Free Interference by Sophia Henry

Embarrassing her was the last thing I wanted to do.
    “I didn’t realize you went to the university.” I tried to recover. “What are you studying?”
    Indie shrugged. “I’m in the pre-pharmacy program.”
    “A drug dealer and a cop. What a match.”
    “Opposites attract,” Indie said in a teasing tone. “Believe it or not, I wanted to be a cop when I was younger. Had a fascination with crime and punishment.”
    “Isn’t that literature?” I joked.
    “Don’t try to one-up me in useless information, copper. I already won that battle and I will continue to win every time.”
    I laughed. I loved a woman who could bust my chops, someone who could keep me on my toes.
    “You are the queen of useless information. Got it.”
    Indie laughed and glanced at the road. “This isn’t the way to my house.” She shifted to look at me. Her shirt swung down, giving me a glimpse of the top of her lacy, black bra. My eyes darted back to the road before I wrecked my truck.
    “I know,” I said. “It’s the way to the next surprise.”
    “Another surprise? How did you know my heart could handle more than one a night?” She clasped both hands over her chest with dramatic flair, which directed my eyes to her boobs again.
    Damn it.
    “Figured I had to bring my A game to prove I wasn’t boring.” I straightened in my seat, effectively rearranging my junk, which had pressed against my zipper. My body really needed to stop reacting like a teenager with his first issue of Playboy every time I looked at her. You’d think I hadn’t had sex in years. Oh, wait…I hadn’t.
    “I’m secretly excited there’s more. Because I felt a little too dressed up for sitting at a drive-in.”
    “You’re dressed perfectly for the next one.”
    Indie glanced down at her short skirt and heels. “Snowball fight?”
    The twinkle in her eyes as she joked around made me want to give her anything she wished for: diamonds, pearls, a lung.
    I placed my hand on her knee, and her head jerked up to meet my eyes. “If I could make it snow right now, I would.”
    “Now that would have been an awesome surprise.” Indie set her hand on top of mine and gave it a slight squeeze.
    “Hope this lives up to it,” I said as I pulled my truck into a parking lot in the heart of downtown Bridgeland.
    As my hand rested on the bare skin of Indie’s leg, my mind jumped to one way to give her anything she wanted. Genie lamps. And how does someone get the stupid genie out of one of those things? Rubbing and wishing.
    Fuck.

Chapter 10
Indie
    As a bartender at a brewery in downtown Bridgeland, I knew all of the other bars around us. Peak City employees weren’t allowed to drink on the premises, even if we weren’t working that day, so my coworkers and I would walk down the road or across the street to one of the other watering holes.
    Jason put his hand on the small of my back and steered me toward Wreckage, a tiny bar known for having a band every night of the week. The cop was two for two so far. I loved the drive-in and I love live music. Wreckage was always the right pick.
    Though the smoking ban in bars had been in effect for years in Michigan, I always felt like I was walking through a murky puff as I edged my way to the bar along the side of the establishment. Must’ve been the smoke billowing from a dry-ice machine in the corner of the stage. Wreckage was oddly shaped, long and narrow. Couldn’t fit many people, but it was always packed, because they usually booked great talent.
    When I saw Greg, the guitar player for Strange Attraction, a small-time local band, leaning against the bar, I wondered if they were playing tonight, or if he was here checking out a show.
    “Hey, Gregory.” I placed a kiss on his cheek.
    “Indie!” Greg pulled me into a tight, quick hug, but let me go almost as fast. “I was scared for a minute. Thought my great aunt Mildred was here. ‘Gregory!’ ” he said in a really bad old woman’s voice.
    “Someone’s got