Page 5 of Ready or Not
It comes in clutch when we need information from a perp, but anyone who spends any time in his presence can sense that he’s a threat.
It’s a biological response or something.
And I actually fucking like the guy…
Most of the time.
Until he followed me here.
Vale comes to a stop next to the table, but she barely glances in Ranger’s direction. “Would you like the usual?”
“Yeah,” I agree, shoving my hair back from my eyes. “Make it two.” I nod to Ranger, so she doesn’t think I suddenly turned into a drunk.
She flashes a dazzling smile. “You got it.”
Vale spins around, heading off toward the bar. Her little black dress puffs out at the bottom.
I tilt my head, examining exactly how much thigh and ass are on display.
My impulses want to scoop her up and get her the fuck out of here.
Then again, she’s extremely skittish.
It’s taken me time to build enough trust that I think she might say yes when I ask her out on a date.
“An omega,” Ranger says in his normal dead and disinterested tone. “I see.” His nose wrinkles, and he pulls a hand up to fan the air. “Good God, that strawberry scent of hers is cloying.”
“She smells delectable to me,” I deadpan.
“Right.” He rolls his eyes. “I imagine you’ll be abandoning me to take her back to Assurance before long. No one sticks with my team for long. It really is a pity. I train you all, and you abandon me to use those skills elsewhere.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. It’s nearly impossible to resist the urge to tell him that’s because he scares the living shit out of everyone we assign to him.
Not to mention the whole Kane incident.
“I’ve got to get her to go out on a date with me first. It’s been a slow process,” I admit, scratching my jaw.
Ranger’s icy blue eyes stare into mine. “Don’t leave it too long.”
Some emotion that I can’t quite pick out crosses his face. He’s been searching for his little sister for the better part of two and a half years, but she disappeared without a trace. Sparrow is an omega, just like Vale, and the implications are enough to turn my stomach.
“This place is one step away from hell,” Ranger mutters, glancing at the woman dancing on stage. His head shakes. “I’m surprised you haven’t carted her out of here over your shoulder like the caveman you are.”
I chuckle, meeting his dead-eyed stare. “I’ve considered it on more than one occasion.”
It takes another week until I finally work up the balls to ask Vale out for a late dinner after her shift.
My teeth grind together as she invites me into her apartment. The interior isn’t bad, but the building is in a rough part of town.
My hands land on her hips as she smiles at me over her shoulder.
My heart races as my stomach dances with butterflies that I haven’t felt since I was a teenager.
“Oh, damn,” a female voice says, drawing my attention. She’s in a towel with another wrapped around her head, and she stares open-mouthed at either me or Vale or the combination of us together. “Holy shit, you’ve never brought a guy home.”
Vale laughs. “Ohmigod, Kate. Could you try not to embarrass me?”
“Don’t mind me. I’m just going to toss in my earbuds and call it a night,” the chick says, taking off for one of the bedroom doors.