“Sure do. And I also know that Colorado has a mandatory community service requirement for first-time DUIs. You look like the kind of guy who might want to stick around after filming is done to help beautify our little hamlet here. What do you say?”
Finn answered before his friend could mouth off at me. “He’s not driving. I am.” He met my eyes, and his gaze held a potent combination of defiance and exhaustion that made me feel enraged and shockingly protective all at the same time. My stomach pitched a little like it might qualify for a DUI even without the alcohol consumption. “And I’m sober.”
I had no idea why I did it, but I grabbed Finn Heller by his biceps and hauled him out of his chair and toward the door of the bar. “We’ll see about that.”
What the hell was I doing? The kid was cherry-cheeked, sure, but he didn’t actually seem drunk. But once I’d started this ridiculous charade, I was going to finish it.
“Could you… go easy on the optics, please?” His voice was soft as if he only wanted me to hear him.
I glanced sideways and noticed a few people watching me haul him out of the bar. I loosened my grip and instructed him over to the side of my vehicle where I proceeded to ask him a few questions, followed by holding out my finger and moving it side to side for the first part of the field sobriety test. Normally, that would be followed by the walk-and-turn test, but it was clear to me he wasn’t drunk. Now that we had an audience with a few cell phones out, I decided to spare the town the additional drama.
“Wait in your car while I check with the bar owner. I’ll escort you back to your hotel.”
Finn opened his mouth to argue with me, but I glared him into changing his mind. After making sure Matt was able to close the bar down peacefully, I returned to the McLaren. Several fangirls were swarming the vehicle with their boobs and fluttering cocktail napkins.
The sidekick was drinking it all up, but Finn himself just looked tired. He must have still been hungover from partying the night before after arriving in town.
“Alright, let’s go,” I said in a voice that meant business. I made significant eye contact with the fans, and they scattered like dandelion seeds.
The sidekick pulled his celebrity schtick on me again. “Do you have any idea who this is?” he asked with a laugh.
I tried to skewer him with my crusty, middle-of-the-night eyeballs. “Yes. I’m fairly sure it’s the man who asked me to park his car last night.”
Sidekick snorted. “Well, you should know he barely ever drinks. The man’s a total bore.”
Right. And I was Aristotle. “Be that as it may, I’m actually the sheriff of Aster Valley. And when I say it’s time to go, that means it’s time to go.”
Finn actually blushed. What the hell? “Sorry, man. I didn’t know,” he murmured to his lap.
So now he was playing the innocent schoolboy. Not interested in that garbage.
“Now you do. And now the sheriff is going to escort you back to your hotel.”
Finn looked up at me. “Yes, sir. We’re staying at the Rockley Lodge property.”
Normally, I didn’t appreciate being “sir’d.” But when that lush mouth did it? Jesus Christ on a motherfucking hot bed of coals did I have thoughts screaming through my head in response to it.
I cleared my throat to keep from squeaking like a hormonal teen. “Follow me.”
As I turned to my vehicle, I heard the sidekick murmur, “Yes, Daddy.”
I clenched my teeth against a smart retort. The McLaren’s hungry engine followed me through the dark mountain roads until pulling safely into the drive of Rockley Lodge.
The drama was over.
Until the following night when the same damned thing happened all over again.
This time, I wasn’t nearly as polite as I’d been the first night. I was exhausted and running on less than fumes. Janine had woken me up again with a loud radio squawk, and I was contemplating running over the damned thing with my vehicle.
“What is it?” I growled into the radio mic.
“Matt needs y—”
I didn’t even let her finish. “On my way, and tell Rollins to bring his sidearm and badge to my office first thing in the morning.” Aster Valley had no use for a deputy who couldn’t help Matt close his damned bar in the middle of the night. Was I being an asshole? Maybe. But at least the command would scare him into compliance.
When I arrived at the bar, the entire vibe was different. It wasn’t quite as late as it had been the night before, and people were still emptying their glasses from the recent last call. Music continued to pipe through the speakers, and a game of pool was in progress at the table in the corner.
I went directly to Matt before approaching Rolly.
“What the hell is going on?”
Matt pursed his lips in anger. “It’s those Hollywood guys. They offered everyone free drinks and conveniently forgot to close out. Every time Dakota tries to present them with a bill, the crowd around them squeezes her out. So I went over there and demanded a credit card. The kid put a stack of cash in the folder instead. When I got it back over here, I saw it was singles. Nowhere near enough to cover what they bought.”
Dakota leaned over the bar and whispered. “Honestly, he’s too drunk to realize what he’s doing. I say we just grab his wallet.”
I held up a hand to stop her. “Let me handle it. What’s he still owe you?”
When Matt handed me the new bill, my eyes nearly bugged out of my face. “Congrats,” I muttered to Matt before walking over and disbursing the crowd around our erstwhile actors. On the way, I found Rolly and told him to get out to the lot and make sure no one drove drunk.
Sitting at the table was the same group of three men and two women from the night before. Finn, his blond groupie, another actor I recognized as Logan Shaw, whose roles in action films usually embodied every aspect of toxic masculinity, a petite woman with long ebony hair straight as a board down her back, and a woman with full cheeks and a big smile, who seemed to giggle drunkenly at everything around her. There were also a few fans interspersed between them, and I noticed Russ Grant had his arm around Finn.
“Closing time,” I said, grinding my teeth. Some of us had actual work to do during the day and couldn’t keep waking up at all hours to put the kids to bed. “And the bill is due. Which one of you has a credit card for Matt?”
Everyone’s eyes went to Finn. He seemed to be swaying in his seat, and his eyes were unfocused. I flicked my eyes to his blond friend. “I thought you said he didn’t drink?”
The friend snorted, and someone elbowed him.
“Kix, don’t be an ass,” one of the ladies said. “It’s true. He doesn’t usually drink. But he was… different tonight.”
Kix snorted again. “Different like horny.”
Russ squeezed closer to Finn in the large booth. “Shhh. Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of you tonight.”
Like hell he was. I knew Russ was an upstanding guy, and he probably meant well. I just didn’t care. “Credit card,” I said again.
One of the ladies leaned over to Finn. “Finn, they need your card to pay the bill.”
He almost fell out of the chair trying to get his wallet out of his pocket, but when he did, he handed the entire thing to me. “I know you’re not the valet, okay? I know. You’re…” His face suddenly creased in confusion. “The waiter?”