Loaded
Authors: Cher Carson
Loaded
Book Four in the Brant County Heroes
Series
Cher Carson
Copyright © by Cher Carson
All rights
reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, including photocopying,
graphic, electronic, mechanical, taping, recording, sharing, or by any
information retrieval system without the express written permission of the
author and / or publisher. Exceptions include brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
Persons, places
and other entities represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They
are not intended to represent actual places or entities currently or previously
in existence or any person living or dead. This work is the product of the
author’s imagination.
Any and all
inquiries to the author of this book should be directed to
[email protected]
.
Loaded © 2012 Cher Carson
When Tucker Carlton saw Rachel
Morgan bent over the hood of her broken-down jalopy, he wished his conscience
would give him a pass, just that once, but as Brant County’s chief of police,
he had taken an oath to serve and protect all citizens.
He was too stubborn to admit
it to her, but he knew he had given her more grief than she deserved since she’d
moved to town a few months ago. Maybe this was his chance to make up for his heavy-handed
approach.
Besides, a gorgeous woman
stranded alone on the side of the road, wearing sky-high heels and a tight
denim miniskirt, was a target for any one of the low-life’s who’d be staggering
out of Dixie’s Bar after happy hour. He would never forgive himself if
something happened to her, something he could have prevented, had he been doing
his job.
He was a cop, first and
foremost, and sometimes that meant setting his personal feelings aside. Until
someone broke the law on his turf… then all bets were off. He still had his
suspicions about Rachel, the dance instructor/massage therapist, but until she
did something illegal, he’d don his white knight hat and ride to her rescue,
which meant he’d miss the kick off. Damn it.
Tucker parked his black SUV behind
her car and slammed the door.
A car filled with rowdy
teenagers drove by, hanging out the window, whistling and shouting obscenities at
Rachel.
He wanted to flip them off,
but he had to remind himself that wasn’t conduct befitting the chief. People
expected more of him now. He had to shed the image of the rowdy hell-raiser who
loved to knock back a few cold ones and mix it up at Dixie’s Bar. People counted
on him, and he had to come through for those who’d decided to give him a
chance. More importantly, he wanted to silence the critics who said he only got
the top spot because his old man was the mayor.
Rachel was punching buttons
on her cell phone when he approached.
“That’s a waste of time.
You’re not going to get reception out here.”
She jumped back, obviously
startled. “Oh… I…”
He tapped the hood of her
car, marveling at the fact it made it out of the driveway at all.
“I didn’t recognize you at
first, Chief.”
He’d traded his uniform for
faded jeans, a black t-shirt, baseball cap, and motorcycle boots. The plan was
to head over to Dixie’s and catch the game with some of his buddies, until this
green eyed, flame-haired she-devil derailed his plans.
Looking at her now, so sexy
and so vulnerable, Tucker was having a tough time remembering why he’d been
trying to run her out of town in the first place. Right. She’d been giving his
baby sister, Jessica, pole dancing lessons and refused to back down even after
he issued a stern warning. Not to mention, he’d heard a rumor the two apprentices
in her dance studio had been offering more than massages after hours.
He wasted no time launching
an investigation into her massage therapists’ conduct, but all parties involved
deemed Rachel innocent, or clueless as the case may be, so he’d had no choice
but to let her off with a warning.
According to his family,
especially his mother and sister, he was a heartless bully. They warned him
that he’d better quit targeting Rachel, or he’d have to answer to them. Tucker
wasn’t in the habit of taking orders from anyone, but he didn’t need the
headache of going to war with the women in his life, so he decided to give
Rachel the benefit of the doubt, for now.
“I was on my way to Dixie’s
when I saw your car. I’m off duty, but…”
She treated him to a rare
smile. “It was nice of you to stop. I know I’m not your favorite person.”
Tucker didn’t believe in
wasting time and energy on social niceties. “You need a lift somewhere?”
She looked at the smoke
seeping out from under the hood of her car. “I guess I should call someone to
haul this out to the shop.”
Tucker smirked. “Save
yourself the trouble. Just have them haul it to the junk yard.”
A blush slid across her
cheeks and she looked down at the ground.
Tucker cursed his big mouth.
He wasn’t a malicious person, but something about this woman brought out the
worst in him. He couldn’t spit out an apology, but he could start behaving like
the gentleman his mama raised. “Look, I’ll call Jimmy from Duff’s towing. He’ll
tow it to the shop for you.” He smiled to soften his earlier barb. “He owes me
a favor.”
She shook her head furiously,
prompting her bouncy red waves to fall over her shoulders, revealing a low-cut
black tank top. “Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
He tried to ignore the fact
that this woman had the body of a centerfold, not that he hadn’t noticed her
obvious attributes before. “You didn’t ask. I offered. Come on, grab your stuff.
I’ll drop you off at home.”
She opened the car door to
retrieve her purse. “Actually, I wasn’t going home. I was going to Dixie’s.”
“Even better, I can drop you
off there.”
She stopped and smiled up at
him.
He was caught off guard when he
felt an unfamiliar pull of attraction he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. He couldn’t
help but think about hiking that excuse for a skirt up, bending her over the
trunk of her car, and
—
“It sure is nice of you to do
this.” She looked around. “A few truckers have stopped to offer their
assistance, but I was a little wary.”
He bent his head just a
fraction of an inch and felt his cock stir when her tongue darted out to lick
her lips. Man, she had luscious lips. Full, puffy, they almost looked fake, but
he might have to sample them just to be sure.
“You were right to be
cautious.” He took a step forward, crowding her between his body and the car at
her back. “There are a lot of dangerous guys out there who wouldn’t hesitate to
take advantage of a beautiful woman stranded on the side of the road…” He
nudged his knee between her thighs. “I’m real glad I came along when I did.”
Her eyes darted to the gun
strapped to his waist. “How do I know I shouldn’t be worried about you, Chief?
You’ve never made a secret of the fact you don’t like me very much.”
“I guess you don’t.” He
brushed a stray strand of hair off her face, and he was surprised and aroused
when her eyes drifted closed at the gentle touch. His instincts told him it had
been a long time since she’d been with a man, and his instincts never failed
him. “Are you willing to take that chance?” He leaned in to whisper the
question in her ear as the breeze kicked up, stirring her fresh floral scent.
“I don’t really have a
choice, do I?”
“Baby, you always have a
choice.” God, he was flirting with her. He hadn’t had to flirt with a woman in
so long he’d almost forgotten how. The local girls always gave him what he
wanted, no questions asked. He supposed it was because they liked the uniform
and air of authority. He didn’t know for sure and didn’t care to find out as
long as they were willing to give him what he needed from time to time with no
strings attached.
She planted her palms against
his chest, presumably to put some distance between them. “Chief, I…”
He smirked. “I’m off duty
now. You can call me Tucker.”
“Um, okay, Tucker, if you
wouldn’t mind giving me that ride to Dixie’s, I really would appreciate it. I’m
supposed to meet someone and I’m running a little late.”
He wanted to suggest they go
back to his place and skip Dixie’s, but something told him she wasn’t the kind
of girl who would take kindly to a man propositioning her on the side of the
road. “Sure, let’s go.” He surprised himself by reaching for her hand as they
walked back to his vehicle. His big, calloused hand enveloped her much smaller
hand.
She looked uncertain as she
looked up at him, obviously trying to understand the sudden change in his
attitude toward her.
He couldn’t explain it
himself. The urge to touch her defied logic, but he didn’t think he could let
her go if an armed man suddenly opened fire. He opened the door and settled her
inside as he leaned in to inhale a fragrance so intoxicating it really should
come with a warning label. He realized he was whistling as he walked around the
front of his vehicle. When was the last time he’d caught himself whistling? Hmm…never?
She strapped her seat belt
on and set her hands on her bare legs. “I hope I’m not keeping you from
anything important, Chief.”
He winked at her and watched
a pretty blush steal over her cheeks. He hadn’t noticed before, but she had the
cutest little dimples bracketing her mouth when she smiled. Maybe he hadn’t
noticed them because she had been terrified every time their paths crossed. He
would have to focus his attention on making her smile more often. “It’s Tucker,
remember?”
She nodded. “Right, Tucker.”
He signaled and checked his rear-view
mirror before easing his Suburban onto the road. “So, are you going to the bar
to meet your cousin?”
Her cousin, Dixie, was the
owner of the only local watering hole and, as far as he could tell, the only
person Rachel knew in town. He knew she kept to herself, showing her face only
at her dance studio, the bank, grocery store, and he’d seen her a time or two
at Mavis’s café in the afternoon, ordering a fruit smoothie.
She rolled her eyes. “I
wish.”
He chuckled as he lowered the
volume on the country music filtering through the speakers. “What does that
mean?”
She covered her face with her
hands, looking mortified. “Can you believe I let Dixie set me up on a blind
date?”
He felt a red-hot streak of
jealousy surge through him. She was going out on a date, dressed like that?
“You’re kidding, right?”
She didn’t seem to notice the
tension radiating off him as she laughed. “I wish I were kidding. After the day
I’ve had, I just want to go home, run a hot bath, and fall into bed.”
