Wild Fire (Chaos #6.5)(23)

He was about to slug back more beer, but that stopped him.

“Georgie, you’re out. I got this.”

There was a serious chill on her, “I’m sorry?”

Fuck.

“This shit is dangerous and there’s a dead man to prove it,” he pointed out.

“Well, I’m not asking to be a part of the takedown team when the cops go in and bust this black-market ring. I’m just saying I want to be there when you talk to the cops. And I want to keep on what I’m doing. Because I have things to contribute and most of it might come to nothing. But some of it might help Carlyle find some closure, if not peace.”

Goddamn it, he couldn’t argue that.

“Fine,” he said.

“Fine,” she snapped.

“I’m in on your shit too.”

Her expression softened in order to soften her words. “Dutch, you can’t come on my date-not-date with me. That’d definitely make Jackson clam up.”

“I get that, baby, but the other shit. The street kids. Whatever.”

She seemed to be contemplating this. “Work as a team?”

“Why not?”

She smiled at him. “Cool.”

Yeah, it was.

“It might be fun,” she said.

Yeah, it would.

He grinned at her and took another sip.

Then, regrettably, he had to get into more heavy.

So he leaned back into his elbows, and he saw her mentally brace, which meant she read him, as he meant her to, before she leaned into hers.

He tried to cushion his words as best as he could when he gave it to her.

“You know I’m gonna have to tell my brother about Carolyn.”

She dropped her head and stared down at her beer.

He lifted a hand and curved it around her jaw, so she looked at him again.

“I can give you two days to prepare her. In that time, she can come clean. She can do whatever. But after those two days are up, Georgie, I gotta give Jag what he needs to have, and I’m gonna warn you, he’s gonna lose it and scrape her off.”

“Yeah,” she said sadly.

“He won’t hurt her, at least not—”

“I know.”

“He’s also not gonna get shitty about getting his money back. But she’ll be dead to him.”

“I know,” she repeated.

“It’s not all about the money. Drugs are a no-go with us, baby.”

“Me too,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to do about her. She’s a hot mess, and not only in this way, which is saying something.”

And more of her bad mood at the airport was explained, and this shit was even bigger.

With regret, he took his hand from her and said, “We can talk about that tomorrow night after you get here from your date-not-date. Now, ’cause I wanna kiss you again to take your mind off shit things, and if I do, that’ll take us where we shouldn’t go until we get to know each other a little better, I gotta get you home.”

“Back to my car, you mean.”

“Then I’ll follow you home.”

“I can drive myself home, Dutch.”

“I know that, Georgiana. But you’ll be driving away from a warehouse full of black market shit, and the bad guys who deal it, where I do not know if we wandered into their camera range and they saw me drag you out of there. So they might be even more vigilant. So I want to make sure you’re not followed. With me?”

She nodded.

“Quick kiss, then finish your beer, then we’re out of here.”

She gave him that got-your-cock look again which caught the attention of his cock, as it was meant to do, and said, “You so want in my pants.”

He arched a brow. “And you don’t want in mine?”

She inched forward a little. “I oh-so want in your pants.”

He chuckled.

She leaned into him and gave him a quick, hard kiss, before she pushed back to straight and he watched, unmoving from his lean into the counter, as she tipped her head back and downed more than half a beer in one go.

“Talk about impressive,” he teased on a smile when she finished.

“I’m this close to jumping your bones because you’re being so cute, so you best get me home, bad boy.”

“I’m not cute.”

“Whatever.”

Someone was going to get their bones jumped, and in order not to jump that gun, because they started out way wrong, and he was going to lead them forward all right, he pushed up, socked back another slug, but didn’t down the whole thing. He set his beer aside, rounded the bar, caught her hand, and led her to her jacket on his couch.

As she pulled it on, she said, “It’s super cool you’re letting me give Carolyn a heads-up that you’re gonna tell Jagger.”

“If you don’t want to be thrown under that bus that Jag knows because I know because you told me, then we can do it whatever way is your way, but it’s gotta get done, and sooner not later.”

She nodded. “Can I tell you at our cop talk tomorrow?”

He returned her nod.

He also took her hand again to lead her out to his truck.

But she tugged on his and he stopped moving.

“When is that?” she asked.