One Bad Day (One Day) Read Free

him with one of her new high-heeled shoes, but she’d never hit anyone in her life. She knew she should have said no once she saw the stripper light bulb costume.
    Tessa looked around. Under the car stereo were a CB-like radio and a panel with switches and buttons. Above her head attached to the sun visor was a black box with red and blue plastic that looked like a flat flashlight. Shit. She was in a cop car.
    The sexy cop had asked her for her name but she was afraid if she told him, he’d find out about all her unpaid parking tickets.
    He released a heavy breath and she peeked at him again. From the momentary shine of the streetlights she could see that he had dark hair and eyes. He had on a well-fitting suit and was huge—linebacker huge. Big enough to throw her over a shoulder and run twenty feet without her weight slowing him down. He gripped the steering wheel with one large hand, while he ran the other through his now-tousled hair. Despite his size, he’d been gentle with her. More than she thought someone his size would be.
    He drove the car up and down different streets, taking hard turns, speeding up and slowing down.
    After driving for almost a half-hour in silence, he pulled to the side of the road and turned to her. “All right, honey. Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
    Could she get arrested for unpaid tickets? She looked at him, unsnapped her seatbelt, and turned to open the door. She planned to run as far and as fast as she could.
    “I don’t think so.” He clicked the door locks in place. “Let’s start with your name.” He leaned back in his seat as if he has all the time in the world.
    She thought about her parking tickets while staring at the misty car window and said the first thing that came to mind. “Misty.”
    He looked her up and down, causing her to squirm in her seat. “Misty, huh? Misty what?”
    She pulled at her skirt. It felt like it was getting shorter. “Uhh, Misty...Waters.” She wanted to smack herself in the head.
    “Misty Waters?” He laughed. “Is that your street name?”
    “What?” Oh no. He thought she was a hooker. She knew she looked like a hooker in that skirt. “No!”
    He laughed again. She liked his laugh. His eyes crinkled in the corners when he laughed.
    She wondered if he would laugh while he was taking her to jail. “Uh... look, Mister, er... Officer. I appreciate the ride and everything, but I’d like to go now. So,” she gestured to the door, “if you could please just open the door, I’ll be on my way.” She gave what she hoped was an innocent I-have-no-parking-tickets-so-please-don’t-arrest-me smile.
    He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gray.”
    “What?” She blinked.
    “My name is Grayson. Gray.” He sighed. “Look, ah, Misty . I can’t let you out on a dark, deserted road dressed the way you are. It’s not safe.”
    She felt her face growing warm and was glad that he couldn’t see it in the shadows. She wondered if Gray would still be this kind once he hauled her off to jail and fingerprinted her.
    “Take me back to my car then.” She kept her gaze on her lap.
    “I’m not taking you back to a dark parking garage where you were recently jumped by a big guy in a suit.” He turned farther in his seat to better face her.
    “I’ll be fine. I just want to go home.” She smoothed her skirt with shaking fingers and then gripped her hands together in her lap.
    He let out a long breath. “Where do you live? I’ll drive you home.”
    ***
    Gray had a feeling it was going to be a long night. The good thing was that Legs had told him where she lived, the bad thing was that she still hadn’t told him her real name. And now he was involved, which made him responsible for her.
    “What are you doing?” She looked pointedly at him while he texted her information to one of the other detectives at the PD. He suspected that she had gotten herself into some kind of trouble and wanted Burg to run her and see what came