Late Night Kisses

He’s a police officer?

“Are you unaware of the fact that there’s a restroom inside the damn café?” He narrowed his eyes. “I’d hate to assume that you’re abandoning me on our date.”

“No need to assume, Officer,” I said. “That’s exactly what’s happening.”

He raised his eyebrow, and then a slow, sexy smile spread across his face. “License and registration, please.”

“For what? Leaving a date is not a crime.”

“Driving over the speed limit is.”

“I was only going fifty-six.”

“The speed limit is fifty-five.” He held out his hand. “And if I have to ask you for your license and registration again, I’ll have to arrest you for disobeying a lawful order from a police officer.”

I debated speeding away, but the way he was looking at me made me lose my train of thought. I gave in and begrudgingly handed him my paperwork.

“Hmmm.” He shone a flashlight over my license. “Well, at least I now know that your name is Christina and you weren’t using an alias.”

As he looked over my registration, I held up my phone and connected to Facebook Live, hoping that one of my fifteen social media friends would witness his assholery.

“Officer, could you kindly remind me why you’ve pulled me over tonight?”

Looking amused, he stared directly into the camera. “You were going eighty miles an hour, and I received several calls about your reckless driving from the carolers on Fifth Avenue.” He laughed and gently took the phone from my hands, turning it off before returning it to me.

“Let me know what happens after you show that to whoever you planned on showing it to,” he said. “I’m sure that’ll make an interesting conversation for us.”

“I don’t plan on seeing you again so that ‘interesting conversation’ is going to be pretty impossible.”

“Actually, you will see me again,” he said, his dimples deepening. “I think you owe me a date, a real one.”

“The only thing I owe you is a slap across the face.” I snapped, unsure of why my heart was suddenly beating a new, unfamiliar rhythm—why this man was turning me on so damn much. “The second you write me this unnecessary ticket, I’m going to file a complaint.”

“Did you just threaten to assault a police officer?”

“It was a metaphor.”

“You should’ve picked a better one. Get out of the car.”

“What?”

“I need you to get out of the car.” He opened my door. “After a threat like that, I need to make sure there’s no need for backup.”

I sat still for several seconds, certain that he had to be joking, but he repeated his wicked command.

Slowly stepping out of the car, I leaned against it and shivered. “Do you feel threatened, Officer?”

“Not at all.” He smiled and took off his coat, covering my shoulders with it. “Wait here.” He walked to his car and pulled my sister’s coat from the back. He tossed it onto my passenger seat before returning his attention to me.

“Like I was saying earlier,” he said, stepping closer, “you owe me a date.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think you know what the word ‘date’ means. Hint: They typically last for at least one hour.”

“I’ve always lasted longer than one hour.”

I ignored that comment, feeling my cheeks warming. “I also refuse to believe that you filled out that personality form with real answers because there’s no way you’re that high of a match for me. I made it more than clear that I’m interested in the romantic type.”

“What makes you think I’m not the romantic type?”

“Because you didn’t even try,” I said. “You didn’t bring flowers.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were allergic to flowers.”

“Were you sure that I was allergic to you showing up on time?”

He laughed and stepped even closer. “I had to respond to an incident.”

“That still doesn’t excuse you from wanting to cut our conversation short and jump straight to sex. You shouldn’t have even been thinking about sex.”

“If you didn’t want me to think about sex, you should’ve worn a different dress.” He looked me up and down for the umpteenth time, forcing butterflies to flutter around my stomach. “I personally think I deserve a second chance.”

“I don’t.”

“How’s next Friday?”

“I’m working.”

“Saturday?”

“I’m watching Netflix.”

“Sunday?”

“I’m free, and I’ll consider it.”

That sexy smile crossed his lips again. “Same place and time?”

“Fine. By the way, I’m not allergic to flowers next time.”

“I’ll be early next time.”

“I still have to finish considering this.”

“Only if you want to make things more difficult.” He looked as if he wanted to say a lot more, but he held back. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

“Maybe,” I said. “Am I free to go now, or should I wait for the ticket?”

“No ticket.” He motioned for me to get back into the car. “Although you do deserve one for the broken tail light. I suggest you get that fixed by the next time I see you.”