Playing Stacy Read online

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  STACY

  Jenn Hype

  Playing Stacy

  Copyright ©2015 by All The Hype, Ltd.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by All The Hype.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Book design by J. F. Rountree

  Cover photograph © Mihai Blanaru/ShutterStock.com

  www.jennhype.com

  [email protected]

  November 2015

  Chapter 1

  Stacy

  “Hey Joe, got a live one here,” Officer Buzz Kill said to another cop as he pulled me into the police station. Adalyn, my old college roommate and best friend who had come to live with me only a month ago, had gone out with me to the opening of the new club Grind, where I might have gotten a little too tipsy, and then maybe gotten myself arrested.

  Okay, maybe we were a lot more than just tipsy, but this cop that had me cuffed and dragging behind him, was seriously going overboard. So what if I had tried to prostitute myself to a stranger in front of him? It was his fault for being all sexy in his uniform. His chest and arms were so muscular that his shirt looked like it might tear at any second if he flexed too hard. He was like my own personal Bruce Banner. Yum.

  “Get yourself a hooker, Chad? When I told you to get laid, I didn’t mean pay for it. Probably not a good idea to bring her back here though. Kinda kills the mood, don’t ya think?” Whoever this Joe guy was, he apparently thought he was hysterical as he stood there bent over, slapping his knee and laughing at his own joke. I had to admit, it was pretty funny, but it was at my expense so I decided to be offended instead of laughing.

  “Hey, dickwad, I’m no hooker. Your buddy here, the one that’s manhandling me right now, is just being an obnoxious douche. Apparently there were no real crimes being committed in the city tonight so he decided to spend his night screwing with me. And not in the way I’d prefer to be screwed with,” I said with a wink.

  Officer Man Panties yanked on my arm, not hard enough to hurt me, but enough to piss me off, and pushed me into an empty jail cell.

  “What the hell? At least take off the cuffs. You’re killing me here,” I yelled, kicking the bars with the toe of my sparkly stilettos. “I mean, I like being in cuffs as much as the next girl, but it’s not really worth the pain if I’m not getting any pleasure at the same time.” Chad, aka Officer Killjoy, just glared at me while Joe folded over himself laughing. His laughter gave me a boost of confidence and I tossed a smug smile in Chad’s direction, but he just growled and walked away.

  I rolled my eyes at his retreating form and turned my efforts to the sexy cop he left me with. I tilted my head and stuck out my bottom lip in a pout. “Hey, stud muffin. What do you say you come help a lady out? I swear I’ll make it worth your while,” I asked Joe, throwing him a wink as he walked towards me, shaking his head, still chuckling.

  “Are you sure you aren’t a hooker?” He asked as he unlocked my cuffs. I glared at him as I rubbed my wrists that were aching from being restrained for so long. He threw his hands up in surrender and stepped back, locking the cell door again. “I didn’t mean you look like one. You’re way too hot to be a hooker, but you certainly have a mouth like one, with all that dirty talk.”

  “That’s not the only dirty thing my mouth is capable of,” I whispered as I licked my lips. His laughter was contagious and I couldn’t keep a straight face any longer.

  Chad walked back into the room a few minutes later and looked like he was going to say something to Joe, but changed his mind and stormed out. I supposed my tossing quips back and forth with his fellow officer wasn’t exactly the night he had planned for me to have in the little cell I was sitting in.

  “Okay, level with me here, Joe. What the hell is that guy’s problem?” I asked, nodding at the door Chad had just left through.

  “Who, Chad? Eh, he just takes his job and everything else pretty seriously. I’ve been trying to get him to lighten up since they partnered us two years ago. It hasn’t worked yet, but I’m pretty persistent and I’ve managed to wear him down a little at a time.” Joe pulled up a chair and perched himself on it right outside my cell, and I took a seat on the disgusting floor, stretching my legs out and crossing them at the ankles, leaning back on the palms of my hands.

  “He takes his job seriously? I find that hard to believe seeing as how I was arrested tonight for no real reason. Can’t he get in trouble for having me in here with no reason to hold me?”

  The corner of Joe’s mouth quirked up on the side and he looked at me like I had just asked the dumbest question he’d ever heard.

  “You’re clearly drunk, so if for no other reason, he can at least hold you for public intoxication. Sucks for you too because he just left for the night which means you aren’t getting out of here until tomorrow.”

  I shot up to my feet and threw my hands in the air. “What does that have to do with anything?! He told my friends once I sober up then I can leave. Not that I’m so drunk that I couldn’t hail my own cab, for goodness sake. Honestly, I think he was just mistaking my impressively outgoing personality for drunkenness. I can see how that would be confusing to someone who obviously wouldn’t know a good time if it bit him in the ass.”

  “Well, regardless of how he interpreted your actions, he left without filling out any paperwork or informing anyone of why you’re here. So yeah, technically I could probably let you go but if there is a part of the story that I’m missing and you really did do something wrong, then it’s my neck on the line. So…sorry. You’re stuck here until he comes back.”

  “When will he be back then?” I stopped my pacing and crossed my arms and started tapping my foot impatiently. The whole situation was so ridiculous. Joe just smirked at me and against my will I felt my shoulders relax and my face soften a little. There was just something about him that took the edge off of stress, like a natural sedative.

  “9 A.M.”

  “What!? That’s crazy! You have to call him. Make him tell you I did nothing wrong. You can’t keep me here that long. I will seriously freak out on you right now. I can promise you that you have not faced anything in your career as terrifying as I am when I’m pissed off. This will be the longest night of your life. So pick up your damn phone and call Officer Numb Nuts and clear this matter up.”

  He never called Chad. Hours ticked by and though I was completely exhausted and very uncomfortable on the damp, dirty floor, Joe was good company. A couple of officers joined us a few hours later and they all told me a bunch of crazy stories from being on the job and I regaled them with my wit and sparkling personality. Honestly, the night kind of flew by and I completely forgot how pissed off I was.

  Until Chad came back. Then it all came flooding back to me with a vengeance.

  “Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up,” I drawled, pacing back and forth like a captured wild animal.

  “I work here. I have to show up,” he retorted in a bored voice as he unlocked the cell door. I shoved past him, literally shoved him as I walked by, and demanded that they return my stuff. I needed my phone so I could call a cab or call Addy or call a hit man to murder this asshole. I let out a loud, very exaggerated groan when I saw that my phone was dead.

  “You can make your one phone call on the pay phone,” Joe mused, pointing to a nasty, slimy, ancient looking pay phone. I cringed at t
he thought of the types of people who had used that phone in the past. I was sure they had never sterilized it and I’d probably end up with Ebola or scabies or something. I knew it probably wasn’t half as bad as the floor I’d been occupying all night, but I’d been drunk at the time and now that I was sober the thought of touching the greasy, disease-ridden phone made me want to go home and bathe in bleach.

  A “working” girl who was seated a few feet away from me overheard us took pity on me and offered to let me use her cell. I wasn’t being judgmental by assuming she was a prostitute, because believe me, she more than looked the part. It was, however, probably a little shitty of me to think that her phone was probably just as disgusting as the one hanging on the wall. She was all disheveled and a hot mess, and I didn’t want to add to the horrible morning she was clearly having by adding insult to injury, so I gave her a reluctant smile as I took the phone from her.

  After trying Addy’s phone and not getting an answer, I tried Ian’s. Ian had been one of my best friends since I was a kid, and he also happened to be one of the cities sexiest and most successful bachelors. He and Adalyn really did not hit it off when they’d met just yesterday, and when I’d been hauled off to jail last night she had been left behind in Ian’s care. She was most likely very mad at me this morning, and I hoped she wasn’t just avoiding my call as a result.

  Ian answered after a few rings and much to my surprise, Adalyn was still with him. Very curious. I’d have to ask her about that later. Much later. After I’d showered a few times, making sure to exfoliate every inch of my skin until the grime of this horrid night was finally washed off of me. Then I needed to brush my teeth and eat something, all in that order and they all needed to happen soon before I ended up right back in that cell after being arrested for murdering Officer Man Tits.

  No, he didn’t have man tits, but I was exhausted and my ability to think of clever names to call him was suffering at that moment.

  Chad had disappeared again, and I killed time waiting for Adalyn by talking to Joe and one of the other officers who had joined us during the night. Joe and I exchanged numbers and I was honestly kind of glad this whole mess had happened if it meant getting to spend more time with Joe. He was sexy as hell, though not really my type, but our personalities were almost identical and I had really enjoyed hanging out with him.

  Just as I was yelling at Adalyn for letting Officer Man Handle kidnap me, Chad walked back into the room, so I went back to making a spectacle. Ian had to drag me out of the precinct, limbs flailing and insults flying. Honestly, I wasn’t even all that mad anymore, but I felt like I needed to keep up appearances. At this point Chad expected me to act crazy and I didn’t like to disappoint.

  After a hot meal, a long ass shower and four not-nearly-strong-enough pain pills later, I collapsed onto my bed. As my eyes became heavier and I started drifting off, I couldn’t help but admit to myself that even though the night was high on my list of crazy shit that’s happened to me, it had actually turned out pretty awesome. I’d had fun hearing cop stories, made a new friend and as much as I hated Chad, I guessed I could at least thank him for giving me an awesome new anecdote for parties.

  Chapter 2

  Chad

  “What the hell are you still doing here, Joe?” I was changing out of my street clothes and into my blues, getting ready to start my shift when Joe walked into our precinct’s locker room. Joe was my partner and was supposed to get off work at the same time as me last night. He had the day off today, but for some reason he was still here when I’d gotten in, talking to that crazy blonde, who I’d dubbed Bat Shit Crazy Stacy.

  “I stayed and hung out with Stacy last night.”

  That got my attention and I jerked my head up and looked at Joe to see if he was joking. Based on his expression, he was serious. Stacy was a lunatic. Yeah, sure, she was smokin’ hot, but that still wasn’t worth hanging out at the precinct all night, still in his uniform. It’s not like he was going to get laid while she was in lock up.

  “Hey, she calmed down after you left man. She was like a totally different person. Eric and Gary joined us halfway through the night and hung out, so ask them. She’s pretty awesome. We made plans to hang out.”

  “Listen, junior, you’ve been on the job long enough to know you should avoid the crazies, but in case you are too dense to know what you’re getting yourself into, I’m going to give you a little tip. Stay away from the ones who act bipolar. You saw how she flipped out as she was leaving. You don’t find her drastic mood swings a little telling?” I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to dispute my astute observation.

  “Pops,” Joe called me, putting a firm hand on my shoulder, earning himself a death glare. Both the unwanted nickname he’d given me and the invasion of my personal space were worthy of him taking one to the jaw. The little punk was obviously undeterred though, because he just kept on talking as if I didn’t look like I wanted to kill him. “Obviously you are the cause behind those mood swings. I don’t know what you did to get that girl to hate you so bad, but I doubt it was just putting her in jail for the night. She actually seemed to have a pretty good time, so maybe the issue here is you.”

  “You wanna say that again?” I dared him through gritted teeth. My frustration was real, but the threat to act on it was not. Over time I had just gotten in the habit of trying to intimidate people into staying at arms length. Joe had always been immune to my tactics, though, so he just shook his head and laughed as he walked away mumbling something about “hopeless.”

  Joe was a good cop, and most days I actually enjoyed his company, but my patience was running low after the fitful night of sleep I’d gotten and I knew he would get on my last nerve if he was working today. I was even more grateful to be patrolling on my own today because I knew not only would I be putting up with Joe’s constant chattering on about stupid shit, but today that shit would have been about Stacy, and I was ready to just put that girl and this whole situation behind me and forget it had ever happened.

  The day went by uneventfully. A couple of speeding tickets and one noise complaint was all the action I saw, and I was extremely grateful. I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and I was still in denial about why.

  If I admitted the truth, I would have to accept that I’d spent the night tossing and turning, fighting off dreams of Stacy. Of how her hands had felt on my chest when she threw herself at me when I’d arrived at the club. Of her warm breath on my neck as she whispered the cheesiest pick up line I’d ever heard, yet it still had made my cock twitch. Of how her soft body had felt pressed up against me when I pulled her out of the back of the patrol car, and the shivers that raked through me when her body slowly grazed mine as she stood.

  No, I couldn’t admit to any of that. Because I’d already resolved that Stacy was insane. Completely bat-shit crazy. The very little amount of time I had spent with her already told me enough to know that I needed to stay clear of her. My body’s visceral reaction to hers, coupled with how much her over-the-top attitude irritated me, had me completely on edge. I was good at keeping my emotions in check, I’d honed the skill over the years.

  Only I was finding that Stacy had an uncanny ability to challenge every piece of me, and whatever happened, I just knew I needed to be careful.

  The next day mine and Joe’s schedules were back in sync and Joe spent the whole day rambling on incessantly about Stacy. The worst part was that we were out patrolling, so I couldn’t even get away from him. I tried to just tune him out, but after about the hundredth time I’d heard her name, I finally snapped.

  “You know I don’t give a shit about her, right?”

  “What is your problem, man? I talk about all the girls I hang out with and it never pisses you off like this. You got a thing for this one?”

  “Hell no!” I barked out entirely too quickly and much more defensive sounding than I’d intended. Joe raised an eyebrow at me as if to say he was calling bullshit, and I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“She’s just nuts, Joe. I don’t normally know much about the other girls you spend time with, but I arrested this one, remember?”

  “Yeah, for hitting on you,” Joe snorted. “Who arrests a hot chick for hitting on them? That’s messed up, man.”

  “I arrested her because she was drunk off her ass and was going to end up doing something to get herself hurt if I didn’t. She was trying to prostitute herself right in front of me!”

  “She wouldn’t have actually done it and you know it. Her friends were there and could have gotten her home safe. You didn’t need to bring her in. You keep on lying to yourself all you want, but don’t try and bullshit me. It would save you a lot of time and energy if you would just come clean with yourself about it.”

  “Fuck you man, there is no other reason. Quit trying to make more out of this than it was. You’re the one who stayed at work all night hanging out with her, not me. You’re the one who got her number and hung out with her, not me. So it’s pretty obvious I’m not the one who wants to see her.”

  “Yeah, the only thing that’s obvious is that if you keep denying you’re attracted to her then you’re going to have to get a much bigger crock to hold all that shit you keep spouting. And just so you know, Stacy and I are just friends. I actually really like hanging out with her and sex would just ruin that, so I have no intentions of stealing your girl.”

  I growled at Joe but didn’t bother arguing. Not because he was right, but because apparently he’d made up his mind and nothing I said would convince him that I wasn’t into Stacy. I didn’t really care what he thought, and he was intentionally trying to get me riled up, so there was no point in feeding into his crap.

  Every day that week Joe talked constantly about Stacy, but after that first day I’d quit complaining since it only seemed to egg him on. It was weird hearing him talk about the same chick so many days in a row, he never spent this much time with one girl. I spent the majority of the time inwardly berating myself for the jealousy I felt when he would talk about her. The way he described her made her sound a lot less crazy than I’d originally thought she was. In fact, he actually made her sound like she was a lot of fun.