I look her dead in the eye, and I say what I have to say.
"I think someone is trying to sabotage the judging."
Her eyes widen.
Without warning, I hook one finger around her silvery belt and tug. Her body follows the forward motion, and she's right where I need her to be, flat against my chest. She gasps at the sudden forwardness.
"If I'm not mistaken, Lieutenant, you're getting close to violating some rules about public displays of affection while in uniform," she says.
"Then I should take off the uniform," I reply.
"That's one way to let me know you're interested." Rocket's eyes are level with my neck, and she looks like she's thinking about biting it. I wouldn't mind if she did. "Most guys just send me a dick pic."
I hastily reply, "You tell me the next time you get one of those, and I will personally knock a pervert's pencil dick into the sea."
She smiles and leans closer, her lips brushings against the skin of my throat. "Fish food. I approve."
My lips are close enough to feather the shell of her ear, which flushes red when I speak softly into it. "Good. 'Cause when I'm with someone it's a hundred percent, and I can get pretty fucking territorial. Can you deal with that?"
She tilts her head back to search my eyes. "I thought we were just flirting. I can't be your girl, Jet. We just met."
Those red lips are so close. We could stop talking and start kissing at any second. We could make the world disappear, and I wouldn't miss it.
My eyes narrow. "I know what I want when I see it. So unless you got a fella…"
Rocket pulls away, but not far enough that I have to let go of her belt. She juts her hip to one side and shoots me a dirty but teasing look. "You think I would let you molest me like this if I had a fella? What kind of a girl do you think I am?"
I haven't touched any part of her with my hands, but I'm not going to quibble. Instead, I run the tip of my finger slowly along the length of her baton. "I don't think you're a girl at all. You're a grown woman who also knows what she wants. I've seen you winking at me, shaking that ass on stage. I can tell you exactly what you want. And I'm gonna give it to you."
Rocket snatches her baton away from my sliding fingers and holds it between us vertically, with both fists. Her knuckles turn white as she speaks.
"The reason I can't be your girl is that it would be a conflict of interest, you big dummy. You're a judge. I'm a contestant. This will get me disqualified if anyone sees us. I'm gonna have to ask you to cast your vote deliberately in someone else's favor because of our… interactions."
Her words come out half-spoken, half-whispered, her eyes traveling over my face and landing on my lips.
"Your mama raised you to do the right thing. But I can't wait until this contest is over so you can show me how wrong you can be."
My eyes lock on to hers for a second until she slowly begins to move one hand down the length of the baton, and then slowly back up.
The movement pulls a growl from deep in my chest.
Rocket responds by bringing the baton up to her face, leaning the cold metal against her cheek, and closing her eyes. "It's so hot out here," she sighs. "It's got me feeling some type of way." The tip of her pink tongue pushes out and grazes the hard rod.
An actual knot of pain forms in my chest because I know we can't do the terrible, wonderful things she's suggesting right now.
"Dang, sweetheart, you almost made me forget what I need to tell you. Somebody's trying to sabotage a contestant named …Aleesha, I think? I thought I should tell you."
Rocket stops licking the baton abruptly. "What?"
I tell her everything I heard, word for word. When I finish, she cusses under her breath.
"Fucking Paris."
"You want me to tell somebody?" I ask.
She shakes her head, looking despondent. "No, it'll just look bad that you and I were having an extra-curricular conversation. I'll handle it," she says.
I don't ask what she'll do; I have a feeling that with Rocket Montgomery, it's better to let her handle things her way.
Chapter Four
Rocket
Before I force myself to send Jet on his way, he pulls me close one last time to gently scrape his teeth along the edge of my ear. My breath goes shallow, and my knees threaten to give out.
The close-up view of the cords in his tanned neck tempts me to have a taste. I might ruin my lipstick, but it's a risk worth taking. I gently dot the tense muscles there with a kiss, my tongue sneaking out briefly to taste his salty skin. We pull away from each other enough for me to see how wound up he is, his face drawn tight over his cheekbones, the ripple in his jawline from clenching his teeth. "Relax, Lieutenant," I say, placing a soft, slow kiss to his jawbone, a sculpted edge that could break rocks. "It'll all be over soon."
I don't want to go, but Rocket Montgomery finishes what she starts. I'm gonna see this pageant through to the end, and then Jet and I can go somewhere private to take off that uniform.
I text my best friend Jane when I return to the tent. She's in the audience with her daughter.
"I just got hit on by a judge."
She texts back immediately. "The hot one in uniform?" Of course, she noticed him.
"Jane, do you think I would let some rando bite my earlobe?"
She doesn't reply, but seconds later she's in the tent, walking right up to my face, her toddler snug against her
