As soon as his lips touched mine, I put my hands on his chest to push him away. It was like pushing a wall. He was much stronger than me, and after a few moments, I quit struggling and let him kiss me. I figured once he made his point, he would stop.
He didn’t.
History had never mentioned that Robin Hood was an exceptional kisser, but it should have. It was clearly one of his more impressive talents. I might have enjoyed the kiss if he weren’t an outlaw and if I hadn’t been in the middle of a hold-up in Walgreens. Even as it was, when he lifted his head from mine, I felt breathless.
Will Scarlet walked up to us. “Robin,” he said with exasperation.
Robin Hood didn’t let me go. He stared into my eyes, his smirk back again. His fingers made a slow trail down my back. “I suppose yours was not such a bad wish after all.” He bent his head to kiss me again, but the break was enough to restore my sanity. This had to end.
“The police—the sheriff’s men—they’re on their way,” I said.
Robin Hood stiffened, then dropped his hands away from me.
“Are they?” He didn’t ask how I knew, just stepped away and whistled to his men. “We best be off. The law is on our trail.” 81/356
Most of the men flung their sacks over their shoulders and fled out of the door. With his sword still drawn, Will backed away from us.
When he was far enough away, he turned and ran to the door as well.
Robin Hood was the last one out. Before he left, he winked at me and said, “Until we meet again, fair Tansy.” Then he was gone.
The woman beside me put a hand over her chest and let out a stream of words that was too jumbled to understand. The other woman leaned against the counter, taking deep breaths. The teenage girl pulled her cell phone from her pocket with shuddering hands and dialed someone. The hot police guy turned to me, unshaken. He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. “You warned that thug the police were coming.”
I flushed. I couldn’t explain. “It was the best line I could think of to discourage him from a make-out session.”
“Well, judging from your last boyfriend, I can see why that line would pop into your mind first. But to tell you the truth, you didn’t look like you minded the make-out session all that much.”
“I didn’t have a choice about kissing him,” I said. “He had a sword.”
“He knew your name,” the guy said. “Why is that?” I refused to let him ruffle me. “It’s a small town. Apparently everybody knows my name. Even random police detectives.” I turned toward the door. He reached out and grabbed my arm.
His grip was firm, but not tight. “You need to stay to make a statement for the police. And we all need to file reports about what the robbers stole from us.”
“I don’t,” I said. “He only stole a kiss from me, and I don’t want it returned.”
The guy’s dark brown eyes turned piercing. “Tansy, you need to stay and talk to the police.”
82/356
I pulled my arm away from him. “I think we’ve already estab-lished that I don’t like talking to the police.”
“It will look worse if you leave,” he said.
“No, it will look worse if my father has to come down to the police station two nights in a row to pick me up.” I walked out the door without looking back at him.
• • •
I don’t know why I thought Mr. Hot Police Officer would keep my name out of it. When I got home, a police car was parked in front of my house. I should have stayed at the Walgreens and saved myself the bike trip back. My thighs burned from all of the pedaling. I groaned and leaned my bike up against the side of the house. An officer sat in the car. He reported something into his car radio, then climbed out and followed me up the walkway. When I got inside, my parents and another officer were standing in the living room talking. My father’s face was taut with anger, his hands clenched into fists. He spoke to me, shooting each word out sharp and whole. “You were grounded. You were supposed to stay in your room.”
I couldn’t very well tell him I had been out trying to stop Robin Hood from plundering the city. I also couldn’t tell him, with the police officers staring at me, that my fairy godmother had zapped them here on my command. “Sorry,” I said.
He waited for me to say more. I didn’t. It was pathetically lacking as an apology, but I didn’t know how to spruce it up without ending up in a padded cell.
The younger of the two police officers stepped forward. His red hair had been cropped short in what was nearly a crew cut. He held up 83/356
a clipboard to take notes and regarded me suspiciously. “You were at the Walgreens that was held up?”