momentarily took her breath away. His lips worked against hers, demanding entrance to her mouth. She tried to deny him, but her body overruled her objection and soon his tongue was plundering her mouth while she clung to him with carnal vigor.
“What the hell did you do that for?” She was breathless when he broke the kiss, but she had to voice an objection on principle at least.
“Had to shut you up somehow.” He winked down at her, rakish and handsome. He didn’t seem like a police officer, and she doubted Gammy would pick him for one. There was nothing clean cut about Gareth. There was nothing safe or predictable about him.
“I’m not your rat,” she said. “I’m not telling you a damn thing.”
“Fine, then I won’t be able to say you cooperated when this goes to trial.”
“ If it goes to trial. You don’t have the evidence you need. If you did, you wouldn’t be making my life miserable. I thought you said you knew everything.”
“I know enough to have your behind thrown in jail for a long time.”
“Not the point,” she smirked. “The point is, you need me. So maybe you better think of some better strategies for getting me on your side.”
Gareth did not seem impressed by her smirking resistance. “I don’t need to cut deals with you,” he said as he slapped her bottom hard. She saw it coming and tried to dance out of the way, but didn’t make it out of range in time. His hand caught her cheeks with a stinging slap which made her squeal.
She slapped him back but found his ass cheek about as forgiving as the rest of his body. He was hard like iron. Smacking his ass hurt her hand a hell of a lot more than it hurt him, she was pretty certain of that. It didn’t stop him retaliating though, his hand swept through the air and caught her hard across the lower part of her right cheek with enough intensity to make her squeal and swear.
“That’s not fair!”
“You hit, you get hit back.”
“You hit harder than I do.”
“So maybe you should think about keeping your smart mouth closed and your hands to yourself and being a good girl.” He dropped his arm around her shoulders again as he spoke, a casually possessive gesture which made her blood boil.
Ducking out from under his half-embrace, she planted herself in front of him. “Leave,” she said. “Gammy will be done with her shows soon, and I don’t want her seeing you.”
“You want me to leave? You give me information. Tell me when your next shipment is due.”
“No.”
“Then I guess I’m meeting Gammy.”
Shaking her head, Lily tried to think of a way to get him gone. Gammy was going to go wild if she realized a cop had crashed Sunday afternoon tea.
“Fine,” she said. “Next drop date is Wednesday, two a.m.”
He cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes sharp and keen. “You wouldn’t be making something up to get rid of me, would you?”
“You won’t know until Wednesday,” she smirked. “Now get out of here.”
“If you’re lying to me, I’m going to whip your little ass so hard you won’t sit for a week.”
“That’s harassment and abuse.”
“Is it? Maybe you should report it to someone who cares.”
Oh, he was an asshole. He frustrated her like no other man ever had. Sure, she could avoid the punishment by giving him what he wanted, but intimidation didn’t sit well with her.
“Think about your options,” he warned, turning and walking away. Finally alone, Lily took out her phone and did what she should have done in the beginning. She typed a text.
HEAT IS ON.
Her thumb hovered over the send button. If she pushed it, Jasper would find out what was going on. The drops would stop, her revenue would dry up, and Gammy would have to leave the home. If she didn’t push it, she became Gareth’s rat, beholden to him and his punishments.
She stood there for a long moment, trying to make a decision. Finally, with a long sigh, she deleted the text and returned her phone to her
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