Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) by J. C. Reed, Jackie Steele Read Free Book Online Page A

over. Now I saw what he saw.
    It was a
card from some sex worker or a pimp.
    Even though
the text was in Spanish, I was sure that I wasn’t wrong.
    “Um”—I
stared at it, taken aback—“That’s not mine.”
    “Does it
matter? All that matters is that it was inside your bag.” A strange smile played across his lips.
    My eyes
narrowed as realization dawned on me. “You son of a bitch. You put it there.”
    “I want to
see you proving that, my little American friend.” His grin widened as he turned
me around.
    His hands
on me sent my pulse racing, and not in a good way. My heart jumped into my throat.
I opened my mouth to protest, but the shock coursing through me rendered me
speechless.
    “You’re
coming with me.” His left hand wandered down my arm to my wrists and he held
them in front of me as his right hand fidgeted at his back. “I’ll teach you to
be reasonable.”
    “Let go of
me,” I screeched, struggling in his grip. I didn’t realize what he was doing
until cold metal snapped around my wrists, the pressure both painful and
surprisingly numbing.
    I blinked
in disbelief as I peered down at the handcuffs. Was he arresting me?
    “What
the—” My words died in my throat as I was pulled forward toward the
waiting police car and pushed into the backseat.
    “You need
to come with us on suspicion of soliciting a client and working as a prostitute
without a valid work permit,” the police guy said and slammed the door behind
me.
    Fuck!
    I had heard
of situations like this. People were wrongfully incarcerated. Or kidnapped. Or
worse. Why the hell was this happening to me? My breath hitched as my throat
constricted with panic.
    “I didn’t
solicit anyone. I’m a US citizen on vacation. Let me out,” I screamed and
kicked in my seat, ready to draw as much attention to myself as possible.
Onlookers had gathered around us, their cell phones suspiciously raised. The
videos were probably being uploaded to YouTube that very instant.
    My only
chance.
    I pressed
my palms against the window and opened my mouth to explain my situation when
the car sped off, siren blaring and all.
    Crap.
    Double
crap.
    Remember
when I’d said earlier that I doubted any other man could be worse than Chase?
Well, I wished I hadn’t said that. Turned out that wasn’t true at all.
    Shit.
    Why did I have to go for the little black number I
was wearing?

Chapter 7

 
 
 
    “You have
one phone call,” a chubby guy in his late forties said in broken English.
    I peeled my
aching butt off the cold, concrete floor and marched purposefully for the bars,
biting down a snarky remark.
    The
detention cell had been my residency for all of three hours and already it felt
like I had spent most of last month in here. It wasn’t just the pungent smell
of urine and bacteria that made me want to get the hell out as soon as
possible. It was also the fact that not only did no one want to listen to my
story of how I couldn’t possibly be a hooker; they actually weren’t
particularly in a hurry to help me prove my innocence.
    One phone call.
    Make it count, Hanson.
    I followed
the chubby police officer to a desk and tried not to grimace as my fingers
curled around the grubby headpiece of an old phone that had probably seen more
unwashed hands than a public toilet door knob.
    Who could I
call?
    I had gone
over that decision for hours, mentally scrolling through my limited options,
then discarding of each one as I trudged along. Eventually I knew there was
only one person who’d run down doors to get me back on US soil.
    One person
who’d probably get every newspaper and television channel involved to make my
story heard and get me the hell out of this hell hole.
    Not least
because this was all her fault.
    She hooked
me up with Chase Wright in the first place.
    She thought
it was a good idea to marry a stranger, albeit a hot one. And then, when I
called her from the airport and asked where she’d disappear to if she wanted to
hide, she came