100 Proof Stud (The Darcy Walker Series) Read Online Free

the store.
    Claudia and I left him standing and stepped out into the gusty night air. The cold wind bit into my face like an angry dog as I hurriedly stuffed my fingers inside my gloves. Cincinnati sucked in the winter. Come to think of it, everything sucked, and my boredom just added to the suckery.
    Snow blew in my face. And while I swatted it away, I kerplunked my new Adidas sneakers in a mud puddle. Kicking the snowy slush free, I glanced across the street to the neighboring strip mall comprised of Schomberg’s Dry Cleaners, Nowacki’s Videos, Walgreens pharmacy, and Turn-and-Burn Tanning Salon.
    I leaned up against a column and retied my shoe, pausing to glance down at the curb. Holy Moses, it was a criminal’s dream. Lying in the snowy gutter were two dirty Visa check cards and one social security card. I blinked twice for the image to register. Snatching them up, I shoved them in my coat pocket and pulled my zipper to my chin. I felt the buzz of my iPhone in my back pocket. Since Murphy considered an iPhone electronic overkill, I worked for a month to purchase one all on my own. This month’s ringtone was “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” I fished it out and realized the caller was my Uncle Shepard, AKA Rookie Johnson. “Hey, Rookie,” I greeted.
    Rookie possessed one of those deep voices that woke every cell in your body. He worked as the Hamilton County Prosecutor—the head honcho responsible for bringing criminals to justice. For future reference, that could come in handy, but so far I was only on the recreational side of his personality. “Hey, Darc,” he murmured, “are you on your way over?” I was spending the night with him while my father and little sister were out of town. Overnights usually meant ice cream for breakfast, but it also meant he’d grill me on the particulars of my love life. I had no love life. The thing with Rookie, he’d let you express your opinions with impunity. Lawyer talk for no judgment…at least not verbally.
    “Yeah,” I answered, sunshine in my voice. My cell beeped again, alerting me another call was on deck. I sighed deeply when I clocked on the number.
    “Hold on a sec. It’s time for my daily Dylan Interruptus.”
    I heard Rookie chuckle when I clicked over to my best friend. I wanted to say, “What’s her name, Romeo?” Instead, “Hey, D, I missed you,” tumbled out of my mouth. I hated when my mind and mouth didn’t work together, and frankly that was the majority of the time. Dylan’s mere presence, once again, deluged me with too many emotions to count. The biggest being attraction. We had a cat-and-mouse game going that’d grown old.
    Something had to give…and give soon.
    “Talk dirty to me, sweetheart,” he murmured.
    I rolled my eyes to this occasional greeting. “Nuclear waste, Wall Street, Congress,” I muttered. “That’s all the dirty I’ve got today. Let me call—”
    “Ah-ah-ah,” he chuckled staccato. “Not so fast; I’ve missed your voice. My watch says your shift is over, so whoever you’re talking to can wait.” I didn’t like ultimatums. In fact, they made me want to do the opposite, but when Dylan issued one, it sounded sort of… well, hot . “Let’s go to dinner, sweetheart.”
    Currently, I lived on impure thoughts—food was kind of an afterthought.
    “Nah, I’m good. Listen to this sound… beeeeeeeep .”
    “Don’t hang up,” he murmured quickly. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment. I didn’t know you were into kinky, but it’s not like I’m objecting.”
    “I’m into a lot of things. Just not with you.”
    I added a diabolical bwahaha laugh.
    I could hear Dylan frowning. He breathed; I breathed. I shook the ice out of my shoe again, but when Claudia laid on the horn, it shocked me back to reality…or my default setting.
    To risk another frown on an otherwise perfect face, I sighed, “I’m teasing, and I missed you,” blah, blah, and more codependent blah. I succumbed to another laugh