Playin’ Cop (Heroes of Henderson ~ Prequel) (14 page)
Read Playin’ Cop (Heroes of Henderson ~ Prequel) Online
Authors: Liz Kelly
“Exactly. You like money. You appreciate money. You understand money. Therefore it’s easy to remember the names and faces and personal histories of those people who help you make money. Money is important to you.”
“Of course.”
“Well, there’s the difference.”
“I’m not following.”
“Women aren’t important to you. In fact, you don’t even like them.”
Vance laughed. “I think you, of all my friends, are the most aware of just how much I like women.”
“Nope. You don’t. You don’t like women. You don’t even like talking to women. You certainly don’t appreciate women. And although none of the male species actually understands them, you don’t even bother to try.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I love women!”
“No. You enjoy the female body. Like you enjoy aged whiskey or a Cuban cigar. But the way you talk about women, the way you treat women? Dude.”
Vance tried to find words with which to argue, but nothing came to him. “So, clearly, when it comes to women, I need a tutor. But so do you.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You do.”
“Really? Because I’m the one with the date tonight.”
“Exactly. Your little Lollypop may have been all ooh-Brooks-the-golden-boy-of-Henderson this afternoon. But trust me. There’s a good chance she’s going to be calling you milquetoast by the end of the night.”
“Milk toast?”
Vance eyed him seriously. “Nice. Safe. Boring.”
Brooks’ shoulders slumped a little. “Well, why the hell do you say that?”
“Because she told me she recently kicked some poor guy to the curb because he was nice, safe, and—”
“Boring,” Brooks finished.
“Let’s face it, bro. You and I have covered a lot of female territory over the years without much to show for it. And up until now that hasn’t really bothered me. But now that Duncan and Lewis are racing to the altar and the big 3-0 is breathing down our necks, I think it’s time to take a look at that. I mean, I’ve always thought I’d have kids and a family. Sort of create the environment I was denied growing up. And as Duncan so indelicately pointed out, we need to find women who will have us. And unfortunately I think our reputations have been cemented. We have become the epitome of good cop, bad cop.”
“Me being the good cop,” Brooks stated.
“Yeah. So somehow I need to become more like you.”
“Whatever. It’s gonna be a cold day in hell when I start treating women the way you do.”
“Fine. Not crazy about the good cop, bad cop analogy? Substitute safe versus sexy.”
“Really? Sexy?”
“Well,” Vance said, lifting an eyebrow, “I’m certainly not milquetoast.”
Brooks planted his ass on the training table Lolly had vacated, shaking himself all over. “
Brrr!
Just saying the word ‘sexy’ makes me feel ridiculous.”
“Yeah, and like I wanna be this town’s Golden Boy.” Vance broke into his best Brooks Bennett imitation. “Hey, Mrs. Devine! How’s your golf game? Really? Well, you hang in there. And give my best to Tess when you speak to her next, will you?” Vance mimicked.
“That is not how I sound.”
“That is exactly how you sound to me.”
“Well, you can’t be me and I refuse to be you.”
“Yes, but we can gain a better understanding of where we’re lacking and improve in those areas. I need to figure out how to lighten up and get women to wave at me when I walk through town like they do to you.”
“And I need to learn how to make their eyes go dark and misty like Lolly’s did when she told you, that you had very, very good hands. What the hell was going on in here, you goddamn son of a bitch?”
“Brooks, buddy. That crap is so easy.”
“Not for me.”
“Which is why, if you go along with my plan, I will reveal to you the secret of my success. Which I learned at the age of fifteen, by the way. It’s certainly not rocket science.”
“What plan?”
“We help Lolly with her research and she helps us with ours.”
“I don’t follow.”
“She’s the tutor.”
“No. She’s my date.”
“Tonight she’s your date. Tomorrow she’s our tutor.”
“Our tutor, how?”
“Man, I don’t know. But what I do know is that she was willing to talk about what she didn’t want. So maybe she’d be willing to talk about what she does want. It certainly can’t hurt to ask. Who else are we gonna get?”
Brooks shrugged. “I don’t know. And I see your point, I really do. But I’m hoping this date isn’t going to be a one and done.”
“Well then….” Vance spread his arms wide. “What could be better than learning about what women want from the woman you actually want?”
“Huh?”
“Trust me. There’s no downside here. Let’s just talk to her tonight and see if she’d be willing to help us.”
“I don’t know.”
“All right. How ’bout this? I give you one piece of bad cop advice to use on your date tonight. If it works out well for you, and it will, you go along with me on this.”
Brooks looked skeptical. “What’s the advice?”
“Do we have a deal? Because this is good stuff and frankly, right now, in this town, you are my stiffest competition. I don’t want to be giving you pointers and getting nothing in return.”
“Jesus, will you just tell me already?”
“Okay.” Vance took a breath before speaking in a conspiratorial tone. “Tonight, when you take the Lollypop home, the moment you hit that top step of her momma’s porch you shove that lean body of hers right up against the wall and kiss her like you mean it.”
Vance let that sink in before he added, “You can thank me in the morning.”
~*~*~
Good Cop
Hereos of Henderson ~ Book 1
by
Liz Kelly
Available Now!
About the Author
Growing up every summer in a place where
dancing and romancing
are literally part of its theme song, Liz Kelly can't help but be a romantic at heart. And since her favorite author, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss wrote some of the world's greatest romances, she's just trying to give the world a little more of that. (Okay, maybe a little sexier
that
, but we are now in a new millennium after all.)
A graduate of Wake Forest University, where she met her handsome golf-addicted husband, (who is now sporting dark glasses everywhere he goes) Liz is a mother of two grown sons (also sporting dark glasses) and a miniature Labradoodle named Isabelle. They live in the
Fountain of Youth,
a.k.a. Naples, FL where dancing and romancing continues on ad infinitum.
Visit her website
www.LizKellyBooks.com
for more sneak peeks and to learn about upcoming releases.
Playin’ Cop
Heroes of Henderson ~ Prequel
(Previously published as The Keeper of the Debutantes in Countdown To A Kiss: A New Year's Eve Anthology)
Written by Liz Kelly
Copyright ©2013 Kelly Girl Productions
Cover design by Tammy Kearly
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9889838-1-6
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author at [email protected].
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events and places portrayed in this book are products of the author's imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
For more information on the author and her works, please see www.LizKellyBooks.com
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