Etta Mae's Worst Bad-Luck Day Read Online Free

past, “why don’t you just give me a warning? I promise to slow down, and besides, I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket before and you wouldn’t want to ruin my record, would you?”
    “Etta Mae,” he said, dropping his voice in that bedroomy way he had, “I thought I’d already ruined your record, but seems to me you might need another session. I think we ought to get together sometime soon, don’t you?”
    “In your dreams, Bobby Lee,” I snapped. “Now, I’ve got business to tend to, and I don’t have time to fiddle with you. So just give me whatever kind of ticket you’re going to give me and let me get on with it.”
    “Well,” he said, squatting down beside my car so that his face was right next to mine. He rested one arm on the car door so that the short sleeve of his uniform hiked up enough for me to see part of the Airborne tattoo on his huge bicep. He knew that turned me on. “What I usually do in cases like this is take the suspect back to my car and give her a good talking-to. I don’t know that I can just turn you loose so easy. Have to make sure you’re not going to go off and be speeding again.”
    I could tell, in spite of not being able to see his eyes, that they were sparkling the way they used to do when he’d try to make me mad. He’d rather tease me than eat, and that was just one of the things that kept breaking us up over the years, the last and final time being just a few months back. I’m too serious a person to put up with that kind of foolishness for long. Having fun was all he could think about, and having fun was way down on my list of life’s little necessities.
    “Bobby Lee, I promise. I won’t speed again, not even if you’re lying somewhere bleeding to death and I’m the only one who can get to you. I’ll observe the speed limit every step of the way. Now, please, I’ve got to go. My whole life depends on what I do today, and I’ve got to get on with it.”
    He ran his finger across my arm and frowned. “You in trouble, Etta Mae?”
    “No, I’m not in trouble. I just have business to take care of. So just do what you have to, and let me go.”
    He took off his shades, giving me the full benefit of his dark eyes, and said, “Give me time. I’m thinking. So, tell me, how’s Granny these days?”
    “Granny’s fine, thanks for asking, but she’s not on my mind right this minute.”
    He grinned. “Want to know what’s on my mind right this minute?”
    “No, I do not, and don’t tell me.”
    “Come on now, girl, I was just thinking about seeing Granny walking along the side of the road the other day. I offered her a ride, but she said she’d see me in hell first.”
    I had to laugh, though I hated giving in to it. “She’s a pistol, all right.”
    “I ride by there a coupla times when I’m on night patrol in that sector. Watch out for her a little. She still keep that shotgun by her bed?”
    “Oh, yeah, and I wouldn’t shine the spotlight on her house, if I were you. She’ll shoot it out for you.” It made me weak to think of him taking special care of Granny. He used to do that for me, too, until I reported him. “Thanks for watching out for her.”
    “Glad to do it, but don’t tell her it’s me. She’d fill me with buckshot some night. That lady can sure carry a grudge.” Then he leaned his head in close and said, “Just like you, darlin’. When’re you gonna get over being mad at me?”
    “Never, and I don’t want to talk about it. Now, do what you have to do. I have to go.”
    He studied me for a long minute, while I pretended it didn’t bother me. Him being so close, and all. Then he said, “Okay, it’ll be a warning this time, but remember, I’m keeping my eye on you from here on out. Just think of me as Big Brother, watching over you all the time.”
    “Big boob is more like it.”
    “You always did have a mouth on you,” he said, smiling with his eyes half closed as they traveled from my face to my waist. “Not that