Sunset Beach(59)

She shook her head. She’d fixed her hair so that it fell over the bruised eye. Maybe if you didn’t know to look, you might not even notice. “That’s sweet. But stupid. You’ll just get yourselves into trouble. That’s the last thing I want.

“Let’s talk about something else,” she said.

He got out of the cruiser, walked around and got in the front seat of the Camaro.

She put her arms around his neck and began kissing him. The next thing he knew, she reached down and unzipped his fly.

“Here?” he said, looking around anxiously. “You’ll get us both arrested for public indecency.”

“I don’t care,” she said, fondling him.

He pushed her hand away. “Cut it out. We’ve got guys patrolling this park all the time, looking out for pervs. I could lose my job.”

“In the meantime, I’m losing my mind, I’m so hot for you,” she whispered, taking his hand and putting it beneath her skirt. “Come on. Just a quickie. Nobody has to see.”

Before he could stop her, she’d pulled her top off over her head. Another minute later, she was straddling him.

When they were done, they were both drenched with perspiration and out of breath.

“Jesus,” Brice said, tucking his damp uniform shirt into his pants. “How am I gonna explain this to my sergeant?”

Colleen giggled as she searched the floor of the Camaro for the panties that had gone missing in the heat of the moment.

“Tell him you got hot and sweaty chasing pervs at the nature trail,” she said, waving the scrap of pink lace under his nose.

“Put those on,” he said, batting the panties away. “You act like this is some kind of game.”

“It is a game, as far as I’m concerned,” she said with a shrug. “Come on. Are you telling me you don’t get off on this stuff?”

“It won’t be fun if I get fired for conduct unbecoming an officer, and it sure as hell won’t be fun for you if your husband figures out what’s going on between us.”

She got out of the Camaro and using the car door as a shield, stepped into the panties, smoothing her skirt and top before getting back in the driver’s seat. Then she pulled down the sun visor and combed her hair back into place and reapplied her lipstick.

“I’m serious, Brice,” she said, turning in the seat so that she was facing him again. “If it weren’t for times like this, being with you, I think I might go crazy.”

“Then leave him,” Brice said. “Get a divorce. You’re young. You’ve got a good job. Why do you need that asshole?”

“A good job? My take-home pay is exactly $92.74 a week. You know any divorce lawyers who work for that kind of money? And what if I did leave him? Where would I go? Move in with my mom? Listen to her bitching about what a raw deal she got after my dad left? Thanks but no thanks.”

Colleen looked off in the distance, at the playground, with the seesaw and the swings and sliding board. “Anyway, you don’t know Allen. He’d never just let me leave. He’d find me. And he’d hurt me even worse.”

With his thumb he gently touched the corner of her swollen lip. “I could help you. Let me help you. I want to.”

A single tear slid down her cheek. “What? You’re going to leave Sherri? For me?”

His face flushed. “Come on. That’s not fair. You know how I feel about you.”

She leaned in and kissed him. “You’re right. I do know how you feel. And I know I can’t ask you to leave your wife. I met her, you know.”

He drew back, startled. “Sherri? You talked to her? When was this?”

“Don’t look at me like that. It was perfectly innocent. I went into that real estate office she works at. Out at the beach. I asked about renting a house this summer. I’m not surprised you fell for her, Brice. She’s really cute.”

“Jesus!” he exclaimed. “You met Sherri? Why would you do something like that? What if she figured it out?” He slapped the dashboard. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”

“Why not?” She shrugged. “I didn’t tell her my real name. I just, I don’t know. I guess I wanted to check out the competition. Is that so wrong? I mean, you met Allen.”

“I should have arrested Allen,” he said bitterly. “I should have locked his ass up, and then I should have gone home to my wife that night.”

“Even if you had arrested him, his dad’s lawyer would have gotten him out in a skinny minute.”

“So what are you going to do?” Brice asked.

She smoothed the front of his shirt with the flat of her hand. “I … I’ve been working on a plan. It’ll sound nuts to you, I know, but it’s the only way.”

“Tell me,” he said.

“I’m going to disappear,” she said.

“Huh?”

“I mean it. One day soon, I’ll go to work, and I just won’t come home.”

“Where’ll you go?” he asked. “What’ll you do for money?”

“I’m thinking maybe Atlanta. A big city, where I can get a job. As for the money? That’s the part you might not want to know about. You being a cop and all.”

“What? You’re gonna rob a bank?”