Page 24 of Suddenly You
My body warms with nerves as I roll the passenger-side window down. I should have listened to Coop. I’m going to hear an “I told you so” as soon as we leave, I just know it.
Without a word though, Coop reaches into the glove box and hands me the registration as I pull my license out of my wallet.
“You know, I could offer to suck his dick and see if that gets you out of a ticket.”
“Please don’t,” I say. “I don’t want to go to jail for bribing an officer.”
“But I’d do it so good that he’d never tell a soul. I can promise you that. I’d suck his words right out of his dick.”
“Shut up, Coop,” I mutter as the cop approaches his window. He has the typical confident stride police officers have, his shirt painted on, his wide-brimmed hat pulled low over his eyes. I swallow roughly, feeling my nerves set in. I hate getting in trouble. Hate it. Makes me sick. I don’t like making mistakes. I fucking loathe it.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” the cop asks, leaning down against the window frame, painting an ominous picture.
I murmur under my breath, of course I know. I was flying down the highway like a wild animal with its first taste of freedom. And now I am going to be saddled with a huge ticket and traffic school. Because people like me don’t get out of tickets. That’s not a thing. And Coop will not be offering him a blow job. That is out of the question.
“Speeding,” I say tightly, and Coop reaches over and squeezes my hand. It’s reassuring in the best of ways, and I try like hell to ignore it.
But I can’t. I can’t fucking let go, so I just hold his hand in mine.
“Hello, Officer. I’m sorry about my husband. He was enjoying my car a little too much. His is in the shop, and from what I can tell, it’s a real piece of garbage.”
I scoff. That’s an understatement. It needs a lot of fucking work. It’s just a barrel of bolts at this point.
“Seems he was,” the cop says, leaning down a bit further and observing Coop. His eyes are hidden behind sunglasses, but I’m pretty sure he’s checking out my husband. Of course he is.
Coop attracts stares everywhere he goes. It’s the way he smiles and dresses and snarks. People can’t look away. He just exudes sex.
Not that I’ve noticed that part of it.
I most definitely have not.
“This is a nice car you got here. Haven’t seen one exactly like this before,” the cop says to Coop.
“Why thank you. It was imported. Had it made special just for me.”
The cop angles his head in and takes a peek around with a nod.
“Seems like a real nice ride.”
His gaze goes back to Coop, and I glower at him. He better not proposition my husband while I’m sitting right here. I won’t stand for it.
“It is. Wanna have a better look?”
“Shouldn’t, but I sure want to.”
Coop grins at him, his face lighting up, and I squeeze his hand, which is still in mine. A warning squeeze. A you better fucking not squeeze. He’s my husband, he will not be offering someone else a blow job. Ticket or not.
“Thanks for the offer, but I better get back to work.” The cop’s eyes meet mine and he frowns. “Better not catch you speeding again, kid.”
I manage a contrite nod and Coop chuckles. “I promise, officer. He’ll be on his best behavior or he’ll get a spanking.”
The glower I aim at him should turn him to ash but only makes him wink at me.
He’s impenetrable.
I should be happier than I am about not getting a ticket, but I’m embarrassed that now this cop is out there thinking my ass is going to get whooped by Coop when we get home.
Spanking is not something I want people to think I enjoy. But then again, I am married to Coop, so what the hell can I even do about it? He’ll make people believe whatever he wants.