Mated To The Alpha: A Standalone Wolf Shifter Romance, стр. 2

Emma knew which actress he was most likely referring to, there were only so many redheads, and she got compared to all of them over the years, but she didn't help him out with any names. She was determined not to open her mouth in here and give anyone any ammunition to use against her. Although, taller was not the word she was used to hearing when someone compared her to someone else.

"Sheriff Hayle's kid?"

It was a new voice that spoke up, pulling the girls' attention to the office door they hadn’t heard open.

An older, grizzled-looking police officer filled the doorway. His tired eyes looked the girls over before settling on Emma. He tilted his head like a confused dog, thinking a bit before speaking again.

"No, she doesn't look like who you mean. She looks like that other one, the one who plays that author's daughter on that TV show. Only...bigger."

And there it is, Emma thought. That's the word she was used to- bigger.

Emma did stand inches above most girls her age, but it was that word, bigger, that most people settled on when they talked about her. At least the ones trying to be nice. She knew that petite would never be a word she'd hear aimed in her direction, but she herself preferred words like statuesque, or shapely, to the harsher words she always heard muttered around her growing up.

Determination to avoid a discussion about her looks made her finally open her mouth.

"You know my dad?" She asked the question while trying to place the uniformed man in her memory. He didn't fit.

"No, not umm, personally. I have heard about him, though. Lots of, shall we say, weird goings on happen on your side of the county line, don't they?"

Great, Emma thought, pouting. We've gone from discussing my Amazon-woman looks to discussing those rumors. Awesome. Next he'll be asking me if...

"So, your dad ever find any of those Sasquatches he's always going on about?"

"What? That's not...oh, never mind. Are you arresting us or not?"

The officer's face went from bemused, comparing her to famous redheads and teasing her about her dad, which she was used to, to serious. He was obviously contemplating his next move.

The store manager jumped in.

"We are willing to press charges, officer,” he said. “I'm beyond tired of all these damn kids coming in here and thinking they can..."

“We aren’t kids,” Kate mumbled under her breath.

“Then you should definitely know better, shouldn’t you?” the manager said back to her.

"I think an arrest may be a bit premature,” the officer said, interrupting their back and forth.

He then turned back to Emma and continued with, "How 'bout we call your daddy the Sheriff up real quick? Let him decide what to do with you, huh?"

"That's how this is going to go?" the manager asked, getting red in the face. "He has no jurisdiction in this county. Damn it, I should have called the state police instead of..."

"State troopers? For shoplifting?" The officer laughed. "Good luck with that. Now, if I'm not mistaken, this is their first offense, correct? Just do what you normally do with first-timers. Take their pictures, pin them up on your wall of shame, and I'll call their parents. I'm quite sure that one's dad," he said, pointing at Kate this time, "will make it worth your while to stay quiet about this. And, if he holds true to what I've heard about him, he will probably buy those pictures off of you, as well. Come on ladies, let's get you two home."

Against the manager's protests, the officer herded the girls out of the office, through the store and into the waiting patrol car. As they pulled away, Kate blew the manager a kiss from the back seat, and Emma just grinned at him, convinced that this would be swept under the rug, along with most everything they had ever done. She wondered how big the pile under that rug had to become before her daddy would notice the lump, but she was happy to hide it if everyone else was.

She smiled at Kate in relief, as her friend turned her attention to the front seat and started to pour on the charm. She was obviously feeling back in her element, too.

"So, Officer Hot Stuff, what do two poor, down on their luck girls gotta do to get you to let us out of this car and send us on our way?"

Emma grinned wider. That line always worked, even on old guys, like this officer.

They'd never had to actually back it up with anything, the offer usually made guys blush and fall all over themselves to please the gorgeous Kate, and the intimidatingly quiet Emma. They weren't quite sure what would happen if anyone ever tried to take them up on it, but so far the line, delivered with one of Kate's bright smiles, was all that was ever needed.

"Sorry Lucy and Ethel, but you're in my county now. I didn't have you arrested, purely out of professional curtesy, but the only way you two are being released is to your parents, at the police station. You guys can cool it in the drunk tank until someone comes for you. It's conveniently empty right now, although I can't promise that it smells very good."

"Lucy and who?" Kate asked.

"Sorry, am I showing my age? How about Thelma and Louise, then? Is that better?"

Emma looked at Kate, confused. Had he lost his mind?

Kate mouthed to Emma, "He's as crazy as your old man!"

Emma nodded, her recently acquired conviction that all would end well turning around again, sliding back down into her stomach and starting to burn. No one had ever called her dad before. She felt the feeling in her stomach turn into panic.

Actually having to face their sins, at a strange police station, waiting behind bars for their parents was new. And neither of them was looking forward to it.