“She’s heard worse,” Rowdy said. And if Dash touched Avery, he’d—
“Still,” Avery said. She held out her hand. “I’m the bartender.”
Peterson looked more than a little delighted. “Very nice to meet you.”
Dash leaned down close to Avery’s ear, no doubt on the pretense of subterfuge, not that anyone paid any attention to them. “She’s Logan’s lieutenant,” Dash said. “And she’s undercover to catch some men who are forcing women into bondage videos.”
Avery’s eyes widened. “That’s why you’re here and why you were hitting on Rowdy?”
“Why else?”
“The usual reasons?” Avery reached over the table and took his hand. “That’s why most of the women chase after him.”
The lieutenant’s mouth quirked. “No, not the usual reasons for me.” Still amused, she turned her attention on Dash. “Overall, I don’t have time or patience to put up with men.”
“But now you need me.” Dash held out his arms. “And lucky for you, I’m ready, willing and able.”
“I suppose you’d be better than some unknown.” Peterson drummed her fingertips on the booth. “I have rules.”
“You can tell me all about them when we’re alone.”
Rowdy looked around, but they still had relative privacy. “You mentioned evidence that involves the bar?”
She glanced at Avery, who looked ready to excuse herself again.
Rowdy laced their fingers together and held on to her. “You can speak in front of Avery. In fact, it’s better if she knows. She interacts with the customers more than I do.”
Giving it some thought, Peterson tugged at a small curl behind her ear. She must have decided to trust Avery because, voice low, she launched into a quick explanation. “Reese and Logan know about this, but not many others.”
Dash said to Avery, “She has major trust issues.”
“I don’t like to take chances,” Peterson corrected.
Rowdy knew the station had once been rife with corruption. To his knowledge, Peterson had cleared house, kicking out everyone on the take. But he didn’t blame her for remaining cautious.
She turned her wineglass, her expression tight. “A young lady claims she was forced to take part in a discipline video. She wasn’t hurt too badly—physically that is. And they eventually let her go. But you can imagine her humiliation and the fear she suffered.”
Avery sat frozen in horror; Dash looked disgusted.
Rowdy thought any man involved needed to spend the rest of his life behind bars—or worse.
“Because she’d been blindfolded during transportation, it took her some time to show us the area where she’d been held. We raided the building where the videos were being shot, but by the time we got there, they’d already cleared out.”
Avery covered her mouth. “The woman is okay?”
“Yes.” Peterson tightened more. “She’s still scared, probably always will be. But other than some bruises, she’s not too badly hurt.”
“You found a connection to the bar?”
“Cocktail napkins and a matchbook.”
And here he’d only recently gotten those in. “That’s not much to go on.”
“It’s all I have right now. But know this, Rowdy. The woman was grabbed right off the street not that far from here. You might want to put up some extra security cameras and be a little more cautious.”
He’d planned to do that anyway, here, at his apartment and at Avery’s. “I’ll get right on it.”
“In the meantime, if you see anything at all that looks suspicious—”
“I’ll let you know first thing.” He had a sudden burning need to get Avery someplace safe—even if it was away from him. She wasn’t cut out for this life, being in this area, surrounded by the worst society had to offer—
Avery took his hand. “We’ll be extra vigilant.” With a squeeze, she reassured him, almost as if she’d known his turbulent thoughts.
Looking at Avery only ramped up his awareness of her, of the reasons why he shouldn’t tie her to him and the sordid, uncertain life he’d built for himself.
He slid out of the seat, drawing Avery out, too. “We need to get back to work.” To Peterson, he added, “I won’t tell the other employees, but feel free to come to Avery or me for anything you need.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at Avery. “I suppose we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”
Avery leaned into him, her hand around his biceps. “Now that I know you’re not actually after Rowdy, I’ll enjoy that.”
As he and Avery went behind the bar to relieve Cannon, Rowdy checked his watch. “Only a few more hours and I can get you alone.”
“I hope you’re thinking what I’m thinking,” she teased. “Because I need one of those hugs that turns into sex.”
Sounded good to him. He planned to fill up every available minute with loving her. And maybe, in the time left to him, it’d be enough.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“HEY, SEXY.”
Rowdy smiled even before he got his eyes open. Avery rested half over his chest, one leg over his lap—just as she’d slept all night. He moved his hand, realized it was curled over her ass and said, “Looking for another swat, huh?”