Rescuing Regina Read Free Page B

Police academy at eighteen. Elected sheriff before thirty.
    The house was probably just part of the plan. A white picket fence, a wife and two point five kids were probably next on his to-do list.
    I studied the gorgeous wood floors, feeling suddenly out of place.
    “You still haven’t told me why I’m here.”
    He stood, and kept his eyes on me as he took off his badge and his belt. The sight of his gun made me stifle a gasp.
    “Let’s get you cleaned up first.” He turned on bare feet.
    I didn’t move. After a few steps, he realized I wasn’t following. “Regina, come on.”
    “Is this where you take all your perps?”
    “I’m off duty. You aren’t a perp.”
    But I was. He didn’t even know how much. “Then what am I doing here?”
    He saw the worry in my face, because he sighed and motioned to the couch. “Sit.” Even without his badge and in bare feet, he was still the picture of authority. Under different circumstances, I’d enjoy teasing the seriousness in his hazel eyes.
    “Regina,” he warned.
    I gulped but held my ground. “I’d rather stand. Are you going to read me my rights?”
    “Do you want me to?”
    “What is this, Cole?”
    “Sheriff Townsend.”
    “Whatever. I’ve known you all my life,” I said.
    “That’s why you’re here. Sit down, Regina.” I did and regretted it when he towered over me, a stern teacher chastising a naughty schoolgirl. The sheriff and the town screw up. “You’re in a load of trouble.”
    I nodded. I couldn’t refute that.
    “Getting drunk, leaving the bar with Benny-whose record isn’t pretty, trespassing on private property—”
    “Getting drunk isn’t a crime.” Neither was getting into a car with Benny from the bar, even if he did have a criminal record. I wondered why Cole included that in my list of sins.
    At least he hadn’t found out about the weed.
    “Then there’s this.” He dangled the baggie of pot in front of my face. Benny must’ve flung it out of his car when he was gone. Or, more likely, it fell out in his haste to get away. Just my luck.
    “That was Benny’s.”
    He kept glaring at me. I squirmed.
    “I just smoked a little for nerves. I’ve never done it before.”
    “Never?”
    I hesitated.
    “Stand up.” His whip-like tone startled me to my feet. He turned me around and bent me over.
    Oh, not again.
    Cole swatted me through my jeans, hard.
    “Ow.” How he’d gotten it to hurt through the denim, I had no idea. Maybe my behind was bruised from my last beating.
    “That’s the consequence of lying. Sit down again.”
    “I don’t wanna,” I pouted, rubbing my butt. But I obeyed with a little wince. I’d started to learn disobedience wasn’t the way to go. He’d more than proved he was willing to spank me.
    “Now you’re going to tell me the truth or you’ll regret it. How much of this stuff did you have with you?”
    “Just that.” I didn’t protest that it was Benny’s again, guessing that Cole just wanted to know my involvement. He seemed pretty focused on me, and only me.
    “This is your first time smoking pot?”
    “Third or fourth,” I said. “The last times were all in college.”
    A little of his anger ebbed away. “Were you planning to sell this?”
    I started to answer then hesitated. He said no lying.
    “I thought about selling it, yes,” I said with total honesty. “I need money.”
    “If I find you’ve lied to me—”
    “Cole, I swear I only thought about it. Benny mentioned dealing it, I decided it wouldn’t be right. The only reason I got in the car with him was because I was tipsy at the bar. Believe me, it won’t ever happen again. And if this is some sort of sting, I’m happy to testify to Benny’s statement about selling, if you want.”
    After my little outburst, Cole relaxed so much he looked like a different man. He sat down on the couch beside me, like I was a friend and not a suspect. Relief washed over me, so intense it made me wonder about the depth of my feelings