“Well,” he said with another tug, “Looks like your best bet is to finish what you started and go all the way through. Unless you want me to call my friends at the fire department and have them come cut you out.”
“God, no,” she said quickly. “Can you just help me get in please? Then I’ll show you my ID.”
“Ah…”
She could feel his gaze rake over her.
She rolled her eyes. “Can you just give me a push?”
“I’m going to have to touch you,” he said. Though he sounded professional, there was a hint of unease in his voice. Kind of cute considering she was used to the general male population treating her more like a piece of meat than a human being, which was why dating was difficult.
“Yeah, figured that.” She tried to scoot again and no luck. “I’m not going to sue you or anything so can you just help me out here. Aren’t you supposed to serve or something?”
“Serve and protect. Not grope and extract.”
“Who said anything about groping?”
She heard him let out a breath. “Well ma’am, there’s not a lot of exposed areas that—”
“I’m very aware of what’s exposed here, Deputy. And as fun as this is, I’d like to get in my car now.”
“Alright then.” His hands clamped on either side of her outer thighs. Mia tried not to tremble from the contact, but it was the first time she’d been touched intimately in the past couple years. Not that she could call this “intimate” but it was in the same ballpark. And guys pinching at her as she walked by in a skimpy “uniform” carrying drinks didn’t count. At least at Annie’s Café she got to wear jeans and didn’t have to shake her money maker for tips.
Mia knew first hand that touch was something to cherish. Mostly because being touched by a man genuinely interested in you was different than some random drunk trying to get into your pants for a single night. At least, that’s what she hoped. She didn’t have much to compare since men typically didn’t bother to have a conversation with her.
She hadn’t had a boyfriend, or any kind of relationship, in a lot longer than she’d care to admit. But when Deputy smell-good started gently pushing her, obviously trying not to touch anything too personal, she smiled a little. Most men went straight for the ass.
He was at least trying to be a gentleman. Granted, her head was stuck in the car and the situation wasn’t exactly glamorous.
He pushed a little more and she wiggled. Now able to grab the steering wheel, she pulled.
Almost there…
His thumbs dug into her inner thighs, before she could blush, her hips shoved through the seal. She caught herself just as her knees came through.
“You got it?”
“Yeah,” she said, breathy because she did some crazy fanooling to get in and finally got into the driver seat.
Mia gathered herself, turned on the car, and rolled down her window to talk to the Deputy and looked up to—
Oh. My. God. Deputy indeed.
“Hi,” she said on a strangled breath. The man was tall, built, and simply sinful looking.
Resting his forearm on the door of her car, he leaned down. His smile was earth shattering, a flash of straight white teeth with just a hint of charm. Kind of crooked, kind of cocky, and a lot sexy. In uniform khaki shirt, complete with a Stetson, blue jeans and a badge, the Deputy with dark eyes was packing heat and cuffs which made Mia hot in a totally different kind of way.
“Mia Blake?” he said back.
Her pulse raced. How did he know her name? She’d never seen him before in her life. She’d remember a guy like him.
“Ah, yes? I’m sorry have we met?”
He frowned, and it must have been the shadows across his face but Mia could have sworn for a brief moment he looked almost hurt.
“Yeah, we have.”
“Oh…” Great, now she was really wracking her brain, but she had seen a lot of men in her life. She didn’t have time to play guessing games with Deputy Hottie. She’d deal with it later. “So I guess you don’t still need my ID then?”