Soul Possession(25)

“Are these your cops, Jessie?”

Now the problem with that question is that it just happened to pop out just when the last note died and a window of silence crept in before the room erupted in applause and whistles.

Jessie seemed to recover from her surprise and scowled. It was a cute scowl too. Her nose scrunched up and she had such a look of belligerence that Truitt was reminded of a bulldog.

“No, they aren’t my cops,” she shouted.

Rick took a step forward until he was so close to Jessie she was forced to tilt her neck to look up at him.

“Yes, we are her cops.”

Jessie shook her head, all the while Rick nodded.

“I don’t suppose you’ll take just one and leave the other to me?” her friend asked mournfully.

Rick grinned and Truitt’s mouth twitched.

“You can have them both. With my blessing,” Jessie said crossly. “They’re jerks.”

“Well yeah, but they’re gorgeous jerks. Do y’all know how to grovel?”

Truitt blinked in confusion at the abrupt change in direction of the conversation. “Grovel?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking you’ll need to do some serious groveling to get Jessie to forgive you. She’s been through hell the last few days. We’re out to blow off some steam. You might have just ruined her night.”

“What’s your name, doll?” Rick asked.

“Kirsten, and I’m her friend. Her best friend. So if she doesn’t want to go with you then she stays with me,” she said fiercely.

“You’re both coming with us,” Truitt said. “You’re both wasted and we’re going to make sure you get home safely. Now you can come quietly or we can haul you out over our shoulders. Either way, you’re coming.”

Kirsten blinked and Jessie’s eyes widened again. Neither seemed to know quite what to make of that.

Then Jessie’s brows scrunched together and she thrust up her chin. “You wouldn’t dare.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Particularly to Rick because telling him he wouldn’t dare was like waving a pork chop at a starving pitbull.

Rick simply plucked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and rested his hand possessively on her ass.

“I’m going, I’m going!” Kirsten exclaimed as she put her hands in the air. “Just point me in the direction.”

“Hey, put me down!” Jessie exclaimed.

Truitt was already pulling out his badge as he herded Kirsten toward the door. Rick followed close behind and Truitt held up his badge when the security guard got a look at Jessie and frowned.

The guard relaxed when he saw the badge and motioned for Rick to pass on out the door.

When they hit the parking lot, Rick strode toward his truck with Jessie’s pert little ass thrust skyward. He opened the back, eased her onto the seat, and then scowled at her as he stood inside the door.

“I don’t know what the hell you were thinking. You shouldn’t have been out on the dance floor drunk off your ass when you’ve got a bum knee. You’re going to regret it tomorrow.”

Truitt guided Kirsten around so she could sit beside Jessie in the backseat and then he climbed into the front. He turned just as Rick shut the door and he slid his gaze over Jessie.

“You okay? Your knee hurt?”

“No,” Jessie mumbled.

“She’s not feeling anything right now,” Kirsten said smugly.

“I guess not,” Rick said as he climbed in. “Just how much have you girls had to drink?”

Kirsten shrugged. “Six…seven…maybe ten shots.”

“Jesus,” Truitt muttered. “Ten? That’s enough alcohol to put an elephant to sleep, for God’s sake. What were you shooting?”

“Patrón.”

“Oh my God,” Rick groaned. “Are you two insane?”

“She wanted to celebrate,” Kirsten defended. “Isn’t that right, Jessie?”

She turned as she said the last and then leaned over Jessie who’d gone quiet.

“Jessie?”

Jessie had her head on the window, mouth half open, and she was passed out cold.

Chapter 11

Why don’t you just take me home and then you can take Jessie home with you,” Kirsten said as they pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m sober. Really. And then you could do your groveling in private. That is, when she regains consciousness…”

Rick glanced back at Kirsten. “I’d feel better if you weren’t alone.”

Kirsten made a face. “I’m a big girl. Besides, I can hold my liquor. Mutant genes or something. I can pack a lot of alcohol into a small body. No one ever knows how I do it without passing out in my own puke.”

Truitt grimaced at that visual and Rick chuckled.

“Okay, doll. We’ll take you home and put you to bed. And then we’re taking Jessie home with us so we can do our…groveling.”

Kirsten smirked. “I knew you two couldn’t be all bad.”

After getting directions to Kirsten’s apartment, which suited Rick just fine because now they knew where to find Jessie, he dropped Kirsten off and saw her inside, testing her sobriety himself. The woman hadn’t lied. She could drink an astonishing amount of liquor and still be completely coherent.