“All right, it’s time for tequila shots,” said Trevor, returning from the bar. I’d been so wrapped up in Lee that I hadn’t even noticed him leave the table. He slammed a bottle of Patrón down, alongside some salt and limes. Then he went to grab a bunch of shot glasses from the barman before returning.

“Nah, man, that stuff makes me puke,” said Liam, shaking his head.

“Lightweight,” Trevor jeered, then turned to Reya, flashing a devilish grin. “How about you, Queenie?”

She blushed at him using her stage name, her eyes downcast as she nodded. “Sure.”

Trevor glanced at me. “And you, Constable?”

“Hey, it’s sergeant now,” said Lee, and Trevor looked at me, wide-eyed.

“No shit? You made sergeant? In that case, you definitely have to do a shot. All sergeants are notorious tequila fiends,” he said, making no sense whatsoever, but that was Trevor for you.

“Okay, I’ll do one,” I said, feeling Lee’s attention next to me. “But only one.”

Trevor began lining the shots up in front of us. When Reya passed me the salt, I licked a line between my thumb and forefinger, poured it on, and picked up a slice of lime. Before I could react, Lee grabbed my hand and levelled me with a hot look. A moment passed, and then he bent his head to lick off the salt, his tongue hot and wet on my skin. My tummy fluttered wildly as I tried to steady my breathing, especially when he glanced up at me, eyes dark with mischief. I watched, transfixed, as he knocked back his shot, then bit down on the lime. It was probably one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen.

“Your turn,” he said, voice husky as he held his hand out to me.

“Oh,” I breathed, heart pounding loud in my ears.

After a second of hesitation, I brought my mouth to his skin and licked. This close, all I could smell was him, his salty taste on my lips. To my horror, I found myself lingering, and a rumble only I could hear rose from his chest. I drew away quickly, downing the shot and biting into the lime.

Expecting to turn around and find everyone watching our borderline pornographic exchange, I was relieved to see they were ignoring us completely. That was mostly because Trevor was on his third shot, and the boys were egging him on to do more.

There was music in the pub and a small dance floor, a few women and men busting sloppy, drunken moves. Lee’s breath hit my skin right before he whispered, “Come dance with me.”

He didn’t give me time to respond, only grabbed my hand and pulled me up with him. I followed, my head foggy with either arousal or tequila, I couldn’t seem to tell. My eyes traced the muscular lines of his broad shoulders, shoulders made for hard work and fucking, and I began to imagine where this night would lead.

Some cheesy eighties rock ballad played through the speakers as Lee spun us around, pulled me close, and slid his arms around my waist. I stared up at him, his bright blue eyes arresting. The way he moved was purposeful, every brush of his body against mine designed to seduce.

“Lee,” I said, unsure whether he could hear me over the music, “why did you leave last night?”

I knew by the set of his mouth that he didn’t like my question, but he answered it anyway. “I didn’t want to, if that’s what you’re asking.”

What he said was a relief, because although he was showing all the signs that he wanted me, there’d always be that lingering doubt in the back of my mind, questioning whether or not he still harboured blame.

“So….” I ventured. “You just didn’t want to take advantage while I was drunk?”

“Yeah, I want to do things right this time.”

“This time?”

He nodded, a predatory gleam in his eyes. “If you think I’m here for friendship, Karla, you’re shit out of luck.” The growl in his voice did wonderful things to my insides. “I want you back in my bed, for good.”

“Oh,” I breathed, uncertain as to what to say.

“But it won’t be like last time. I refuse to sneak around or keep things secret. I won’t have you letting go of my hand because you’re ashamed to be seen with me. That shit is over. I want you to be proud to be by my side. I want you to want everyone to know you’re mine. But most of all, I want to be worthy of you.”

“You were always worthy. Circumstances just weren’t…optimal.”

He shook his head, still swaying our bodies gently to the music. “Nah. You said something to me once that rang true. You said I’d gotten away with murder for so long that I wasn’t afraid of being caught anymore, and you were right. When you’re in as deep as I was, you get numb, but you also start justifying your actions. You begin to believe you’re doing good, that it’s either you or them. You convince yourself that the law’s wrong. That’s where my head was at when I first met you, and little by little you broke down the walls of bullshit I’d built up. You showed me all the lies I’d been telling myself until I finally woke up and believed you.”

I stared at him, taken aback by his admission. Because the truth was that he’d shown me so much, too. The law wasn’t perfect. There would always be Steves around to screw people over and take advantage of the power that came with the job. There would always be corruption and unfairness. And it was those like Lee and his family who bore the brunt of that, because he’d shown me that people’s actions are a result of their circumstances, and sometimes breaking the law is the only choice.