Protecting What's His (Line of Duty #1)(25)

“We don’t have to stay all night, you know. An hour should do it.”

Ginger looked surprised, her wineglass pausing halfway to her lips. “We just got here.”

Her expression turned unsure, as if worried she might be the reason he wanted to leave. He hurried to clarify. “These events are exhausting. Too much grinning and bullshitting.”

Her face spread into a slow smile. “Well, you’re in luck, sweetheart. I grin and bullshit for a living.”

Derek sipped his whiskey. “These aren’t the type of men who frequent Sensation.”

“Maybe not now, but they all were at one time or another.” Something over his shoulder caught her attention. “And I’m fairly certain this group of gentlemen headed our way came to see me in Sensation just this week.”

Inwardly wincing, Derek turned to see Barker, Alvarez, and two other detectives heading in their direction. Taking a step closer to Ginger, he nodded in acknowledgment.

“Lieutenant Tyler,” Alvarez greeted him, raising an approving eyebrow at Ginger. Alvarez had been a detective long before Derek joined the force and tended to get away with more than the other men due to seniority. There’d been a few months of tension when the higher-ups passed him over for the lieutenant position in favor of Derek, but it eventually passed and Derek considered him his best detective.

“Alvarez.”

He leaned past Derek to address Ginger. “I don’t think we’ve formally met, but I recall you make one hell of a vodka gimlet.”

She flashed him a blinding smile. “I’m Ginger. Next time, I’ll make you one of my famous mojitos if you promise not to scare off the rest of my customers.”

The other three men looked uncomfortably at Derek, but Alvarez just laughed. “Just following up on a hot tip that Sensation is where all the cool kids hang out. Besides, I can’t help how someone interprets my looks.”

“That sounds like typical cop logic.”

Alvarez tried to get around Derek to continue his conversation with Ginger, but stopped when he saw his lieutenant’s expression. “And I’m interpreting the boss’s look to say back off.”

If Derek didn’t know for a fact that Alvarez was happily married with two children, he would have passed on the message sooner. However, he didn’t know the marital status of the other three men, nor did he care. Ginger belonged to him.

She nudged him with her elbow, a subtle reminder of her earlier threat to walk home. “Mr. Alvarez, maybe you can tell me what this event is being held for. Derek hasn’t had time to tell me yet.”

Alvarez sent Derek a look of censure, which he ignored. Pulling Barker forward, Alvarez explained. “This gentleman who hasn’t said two words since we came over here, and I can’t imagine why, is Councilman Barker’s nephew. We’re all here on his uncle’s dime. Normally, Lieutenant Tyler is the only one required to play dress-up and kiss politician ass. Thanks to Barker, we all have to pucker up tonight.”

Ginger laughed, reaching forward to shake Barker’s hand. Derek gave a mental eye roll when Barker’s eyes practically glazed over at the contact. “And tonight’s cause, Mr. Barker?”

The rookie puffed up a little. “My uncle is leading a committee to organize after-school programs in the city’s worst neighborhoods. To help keep local kids from joining gangs and get into sports or academic pursuits instead.”

“Damn, Barker. Did you rehearse that in the mirror?” Alvarez joked, signaling the bartender.

Barker flushed. “Anyway, you’ll hear more about it at dinner, Ginger.”

She smiled broadly at him. “I look forward to it.”

Derek had seen quite enough of Ginger smiling at other men for one evening. He couldn’t recall her ever smiling at him like that. Sliding an arm around her bare shoulders, he excused them and led her toward their assigned seats. Already seated at the round, ten-person table was Patty, the dispatch operator responsible for his bringing Ginger in the first place. Also waiting for dinner to start was Kenny, his ex-partner, and Lisa, Derek’s ex-girlfriend, still an item apparently. Thankfully, they were across the table, blocked by an obscenely large centerpiece, saving him from having to make introductions.

Patty, however, stood to greet him with a kiss on the cheek. “Derek, you brought a date!”

Wanting to roll his eyes at Patty’s false shock, Derek placed a hand on Ginger’s back and guided her forward. “Ginger, this is Patty. She works dispatch and is unfortunately leaving us soon to terrorize her husband full-time.”

The older woman laughed in delight, and Derek couldn’t help but grin in response. Despite being her favorite target for practical jokes, he liked Patty quite a lot and would be sad to see her go.

“Oh, Lieutenant. You know you’re going to miss me like hell.”

“I think I might, Patty.”

Trying to hide her pleasure over his words, she turned to Ginger with a sly smile. “And how do you know this *, honey?”

Ginger nearly choked on her wine. “Oh, um, Derek and I are roommates.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Roommates? Aren’t you a little old for a roommate, Derek?”

Ginger answered before he could. “It’s only temporary, actually. My apartment across the hall, where I live with my sister, flooded last night. Derek insisted we take his spare room. He was very heroic, actually.”