corrected her.
She barely held back an eye roll.
“Bob’s shop. It’s just on the corner of Main Street and 4th Ave.”
“Lovely. Bob’s. I’ll go there tomorrow. Now, can you just give me my ticket or whatever and let me be on my way?” She didn’t even try to hide her impatience this time. This time, it was the cold that made her shiver. She was freezing, and as she pulled her arms a little tighter across her chest, she couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering in the crisp mountain air.
“Ye can get back into yer vehicle.” Mean Hot Cop seemed to finally take pity on her.
“Thank God,” she muttered as she brushed past him to hurry back into her car.
Cranking the heat when she got back in, trying to warm up, she realized she was getting hungry. Looking at her dwindling pile of road trip snacks, she picked up another candy cane, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth while she awaited her fate. A moment later, the cop walked up to her driver’s side window.
“Scotland. Not Ireland.” His deep voice sounded proud and strong. Quinn was taken off guard as he bent to look at her. Her breath caught with his face almost eye level with hers. His piercing stormy blue eyes looked downright sexy this closeup. She felt oddly flattered that he’d told her where he was from. Like they’d finally made some headway, and he gifted her by being a real person and not just a jerk cop.
A magnanimous feeling washed over Quinn, and she smiled brightly, “I haven’t been to Scotland either, but I bet it’s amazing. I saw Braveheart years ago. Such a great movie. I don’t know if it was actually filmed in Scotland, but if it was, the scenery was just beautiful and the castles…” She sighed dreamily thinking about it.
And just as she was about to ask if he’d watched Braveheart , it all went sideways. Quinn had thought she’d cracked his facade, but no, the moment flitted away into oblivion like steam from a mug of hot chocolate. Completely ignoring that Quinn had spoken at all, never mind complimented the man’s homeland, the cop pulled a ticket from his clipboard and unceremoniously handed it to her.
“Three hundred dollars!” Quinn spat shocked. Apparently, she was wrong, and he was a cold mean jerk cop after all. How could he gouge her like that? She hadn’t been going that fast, and she’d promised to get her tail light fixed. Grinch was too nice to describe him.
“Next time, slow down, Ms. West, and make sure ye get that tail light taken care of.”
“Oh yes, because I’ll have plenty of cash left over after having the tail light fixed to pay for this ticket too.” Her voice was shrill with frustration.
“Something to think about next time you want to blow past the speed limit,” he snapped sternly. He gave her one last look of disapproval before he turned and strode away.
Quinn was incensed. Any heated tingles she’d felt were thoroughly doused. Cocky ass .
She growled frustrated and then hollered out her window to him needing to have the last word, “Oh, don’t you worry, I’ll be a star driver ’cause I definitely wouldn’t want to chance running into you again, Sergeant !”
He stopped but didn’t turn, and Quinn decided not to stick around to see what he’d say or do next. Signalling to pull out, she took one last glance at him in her rearview mirror and breathed a sigh of relief to see that he’d gotten into his truck. As she drove away, she took a deep breath, relishing the Christmassy scent in her car. She wasn’t going to let some grumpy jerk cop ruin her excitement. Cranking her Christmas tunes, she set her focus on getting to Calen to see her girls.