Highland County Heroes Collection

Chapter 1

Officer Warren Hathaway stepped into the station house break room and couldn’t help but admire the round ass snuggly wrapped in blue denim as its owner bent over digging for something in the fridge. He harbored no doubts who it belonged to and his hand itched to smack it or worse, grab it and squeeze, but the amazing ass’s owner wouldn’t appreciate it. In fact, she’d probably bring him up on charges for s****l harassment. While that would mean she was no longer his supervising officer, it would also mean he was out of a job, and after something like that she’d probably refused to date him anyway. Then he wouldn’t get the odd moment like this, where he walked into a room and had to hide how his body reacted to her. Instead, he’d get nothing at all. Besides, he loved his job, and was good at it. It was moments like this one that made him grateful that the rural New Mexico police department they both worked for, had an almost casual uniform. Their shirts were standard police uniform, the department had decided on black, but they’d relaxed on the pants and instead of those shitty, hot dress slacks, everyone wore blue jeans.

“Damn.” The owner of the rear end that made his d**k stand at attention and his mouth water to taste her, stood. Her long dark hair was pulled into a tight knot low on the back of her head. An encounter at the grocery store a few weeks ago was the only way Warren knew exactly how long her hair was. The knowledge haunted him. He’d fantasized about burying his hand in her hair and pulling it just hard enough to make her cry out as he buried —

“Someone took my sandwich, again.” The anger in her voice brought him out of his imagination. It just didn’t fit the fantasy.

“No clue, Sergeant. You put your name on it?” He shifted his duty belt to camouflage the swelling in his jeans. It was probably a good thing. If he’d continued with that train of thought, she might have spotted the hard-on he was having a hard time hiding. On second thought, it was common enough around her she might not notice. Maybe. The rest of the shift would though. He shook his head. “I don’t know who would be brave enough to steal from you, though.”

Warren wondered, not for the first time, where his control went where she was concerned. He’d spent a while in Vice in Albuquerque. Back then, he’d had enough control over his bodily responses he could have a stripper grinding against his lap, waiting for her to solicit s*x, and not even a twitch. Yet all Sergeant Hayley Moreno had to do was breathe and he was hard enough to hammer nails.

“Son of a b***h,” she muttered under her breath. “Now I either have to go out or go hungry.”

“Call for delivery.” He thought it was obvious, but she sent him a look that would have withered a lesser man.

“Yeah, right. I call for delivery and ten minutes after it gets here I’ll find the empty box where you heathens have eaten it all.”

“Not me, boss. I like my balls right where they are, thanks.”

She shot him another scorching look then spun on the heel of her polished black loafers and left. Warren set his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment trying to make his body behave, but the vision of her bent over in front of him flashed before his eyes and he could only groan.

“You all right?” the voice belonged to Warren’s partner Johnny.

“Fine, just sore from my work out this morning.” It wasn’t an unreasonable excuse. Warren made a habit of hitting the gym for at least an hour every day, sometimes more. He wasn’t going to be the fool who failed to chase down a perp because of too many donuts and not enough miles on the treadmill. Johnny knew it and sometimes joined him.

“You must have really pushed it to be sore, how long did you go?”

“Too long apparently.” He didn’t have the energy to come up with a lie he wouldn’t remember and might get him caught up later. “I’ll pay more attention and not push so hard for a few days, until I’m not so sore.”

“Man, you need to give it a break. There are better ways to get cardio.” Johnny laughed. It was a line he’d been giving Warren for a while now.

“I know, I know.” Warren gave his head a little shake. “But I’m not as attractive as you. I have a hard time picking up a new chick every weekend.” The truth was, he hadn’t tried in months. There was only one person he wanted in his bed, but if he asked, she’d knock him down faster than he could get the words out. “I’m gonna hit the head then we can take off.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” His partner was filling a travel mug with awful station house coffee. How Johnny could drink that s**t when he didn’t absolutely have to was beyond Warren. He walked away hoping he could get his hormones, and his body, under control before anyone noticed.