“One, please,” Adam said with an air of command.
“Certainly.” The waiter responded, then disappeared again.
I was fidgeting with my fingers, eager to get out of this restaurant. I wanted to see everything that Adam was offering to me.
The waiter came back, clasping his hands. “Officer Brady, I’m here to tell you that it’s on the house.”
My mouth dropped open and I watched Adam’s expression. He looked a little stoic, but mostly just uncomfortable.
“Thanks,” he said in his deep, commanding voice.
* * *
A little while later, we were walking back to his truck.
“Does that happen to you a lot?” I asked.
“What, getting drinks and meals for free?”
I nodded.
“Yeah… it’s one of the perks of the job. Turns out when you keep meth heads away from the local businesses, the owners tend to like you.”
“What!” I exclaimed, “There are… there are meth heads around here? But this is such a quiet little safe town…” I trailed off.
“It’s quiet and safe because of the police here. We’re one of the best in the state. But yeah, the meth heads are everywhere.”
I blinked at him, wondering what it was like for him to have to confront people over and over again.
Even the thought of confronting my own mother about basic domestic things sent a shiver of fear through me.
For the second time today, I hopped up into Adam’s luxury truck and we were off down the road.
“You live near the lake?” I asked curiously when he took a side street through a tunnel of trees.
“Sure do,” he answered.
I could tell his mind was somewhere else.
Was he… was he nervous? Maybe he needed some kind of assurance that he wasn’t abducting me again.
“You know… I know we just met, but when I’m around you, I don’t feel anxious at all.” I said.
The statement hung quietly in the air.
He didn’t say anything, so I continued, “Usually it’s always there, bubbling under the surface. But with you, it’s just… gone.”
“That’s good to hear,” he chuckled. “Since I’m a cop, I usually get people telling me the opposite. People act differently when they find that out about me. You acting like yourself… it’s… it’s refreshing.”
Me acting like myself? I thought, the blush rising into my cheeks.
And then I realized why I was so flattered by that statement. It was because, for the first time, I felt like just being myself was enough.
Butterflies were flapping around within me like happy little pieces of confetti.
Before I knew it, Adam was pulling his truck into the driveway of this huge lake house. In traditional blue and white colors, it stood tall over the endless blue behind it, which was just visible over some pine trees.
“This is where you live?” I asked in disbelief. Honestly, I thought since he was a cop, he’d be, well, living on a cop’s salary.
I felt shame that I had assumed that.
“Yep.” He said simply as he shut off the engine, as if this was a perfectly normal place to live. “I’ve got a boat out back too… you should come see it!”
I was overwhelmed with how much I’d lucked out. I got to spend a decent bit of my day with this incredibly hot guy already, and he wanted to spend even more time together?
My insides were dancing with happiness.
I followed him through the threshold of the beautiful red front door, and into a modern, chic-looking kitchen.
He began bustling about with the air of someone who spent a decent amount of time in this space.
“Shoes off.” He commanded.
I felt a stirring in the bottom of my gut at the authority dripping from his words.
“You like bossing people around, huh?” I asked flirtatiously. But my eyes zipped over to him to see how that comment landed.
Luckily, he was smiling.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I reveled in the fact that I hadn’t pissed him off.
Taking my shoes off just like he said, I padded my way into the kitchen to join him.
He seemed nervous; he was fidgeting with the glasses in the sink, washing one and stacking it on the counter.
I had to admit that I was nervous too, not knowing what to expect. But that was part of the fun.
Setting my messenger bag down on the counter, I waited patiently for him to finish at the sink. Then he turned to face me, putting both of his hands on the counter and leaning against it in a wide stance. Like he owned everything in this house including me — and he knew it.
There was another pang of want in my gut.
“So, Luke. Do you want to see what this is all about? It’s not too late to tell me to take you home, you know. It’s never too late for me to take you home.”
There was nothing I wanted more in my life than to see what he wanted to show me; to follow him wherever he wanted to take me.
“I want to see,” I said, my eyes meeting his with an air of finality.
Then I watched as his lips that were just barely visible under his beard formed into a distinct “o” shape, and the shadow of lust crossed his eyes.
Then he blinked and turned away, and the moment was gone.
“Follow me, then.” He said, leaving the counter and walking into a room nearby.
I traced his footsteps as he walked towards a bookshelf.
“Adam, what are you—” I asked, but then gasped as he simply grabbed a hidden internal handle on the bookcase and it swung open like a door.
“That is so cool!” I exclaimed, marveling at the secret spiral staircase behind it.
Adam beamed proudly. “It goes down to my playroom,” he explained.
The thought briefly crossed my mind that there were others that he took down here before me. My mind was suddenly swimming with a sea of other guys, all worshipping this God standing before me. I shook the thought away as I followed him down the stairs, descending into the most deviant part of my mind.
As if he could read my mind, he said,
