Aiden Lockhart should have thrown Johana Ruiz into holding.
He should have slapped some extra charges on her just for the headache she caused him tonight. But instead, here he was, pulling up in front of her place like some kind of glorified Uber driver—if Uber drivers arrested you first, called you a menace, and then reluctantly decided to release you back into the wild.
As he put the car in park, he let out a sigh that sounded painfully exhausted—as if dealing with Johana had aged him at least ten years. Without a word, he stepped out, walked around to the back, and unlocked the door.
Johana hopped out with far too much smugness for someone who was just in police custody.
“See?” she muttered, rubbing her wrists where the cuffs are connected. “I knew you’d make the right decision—despite that irritating scowl permanently glued to your face.”
Aiden gave her an exasperated look. “Be careful, Ruiz. You still have the cuffs on, and I could throw you right back into the car and haul your ass to holding.”
She tilted her head, pretending to think it over. “Hmmm… the first part of that doesn’t sound terrible.”
Aiden clenched his jaw. “Are you always this much trouble?”
She grinned. “Oh, absolutely not. Sometimes I like to really up the ante—unleashing a whirlwind of chaos, creating mass mayhem rather than just a bit of trouble.”
He muttered something under his breath that she was certain was not very complimentary, then leaned over, unlocked the cuffs from her wrists, and gestured toward her front door.
“Go inside. Now. Before I change my mind.”
Johana, of course, completely ignored his attempt at authority.
Instead, she smirked. “As second dates go, this one wasn’t a total disaster.”
Aiden let out a slow, deep exhale like he was actively resisting the urge to strangle her.
“For the last time,” he muttered, rubbing his temple, “this is not a date. And I don’t date menaces.”
Johana clicked her tongue. “Tsk, tsk, Grinch Man. You really need to work on your flirting skills. This whole ‘I despise you’ act? Not fooling me at all.”
Aiden shot her a look. “You are delusional.”
“Hmmm, fine, fine, fine,” she sang, backing toward her front door. “I’ll stop annoying you—if you answer one question.”
“God help me,” he muttered. “Fine. What’s your question, Miss Ruiz?”
Johana grinned, rocking back on her heels.
“What the hell is your name?”
Aiden blinked. “Are you serious?“
“Dead serious.”
“You literally took my blood, filled out my medical paperwork, and had an entire appointment with me. How do you not know my name?”
Johana shrugged. “Eh, I go through paperwork so fast, I don’t really process names. And my memory? Not amazing.“
Aiden stared at her in sheer disbelief. “So you’ve just been calling me Valentine’s Day Grinch this whole time?”
Johana nodded. “Yup.”
A beat of silence passed.
Aiden shook his head, muttering something about “unbelievable women” before pinching the bridge of his nose.
“It’s Aiden Lockhart, Miss Ruiz,” he said finally, voice dripping with gruff reluctance.
Johana beamed. “Awww, Aiden,” she repeated, drawing out his name like it was something scandalous. “See? Now we’re getting somewhere. You do have a human name.”
Aiden shot her a flat look. “You are insufferable.”
“That’s not what you were saying earlier when you were watching me take down a guy twice my size,” she teased.
He scoffed. “That was not skill—that was pure insanity. I found you on the back of a man, trying to wrestle him into submission like it was some kind of underground MMA match.”
She grinned. “A girl’s gotta have hobbies.”
Aiden groaned. “I am too sober for this.“
Johana clapped her hands together. “That’s fixable! Want to come in for a drink? You owe me one after manhandling me into a cop car.“
“Manhandling—? Jesus Christ, Ruiz,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I literally did my job.”
She gave him a once-over, eyes twinkling with mischief. “And yet, here we are, not at the police station. Almost like you just wanted to spend more time with me.”
Aiden barked out a laugh—a real one, before quickly shutting that down.
“Go inside, Ruiz,” he said, shaking his head.
Johana smirked. “You’re really bad at taking hints, aren’t you, Lockhart?”
He took a deliberate step back toward his car. “Nope. Just really good at ignoring them.”
“Mm-hmm,” she hummed. “Well, Aiden Lockhart, enjoy pretending you’re never gonna see me again.”
He gave her a deadpan look. “Oh, I’m not pretending. This? Was the last time we’ll ever run into each other.“
Johana grinned, leaning against her doorframe.
“Oh, Lockhart,” she murmured, voice dripping with amusement. “That sounds a lot like a challenge.“
And with one last mischievous wink, she stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.
Aiden stood there for a moment, staring at the closed door.
Jaw tight. Muscles tense.
Then, with a sigh so heavy it could have cracked pavement, he muttered:
“…I am so screwed.”
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